Inside Trump aide and Elon Musk's secret meeting on how they aim to transform federal spending

US President Donald Trump's commerce secretary Howard Lutnick has revealed some startling details about world's richest man Elon Musk. Lutnick spilled beans before the election and long before the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was established to slash the federal spending, according to TOI.

In the All-in podcast, Howard Lutnick confirmed his plans to collaborate with Elon Musk on strategies to reduce government spending if Donald Trump wins the election. Their first meeting was set for October 14, a significant day for Musk, as SpaceX made history by successfully catching a rocket upon landing.

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Howard Lutnick on first meeting with Elon Musk

Describing the story of his first meeting with the Tesla CEO, Howard Lutnick said he flew down to see Elon Musk with his son, and watched the rocket but then Elon Musk went dark as Elon went to take a nap. "He was up all night doing the engineering and he went to sleep," Lutnick said.

After waking up, Elon asked Lutnick to meet him in his house. "So his house is 1,200 square feet. It's got the furniture in it that I had when I graduated from college. And I am not kidding. It's a 1,200 square feet house and it has plastic chairs," Lutnick said.


Then, they discussed how much they could cut. "I said, 'I know how to cut 50.' And he said, 'I want to cut 80.' I repeated, 'I know how to do 50.' He asked, 'Are you with me or against me?' I replied, 'I know how to legally do it. What do you have?'" Lutnick recalled.

His son later described the exchange as "two alpha dogs fighting for the first half hour."

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At one point, Musk left to take his four-year-old son, X, for a walk, leaving Lutnick unsure whether the meeting had ended and if everything was on good terms. But when Musk returned, he was energized by their intense debate—and from there, they moved into the planning phase.

Recently, Elon Musk attended US President Donald Trump’s second cabinet meeting, making headlines with his choice of attire once again. Musk, who is often seen wearing the signature red Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat at official meetings, donned a red baseball cap that read, “Trump was right about everything.”

The tech mogul paired the cap with a black suit jacket over a plain black shirt— again a contrast to his previous appearance at a cabinet meeting last month, where he wore a “Tech Support” T-shirt under his jacket.