Watch: Trump cabinet applauds Musk's work with Dogepublished at 18:03 British Summer Time
Trump cabinet applauds Musk's work with Doge
Summary
At a Cabinet meeting with his leadership team, US President Donald Trump praised tariffs and businesses which he says are investing domestically
It comes after a new report shows the US economy shrank 0.3% in first three months of the year as firms stockpiled imports ahead of Trump tariffs
Trump has blamed Joe Biden, saying "bad numbers" on Wall Street have "nothing to do with tariffs"
Later today, Trump will host CEOs from major companies including Nvidia and GE Aerospace for an investment event
Watch: Trump cabinet applauds Musk's work with Dogepublished at 18:03 British Summer Time
Media caption, Musk's hats draw Trump's attention - 'love the double hat'published at 17:55 British Summer Time
"Elon I love the double hat," Trump says.
Musk responds saying that he wears a lot of hats, getting some laughter from the room. "Even my hat has a hat!"
He goes on to take off both his hats and praises Trump, saying "a tremendous amount has been accomplished in the first 100 days".
"This could be the greatest administration from the dawn of the country."
Trump thanks Musk, saying he has scarified a lot and been "treated unfairly".
But the "vast majority of people in this country" appreciate you, he says, adding that Musk is "invited to stay as long as you want" - to a loud round of applause from the room.
Musk wears two hats - Gulf of America cap on top of Dogepublished at 17:45 British Summer Time
Image source, GettAs we mentioned earlier, cabinet members have Gulf of America embroidered red and black caps in front of them on the table they are sitting around.
According to reporters in the White House, Elon Musk has been fiddling with his hats, adjusting his Gulf of America hat to make it large enough to fit over his Doge (The Department of Government Efficiency) hat.
He's now wearing two hats, one on top of the other.
Bondi on Trump's 100 days - 'never seen anything like it'published at 17:39 British Summer Time
Image source, Getty ImagesSpeaking now is Pam Bondi, Trump's Attorney General, who immediately congratulates the president for his first 100 days in office, telling him they've "never seen anything like it".
Despite that, she says they are dealing with more than 200 civil lawsuits against them and multiple cases in front of the Supreme Court.
"We will succeed," she says firmly.
The cases against the Administration vary in content, but many are over the deportation of people from the US, funding cuts including to Harvard Univeristy, and tariffs.
Bondi also specifically mentions targeting people who have been burning Tesla cars in protest of Elon Musk, who sits in the room watching Bondi speak.
Vance calls past presidents 'placeholders'published at 17:37 British Summer Time
Image source, Getty ImagesAnd now it's Vice-President JD Vance turn to speak, who repeats many of Trump's main talking points.
He says the US has gone from the "world's manufacturing superpower" to one that now relies on China, and the "proudest military in the world" to failing to meet their recruiting goals in the last 40 years.
He calls past presidents "placeholders", saying they allowed their staff to "sign executive orders with an autopen" rather than being "men of action".
The vice-president goes on to admonish journalists for focusing on “BS” instead of stories highlighting the administration's achievements.
No mention of Ukraine so far at cabinet meetingpublished at 17:31 British Summer Time
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White HouseI've been listening in on Trump's cabinet meeting - and there is so far no indication of any imminent deal between the US and Ukraine regarding rare earth minerals.
In fact, I've so far not heard any mention of Ukraine at all from the cabinet members, who are going around the room discussing their accomplishments.
This is perhaps unsurprising if a deal is still in the works, rather than finalised. Many observers strongly suspect that when it is signed, it will be done with much fanfare, rather that an event in which a wide variety of topics are being covered.
There are still, however, several relevant parties - such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio - left to speak.
Stay with us for more updates.
Trump's treasury secretary says economic security 'never been better'published at 17:30 British Summer Time
We are now hearing from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
He sits opposite Trump who is watching him intently.
Bessent says economic security and national security "has never been better".
He says "America first does not mean America alone" repeating a line he said at the World Bank.
Trump says Bessent is "doing a great job".
His remarks were rather short compared to his colleagues. He did not give any substantive update on trade deals with other countries.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer spoke earlier.
Graphic shows course of GDP over last three yearspublished at 17:22 British Summer Time
As we hear Trump's cabinet members touting their achievements and praising the president's performance in the first 100 days, here's a quick look at the GDP figures.
As we've reported, the US economy shrunk by 0.3% at the start of this year.
The graphic below shows the change in GDP since March 2022, when it had shrunk by 1%.
Trump on GDP - 'That's Biden, not Trump'published at 17:15 British Summer Time
We've been hearing from members of Trump's cabinet on a range of topics. We've heard about plans to improve air traffic controls in the US, issues surrounding veterans affairs, and military updates. One voice we will be looking out for is Scott Bessent, secretary of the treasury.
Meanwhile, Trump has once again brought up the Biden administration during this meeting.
He blames the previous administration for economic issues that the US is facing.
Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social account earlier today that US President Joe Biden has left "bad numbers", adding that today's GDP figures had "nothing to do with tariffs".
And last night during his political rally to mark his 100 days in office, he also mentioned Biden several times.
Watch: Trump says he doesn’t want China to ‘suffer’ because of tariffspublished at 17:02 British Summer Time
Media caption, Watch: Trump says he doesn’t want China to ‘suffer’ because of tariffs
There's also a non-cabinet member in the meetingpublished at 16:57 British Summer Time
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House
Image source, ReutersIt stands out to me that - not for the first time - Elon Musk is in the room.
He is, after all, not a cabinet member. Nor is he the head of the Department or Government Efficiency - he's a "special government employee" who says that he will soon be stepping back from his work to re-focus on his business.
Soon, Musk will only be contributing a day or two to Doge work.
His presence in the room highlights Trump's fond view of him, even if some other members of the cabinet have reportedly had a more tense relationship with the tech billionaire.
I asked Trump about him just last week when I was in the Oval Office with other White House reporters.
“He’s been a brilliant guy, and he was a tremendous help, both in the campaign and in what he’s done with Doge,” Trump said at the time.
Trump added that he told Musk that he would “like to keep him for a long time, but whenever you’re ready".
What is unclear is whether he will continue attending cabinet meetings once he steps back on his Doge duties.
All the President's men weigh in on his first 100 dayspublished at 16:55 British Summer Time
Image source, Getty ImagesAnd now, President Trump asks his Cabinet members to weigh in on his administration's first 100 days.
The first Cabinet member to speak is Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Trump just introduced him as the "least controversial" Cabinet member, earning him a few chuckles in the room.
Hegseth begins by speaking about various military initiatives, and says they have seen a "recruiting renaissance" since Trump became president again.
The secretary has been under criticism recently after it was reported that a journalist was added to a Signal group chat where Hegseth shared information about air strikes in Yemen.
Then later on, reports emerged about a separate chat, in which military attack details were shared in a group that included Hegseth's wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
It seems we will be hearing from each Cabinet member that is sat around a very long, very big table.
China doing very poorly, says Trumppublished at 16:52 British Summer Time
Image source, ReutersAs Trump justifies imposing tariffs, he says "China is doing very poorly right now" and adds that he doesn't want that to happen.
He says they are "getting absolutely hammered in China" and that ships are turning away from while in the Pacific Ocean.
"At a certain point, I hope we are going to make a deal with China, we are talking", he said.
Embattled Hegseth sits next to Trumppublished at 16:50 British Summer Time
Image source, ReutersTrump is sitting next to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is currently under fire following reports that military attack details were shared in a group chat that included Hegseth's wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
On the table are multiple red and black baseball caps which say Gulf of America.
On his other side is Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump blames economy data on Bidenpublished at 16:46 British Summer Time
Image source, Getty ImagesTrump continues by talking about the biggest news of the day - an economics report showing that GDP in the US has shrunk this quarter.
The president blames the poor GDP results on his predecessor Joe Biden.
"It's not Trump, because we came in on January, just quarterly numbers, and we came in, and I was very against everything that Biden was doing in terms of the economy and so many ways, not only on the border," Trump says.
He continues by saying that the US has received over $8tn in investments from chip companies, car companies and others. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced yesterday that the US had recieved $5tn.
The telling way Trump beganpublished at 16:43 British Summer Time
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White HouseThe fact that Donald Trump began his remarks at the cabinet meeting with the border and immigration is no surprise - the issue is one that the administration clearly sees as a winner.
It's also an issue on which Trump can - with evidence behind him - claim results. Detention and deportation figures released by Customs and Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are evidence that administration officials are extremely quick to point to.
Notably, the week's worth of events to mark Trump's 100 days also began with a news briefing by border czar Tom Homan.
Poll numbers also show that a majority of Americans are broadly supportive of his handling of immigration and the border.
Trump touts immigration enforcement calling it 'amazing'published at 16:41 British Summer Time
Image source, ReutersPresident Donald Trump opens the delayed Cabinet meeting.
He begins by discussing illegal border crossings, and says they are down "99.999%", continuing to list achievements of his administration such as the removal of immigrants from the country.
He says this is "amazing" and thanks staff for doing an "amazing job".
Trump also says they are having some "judge problems", in reference to the several legal cases being launched against his administration.
WATCH: Trump holds cabinet meetingpublished at 16:36 British Summer Time
BreakingPresident Trump's Cabinet meeting has just started. You can click watch live at the top of this page to follow along.
We will also bring you text updates and analysis throughout.
Stay tuned.
And we continue to wait for Trump's cabinet meetingpublished at 16:29 British Summer Time
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House
Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC NewsImage caption, White House poolers waiting to enter the cabinet meeting.
I just emerged from my post in the basement of the White House to find that today's White House press "pool" - the small group of reporters that will be in the cabinet meeting - is still waiting to go inside.
They were standing in the briefing room, which connects to the West Wing and is just a few minutes' walk from the cabinet room.
We're now about 25 minutes behind schedule - likely because the meeting began behind closed-doors.
There's been no indication of when we might get started. Just before the meeting was due to begin at 11:00 ET (1500 GMT), I did see two cabinet members - Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins - enter the West Wing.
Stay with us for more updates.
What is GDP?published at 16:21 British Summer Time
Now let's step back and explain what Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is.
"GDP measures the monetary value of final goods and services—that is, those that are bought by the final user—produced in a country in a given period of time," according to the International Monetary Fund.
It is not the only indicator of an economy's health but it is a good signal.
GDP does not measure unpaid work like childcare by parents, income inequality, and the economy's impact on the environment.