Musk - who is not a secretary - will attend the first Trump cabinet meeting, White House says

The billionaire is leading the Department of Government Efficiency in dismantling federal agencies

Elon Musk will attend President Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting tomorrow, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed.

The billionaire is not a cabinet secretary but is leading the Department of Government Efficiency in dismantling federal agencies. Leavitt was asked by a reporter at Tuesday’s press briefing whether Musk would be present.

“He is, as a matter of fact,” she replied.

Trump’s press secretary added that Musk would be there because he is working “alongside the president, our cabinet secretaries” and the “entire administration.”

Musk will talk to Trump’s cabinet “about DOGE’s efforts and how all of the cabinet secretaries are identifying waste, fraud and abuse at their respective agencies,” she added.

Musk responded by sharing a clip of Leavitt on X where she said the president “loves everything he is doing and wants him to be even more aggressive.”

While the cabinet traditionally includes the 15 department heads and the vice president, when requested by the president, other officials can attend the meetings. Those officials typically include roles such as the president’s chief of staff.

Elon Musk will attend Trump’s first cabinet meeting, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed (Reuters)

The world’s richest man is merely an employee of the White House, serving as a “senior adviser to the president.” He has “no greater authority other than other senior White House advisers [have],” and has “no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself,” according to a sworn statement from a White House senior official on February 18.

This week many questioned who was really in charge after Musk demanded federal workers respond to an email where they disclose five things they accomplished last week or risk termination. Leavitt said it was tactic Musk has implemented at his companies, adding that she had responded to the email from the Office of Personnel Management and listed her five accomplishments.

“Giving five bullets on what you did last week is so easy that even the busy White House @PressSec found time to do it!” OPM posted on X.

Musk’s unofficial department has been receiving backlash this week following the productivity email and the aggressive pace of the job cuts.

Some department heads instructed their staffers to ignore the email entirely.

It also emerged Tuesday that more than 20 DOGE staffers resigned after refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”