Trump claimed Monday that any agencies saying not to respond to the email were doing it "in a friendly manner."

The Pentagon is in the cost-cutting crosshairs of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth orders officials to find $50 billion in cuts to the defense budget.

The scene was familiar to anyone who has watched past presidential Cabinet meetings. Trump sat at the center of the table, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on his right and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on his left.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously said he would welcome the Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk to the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously said he would welcome the Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk to the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth verified that staffers from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency are working in the Pentagon to uncover waste, fraud and abuse in the government’s largest discretionary budget.

Members of DOGE are expected at the Defense Department as soon as Friday, WSJ said, citing defense officials. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said that he had already been in touch with Musk and expressed confidence in the effort to find billions in cost-cutting and to make the Pentagon more efficient.

The Department of Defense is among several U.S. federal agencies pushing back against the email, which was sent out Saturday.

The email Elon Musk directed to be sent to all federal employees is getting pushback from President Donald Trump's appointed agency heads, notably including the Department of Defense, which posted a statement on Musk's own social media platform instructing its employees to ignore the email for now.

The new Pentagon chief got a look at Guantánamo Bay’s most infamous inmate in his recent visit to the wartime prison.