Elon Musk showed up to a press conference marking the end of his time leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency on Friday dressed in all black: black jacket, black “DOGE” hat and black “Dogefather” T-shirt.
He also had a black eye.
Asked about it by a reporter, the world’s richest man said the injury was caused by his 5-year-old son, X, whom he shares with the singer known as Grimes.
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“Yeah, no, I just walked around with little X, and I said, uh, ‘Go ahead and punch me in the face,’ and he did,” Musk said in the Oval Office.
“Turns out even a 5-year-old punching me in the face actually does—” he began, trailing off with a shrug.
Trump cut in to suggest, jokingly, “X could do it. If you knew X.”
“I didn’t really feel much at the time,” Musk said.
“I didn’t notice it, actually,” Trump remarked.
Musk said the child was currently with his mother. He and Grimes were embroiled in a contentious custody battle over their three children — X, his sister Exa Dark Sideræl and brother Techno Mechanicus — until reportedly coming to an agreement where the children spend time on and off with each parent. (X’s full name is X Æ A-Xii.)
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Over the last year, Musk has been repeatedly seen toting X around with him as he travelled from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort home to the White House and beyond. In a rare comment, Grimes expressed concern that X was spending so much time in the public eye.
Musk has over a dozen known children, but is believed to have even more. He has been a vocal supporter of pronatalism, a conservative movement that encourages people to have more children, claiming that declining birthrates in Western countries could lead to their collapse.
His family ties came under sharp scrutiny earlier on Friday when The New York Times published a report detailing Musk’s drug use and adversarial relationships with the mothers of some of his offspring.
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The Times noted that Musk is “extremely” attached to X in particular.
The CEO of a half-dozen companies, including Tesla, SpaceX and X, the social media company, has reportedly been taking the drug ketamine at such a regular rate that it is affecting his bladder. He also takes psychedelic mushrooms, Ecstasy and Adderall, according to the Times.
The outlet noted that while it is not clear when Musk has been under the influence of drugs, he has exhibited “erratic behavior,” including garbled remarks on stage back in February.
Musk dodged a question about the Times report in the Oval Office.
He instead echoed Trump’s false assertion that a recent ruling by a Florida court had undermined The New York Times’ credibility in a case stemming from the paper’s 2018 reporting on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
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“Wait, The New York Times, is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on Russiagate? Is it the same organisation? I think it is. I think it is,” Musk said sarcastically.
“I think the judge just ruled against The New York Times for their lies about the Russiagate hoax, and they might have to give back that Pulitzer Prize. That New York Times? Let’s move on.”
Trump declared victory in the case on Truth Social, even though the Florida court had only ruled that its proceedings could continue while he served as president. The suit is far from over; the Pulitzer board is still fighting it, and the Times has stood by its reporting. Trump first filed the lawsuit in late 2022.
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Much of Friday’s press conference was devoted to mutual admiration between the president and the world’s richest man. Both rattled off several dubious examples of taxpayer savings identified by DOGE staff.
“Elon gave an incredible service,” Trump said, adding that his adviser “had to go through the slings and the arrows” during his time leading DOGE. He then gave Musk a golden key inside a small wooden box.
Musk accepted the key before saying a few words, concluding by marveling at the number of gold-plated fixtures Trump had added to the Oval Office.
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“The Oval Office finally has the majesty that it deserves thanks to the president,” he said.
Musk was limited by law to working 130 days in his role at DOGE as a special government employee.
