Trump picks sides in MAGA power struggle as Elon Musk drops his chainsaw and leaves federal cuts to Cabinet
By STEPHEN M. LEPORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 01:13 EST, 7 March 2025 | Updated: 03:36 EST, 7 March 2025
Donald Trump attempted to settle a MAGA power struggle Thursday by telling Elon Musk to drop the chainsaw and leave the drastic cuts across federal departments to his Cabinet secretaries.
The decision came in a meeting after a tumultuous few weeks of legal challenges and lawsuits from federal workers as Musk fired thousands and literally wielded a power tool at CPAC while promising to take 'a chainsaw to bureaucracy.'
'I don’t want to see a big cut where a lot of good people are cut,' Trump said after the Cabinet meeting.
'Elon and the group are going to be watching them, and if they can cut, it’s better. And if they don’t cut, then Elon will do the cutting.'
Trump's first 100 days has been beset by a fierce standoff over a DOGE email asking federal workers 'what did you do last week.'
Some department heads - including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard - defied the DOGE head by telling their workers to ignore the directive.
Now, it appears Musk may have lost the power struggle as Trump made very clear during his impromptu Cabinet meeting that the department heads were in charge of which federal workers are fired - not Musk.
The news came as one of Musk's SpaceX Starship rockets spiraled out of control and exploded Thursday and his Tesla stock plummeted a staggering 5.6 percent.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are introducing a pair of resolutions demanding the Trump administration turn over documents about the billionaire adviser's potential conflicts of interest and the firings of federal workers
Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created by Trump to examine government agencies for wasteful spending and abuse of taxpayer funds.
But DOGE was only intended to provide recommendations for Trump's Cabinet to carry out on their own accord.
'DOGE has been an incredible success, and now that we have my Cabinet in place, I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing,' Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social.
When asked if Elon Musk had moved too fast with DOGE, Trump said he did not think so. Musk is teaching everybody how to cut costs, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after the meeting.
'I want the numbers but I also want to keep the good people,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The president abruptly assembled his Cabinet on Thursday amid rising scrutiny over how much power Musk wields over the U.S. government.
It appears Trump told his top leaders that they need to be more selective if they continue to conduct clear-outs of their workforce.
Instead of taking a 'hatchet' approach to trimming the fat, Trump wants his secretaries to use a 'scalpel' for 'surgical' precision over who they dismiss.
'As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go,' Trump wrote on his social media platform.
'We say the "scalpel" rather than the "hatchet." The combination of them, Elon, DOGE, and other great people will be able to do things at a historic level.'
Trump's message to his department chiefs was his first notable effort in public to restrain Musk.
The billionaire Tesla founder has wielded unprecedented authority in implementing mass firings, canceling billions of dollars in contracts and programs and gaining access to sensitive computer systems.
The move had liberal pundits wondering if this was the end for America's most high-profile bromance.
On CNN, anchor John King said that Trump was being told by department heads that Musk was cutting them out.
'[Trump]'s hearing it from some of his own cabinet secretaries – that 'he's coming into my department and messing with my business – and it's causing me problems'…so the president is hearing it,' King claimed.
Thursday's meeting was a sharp departure in tone from Trump's first full cabinet meeting last week, when he allowed Musk to deliver a monologue about DOGE at the start of the meeting.
'Is anybody unhappy with Elon?' Trump asked, to scattered laughter.
Some department head took exception with Musk's intrusion into their workforces after the 'what did you do last week' email, and reached out to their employees directly.
"The FBI, through the office of the director, is in charge of all our review processes," said FBI Director Kash Patel, a Trump appointee, in an email to staff.
Former, active-duty Army soldiers charged in scheme allegedly selling sensitive military information to China
Attorney General Bondi said the three men 'are accused of betraying our country' to empower China
By Elizabeth Pritchett Fox News Published March 7, 2025 3:42am EST
Two active-duty U.S. Army soldiers and one former soldier were arrested in Oregon on Thursday for their alleged roles in gathering and sending sensitive information to individuals in China, the Department of Justice said.
The accused are Jian Zhao and Li Tian, who were stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and former soldier Ruoyo Duan.
All three are charged with conspiring to commit bribery and theft of government property. Zhao is facing additional charges of conspiring to obtain and transmit national defense information to an individual not authorized to receive it.
"The defendants arrested today are accused of betraying our country, actively working to weaken America’s defense capabilities and empowering our adversaries in China," said Attorney General Pam Bondi. "They will face swift, severe, and comprehensive justice."
US ARMY SOLDIER CHARGED OVER ALLEGED HACKING OF TRUMP, HARRIS PHONE RECORDS
Duan and Tian are accused of conspiring with each other to "surreptitiously gather sensitive military information related to the United States Army's operational capabilities" from Nov. 28, 2021, to at least Dec. 19, 2024, the DOJ said. Information included that of technical manuals and military weapon systems, specifically Bradley and Stryker U.S. Army fighting vehicles.
Active-duty Army officer Tian was tasked with gathering the above information for former soldier Duan in return for money, the DOJ said.
Tennessee AG Skrmetti Says Chinese DeepSeek AI ‘Promotes Propaganda’ and Leaves User Data ‘Readily Accessible’ to CCP Intelligence
March 5, 2025 Tom Pappert
The Office of Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti on Wednesday released a statement warning consumers about potential hazards posed by DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) product, purportedly subsidized by China’s government, which is reported to rival the accomplishments of American AI companies.
Skrmetti, noting the Chinese product is banned on Tennessee government devices, stated that the AI “creates real risk for both our country and our consumers.”
He warned, “The Tennessee state government has banned the use of DeepSeek on state phones and computers. Any private citizen thinking of using DeepSeek needs to be sure they understand the ramifications for their privacy and their security.”
His office outlined four possible hazards associated with the Chinese AI, starting with concerns that it stores sensitive personal information from users, which its press release said, “is readily accessible to Chinese intelligence agencies” under the communist country’s restrictive laws.
“Your data is not protected by strong encryption and there are no real limits on how it can be used by the Chinese government,” said Skrmetti’s office, before specifically stating that it could be weaponized to “generate detailed profiles on American users to power persuasive disinformation campaigns and hyper-personalized scams.”
It could also give the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “unprecedented insight into U.S. vulnerabilities and could be used to attack our economy, influence elections, and further erode trust in our republic and its institutions.”
WH Press Sec Tells Daily Wire Trump ‘Won’t Back Down’ On Girls Sports Executive Orders
"That fight continues, and the president won't back down."
By Mairead Elordi Mar 5, 2025
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Daily Wire in the briefing room on Wednesday that President Trump will not back down from enforcing his executive orders on girls’ sports.
Trump banned federal funding for schools that promote gender ideology and allow trans-identifying males to play on girls’ sports teams, but Maine — along with several school districts in other states — appear to be defying the orders.
“We know that the governor of Maine has really pushed back against the president’ executive orders saying that boys should not be in girls’ sports,” The Daily Wire’s Mary Margaret Olohan said to the press secretary from the White House’s special “new media” seat at the front of the White House briefing room
Republicans vow to strip Green, Democrats who sang in chamber from committees
by Lauren Irwin - 03/06/25 2:07 PM ET
Several Republicans vowed to strip Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) and the Democrats who sang in the chamber from their committee assignments.
“Today, a group of House Democrats broke decorum during the censure of Rep. Al Green and, after multiple attempts, refused to heed @SpeakerJohnson’s order,” Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said online. “I am drafting privileged resolutions to remove each of them from their committees.”
“If you want to act like a child in the Halls of Congress, you will be treated like a child,” he said.
Green was censured Thursday after he spoke out at President Trump’s joint address to Congress. He was asked by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to maintain decorum but was later removed from the chamber by the sergeant-at-arms.
Republicans quickly moved to censure Green after the address, and Johnson said he thought the censure vote was an appropriate reaction to the Texas Democrat’s outburst.
“I think this expeditious vote of censure is an appropriate remedy. Many, many of our colleagues have argued it should go even further,” Johnson told reporters just before the vote. “But I hope that he will acknowledge his mistake, and I encourage all the Democrats to join us in this vote.”
The vote was mostly along party lines, with 10 Democrats joining Republicans to censure Green.
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