Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stunned reporters at the White House when they noticed he was sporting a black eye.
The tech billionaire was in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump to celebrate his last day as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) when reporters noticed the mark.
“What happened to your eye?” one of the reporters shouted.
“Well, I wasn’t anywhere near France,” he said, mocking French President Emmanuel Macron, who was seen on camera being hit in the face by his wife last week. “I didn’t know the first lady of France isn’t a lieutenant.”
But then he shared what actually happened.
“No, I just was horsing around with little X,” he said in reference to his five-year-old son, X Æ A-Xii. “And I said, ‘Go ahead, punch me in the face.’ And he did. Turns out even a 5-year-old punching you in the face… actually does this.”
Trump appeared stunned by the news and asked, “That was X that did that?”
“Yeah,” Musk responded.
“X could do it, if you knew X,” the president said with a smile.
Even though he is leaving DOGE, Musk reassured Americans that it would not be the end of the department.
“Nobody liked him and he had to go through the slings and the arrows, which is a shame because he’s an incredible patriot. The good news is that 90% of the country knows that and they appreciate it and they really appreciate what he did,” the president said of Musk’s work before the CEO responded.
“This is not the end of DOGE, but really the beginning,” the billionaire said.
“My time as a special government employee necessarily had to end. It was a limited-time thing. It was 134 days, I believe, which ends in a few days. So that, you know, it comes with a time limit. But the DOGE team will only grow stronger over time. The DOGE influence will only grow stronger,” he promised.
“I liken it to a sort of Buddhism. It’s like a way of life. So it is permeating throughout the government, and I’m confident that over time we’ll see $1 trillion of savings and a reduction in $1 trillion of waste and fraud,” Musk said.
“The calculations of the DOGE team thus far, in terms of FY25 to FY26 delta, are over $160 billion, and that’s climbing. We expect that number will probably go over $200 billion soon. I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job. They’re going to continue doing an incredible job. And I’ll continue to be visiting here and be a friend and adviser to the president. I look forward to, you know, times being back in this amazing room,” the billionaire said.
“By the way, isn’t this incredible? Like, this is incredible. I mean—it’s stunning. I think the way that the Oval Office—how the president has just completely redone the Oval Office—it’s beautiful,” he said after the president handed him a “gold key to the White House.”
“I love the gold on the ceiling. Yeah. It’s been—for a long time—that was plaster. Nobody ever really saw it. They didn’t know the eagle was up there. And we highlighted it,” the president said.
“It’s essentially a landmark—a great landmark—and that’s 24-karat gold, and everybody loved it. Now they all see it when they come in. So it’s been good,” he said.
“The Oval Office has—finally has—the majesty that it deserves, thanks to the president,” Musk said.
“So I look forward to continuing to be a friend and adviser to the president, continuing to support the DOGE team, and we are relentlessly pursuing $8 trillion in waste and reductions, which will benefit the American taxpayer,” he said.
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