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times faster than job postings. get your own paychex recruiting copilot now at. >> good morning. it is the top of the hour here in the cnn newsroom. i'm erica hill in new york, and we are keeping a close eye on the white house at this hour. president trump set to host the first cabinet meeting of his second term. also set to be in attendance. elon musk, who of course, you see him there just a few moments ago making his way over to the white house. he, of course, is not a cabinet member, was not vetted or approved by congress. he's making his way there, of course, from the executive old executive office building over to the

white house. in that video, his attendance at the meeting, yet another sign of his influence in the trump administration, the presence, though, of the world's richest man. at today's meeting, already ruffling a few feathers, cnn's alayna treene and mark preston join us now. so, elena, to you first, in terms of this cabinet meeting, elon musk's presence ruffling a few feathers, what do we expect to come out of it? >> well, there's a few things. one is that i did talk with the white house official about what i can we can expect for the agenda today. they told me essentially that, you know, this is the president's first official cabinet meeting. it's really an opportunity for them to touch base, walk through their priorities, their agenda items, but also make sure, as they refer to it, that they are rowing in the same direction. but of course, the big a big question mark around is what will elon musk's role be at that meeting? it's clear, of course, how influential he is. he's one of the most influential people in the trump administration. despite not being senate confirmed. um, you know, despite not being a cabinet secretary, i think one key thing to look for is actually the seating

arrangements in there today. you know, normally you'll see the cabinet secretaries all seated around the table with the president. you often have top advisers, senior advisers kind of lining the room. so where musk is in all of this will, you know, give us even more insight into that influence and his role here, especially when you account for the fact that optics are so important for this president. one other thing as well, just to give you a sense of who we've already seen, kind of entering the west wing, because we know this is kicking off this meeting any moment now. we've already seen secretaries burgum, mcmahon, bondi. musk is not a secretary, but we saw him walking in with with bondi. robert f. kennedy jr., tulsi gabbard, pete hegseth marco rubio and vice president um jd vance all entering. so this is going to be starting shortly. but again, one key thing i'll be watching for erica is who exactly who is sitting where and what the dynamics are in that room. >> yeah, absolutely. and one of the things that stands out is i can't help but think back, mark, to the first first cabinet

meeting in the first trump administration, which was a little bit different, i think, than what we're used to seeing in these in these moments where it was sort of a going around and praising donald trump. um, i'm curious to see what it will look like in this moment. also because of a tweet that i shouldn't say a tweet, a truth social post from the president earlier today where he wrote in all caps, all cabinet members are extremely happy with elon. the media will see that at the cabinet meeting this morning. i'm not sure if that's a directive to the cabinet to be happy to see elon or what this means. how did you interpret that mark? >> well, isn't it wild that the president of the united states communicates with his closest advisers through through ex? forgive me, i say twitter or whatever. he did it through. he did it publicly as opposed to having these private conversations with him. you know, erica, i do think sometimes we are caught up in the process of elon musk not being senate confirmed. the reality is he has the influence. he has the power. we've seen president trump sent out a tweet in support of elon musk even

earlier today. look, and also the fact is these cabinet secretaries, they can express all the anger they want. but at the end of the day, they're still going to have to go up against elon musk. and elon musk is very close to president trump now. i warned this the other day, and i would warn this again, is that elon musk is donald trump's closest ally until he's not his closest ally. and i think that elon musk is, uh, could be flying too close to the sun. but we'll see what happens. >> yeah, we saw puck a puck call this perhaps elon. uh, elon musk's icarus moment in terms of reference of flying too close to the sun, there is some frustration, though, among cabinet officials. i know you have some reporting about how a number of them were actually caught off guard by this email directive from musk over the weekend to federal employees. what more do we know about that? because the press secretary is saying, oh, no, everybody's working in concert together. you know, all the all the cabinet secretaries are working very closely with elon musk. clearly not. >> right. i mean, this has been a key question, erica, is

whether or not the authority that we've seen elon kind of be given the power, the influence and the types of decisions that he is making, you know, whether or not it is grading on cabinet officials. and i spoke with several trump administration officials, white house officials yesterday, people who are privy to some of these conversations. and they admit privately that some of these cabinet secretaries, one, as you said, were caught off guard by that directive that he issued last week saying, you know, send five things in that you did to all government employees. and if you don't respond, you could have your employment terminated. um, but it's the way in which he's carrying out some of these moves. i think there's no question as well, that many people in the trump administration and these cabinet secretaries agree with the president and elon musk that maybe there is bloat in the government. maybe they should be looking at waste, fraud and abuse. but it's the way in which he is carrying that out, that chainsaw approach, that kind of cut and ask questions later approach that is beginning to really, you know, frustrate some of these secretaries. i'm told a lot of it is because we know that some of them were just sworn in. some of them haven't even been, uh, even had their

cabinet votes yet, their confirmation votes yet. and so they still need to assess what their agency needs are. um, and you know, who they might want to keep or cut in their agencies, and they want that to be under their power. and so that's where some of this really stemmed from. i was told erica. >> and mark, when we look at that too, there's there's the cabinet level, but then there's there are lawmakers, right, who are weighing in, uh, maybe not as publicly, although we did hear a little bit from senator tillis talking to manu about how they feel in terms of elon musk's involvement and perhaps the speed at which he is moving forward with things. um, is that starting to have a broader impact in washington? >> uh, look, we started to we started to hear it. we know that congress is back home right now. so we know that constituents are telling their lawmakers, you are starting to hear this, this drumbeat of anger against elon musk. but what's interesting is you're not necessarily hearing from house members who are more susceptible to donald trump primarying them, running someone

against them. if they don't fall in line behind him, then say, united states senators who have six year terms. so that's why you see u.s. senators like lisa murkowski or susan collins who have come out, both republicans who have come out and expressed their anger about elon musk. but i will say one thing about about this cabinet meeting, which i think is going to be fascinating, two people that we should be looking for and see how they act. one, of course, is jd vance, because, you know, he is supposed to be the number two for president trump. so as lina was talking about earlier, let's see what the dynamics of where jd vance is. and number two, let's see what doug burgum, um, what his role is today in going forward. doug burgum somebody who actually talked a lot about overhauling the federal government, uh, actually had conversations with when he was running for president, just as we were just sitting around talking about policy issues. and doug burgum was somebody who really wanted to go in and try to transform the federal government. so he's somebody who quietly could be doing a lot of work right now behind the scenes. we just haven't heard much from him. >> all right. we'll be watching for all of that. elena. mark, stick around as we wait for this

to begin. i also want to bring in leon panetta, who, of course, was defense secretary, cia director under president obama, also served as chief of staff under president clinton. good to see you as always. you know, as we wait for this event to begin, i'm curious, you know, mark just said who he is sort of looking at in this moment. who are you watching most closely in terms of these cabinet members? uh, as this administration really begins to take shape in its first month? >> yeah. >> well, you know, look, uh, the role of the cabinet has changed. uh, in the last number of years. there was a time, obviously, when the president used to quietly sit down with the cabinet and really develop policy with them, allow them to speak, really become advisors to the president. uh, in many ways, what happens at these cabinet meetings is essentially a press event in which the press goes in. uh, the president delivers a message, uh, everybody kind of says great things about what's happening. uh, and, uh, and

that's it. uh, so i'll be interested to see whether or not this really becomes a cabinet meeting in which the cabinet is able to truly express their views to the president, because that's why they're there. and that's what the president needs. >> secretary panetta. stay with me as well. we're going to continue to drill down on this. we're going to fit in a quick break here as we wait for this cabinet meeting to begin. stay with us. you're watching cnn. >> amid upheaval and sweeping changes. >> the president of the united states. >> trump heads to capitol hill to share what's next. follow cnn for complete coverage and in-depth analysis. the presidential address to congress tuesday at eight on cnn. >> if you're looking for a medicare supplement insurance plan, that's smart. >> now i'm 65. >> and really smart. later. >> i'm 70 ish. >> consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan from unitedhealthcare. with this type of plan, you'll know upfront about how much your care costs, which makes planning your

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premieres march. >> 9th on. >> cnn. >> well, as we wait for president trump's cabinet meeting to begin, which is expected to start at any moment, i want to pick up our conversation with leon panetta, who, of course, has served in a number of capacities in the u.s. government, including chief of staff under president clinton. secretary panetta, you were saying before the break how cabinet meetings have changed over the years. in many ways, they've become more of a photo op where they used to be more about discussion, exchanging of ideas. i'm curious, given the way that the current president prefers to surround himself with people who agree with him. right? we know a loyalty test, for lack of a better word, is very important to president trump. do you anticipate that this is a meeting that will be perhaps a substantive discussion, a sharing of ideas, or is it more about showing public agreement with the president? >> well, you know, i, i really, really hope that it's it's a

meeting that gives cabinet members the opportunity to really speak up and present their views to the president. uh, that's that's what the president needs. he needs to hear from his cabinet. they are one team. look, they can do the press event. the cameras will come in. uh, you know, they'll all talk about the great things that are going on. uh, and that's that's understandable. but once those cameras leave the room, they ought to close the doors and allow these cabinet members to express themselves. look, they're confirmed by the senate. they have a responsibility to their departments and agencies and to the people who operate within those departments and agencies. elon musk is not confirmed by the senate. he is an advisor, but he doesn't have that same kind of. responsibility. i think i think it would really be a healthy thing if they could have an exchange within this cabinet meeting that expresses the concerns that we're seeing about

how people are going to be treated in this administration. >> well, and specifically, some of those concerns is our own reporting. alayna treene just at the top of the hour, talking about her reporting about the concerns of some of these cabinet secretaries, about that email from elon musk that went over the weekend to federal employees, many of them in their own departments that they had no knowledge of. i'm curious as well. when susie wiles was announced as the chief of staff, there was a lot of praise for her and and an expectation that she would really bring discipline to a second trump term, maybe keep some of the fringe voices in the orbit at a distance. you have served as chief of staff so far. is that what you see playing out in terms of the way she is handling this role? >> well, you know, it's obviously less than a month. it's hard to make any kind of judgment at this point as to how that's going, but i really do think that it's the

responsibility of a chief of staff to make sure that everybody is on the same message and that things are not happening, that are chaotic and disruptive. uh, so you need to know she she needs to know what elon musk is up to. she needs to know what cabinet members are up to, because it's important for her to know in order for her to be able to inform the president of the united states and maintain order. the white house does not operate well unless there is discipline. and she has to be the disciplinarian. >> in terms of discipline. it's been remarkable to me about how much of, i don't want to say the authority don't think that's the right word, but just how much control? in some ways, it feels like elon musk has been given. um, and the president really seems to be all in, seems to be very happy with him, even when there was some pushback over the last number of days about that email over the weekend. president trump

basically saying, hey, he's got my blessing. this is the way it needs to happen. are you surprised at all that he has maintained such a level of seeming control and decision making as an adviser? >> well, you know, again, uh, what concerns me is that what you don't want in an administration or lone wolves or loose cannons that basically decide to do their own thing? uh. i understand musk's role. uh, he obviously is is important to the president in terms of what he's trying to do. but very frankly, if if musk is going to operate as an advisor to the president, then in the very least he has to advise the white house as to what he's up to. he can't just operate in his own sphere. he can't operate outside of the boundaries of white house discipline. he's got to he's got to be brought under control so that he is is

alerting the white house to the steps he is taking to try to accomplish the goal that, you know, the president obviously gave him. but there has to be order here. and the more chaos, the more disruption, the more surprises that take place. let me tell you, the weaker the white house becomes. >> uh, to be a fly on the wall. once the cameras leave in that meeting, once the doors are closed as to whether perhaps that would come up. secretary panetta, always appreciate your time. thank you. >> good to be with you. >> we are going to continue to follow this cabinet meeting. of course, as we are waiting on it for on it to begin a live shot of the white house there. we're going to fit in a quick break as we wait. stay with us. you're watching cnn newsroom. >> cookbooks. corporate fat cats, swindling socialites, doped up cyclists, then? >> yes. >> more crooked politicians. i have a feeling we won't be running out of those anytime soon.

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high five. five years? -nope. comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities. comcast business. business. start reinventing your business at paychex.com. >> i'm valeria leone in mexico city and this is cnn. >> we are, of course, waiting on the start of the first cabinet meeting for president trump since his return to office. we have seen a number of secretaries leaving the executive office building, walking over to the white house. the meeting today will also include elon musk. of course, not a cabinet secretary or even a senate confirmed member of the administration. the billionaire, however, could be the most important and most influential voice in that room. joining me now is vittoria elliott, power and platforms reporter for wired. vittoria, it's great to have you with us. you know, as we look at the role of elon musk here, puck news today calling the cabinet, meeting his icarus moment, suggesting maybe he's flying too close to the sun while at the same time you have

the president posting on truth social. all cabinet members are extremely happy with elon. the media will see that at this cabinet meeting this morning. i'm not sure if that was a directive to appear happy or not. um, where does elon musk stand at this point? it seems the president is very happy with him. >> you know, i think that remains unclear. um, what i will say is that, um, our freelancer, who we work with, jake lahood, reported a couple weeks ago that, you know, there definitely are people in trump's close orbit, you know, sort of the long term maga people who are uncomfortable with the amount of power and access that musk appears to have. but trump himself has said multiple times that he is, you know, backing musk's decision 100% that he trusts him and his expertise. so, you know, i think at the end of the day, the reality is that,

you know, musk is making some of the the calls that are otherwise pretty unpopular. and trump doesn't have to make them. trump is insulated from some of both. the really hard work of making the federal workforce, basically, um, you know, a of shrinking the federal workforce. and then on top of that, you know, he's able to sort of delegate it to an incredibly loyal supporter. >> yeah, it's such a great point. um, you know, he doesn't sort of have to take the incoming if that happens, right? because he's not ultimately doing it. in many ways, it's elon musk i was struck by. so there were some questions about why elon musk would be in this meeting, which karoline leavitt addressed just a short time ago. take a listen. >> well, elon is. >> working with. >> the cabinet secretaries and their staff every single day to identify waste and fraud and abuse at these respective agencies. and, you know, you see many of these cabinet secretaries, all of the cabinet secretaries take the advice and direction of doge. so all of these cabinet secretaries are working alongside doge. they'll

be providing updates on their efforts, and they'll also be providing updates on what they're doing at their agencies in terms of policy and implementing the promises that the president made on the campaign trail. >> i was struck by her comments there because she talked about how they're working alongside elon musk and doge. and yet, um, we know from cnn's own reporting that a number of them were were really caught off guard by musk's email ultimatum to federal employees. um, how close is it, you know, based on your reporting and your sources? i mean, how close are they actually working together? or is it just, you know, in some ways, finding out about stuff the way the rest of us do. >> you know, i think that's kind of unclear. what i what, you know, i think we do know is that doge has very quickly spread its tentacles across multiple government agencies. and definitely, you know, we're seeing this sort of pattern of, you know, trying to access sensitive data, you know, trying to access payment mechanisms and payment systems, as we saw with

usaid and treasury. so i think the big thing is that, you know, i don't actually think she's wrong. you know, doge is operating across all of these agencies, and whether or not they're necessarily operating fully copacetic or transparently, transparently with each agency's leadership, the fact remains that there are doge teams embedding in every agency. um, or at least, you know, several agencies and probably over time, every agency. and so i do think this sort of idea that, well, it makes sense that these people should be meeting with musk. now, does that necessarily mean that musk should have this kind of power as an unelected person who is not even the administrator for doge? um, you know, that's an entirely separate question. but on a logistical level, you know, meeting with the person who's calling the shots on your agency is sensitive data might be a good call. >> um, there were a lot of questions about who the administrator of doge is. we did

learn from the white house yesterday. it's amy gleason, who's the acting administrator. um, do we know much about her? >> she's kind of kept a low profile. and, you know, definitely i you know, my colleague mckenna has reported substantially on usds. and i think, you know, even people within usds were unsure of who the doge administrator was. um, but it does seem, you know, that she is someone who people are at least familiar with. um, who, you know, they has as as much as she's come in sort of from, uh, you know, with the doge side that she's someone that people are familiar with. but i don't really think that, you know, we know a ton at this point because she's also kept quite a low profile. >> um, i was struck by, um, these 21 of these 21 digital service members who put out this letter saying we're resigning based on what's happening here. we're not comfortable with what's going on with doge. a move like that, does that

embolden elon musk? i mean, this is what he wants, right? he wants people to leave. he wants to cut down the federal workforce. and if you can't do the job, okay. goodbye. >> i mean, you know, i think people are trying to make the most ethical decisions that they feel they can at this moment. and, you know, i think a lot of federal workers that are in that position are sort of in a situation where they feel that in order to uphold what they believe to be the ethics of their work and their loyalty to the constitution, that, um, that they are eventually going to be fired for, say, for trying to do their jobs for, say, protect access to sensitive data. um, to, you know, possibly protect their staff from being fired. so i think at some point, many of these people are sort of making the decision, not between keeping their jobs and leaving

their jobs, but between keeping leaving their jobs on their own terms and being fired. >> and perhaps their own, their own personal values and morals, and where they feel and where they stand on things. um, there has been much made of what constituents have been saying to lawmakers as they're going home, meeting with them. is there any sense that that is having an impact in washington? >> i don't know yet. and i think that may take time. i you know, certain representatives have said that their constituents calling them and speaking to them has made a difference. um, there are congresspeople, particularly in the dmv area, who are clearly facing from people in their own constituents who are federal workers, um, who are starting to hold town halls. so we may see some movement on that. i think a really critical thing to understand is that while there are many federal workers in dc,

there are federal workers spread throughout the country. i think that statistic is something like there's only 15% of the federal workforce is actually based in dc. there are bureaus and places all over the country. so i do think the cuts will eventually be something that representatives from all over the country are going to hear about and are going to see their districts impacted by. but i also think we're seeing doge run roughshod over. congressionally established and funded agencies like usaid. and even if it's not a primary concern of congresspersons constituents, that is a real threat to their power, to their ability to fund and maintain these agencies, for their ability to have the power of the purse. and so even if their constituents are not calling them, they should be invested in figuring out what's happening with doge and and really sort of

understanding whether or not doge is breaking some real rules. >> yeah. yeah, it's such an important point, victoria. i really appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you so much. >> we are again keeping an eye there on the white house as we wait for this cabinet meeting to begin a cabinet meeting that will also, of course, include elon musk. we'll take a quick break here. you're watching cnn newsroom. >> it's the news. >> welcome back. >> but it's also kind of not the news. >> we don't fact check here. we don't care, man. wants all the information on this show. so terrible. >> have i got news for you saturday at nine on cnn. >> say the word and i'll lift you up. i, i. incredible. impractical. regrettable. >> i'll move.

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about elon musk and possible conflicts of interest for the billionaire who is looking to transform government with his doge team. cnn's rené marsh joining me now. so, rene, you've done so much reporting on this, on elon musk, on these possible conflicts of interest with contracts from businesses. walk us through what you found and what it could mean even in today's meeting. >> yeah. >> i mean, i think. >> that's what's so extraordinary about today's meeting. is that what we're going to see on display is this blurring of the lines, really, of the private interests with the public government. and for so long there has been just this line there. and now elon musk has kind of starting the process of wiping that all away, because in many ways, he is calling the shots at a lot of these agencies where the cabinet secretaries will be present at this meeting from determining which contracts to be canceled to slimming down the workforce at these agencies, to even freezing contracts that these agencies have committed to. i know in the case of the department of energy, we had some reporting where the energy

secretary had not even gotten into the building yet following confirmation, and already grants had been frozen at that agency. so there's certainly this this influence of elon musk outside of these agencies. but it's happening all while he remains with, you know, lots of business before these government agencies, whether it be contracts that has made him the billionaire that he is today, these government contracts, as well as these agencies serving as regulatory oversight over his business interests. so it makes it a hard argument to make that these agencies will be able to work independently and do their mission. despite his sprawling business interests that come before them in many ways. when they see him sitting in the same room as the president of the united states for this very important cabinet meeting. so that's what's really sticking out to me. again, just this

blurring of the private lines, the government lines. elon musk, unelected, hasn't been confirmed by the senate to run any of these agencies and has played such a role in what we have seen so far playing out at these agencies, from the mass firings to frozen funds. erica. >> right. and the lack of transparency in many cases to that is also adding to that. renee, really appreciate it. thank you. just moments ago, the supreme court heard oral arguments in a case that could impact laws against discrimination. so it involves a straight white woman who claims that her gay boss passed her over for a promotion. the case has gotten national attention as president trump rails against dei programs. cnn's chief legal affairs correspondent paula reid, joining me now. so this case, what exactly is being challenged here? erica, this is a fascinating case. and in listening to the arguments over the past hour or so, i mean, this is one of the few times where you really see unity across all of the justices here. this woman, marlene ames, as you noted, she's a straight white woman. she worked at the ohio department of youth services, and she claimed that she was

discriminated against by her gay boss. she says that her boss denied her a promotion and then demoted her. and then she alleges that less qualified gay colleagues got the job over her. >> but she is. >> specifically challenging the way members of majority groups as a straight white woman, should be part of the majority in this country, have to bring discrimination claims, because if you are a member of the majority in at least five circuits across the country, you have to bring what is called background circumstances, evidence into the case. now that could be, for example, a statistical evidence documenting a pattern of discrimination against the majority group. this is something that members of minority groups do not have to do. and it is notable that the court, the high court, is taking up this case as president trump is really pushing back against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the workplace. but in listening to the arguments, i mean, the justices were clearly skeptical of the state of ohio's case because the ohio

department of youth services, they argue that if you take away this, this higher standard, this extra work that you need to do, that that will open the floodgates for pretty much every single workplace discrimination case to find its way into the courts. but even justice sonia sotomayor, she really pressed the lawyer for the services department, saying, look, if you look at the facts, there's nothing wrong with asking this employer, hey, why? why didn't she get this promotion? why was she demoted? so it appears that miss ames could very likely win this case. whenever the decision is announced. and that'll be interesting to see what the fallout is from that. paula. there's also because it's never a quiet day in washington. the senate judiciary committee i know also holding hearings today to examine some pending nominations. uh, what are we waiting on? yeah, these are some big ones, erica. for example, the solicitor general, john sauer, previously represented president trump in some of his ongoing cases. he is up for solicitor general, which is the official lawyer who argues on behalf of the united states in

front of the supreme court. now, this is a multiple nominees being heard being tested at the same time. harmeet dhillon, also another former trump lawyer. she is up to head the civil rights division. and this is really. paula, i'm gonna have to interrupt you. i'm sorry, but it looks like we do have the cabinet assembled and we see the president speaking. let's listen in. >> we're doing. >> very. >> well with russia. >> ukraine. >> president zelenskyy is going to be coming on friday. >> that's now confirmed. >> and we're going to be signing an agreement., which will be a very big agreement. >> and i want to thank howard and scott for the job you guys did in putting it together. we did an amazing job. and that will be on rare earth and other things. and as you know, we're in for probably $350 billion. the europe is in for 1 billion, $100 billion. and that's a big difference. so we're in for probably three times as much. and yet, uh, it's very important

to everybody. but europe is very close. we have a big ocean separating us. so it's very important for europe. and they hopefully will step up and do maybe more than they're doing and maybe a lot more. the previous administration put us in a very bad position, but we've been able to make a deal where we're going to get our money back and we're going to get a lot of money in the future. and i think that's appropriate because we have, uh, taxpayers that are shouldn't be footing the bill, and they shouldn't be footing the bill at more than the europeans are paying. so it's all been worked out. we're happy about it. and i think that, uh, very importantly, we're going to be able to make a deal, most importantly by far. we're going to make a deal with russia and ukraine to stop killing people. they'll stop killing young russian soldiers and young ukrainian soldiers and other people. in addition, in the towns and cities. and we will consider that a very important thing and a big accomplishment

because it was going nowhere until this administration came in. they hadn't spoken to president putin in two years. and so we'll we'll keep you advised before we begin the cabinet, i'd like to have scott, uh, and a couple of people say a few things, but most importantly, where are you? right here. this is a gentleman who's going places the head of hud. and he's going to say, you all know him, and you're going to say grace, and then we'll have our meeting. thank you very much. >> thank you. let's pray. father, we thank you for this awesome privilege, father, to be in your presence. god, thank you that you've allowed us to see this day. the bible says that your mercies are new every morning. and father god, we give you the glory and the honor. thank you, god, for president trump, father, for appointing us. father god, thank you for anointing us to do this job. father, we pray you will give the president, the vice

president wisdom. father god as they lead. father, i pray for all of my colleagues that are here around the table and in this room. lord god, we pray that we would lead with a righteous clarity. father god, as we serve the people of this country and every prospective agency, every job that we have. father, we would humble ourselves before you and we would lead in the manner that you've called us to lead and to serve. father, the bible says, blessed is the nation whose god is the lord. father, we today honor you and in your rightful place. father, thank you for giving us this opportunity to restore faith in this country and be a blessing to the people of america. and lord god, today in our meeting, we pray that you would be glorified in our conversation. in jesus name, amen. amen. >> that was a very good job you did. you've done that before, haven't you? so scott turner is a terrific young guy. he's heading up hud, and he's going to make us all very proud. right. >> thank you. >> mr. president. thank you very much. great job. in just over

one month, illegal border crossings have plummeted by numbers that nobody has actually ever seen before. it's much more than 100%. and we've unleashed american energy at levels that will soon be reported. but we think we're going to get it going very quickly. we have incredible people on the energy front. i think we have really great people on every front. i'll let you know if they're not good, but i think they really are. and we're fighting every day to get the prices down. the inflation is stopping slowly, but part of the reason it's stopping is because of high interest rates and other problems that we inherited. but we have to get the prices down, not the inflation down. the prices of eggs and various other things. eggs are a disaster. the secretary of agriculture is going to be showing you a chart that's actually mind boggling. what's happened, how low they were with us and how high they are now. but i think we can do something about it. madam secretary, and i think you're going to do a fantastic job in

that position. one of the most important initiatives is doge, and we have cut billions and billions and billions of dollars. we're looking to get it maybe to $1 trillion. if we can do that, we're going to start getting to be at a point where we can think in terms of balancing budgets. believe it or not, something you haven't heard in many, many years, decades, actually. and it's a big whether it's this year or next year, i think we'll be very close to balancing budgets. and the doge is very important. and ellen is here to give you a summary of what's happening, some of the things they found, some of the horrible things they found, some of the theft and. fraud, and we call it waste and abuse. but a lot of fraud and probably some fraud that we're not going to be able to prove is fraud. but when you hear the names and the places where this money is going, it's it's a disgrace. but we've. requested

that a lot of people, we want to make sure that the people are working. so letters were sent out and i think everyone at this table is very much behind it. and if they if they aren't, i'd want them to speak up. but they're very much behind it. letters were sent out to people just to find out if the people exist. do they work? who do they work for? where are they? you know, where have they been working? have they been working for other companies or other entities at all, or being paid by the government? so they have two jobs, but they're supposed to have one. and the letter asks some simple questions like, what have you done lately? and if they can answer that because i can. i can tell you everything i've done for the last long period of time. a lot more than a week, and in many cases, we haven't gotten responses. usually that means that maybe that person doesn't exist, or that person doesn't want to say they're working for another company while being paid by the united states government. so there's a lot of interesting things. it's very unique, but we have a very unique situation

because we have a lot of people that were scamming our country. we have a lot of dishonest people. we have a lot that took advantage of a lot of different situations, and we're not going to let that happen. so i'm going to ask if it's possible to have ellen get up first and talk about doge, because it seems to be of great interest to everyone. i will say that there is a large group of people in this country that have such admiration for what we're doing. i got elected with a. tremendous vote, winning every swing state, winning the popular vote, winning the counties by thousands of counties. i think it was 2800 to 500, 2800 counties to 500 counties. think of that. and so we have a mandate to do this. and this is part of the reason i got elected. i got elected based on taxes and based on many things in the border, but also based on balancing budgets and getting our country back into shape. and this is a big part of it. so,

ellen, if you could get up and explain where you are, how you're doing and how much we're cutting, and it's an honor to have you been a tremendously successful guy. he's he's really working so hard and he's got businesses to run. and in many ways they say, how do you do this? and, you know, it's he's sacrificing a lot. and getting a lot of praise, i'll tell you. but he's also getting hit. and we would expect that. and that's the way it works. so i'd like to have elon musk please say a few words. thank you. >> thank you, mr. president. >> well, i actually just call myself a humble tech support here because this is actually. as crazy as it sounds that that is almost a literal description of the work that the doge team is doing is helping fix the government computer systems. many of these systems are extremely old. they don't communicate. there are a lot of mistakes in the systems. the

software doesn't work. um, the so we are actually tech support. it's it's ironic, but it's true. um, the overall goal here with the doge team is to help address the enormous deficit we simply cannot sustain as a country, a $2 trillion deficits. the interest rates, just the interest on the national debt now exceeds the defense department's spending. we spend a lot on the defense department, but we're spending like over $1 trillion on interest. if this continues, the country will become de facto bankrupt. it's not an optional thing. it is an essential thing. that's that's the reason i'm here. um, and taking a lot of flack and getting a lot of death threats, by the way, i like to stack them up, you know? um, but if we don't do this, america will go bankrupt. that's why it has to be done. uh, and i'm confident at this point. knock on wood, you know, knock on my wooden

head. um, the. a lot of wind up there, um, that we can actually find $1 trillion in savings. that would be a roughly 15% of the $7 trillion budget. um, and obviously, that can only be done with the support of everyone in this room. and i'd like to thank everyone for your support. thank you very much. this this can only be done with with with your support. um, so this is it's really doge is a support function for the president and for the agencies and departments to help achieve those savings and to effectively find 15% in reduction in fraud and and waste. um, and we bring the receipts. so people say like, well, is this real? just go to doge sh÷gun line item by line item. we specify each item. so and and i should say we also we will make mistakes. we won't be perfect. but when we make mistake we'll fix it very quickly. so for example with

usaid, one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was ebola. ebola prevention. i think we all want ebola prevention. so we restored the ebola prevention immediately, and there was no interruption. um, but we do need to move quickly if we're if we're to achieve a, $1 trillion deficit reduction in in financial year 2026, it requires saving $4 billion per day every day from now through the end of september. but we can't do it and we will do it. thank you. >> do you have any questions of ellen while we're on the subject of doge? because we'll finish off with that. and if you would have any questions, please ask. you could ask me or ellen. go ahead please. >> thank you, mr. president. thank you. mr. musk. i just wanted to ask you, the president trump put out a truth social today saying that everybody in the cabinet was was happy with you. i just wondered if that if you had heard otherwise and if you had heard anything about members of the cabinet who

weren't happy with the way things were going. and if so, what are you doing to address those? any dissatisfaction? uh. >> let the cabinet speak just for a second. >> mr.. >> is anybody unhappy with anybody? if you are, will throw them out. >> of. >> here. is anybody. >> unhappy? we are. >> we have a lot of respect for ellen and that he's doing this. and some disagree a little bit. but i will tell you, for the most part, i think everyone is not only happy, they're thrilled. so go ahead. >> i'm grateful. >> president trump has put together, i think, the best cabinet ever. literally. so uh, and i do not give false praise. this this is an incredible group of people. uh, i don't think such a talented team has actually ever been assembled. i think it's literally the best cabinet that the country has ever had. and i think the company should be incredibly appreciative of the people in

this room. >> thank you, thank you. please. yeah. good. >> um. >> mr. president, thank you. mr. musk. are there about half of the government employees so far appear to have responded to your request for what they've been doing over the past week. is there a timeline in place for next moves for people being fired? and when can the american people expect to see results from that? >> yes. well, to be clear, like the i think that email perhaps was best interpreted as a performance review, but actually it was a pulse check review. uh, do you have a pulse? do you have a pulse? and two neurons? um, so if you have a pulse and two neurons, you can reply to an email. um, this is, you know, i think not a high bar is what i'm saying. this is a should be anyone could accomplish this. but what we are trying to get to the bottom of is we think there are a number of people on the government payroll who are dead, which is probably why they

can't respond. um, and, and some people who are not real people, like, they literally fictional individuals that are collecting paychecks. somebody is collecting paychecks on a fictional individual. so we're just literally trying to figure out, are these people real? are they alive? and can they write an email, which i think is a reasonable expectation for the american public, would have at least that expectation of someone in the public sector. >> mr.. mr.. >> roughly a million. >> employees. >> guys, come. >> on. >> the employees have responded so far to this email. does that mean that the remaining 1 million or so federal employees now risk being terminated? and is it your understanding and expectation when you post a directive on x that the cabinet secretaries will follow that order? because several agencies have instructed employees that this is voluntary or not to respond? >> yeah. well, i mean, typically. so i guess there was a like last week, the president encouraged me via truth social and also via phone call to be

more aggressive. um, and i was like, okay, you know. yes, sir. mr. president, we will indeed do that. um, the president is the commander in chief. i do what the president asks. so and i said, can we send out an email to everyone just saying, what did you get done last week? and the president said yes. so did that. um, and, um, you know, we got a partial response, but we're going to send another email. our goal is not to be capricious or unfair. it's we want to give people every opportunity to send an email. and the email could simply be, uh, what i'm working on is too sensitive or classified. to describe like literally just that would be sufficient. you know, i think this is just common sense. >> and what is your target number for for how many workers, employees you're looking to cut total? >> uh, we wish to keep everyone who is doing a job that is essential and doing that job well. but if they're if the job

is not essential or they're not doing the job well, they obviously should not be on the public payroll. >> i like. >> to add wait a minute, wait a minute. i'd like to add that those million people that haven't responded though, elon, they are on the bubble. you know, i wouldn't say that we're thrilled about it. they haven't responded. now, maybe they don't exist. maybe we're paying people that don't exist. don't forget we just got here. this group just got here. uh, but those people are on the bubble, as they say. you know, they may be they're going to be gone. maybe they're not around. maybe they have other jobs. maybe they moved and not where they're supposed to be. a lot of things could have happened. i wouldn't say that biden ran a very tight administration. they spent money like nobody's ever spent money before. wasted money. the green new scam, all of the different things they spent money on. and you've seen that. we've seen that with, uh, some oth