‘You’re not supposed to be asking that’: Trump refuses to answer questions about Musk

President Donald Trump lashed out at an NBC News reporter during a Friday afternoon Q&A in the Oval Office, refusing to answer questions about Elon Musk, who serves as a Senior Advisor to the President. Musk has been widely regarded as leading the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which President Trump has also indicated.

During his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, President Trump praised the billionaire Tesla tech tycoon, declaring, “I have created the brand-new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE — perhaps you’ve heard of it,” before adding, “Which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight.”

Who heads DOGE is critically—and legally—important, given that Musk is technically a “special government employee” and has not been Senate-confirmed, yet has wielded massive power across the federal government. According to reports, DOGE has been a part of the mass firings of tens of thousands of government employees, some of which, including critics and the courts, have stated are likely unlawful.

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During Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Musk, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reportedly got into a heated argument over Musk’s authority.

Citing a report from The New York Times, Rolling Stone described the meeting as a “volatile mess of grievance litigation between Musk and the president’s top appointees.”

“After weeks of Musk acting as virtual co-president to Trump, tensions finally boiled over,” Rolling Stone explained. Musk reportedly berated Rubio “in front of the president, claiming that ‘nobody’ had been fired” from the State Department.

“A furious Rubio reportedly countered with a sarcastic ask to Musk if the 1,500 USAID employees who’d taken DOGE’s buyouts didn’t count as layoffs, asking the billionaire if he’d like them to be rehired so he could publicly fire them again. The argument carried on for some time before Trump finally intervened on Rubio’s behalf, saying that he was doing a “great job” and had a lot on his plate.”

The Daily Beast added that Secretary Duffy “complained that DOGE’s youngsters were trying to fire air traffic controllers, which Musk responded was a ‘lie.'”

On Friday, the NBC News reporter asked President Trump about the blowup, and got quickly smacked down.

The reporter brought up the “clashes” between Musk, Rubio, and Duffy, and Trump interjected immediately.

“No clash, I was there, you’re just a troublemaker,” the President told the reporter (video below). “And you’re not supposed to be asking that question because we’re talking about the World Cup.”

Insisting “there is no clash,” Trump again interrupted the reporter, and asked, “Who are you with?”

“NBC,” was the response.

“Uh — no wonder,” Trump shot back. “That’s enough,” he added, waving his hand at the journalist as if to dismiss him entirely.

Undeterred, the reporter continued.

“Mr. President, who has more authority, Elon Musk or your cabinet secretaries?”

“Any other questions?” Trump asked, ignoring the reporter.

Shortly after the exchange, the official White House rapid response social media account posted the clip, bragging, “President Trump shuts down an NBC reporter,” and calling it “Fake News that there was a ‘clash’ between Secretary Marco Rubio and Elon Musk.”

Moments after Trump brushed off the NBC News reporter, another reporter asked about Elon Musk, and Trump again refused to answer that question.

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