On Friday, President Trump fired Elon Musk from the Oval Office as the billionaire now turns his attention back to his business.
Musk, wearing a black suit and sporting a noticeable black eye, stood next to the president during a joint press conference. The meeting was meant to signal Trump's continued support for the billionaire businessman.
During the event, the president presented Musk with a golden key and described him as someone who has endured “stones and arrows,” suggesting that public criticism of Musk has been unfair. “He had to go through the stones and arrows, which is a shame,” Trump said.
Trump bids farewell to Elon Musk. Source: FOX 35 Orlando
In recent months, Tesla has faced protests, acts of vandalism, and a sharp decline in its stock price. Many of these challenges have followed Musk's growing involvement with DOGE and cost-cutting efforts.
By publicly endorsing Musk, Trump intended to show that he stands firmly behind the man who played a significant role in his own political comeback.
However, the relationship between Trump and Musk wasn't always smooth. At one point, Musk suggested that Trump shouldn't run for office. In response, Trump even posted on social media in 2022 that he “could have said, ‘Bow down and beg,’ and he would have done it.”
Despite that rocky start, the two eventually found common ground. Elon Musk donated generously to Trump's political campaign and offered praise on social media. In turn, President Trump allowed Musk to serve on several federal agencies without much resistance.
In February, he even took to the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference carrying a chainsaw, claiming it was “easy” to “save billions of dollars, sometimes in an hour.” That display attracted attention, but in practice, Musk’s team failed to meet its goal of cutting $1 trillion from the federal budget.
Musk admits that cutting costs was much harder than he anticipated.
However, by Friday, Musk admitted that identifying and securing huge savings proved to be much more difficult than he had anticipated.
Standing next to Trump, he described the task of reviewing government spending as “extraordinarily demanding and difficult,” involving careful scrutiny of countless items. “Mostly, it’s just a lot of hard work,” he said.
Even though Musk was stepping back from his formal role at DOGE, both men insisted the effort would continue. Trump noted that Musk had “installed engineering-minded geniuses and incredibly talented computer people” to continue the work across multiple agencies.
“Elon isn’t really leaving,” the president said. “He’s going to be coming and going. I have a feeling it’s his baby.”
Musk reiterated that the cost-cutting effort is far from over.
Musk promised that DOGE will eventually achieve $1 trillion in price cuts, even though the DOGE website currently lists $175 billion in proposed price cuts. “This isn’t the end of DOGE, but really the beginning,” he said, comparing the effort to a lifestyle, “like Buddhism.”
During the press conference, a reporter asked Musk about a recent report in The New York Times suggesting he had been using drugs more heavily than previously known. Musk didn't address the details of the report, instead criticizing the newspaper's credibility and saying, "Let's move on to something else."
Another question focused on Musk’s black eye. He explained that it was the result of roughhousing with his 5-year-old son, X. “I said, ‘Go ahead, hit me in the face,’”
Musk recalled, “And he did.” His response drew laughter and eased the tension in the room for a moment.
Toward the end of the session, Musk rejoined the discussion to criticize federal judges who have upheld limits on the administration's power. He accused the judges of "massive judicial overreach that is unconstitutional." "It needs to stop," he said. "It's gone too far."
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