Fresh out of Barnard College with a degree in political science, Riley is learning the ropes as a writer and reporter for GZERO. When she isn’t writing about global politics, you can find her making GZERO’s crossword puzzles, conducting research on American politics, or persisting in her lifelong quest to learn French. Riley spends her time outside of work grilling, dancing, and wearing many hats (both literally and figuratively).
Donald Trump hosted the first Cabinet meeting of his second administration on Wednesday. Here’s what went down.
Ukraine. Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was expected to sign an agreement in Washington on sharing its mineral wealth, and that it should look to Europe for security guarantees – not the US.
Elon Musk. The “special government employee” received a round of applause as Trump insisted to Cabinet members and reporters present that “everybody’s on board” with Musk’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal government to lower the country’s deficit. While he sat off to the side of the room, Musk’s presence was a show of unity after his email requesting federal employees send the Department of Government Efficiency a list of “five things” they did last week – and threatening them with job loss for noncompliance – spread confusion throughout Washington this week and led to pushback from some government departments.
Musk and Trump reinforced the email, saying it was intended to see “if you have a pulse and two neurons and you can reply to an email,” and said they were convinced some of the federal employees had not replied because they were dead but still being paid.
Golden ticket for citizenship. Trump outlined his plan to sell $5 million “gold cards” to wealthy foreigners seeking US citizenship. He presented this initiative as a significant measure to address the federal deficit, saying “people that can pay $5 million, they’re going to create jobs.”
