Trump tells Cabinet they’re in charge, not Musk: Sources

President Donald Trump convened a Cabinet-level meeting Thursday morning to tell the heads of the agencies that they are in charge of the agencies and departments they oversee — not Elon Musk, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

Musk was in the room for the meeting when Trump told top officials that Musk’s role is to make recommendations and not unilateral decisions — whether it be about staffing decisions or policy matters, the sources said.

The meeting comes as his own Cabinet secretaries have privately expressed frustration about Musk and the mandates he has been giving that have caused mass confusion among the federal workforce.

Trump discussed the meeting Thursday afternoon after he signed an executive order that paused tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He said it was a “really good meeting” that focused on “cutting.”

He said he instructed his Cabinet members to look at the people they can cut in their own agencies and “keep the good people.” He said he warned that if they didn’t make necessary cuts to reduce “bloat” in the federal government, Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency would take over.

“If they don’t cut, Elon will do the cutting,” he said.

ABC News’ Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.