Marco Rubio's 'golf cart' joke leaves Trump and entire Cabinet in stitches at Camp David meeting

CAMP DAVID, MARYLAND: Secretary of State Marco Rubio opened President Trump's rare Cabinet retreat at Camp David on Friday, July 31st, with an unexpected laugh line, telling the room he'd finally gotten behind the wheel of something for the first time in a year and a half.

Unlike some past presidents, Trump has largely stayed away from the mountaintop presidential redoubt in western Maryland, preferring to spend time ​at his golf resorts when not at the White House. This ​will be his third trip to Camp David in his ⁠second term.

A rare, deliberately relaxed setting for a consequential meeting

"I got the chance to drive for the first time in a year and a half," Rubio said, pausing for effect before revealing the punchline: it was just a golf cart around the retreat's grounds.

"It was great," he added, drawing laughter from Trump and the rest of the Cabinet. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr followed with his own lighter moment, noting his personal history with the property: "I haven't been here for 62 years. My father loved this place, my uncle loved this place."

The joke set an informal tone for what was otherwise a historic gathering, the first live, televised Cabinet meeting ever held at Camp David.

Trump has largely avoided the mountaintop Maryland retreat throughout his presidency, favoring his own golf properties instead; Friday marked just his third trip there in his second term.

Seated before wood-paneled walls lined with photos of past presidents, Trump called the location "very special" and told the assembled press and officials, "I don't believe the press has come anywhere near it. We believe in transparency."

The White House had billed the meeting in advance as "a lot of fun and something different for the cabinet to experience together."

From laughs to Iran, Gaza and the economy

Once the lighter moments passed, the meeting turned to the substantial policy agenda that brought the Cabinet together.

Trump began the session by highlighting the achievements of his administration regarding the border, crime, and the economy, while Vice President JD Vance outlined the administration's fraud task force and stated that it had identified $230 billion in fraud, with $56 billion having been stopped to date.

Secretary of State Rubio gave the audience an update on foreign policy matters, covering the newly announced agreement between Hamas and Israel to disarm and the recent diplomatic breakthrough between Israel and Lebanon.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke about military recruitment and modernization plans, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pointed out the gains in tax and manufacturing sectors, and RFK Jr promoted the early results of the administration's TrumpRx drug pricing program.

The broad-ranging meeting, taking place in the context of an ongoing conflict with Iran and with gas prices rising ahead of the midterms, combined a light moment with some of the most important national security discussions of Trump's second term.