US President Donald Trump denied the reports that his senior advisor, billionaire Elon Musk, had clashed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a White House meeting on Friday (March 7).
As per a report by the The New York Times, Musk argued with Rubio and separately with transportation secretary Sean Duffy during a cabinet meeting in presence of Trump on Thursday (March 6).
But when he was asked by reporters about the reported dispute, Trump said "No clash. I was there."
"They're both doing a fantastic job ... they both get along fantastically well," the US president added.
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According to the report, Musk scorned Rubio's cost-cutting record at the State Department. He accused the state secretary of having fired "nobody" in the administration's first 45 days.
Meanwhile, Musk was called a "liar" by a top diplomat in Trump's cabinet - Sean Duffy, the department of transport secretary. Duffy accused the DOGE chief fired people who should not have been laid off - a claim that Musk denied.
The exchange between the two ended with Trump ordering Duffy to hire staff from MIT as air traffic controllers because the role requires “geniuses”, the report claimed.
"Trump called the meeting and then he backed his cabinet guys. Collins and Duffy called him (Musk) a liar to his face, in front of the president," the report claimed.
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After the meeting, the US presiddent took to social media and said, 'We just had a meeting with most of the secretaries, Elon, and others, and it was a very positive one."
(With inputs from agencies)