Trump bids farewell to Musk after brief turbulent tenure as adviser
US President Donald Trump on Friday held a farewell for Elon Musk, his billionaire adviser whose brief tenure was marred with controversy.
Mr Musk, the world's richest man, dressed all in black and with a black eye, stood next to Mr Trump in the Oval Office to officially take his leave, more than four months after he was charged with slashing governmental spending through the Department of Government Efficiency, or 'Doge'.
'Elon is really not leaving – he's going to be back and forth,' Mr Trump said.
'I have a feeling it's [ Doge ] his baby, and I think he's going to be doing a lot of things, but Elon's service to America has been without comparison in modern history.'
His 130-day mandate as a special government employee in the Trump administration was set to expire around May 30, the White House said.
As head of Doge, Mr Musk slashed tens of thousands of government jobs, arguing the move would cut unnecessary spending and corruption. He also shuttered entire departments, including the US Agency for International Development (USAID). In March, a federal judge ruled Mr Musk's actions on USAID were likely unconstitutional.
The Trump administration also said the cuts took aim at diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, a major target of the President's ire.
But the effort was marred with controversy, with reports of inefficiency and inadequate planning leading to some hastily laid-off employees being asked to return to work.
Mr Musk said he would continue to advise the President.
'This is not the end of Doge, but really the beginning of my time as a special government employee,' he said.
He said that his team had slashed $160 million in spending – far short of the $2 trillion he said it would cut.
'I'm confident that over time, we'll see a trillion dollars of savings and reduction in a trillion dollars' of waste,' he said.
Mr Musk's departure from the White House comes after a report by the New York Times said that he heavily used ketamine on the 2024 campaign trail, when he made numerous appearances to rally support for Mr Trump in swing states like Pennsylvania.
The newspaper said that Mr Musk also took other drugs, including ecstasy and mushrooms, and travelled with a large pill box.
During the lengthy and often disjointed Oval Office news conference, Mr Musk was asked about the bruise near his right eye. He said his young son, X, had punched him in the face.
'Well, it wasn't anywhere near France,' Mr Musk said referencing footage showing French first lady Brigitte Macron shoving her husband, Emmanuel Macron, in the face before he descended from a plane on Sunday.
'I was horsing around with little X and I said, go ahead, punch me in the face, and he did,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Police charge suspect who yelled 'free Palestine' while attacking pro-Israel group in Colorado
The man suspected of using a "makeshift flame-thrower" and other incendiary weapons to attack a group of people in Colorado as they gathered to raise awareness of hostages in Gaza faces at least eight criminal charges, including one for first-degree murder, although authorities have not said if anyone died from their injuries. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, yelled 'free Palestine' during Sunday's attack in the Rocky Mountain city of Boulder, said Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the FBI 's Denver field office. Eight people were injured, ranging in age from 52 to 88. The injuries were consistent with reports of people being set on fire, Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn said, adding that injuries ranged from serious to minor. Mr Soliman was arrested and taken to hospital for treatment, but authorities didn't elaborate on his injuries. Other preliminary charges include first-degree murder and using explosives or an incendiary device while committing a felony. In a video circulating on social media, Mr Soliman can be seen, shirtless, waving two bottles filled with liquid near the site of the attack. He repeatedly shouts 'how many children have you killed' and 'end Zionists' as people attend to the injured lying on the ground nearby. Following the attack, the FBI immediately described the violence as a 'targeted terror attack', although local police have been more cautious in ascribing a motive. Mr Soliman is an Egyptian national, government officials confirmed to CBS News. In 2022, he arrived in California on a non-immigrant visa that expired in February 2023 and had recently been living in Colorado Springs. Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a post on X that Mr Soliman "is illegally in our country". The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the incident. "Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland," Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Demonstrators with a volunteer group called Run for Their Lives, which organises run and walk events to call for the release of the hostages who remain in Gaza, had gathered at the Pearl Street pedestrian mall, a four-block area in downtown Boulder frequented by tourists and students. The attack came at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. The incident was immediately condemned by US officials as well as world leaders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement yesterday saying the "attack was aimed against peaceful people who wished to express their solidarity with the hostages held by Hamas, simply because they were Jews". The UAE also condemned the attack in the "strongest terms", with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirming the country's "permanent rejection of all forms of violence and terrorism targeting innocent people". The Anti-Defamation League said the attack was a result of anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist incitement. "We're witnessing a global campaign of intimidation and terror deliberately directed against the Jewish people," ADL chief executive and national director Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. Law enforcement authorities in the US struggle with a sharp rise in anti-Semitic violence. It comes about a week after a man was arrested over the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington. He shouted 'free Palestine' as he was led away by police. This is not the first time Boulder has been the site of extreme violence: in 2021, a gunman opened fire in a grocery store, killing 10 people. Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa, originally from Syria, was sentenced to life in prison for murder after a jury rejected his attempt to avoid prison time by pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Trump's eagerness for a win is undermining his efforts to secure deals on Iran and Ukraine
US President Donald Trump continues to empower his special envoy to the Middle East and Ukraine, Steve Witkoff, whom he considers among his closest confidants outside his family. He believes Mr Witkoff's experience in business negotiations will mirror itself in the political arena, yielding pragmatic results that tie investment returns to opportunities for redrawing conflict geographies. But reducing complex conflicts to binary deals focused on punishments and rewards is dangerous, especially as the Trump team overlooks the role of ideology to sustain governments and regimes. Indeed, the Iranian establishment will do whatever it can to avoid confronting the essential question Mr Trump should raise: is it prepared to revise its revolutionary doctrine, which is premised on becoming a nuclear power in the Middle East and employing militias as armed extensions of the state in sovereign nations? Iran's leaders are not ready to explicitly relinquish this doctrine, nor even to moderate or amend it. On the nuclear front, they continue to deny any intention to reach the threshold of becoming a nuclear-armed state, yet they insist on continuing uranium enrichment – now at 60 per cent – in violation of previous agreements. They cling to their concealable centrifuges. They are adamant about limiting the ongoing talks, now in the fifth round, to the nuclear issue, refusing to include their ballistic missiles programme or their proxies. It appears tare determined to drag out the negotiations, buying time, improving optics and avoiding American or Israeli military strikes on their facilities. The Trump team has fallen into Iran's trap, apparently delivering everything Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the ideological establishment have sought, including sparing the doctrine itself. So far, Mr Khamenei's team has secured what it wanted from Mr Trump: continued enrichment, exclusion of regional issues from the talks, prolonged negotiations that serve as a shield against strikes, and US guarantees to Tehran that Israel will not attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Some seasoned American diplomats are warning of troubling consequences that could see the administration repeat the blunders of former US president Barack Obama – if Mr Trump continues conceding to Tehran's insistence on its 'right' to enrichment and its 'right' to reject any discussion of its interventions in the Arab world. The problem is that Mr Trump is desperate for a win – either by ending the war in Ukraine, or by striking a deal with Iran that contains its nuclear ambitions. However, both objectives appear out of reach at least for now. Mr Trump's personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin has soured significantly, having realised that Russia's military establishment insists on continuing its war in Ukraine. Frustration has replaced warmth, and the prospect of additional sanctions against Moscow has grown. On the other hand, Europe's position on the issue seems to have gathered strength. Germany's new Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is going to Washington at a time when there appears to be a new understanding on Ukraine based on a recalibrated approach between the Trump administration's stance on Russia and Europe's boldness in confronting the US over the war. For what it's worth, European leaders have also pushed back against Mr Trump's reservations regarding America's role in Nato. Mr Trump is in a hurry. He fears that the prolonged war in Ukraine could become a deep pit from which he cannot climb out – and one that renders his vow to end the war impossible. Mr Witkoff has tried everything to draw the Russian leadership to the negotiating table. But here, too – as with Iran and Hamas – Mr Witkoff's lack of political experience has been exposed, revealing the limits of businessmen navigating strategic geopolitical terrain. If efforts on Ukraine collapse, Iran stands to potentially benefit, as it could make Mr Trump even more desperate for a win. But the opposite could also be true: if a breakthrough is achieved on Ukraine, Mr Trump's predisposition for falling into Iran's trap might diminish. The US President prefers not to be dragged into a military confrontation with Iran, warning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to take any action. He fears Mr Netanyahu might launch an operation knowing full well the US won't abandon Israel. Conversely, the Trump team might allow limited Israeli operations within a division-of-labour approach to apply military pressure for negotiation leverage. Either way, the core disagreement cannot be ignored: Israel, like Europe, insists that Iran's ballistic missiles programme and regional behaviour be addressed now – not later, as Tehran wants. No one denies the strategic breakthroughs that Mr Trump has achieved, particularly during his critical visit to the Gulf, but there are pitfalls that demand serious attention. Syria remains in intensive care, despite all the celebrations over sanctions relief. Gaza is another minefield, as is the West Bank, making it even more urgent for the US to intervene by way of dismantling Israeli settlements under construction. There is a stalemate in Lebanon, thanks in large part to Hezbollah, which has dragged President Joseph Aoun into a dialogue that serves as a stalling tactic to benefit Tehran's negotiations with the Trump administration while allowing the group to retain its weapons and evade the obligations of its ceasefire agreement with Israel. All this suggests Washington must rethink its approach to dealing with the rest of the world. Indeed, there is an urgent need to stop fixating on the bluster of the Trump phenomenon and to return to some traditional norms of political conduct befitting a superpower like the US.
Khaleej Times
4 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
US gives nod to Syria to bring foreign militant ex-rebels into army
The United States has given its blessing to a plan by Syria's new leadership to incorporate thousands of foreign militant former rebel fighters into the national army, provided that it does so transparently, President Donald Trump's envoy said. Three Syrian defence officials said that under the plan, some 3,500 foreign fighters, mainly Uyghurs from China and neighbouring countries, would join a newly-formed unit, the 84th Syrian army division, which would also include Syrians. Asked by Reuters in Damascus whether Washington approved the integration of foreign fighters into Syria's new military, Thomas Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey who was named Trump's special envoy to Syria last month, said: "I would say there is an understanding, with transparency." He said it was better to keep the fighters, many of whom are "very loyal" to Syria's new administration, within a state project than to exclude them. The fate of foreigners who joined Syria's Hayat Tahrir Al Sham rebels during the 13-year war between rebel groups and President Bashar Al Assad has been one of the most fraught issues hindering a rapprochement with the West since HTS, a one-time offshoot of Al Qaeda, toppled Assad and took power last year. At least until early May, the United States had been demanding the new leadership broadly exclude foreign fighters from the security forces. But Washington's approach to Syria has changed sharply since Trump toured the Middle East last month. Trump agreed to lift Assad-era sanctions on Syria, met Syria's interim President Ahmed Al Sharaa in Riyadh and named Barrack, a close friend, as his special envoy. Two sources close to the Syrian defence ministry told Reuters that Sharaa and his circle had been arguing to Western interlocutors that bringing foreign fighters into the army would be less of a security risk than abandoning them, which could drive them into the orbit of Al Qaeda or Daesh. The US State Department and a Syrian government spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. Chinese concerns Thousands of foreigners joined Syria's rebels early in the 13-year civil war to fight against Assad, who was himself aided by Iranian-backed militias. Some fighters formed their own factions, while others joined established groups such as Daesh, which briefly declared a caliphate in swathes of Syria and Iraq before being routed by an array of forces backed both by the United States and Iran. Foreign fighters within HTS earned a reputation as loyal, disciplined and experienced militants, and formed the backbone of the group's elite so-called suicide units. They fought against Daesh and against other wings of Al Qaeda from 2016, when HTS broke away from the group founded by Osama bin Laden. The Uyghur fighters from China and Central Asia are members of the Turkistan Islamic Party, a group designated as terrorists by Beijing. A Syrian official and a foreign diplomat said China had sought to have the group's influence in Syria restricted. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said: "China hopes that Syria will oppose all forms of terrorism and extremist forces in response to the concerns of the international community." Osman Bughra, a TIP political official, told Reuters in a written statement that the group had officially dissolved and integrated into the Syrian army. "At present, the group operates entirely under the authority of the Ministry of Defence, adheres to national policy, and maintains no affiliations with external entities or groups," he said. In December, the appointment of a handful of foreign militants who were part of HTS's senior leadership to top military posts had alarmed Western governments, raising concerns over the direction of Syria's new Islamist leadership. Demands to freeze the appointments and expel rank-and-file foreign fighters became a key point of contention with Washington and other Western countries up until the week of Trump's landmark meeting with Sharaa. Sharaa has said that foreign fighters and their families may be granted Syrian citizenship due to their role in fighting Assad. Abbas Sharifa, a Damascus-based expert on militant groups, said the fighters being included in the army had shown loyalty to Syria's leadership and were "ideologically filtered". But "if you abandon them they become prey to Daesh or other radical groups" he said.
