US: Trump holds first Cabinet meeting with Elon Musk in attendance

President Donald Trump of the United States, US, on Wednesday met with his cabinet members for the first time after returning to the White House.

The meeting had the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, Elon Musk, in attendance.

Also in attendance were the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem; Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth; and Attorney General, Pam Bondi, among others.

Addressing the cabinet, Trump said one of the things he was elected to do was balance the budget and “get our budget back into shape.”

He then introduced Musk to the cabinet members, saying he is “sacrificing a lot… and getting a lot of praise, but he’s also getting hit.”

Also speaking, Musk said, “The overall goal of the DOGE team is to help address the enormous deficit.”

Musk said: “We simply cannot sustain it. If this continues, the country will become de facto bankrupt.”

“It’s not an optional thing, it’s an essential thing,” he said.