On Friday, Donald Trump held a press conference in the Oval Office with Elon Musk at his side. It was most likely Musk’s last time before the media as a part of Trump’s administration. Musk appeared with a black eye that he claimed he got from his son. Musk is departing the White House after heading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE, for the past five months.
Tesla Took A Major Hit
While Elon Musk spent the majority of his time in DC working for Trump, his company, Tesla, was hemorrhaging market share in several countries. Tesla recently reported its first major sales loss in close to five years.
However, it is Elon Musk’s reputation that took the hardest hit during his time in D.C. During his time running DOGE, he repeatedly claimed that he had saved the government trillions of dollars. Musk claimed that he had slashed “waste, fraud, and abuse.” However, it soon became clear that Musk’s time in the White House had been a failure.
Expert Says Cuts Killed 300,000
One expert shared that Elon Musk’s act of eliminating humanitarian aid had caused as many as 300,000 deaths, mostly of children, overseas. Musk has used his social media platform, X, to complain that he was being bullied by users who didn’t believe the information that he was feeding them about DOGE. Many not only turned away from Musk but also turned away from his companies as well.
Elon Musk Said To Be ‘Exasperated’
Those close to Musk recently told Reuters that the billionaire was feeling “exhausted and exasperated.” The biggest hit to Musk’s ego comes from the blowback against all of his companies. Things at Tesla reportedly got so bad that the Tesla board began a search for a new CEO.
During his time in Washington, Elon Musk tried to cast his actions as successful. As a “special government employee,” Musk’s time in Trump’s administration was limited to 130 days, but during his time as the head of DOGE, he promised the work would continue after his departure.
The ‘DOGEfather’
“This is not the end of DOGE, but really the beginning,” Elon Musk said during the Oval Office press conference. Musk was wearing a t-shirt that said “The DOGEfather,” and sported a black eye, he says he got when his young son punched him.
During the press conference, Elon Musk continued to claim that DOGE had achieved its goal of cutting funding and wastage by $1 trillion, even though the facts showed he fell far short of that. DOGE has left a legacy of firings, use of paid administrative leave, and the loss of productivity caused by those actions cost the government at least $135 billion.
Trump Praises Elon Musk
After rambling for a bit, Trump turned to Musk and thanked him for his service, and gave him a golden key that had the White House insignia on it. He also hinted that Musk might return in the future.“Elon gave an incredible service. Nobody likes him,” Trump said. “And he had to go through the slings and the arrows, which is a shame because he’s an incredible patriot.”
