Bestie breakup? Elon Musk not expected to join cabinet meeting at White House on Thursday

President Donald Trump is expected to host a cabinet meeting at the White House around 11 am ET this morning. However, unlike previous gatherings with leaders from his administration, billionaire Elon Musk is not expected to join. Secretary of Transporation Pete Duffy told Newsmax today that Musk might not be present but that he was still considered an essential member of the Trump team.

Musk is working as a ‘special government employee,’ a contract that allows him to work for the federal government for no more than 130 days. Based on his comments to Fox News’s Brett Baier and those from the president that the billionaire will soon return to the private sector, many are not expecting Musk to stay on as a part of the administration past May. Shareholders of Musk’s companies including Tesla, have urged him to return to his leadership role as EV companies stock has lost a third of its value since the beginning of the year.

Although Musk and Trump appeared to be in lockstep, with the president frequently expressing gratitude to the billionaire who has played a prominent role in the administration since inauguration day, there are some tensions building under the surface. Though both President Trump and Elon Musk have attempted to play down the defeat of the conservative candidate, Brad Schimel, they backed in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, the outcome does not bode well for the billionaire backer. Reporting by The Washington Post, points to new polling that showing that Musk’s campaign stops might have been counterproductive to the GOP cause.

Though Musk’s money played a critical role in the re-election of Donald Trump, some GOP strategists are doubting that such an active role by Musk will be an asset to them in the November 2026 mid-terms. President Trump doesn’t like to lose and he doesn’t like losers, and if Musk has lost the confidence of the White House, he might find himself with far less access and power within the administration than he has had up until April.

Tensions were high at the last cabinet meeting

President Trump established the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOGE) and granted Musk extensive powers to utilize this agency—whose legality remains uncertain—to reduce spending across other agencies within the executive branch. This delegation of power to Musk led to frustrations among other cabinet members, as reported by the New York Times following the president’s last meeting in March.

The New York Times reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary Duffy both took Musk to task over cuts he had made without their consent, as well as those that have been proposed but run counter to what leaders see as the mission of their organization. The Transportation Secretary reportedly accused Musk of attempting to persuade the Transportation Department to reduce the number of air traffic controllers at a time when “planes were falling out of the sky.”

Though during the last meeting, the president appeared to protect Elon, while also empowering the other secretaries by putting them in charge of their budgets, he left room open for DOGE. The NYT also reported that the president urged his cabinet to find areas of their budgets that could be cut, and if they didn’t, DOGE would do that for them.

However, as the cabinet prepares to meet after a turbulent week, Musk will be noticeably absent. Aaron Rupar, a journalist who covers the White House and the president closely, stated earlier on Thursday that he sees Musk as having been “marginalized.” Though such characterizations are already being downplayed, his absence is a change of pace.

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