Five takeaways from Trump's White House farewell to Elon Musk
President Trump and Elon Musk appeared together one last time in the Oval Office on Friday, marking the exit of the world's richest man from his frontline political role.
Time was up for Musk because of his status as a special government employee – a categorization that triggers few disclosure requirements but also caps the duration of service.
Musk's time spearheading the quasi-official Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been enormously controversial. It has also hurt Musk's business interests, particularly in relation to Tesla, which has seen falling sales.
Here are the five main takeaways from the Trump-Musk meeting.
Musk raised eyebrows in recent days when he voiced criticism of the huge budget bill that is wending its way through Congress.
Conversely, plenty of Republicans inside and outside Trump's orbit have tired of the downsides of dealing with the fractious businessman.
But on Friday, both Trump and Musk were at pains to emphasize there was no breach in their relationship, nor was their bond dissolving.
At times, the display of closeness felt a bit unctuous, as when Musk praised Trump for his gold-heavy interior design makeover of the Oval Office. Musk said Trump had brought 'majesty' to the famous room.
On a more serious and central issue, Musk insisted 'this is not the end of DOGE but really the beginning.'
He added, 'I'll continue to be visiting here, and be a friend and advisor to the president.'
Trump for his part agreed that Musk was 'going to be back and forth.'
The president also noted that he and others inside the administration would 'remember' Musk for the legacy of his work with DOGE.
The actual savings achieved by DOGE are a major point of contention.
Before his work in Washington began in earnest, Musk had predicted it would be possible to shear $2 trillion from the federal budget, which totals about $6.8 trillion.
Critics cast that claim as hyperbolic – and they were proven correct.
Musk repeatedly scaled back his promised savings, ultimately settling on $160 billion. Fact-checkers have cast doubt even on that, with the BBC noting that actual itemized savings from DOGE come in at around $61 billion.
On Friday, Trump and Musk betrayed a sensitivity on the topic, arguing that much greater savings would accrete over time.
'The numbers that we're talking about are substantial but they're going to be very much more substantial with time,' Trump said. 'The numbers could double and triple.'
Musk said, 'I'm confident that over time, we'll see a trillion dollars of savings.'
Skeptics will note the lack of an exact timescale.
Beyond the minutiae of DOGE's work, the most attention-grabbing element of the Friday event was the livid bruising around Musk's right eye.
He was duly asked about this by Brett Samuels of The Hill.
Musk's response began with an awkward joke referencing the apparent contretemps between French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte that captured global attention after being caught on film last Sunday.
'I wasn't anywhere near France,' Musk said.
He then clarified that the markings had come from a playful tussle with his young son, X.
He contended that he had told his son, ''Go ahead, punch me in the face.' And he did. Turns out even a five-year-old punching you in the face….'
Trump, moments later, said, 'I didn't notice it actually.'
Musk's critics will of course prefer some more scandalous explanation, but there's no evidence Musk's version of events is inaccurate.
A pall was cast over Musk's farewell by a New York Times story on his personal life.
The Times contended that, during Musk's time campaigning for Trump last year, 'he was also using drugs far more intensely than previously known.'
The report also contended that he was consuming large amounts of ketamine, as well as using Ecstasy, Adderall and psychedelic mushrooms.
The Times noted that it was 'unclear' if Musk's drug use had continued during his time in the White House but also contended his family life had 'grown increasingly tumultuous' in part because of the number of children he has fathered with different women.
A reporter in the Oval Office has only begun raising the issue of the Times report when Musk cut him off.
The businessman instead inveighed against the news organization's coverage of allegations about collusion between Trump and Russia — or 'their lies about the RussiaGate hoax,' as Musk put it.
He then brusquely said, 'Let's move on, ok, next question.'
There was some semblance of news from the Oval Office meeting beyond the dynamics between Trump and Musk.
Trump was asked about several foreign policy issues.
Amid speculation about whether there might be a ceasefire soon in Gaza, Trump contended some kind of 'agreement' was 'very close.' He added, 'We'll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow.'
Unpromted, he continued, 'I think we have a chance of making a deal with Iran also. They don't want to be blown up. They would rather make a deal.'
In relation to the Ukraine-Russia war, Trump interrupted a reporter who referenced the administration's dealings with 'a very stubborn Vladimir Putin.'
'And Zelensky,' Trump interjected.
In regards to Putin and his intensifying bombings of Ukrainian cities, Trump complained about 'rockets being shot into cities like Kyiv during a negotiation that I felt was maybe very close to ending. We were going to solve a problem.'
Even as he leveled criticisms of Moscow, however, Trump still held out the possibility of an end to the war,
'I don't like being surprised so I'm very disappointed in that way. That being said, I'd like to see it end,' he said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) Will Pay A Dividend Of $0.12
The board of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.12 per share on the 23rd of July. Based on this payment, the dividend yield will be 2.2%, which is fairly typical for the industry. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. We like a dividend to be consistent over the long term, so checking whether it is sustainable is important. However, Gentex's earnings easily cover the dividend. This means that most of its earnings are being retained to grow the business. The next year is set to see EPS grow by 41.1%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 21% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range. Check out our latest analysis for Gentex The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $0.32 in 2015, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $0.48. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 4.1% over that duration. Slow and steady dividend growth might not sound that exciting, but dividends have been stable for ten years, which we think makes this a fairly attractive offer. Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. Gentex hasn't seen much change in its earnings per share over the last five years. While growth may be thin on the ground, Gentex could always pay out a higher proportion of earnings to increase shareholder returns. Overall, we think that this is a great income investment, and we think that maintaining the dividend this year may have been a conservative choice. The company is easily earning enough to cover its dividend payments and it is great to see that these earnings are being translated into cash flow. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock. Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 10 analysts we track are forecasting for Gentex for free with public analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Returns On Capital Are A Standout For NVE (NASDAQ:NVEC)
There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. With that in mind, the ROCE of NVE (NASDAQ:NVEC) looks great, so lets see what the trend can tell us. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. To calculate this metric for NVE, this is the formula: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.25 = US$16m ÷ (US$64m - US$1.2m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025). Thus, NVE has an ROCE of 25%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 8.9% earned by companies in a similar industry. View our latest analysis for NVE While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you're interested in investigating NVE's past further, check out this free graph covering NVE's past earnings, revenue and cash flow. NVE is showing promise given that its ROCE is trending up and to the right. More specifically, while the company has kept capital employed relatively flat over the last five years, the ROCE has climbed 29% in that same time. So our take on this is that the business has increased efficiencies to generate these higher returns, all the while not needing to make any additional investments. On that front, things are looking good so it's worth exploring what management has said about growth plans going forward. As discussed above, NVE appears to be getting more proficient at generating returns since capital employed has remained flat but earnings (before interest and tax) are up. And with a respectable 44% awarded to those who held the stock over the last five years, you could argue that these developments are starting to get the attention they deserve. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence. On a final note, we've found 1 warning sign for NVE that we think you should be aware of. If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning high returns on equity. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) Stock Goes Ex-Dividend In Just Four Days
Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) is about to go ex-dividend in just four days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. This means that investors who purchase Albany International's shares on or after the 6th of June will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 8th of July. The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.27 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$1.08 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Albany International has a trailing yield of 1.6% on the current stock price of US$66.07. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. That's why it's good to see Albany International paying out a modest 42% of its earnings. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Albany International generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. It paid out 23% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservatively low. It's positive to see that Albany International's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut. View our latest analysis for Albany International Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends. Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see Albany International's earnings per share have dropped 8.9% a year over the past five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks. Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Albany International has delivered an average of 5.4% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. Should investors buy Albany International for the upcoming dividend? Albany International has comfortably low cash and profit payout ratios, which may mean the dividend is sustainable even in the face of a sharp decline in earnings per share. Still, we consider declining earnings to be a warning sign. While it does have some good things going for it, we're a bit ambivalent and it would take more to convince us of Albany International's dividend merits. On that note, you'll want to research what risks Albany International is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Albany International you should know about. A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
