Elon Musk’s strategies irritate several high-ranking White House officials

Four sources familiar with the difficulties say that some of President Donald Trump’s senior advisers are becoming more frustrated as tech billionaire Elon Musk increases his control over over a dozen U.S. federal agencies. They want better cooperation from Musk’s team as he cuts the U.S. government even more.

As Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency tries to dismiss thousands of government employees while gaining access to private information and interfering with operations, Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and her staff have occasionally felt left behind, according to the four sources. One of the individuals claims that Wiles and a few of her closest aides recently discussed the problems with Musk.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday at the White House, Musk portrayed Trump, his close-knit team of DOGE employees, and himself as being in agreement. However, underlying conflicts with certain White House officials point to possible challenges for Trump in striking a balance between Musk’s DOGE personnel and his core team as they upend departments in a massive restructure that has been questioned by Congress and has been the subject of several lawsuits.

Wiles and her team told Musk during the current chat, “We need to message all this.” The person with knowledge of the encounter stated, “We must be included in the loop.” Reuters was unable to ascertain the precise day of their chat or if Musk made any adjustments following it. According to the source, Trump himself kept praising Musk in his remarks to contributors and other people.

An inquiry for comment was not answered by Musk. There was no response from the White House. An official with knowledge of the situation denied the sources’ account of tensions, claiming that the first “operational hiccups” had been resolved. According to the source, Musk and Wiles talk on the phone virtually every day and submit updates to each other at the end of the day.

According to the person, Musk came up with the idea to meet with reporters at the Oval Office on Tuesday while his four-year-old son, X, was there. He arrived accompanied by his child. “We went along with it,” the official stated.

Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that gave Musk more authority over the federal government and mandated that federal departments collaborate with DOGE to reduce recruiting and make significant employment cuts. Every government agency must have a “team lead” assigned by DOGE to supervise all employment choices, according to the decree.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday, “This is a unified team.” Elon Musk, like all the other members of this team, is serving at the president’s pleasure. He receives orders directly from the US president.

Musk defended his position as an unelected official who has been given extraordinary power by the Republican president to demolish portions of the U.S. government during the Oval Office press conference, where Trump was present. He claimed that his job serves the public interest and democracy when he informed reporters that he talks to Trump almost daily.

“The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what people are going to get,” Musk added. “All of our actions are as transparent as possible.”

On the other hand, DOGE has been extremely secretive. It has seldom disclosed any details about its personnel, its operational location, or its activities within government organizations. It releases few details regarding its activities, including simply monetary amounts for alleged agency cuts and scant specifics. It has astonished government workers by granting its members access to sensitive material and putting them into at least 15 agencies. Musk’s financial disclosure paperwork would not be made public because he is a “special government employee,” according to the White House.

According to one of the four sources, Wiles objected to Musk’s strategy rather than his attempts to eliminate government organizations and reduce the number of the federal workforce. The source, who is directly aware of the situation, stated that Wiles, one of the two managers of Trump’s 2024 campaign, wants Musk and DOGE to communicate with her team and operate in a more organized manner.

The insider claimed that while there is some annoyance, the idea that there is a rift is exaggerated.

An acquaintance of top White House officials, the fourth source, characterized the conflict as more severe and said that Wiles’ subordinates had voiced displeasure with material Musk posted on his social media site X before senior White House personnel had seen it. “They are undoubtedly using Twitter to learn things.”

ANGRY ABOUT EMAILS

One source of disagreement is a set of emails that Musk associates started sending to government employees, one of which offered financial incentives to two million federal employees to resign on January 28. A fifth person close to Trump and one of the four sources claim that Wiles and her staff did not approve some of those emails.

Indeed, Musk’s unyielding style of leadership seems to be a source of great satisfaction for many of Trump’s closest supporters and White House staff. But according to Reuters interviews, his support is far from universal.

The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to support Trump in his bid for president last year. Following his victory in November, Musk started spending a lot of time with Trump, who has referred to Musk as “fantastic” and hailed DOGE employees as a team of “super geniuses.”

One of the most powerful people in Washington is Wiles, who serves as chief of staff. She oversaw Trump’s most recent presidential campaign, which was largely hailed as his most disciplined to date. On the night when Trump won the election, she declined his request to address the throng, demonstrating her propensity for self-effacement. According to several White House sources, she has never raised her voice. When flying on Air Force One, she is frequently seen with Trump. When the cameras turned on her on a recent trip to California, she stepped back.

On the other hand, Musk is well-known for his passionate, unrestrained attitude to work and his love of the spotlight. He often shares content on his social networking platform X hundreds of times a day, solicits feedback from people, and boasts about his tendency to work over the weekend.