Karoline Leavitt Shreds New York Times’ ‘Pitiful’ Report About Trump’s Cabinet and Elon Musk

If you exclusively get your news from the establishment media, you’ve no doubt heard about an apparent verbal scuffle between DOGE head Elon Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The blistering report, which originated with the New York Times, claimed that “[s]immering anger at [Musk’s] unchecked power spilled out in a remarkable Cabinet Room meeting.”

The Times noted that this “simmering anger” between Rubio and Musk stems from the former’s annoyance with the latter’s slashing of the United States Agency for International Development — a program that Rubio presumed was under his jurisdiction.

“Mr. Musk was not being truthful [about government slashing], Mr. Rubio said,” the Times reported. “What about the more than 1,500 State Department officials who took early retirement in buyouts? Didn’t they count as layoffs? He asked, sarcastically, whether Mr. Musk wanted him to rehire all those people just so he could make a show of firing them again.

“Then he laid out his detailed plans for reorganizing the State Department.”

Musk reportedly retorted by telling Rubio that he was “good on TV” — suggesting that he’s not worth much elsewhere — as the two went back-and-forth.

Eventually, President Donald Trump interjected, offering some defense of Rubio.

It all sounds like a wonderfully dramatic scene from a show like “The West Wing” or “Designated Survivor,” so it’s little wonder that outlets — and viewers — latched onto this story like barnacles.

Just one problem: Reports of Team Trump’s demise may have been greatly exaggerated.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke to “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday and lambasted the “pitiful” report.

“Everybody is on board with President Trump’s mission and DOGE’s mission to identify this waste and fraud, to be good stewards of the American taxpayers’ money, and both Elon and Marco are doing an incredible job in their respective roles, and that’s true of everybody in President Trump’s cabinet,” Leavitt told Fox.

She further noted: “[Trump] has really put together an extraordinary team, and I think it’s pitiful that the mainstream media is working overtime to try to divide President Trump from Elon and from other members of his cabinet, but their attempts are failing.

“Everybody is working as one team towards one goal, and it’s to make America great again.”

Of note, Leavitt, no stranger to smacking down media reports, did not actually deny that there was some verbal altercation between Musk and Rubio, which is fair.

These are high-stakes discussions regarding matters of national importance — emotions should be running high.

But Leavitt clearly, and understandably, has an issue with how this moment was being packaged and sold by the media.

Yes, grown men can have disputes, but that doesn’t mean they’re suddenly mortal enemies who are unable to work together for the American people — the morale of the story clearly suggested by the media reports.

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.