More job cuts, Musk's 'justify jobs' ultimatum, Ukraine's NATO block: Key takeaways from Trump's first Cabinet meeting

Donald Trump held his first Cabinet meeting on Thursday, February 26, and ordered federal agencies to undertake more large-scale layoffs of workers to cut down on government spending.

Apart from more job cuts, Ukraine's NATO membership and Elon Musk's email ultimatum to federal workforce to justify their work were also discussed in the first Cabinet meeting.

Here are key takeaways from Donald Trump's first Cabinet meeting:

1. To slash the size of the government workforce, a new memo was sent out to federal agencies to submit plans by March 13 for a “significant reduction” in staffing to a federal workforce.
2. Donald Trump invited Elon Musk to justify the work he was doing while making it clear that he backed the Tesla chief.
3. The US President also signed an executive order directing agencies to work with DOGE to review and terminate all “unnecessary” contracts.
4. The General Services Administration, which manages the government's real estate, has been instructed to create a plan for disposing of any unneeded property.
5. Popular health and retirement benefits will not be cut, Donald Trump reiterated.
6. His plan to sell gold visas for $5 million for permanent residency in the US will launch in about two weeks, Trump said.
7. President Donald Trump has put his weight behind Russia's attempt to block Ukraine's NATO membership, saying Kyiv could "forget about” joining the military alliance.
8. Elon Musk defended the mass job cuts among the federal employees and his “justify your job” email to them, saying American will go bankrupt if this is not done.
9. When questioned about that email in the Cabinet meeting, Elon Musk said it was not a “performance review” but rather a “pulse check review.”