5 big moments from Trump's Cabinet meeting after weak GDP report
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DOGE leader Elon Musk and President Trump treated Wednesday's Cabinet meeting as a parting of ways. Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump followed up the weak first GDP report of his second presidency with a Cabinet meeting full of spin on policies from his first 100 days.
Why it matters: The U.S. economy shrinking represents the first contraction in three years, a step backward from which Trump is eager to divorce himself.
Some of the biggest moments from Wednesday's Cabinet meeting:
Bondi credits Trump for saving 258 million lives, without evidence
- Attorney General Pam Bondi credited Trump with saving "258 million lives," seemingly referring to drug seizures.
- Tuesday marked Fentanyl Awareness Day, during which Bondi claimed the Trump administration obtained over 22 million fentanyl laced pills and saved "over 119 Million lives."
- Bondi's claims come as the White House has worked to blame unauthorized immigrants for widespread distribution of fentanyl, a myth that researchers have continually debunked.
Elon Musk is wearing two Trump caps on top of each other
State of play: Elon Musk is stepping back from his work as the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency – likely in the coming month – with Trump and Musk both treating Wednesday's meeting as a goodbye of sorts.
- "Elon, I love the double hat," Trump told Musk, saying that Musk was "the only one that can do that and get away with it."
Trump, RFK Jr. continue anti-fluoride campaign
- "We found that there's a direct inverse correlation between fluoride exposure and low IQ in children," Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy said. "So the more you get, the stupider you are."
Zoom out: The Trump administration announced this month that it would formally take on fluoride in drinking water, with Kennedy ordering the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to end its longtime recommendation for the practice.
- Public health and dental experts have warned that ending the supplementation of fluoride to drinking water will increase the risk of tooth decay for children.
- Kennedy last November called fluoride "an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neuro-developmental disorders, and thyroid disease." He claims that health experts' warnings are overblown and misleading.
- But professor Avijit Banerjee, chair of cariology and operative dentistry at King's College London, told BBC News last year that "the potential harmful effects of fluoride cited have not been associated with the very low levels of fluoride used in water fluoridation programs."
Trump mischaracterizes Canada election
- Trump misrepresented his relationship with Canada's newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney at the Cabinet meeting.
- "It was the one who hated Trump I think the least that won," the president said.
Catch up quick: Carney has been outspoken about his country's growing antagonism with the U.S. due to Trump's trade war.
- In his victory speech, he referenced the turmoil created by tariffs, saying, "These are dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust."
- "As I've been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country," he said. "President Trump is trying to break us so he can own us. That will never happen." He also warned Canadians that confronting the American threat would be difficult and might require sacrifices.
- "We didn't ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves."
Trump foreshadows a tariff cloud over Christmas
- Trump appeared to acknowledge that toy shortages are possible as his tariff hikes ripple through the economy.
- "Somebody said, 'oh, the shelves are gonna be open,'" Trump told reporters Wednesday. "Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more."
The big picture: His comments came amid retailers' growing concern that the 2025 holiday shopping season will be significantly disrupted by higher prices and store closures as Chinese imports screech to a halt.
