A month after returning to power, U.S. President Donald Trump held his first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (February 26). As expected, the session garnered significant public attention. The hour-long meeting, attended by key officials like Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, began with a prayer and covered crucial topics, including federal workforce layoffs, tariffs, and peace in Ukraine. However, the unexpected highlight of the meeting was billionaire Elon Musk’s participation.
Musk Dominates the Discussion
Although Musk, the CEO of Tesla and owner of X, is not an official Cabinet member, his influence was evident throughout the meeting. About 12 minutes in, Trump invited him to speak first, jokingly asking, “Is anybody unhappy with Elon?” When no one responded, he added, “If you are, we’ll throw him out of here.”
Musk, sporting a black ‘Make America Great Again’ cap, described his role in the administration as “humble tech support.” He focused on addressing the U.S. deficit and modernizing government systems. “We simply cannot sustain as a country $2 trillion deficits,” he said, emphasizing his team’s mission to reduce federal spending.
Referring to his controversial email asking federal employees to justify their roles or face termination, Musk clarified that he had received approval from Trump. “I said, ‘Can we send out an email to everyone just saying what did you get done last week,’ and the president said yes,” Musk told the Cabinet.
He further claimed—without evidence—that “a number of people on the government payroll are dead” and that the email aimed to verify if employees were active.
Musk also admitted to making errors in budget cuts, revealing, “One of the things we accidentally cancelled very briefly was Ebola prevention… so we restored the Ebola prevention immediately.”
Additionally, he mentioned receiving numerous death threats, stating, “I’m taking a lot of flack… and getting a lot of death threats, by the way.”
Trump’s Tariff Plans
Beyond Musk’s presence, Trump addressed his administration’s tariff policies, targeting Canada, Mexico, and the European Union (EU).
He announced that the deferred tariffs on Canada and Mexico, originally set for March 4, would now take effect on April 2. However, Commerce Secretary Lutnick hinted at possible extensions if the two countries “can prove to the president they’ve done an excellent job.”
Trump also declared a 25% tariff on some EU products, including automobiles and other goods. “They’ve really taken advantage of us,” he said, accusing the EU of blocking U.S. car and farm exports.
Zelenskyy’s White House Visit Confirmed
Trump confirmed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would visit the White House on Friday (February 28). He emphasized plans to collaborate with Ukraine on rare earth minerals, stating, “We very much need rare Earth. They have great rare Earth… It brings us great wealth.”
However, Trump refrained from offering security guarantees, saying, “We’re gonna have Europe do that.” He suggested that U.S. business involvement in Ukraine could serve as a deterrent, adding, “Nobody’s going to be messing around with our people when we’re there.”
Trump’s ‘Gold Card’ Citizenship Plan
The president also elaborated on his ‘gold card’ initiative, an alternative to the green card, allowing individuals to gain U.S. citizenship by paying $5 million.
“I happen to think it’ll sell like crazy. It’s a market,” Trump said, predicting high demand. “If we sell a million, that’s $5 trillion.”
Commerce Secretary Lutnick explained that the ‘gold card’ plan would replace the EB-5 visa program, which grants residency to investors who spend about $1 million on businesses that employ at least 10 people. Lutnick criticized the EB-5 program for “poor oversight and execution.”
