President Trump Thursday hailed his cabinet as a well-oiled machine of “friends,” even as global markets resumed their historic decline after a one-day rebound sparked by his partial reversal on tariffs.
With Wall Street giving up about half the big gains from a day earlier, Trump praised his administration as the “best ever” and cabinet secretaries in turn showered him with flattery on topics from his trade war to undocumented immigration.
“Everyone at this table is doing an incredible job,” Trump said at the beginning of the hourlong meeting. “The relationships are, it’s like they’re friends. The relationships are very strong, really good, really strong.”
Trump beamed as one cabinet member after another repeated his campaign slogans to claim success in various fields. He shrugged off reports of big red arrows on Wall Street and refused to say if he has spoken to China’s Xi Jinping as 145% tariffs went into effect on imports from China.
“We’ll see what happens with China,” he said. “I’m sure we can work something out.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he didn’t see anything unusual in the fresh stomach-churning drop in markets. He repeated Trump’s claim that the U.S. would reach “bespoke” deals with each of its trading partners in the next three months.
“We will end up in a place of great certainty on tariffs,” Bessent said.
Elon Musk, who sat at the table despite not being a cabinet secretary, took credit for engineering more than $170 billion in spending cuts thanks to his “amazing” Department of Government Efficiency.
The Tesla and SpaceX mogul claimed to have uncovered payments to unborn children claiming government benefits, although he didn’t offer details.
“People ask: ‘how can you find waste and fraud in the government?’” Musk said. “You just go any direction and you’ll find it.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downplayed the measles outbreak that has killed two unvaccinated children in west Texas.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth claimed the U.S. military was sending more troops to bases in Panama, an apparent retreat from Trump’s previous saber-rattling threat to take back the Panama Canal.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem vowed to continue the crackdown on undocumented immigrants and praised Trump for his harsh policies that have led to a dramatic decline in border crossings.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned foreign students to avoid getting involved in anti-American political demonstrations and expressed hope for a breakthrough in historic nuclear talks with Iran.
There was no mention of Trump’s aggressive threats to take over Greenland, possibly suggesting that “must have” aim has been put on the back burner for now.
