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LeMonde
3 days ago
- Business
- LeMonde
'Dogefather' Musk vows to stay Trump's 'friend and advisor' in Oval Office farewell
Billionaire Elon Musk bade farewell to Donald Trump in an extraordinary Oval Office appearance Friday, May 30, in which he sported a black eye, brushed aside drug abuse claims and vowed to stay a "friend and advisor" to the US president. As the world's richest person bowed out of his role as the US government's cost-cutter-in-chief, Trump hailed Musk's "incredible service" and handed him a golden key to the White House. "Today it's about a man named Elon," Trump said at a joint press conference with the tech tycoon marking his final day as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump said Musk would still be "coming and going" from the White House after a turbulent four months in which DOGE cut tens of thousands of jobs, shuttered whole agencies and slashed foreign aid. Musk, wearing a black T-shirt with the word "Dogefather" in white lettering and a black DOGE baseball cap, said "I look forward to continuing to be a friend and advisor to the president." Many people's eyes were on the livid black bruise around Musk's right eye. Speculation about the cause was further fueled by accusations in the New York Times Friday that Musk used so much of the drug ketamine on the 2024 campaign trail that he developed bladder problems. 'Horsing around' The SpaceX and Tesla magnate said that his son was to blame for the injury. "I was just horsing around with lil' X, and I said, 'go ahead punch me in the face,'" 53-year-old Musk said. "And he did. Turns out even a five-year-old punching you in the face actually is..." he added, before tailing off. Musk, however, dodged a question about the drug allegations. The New York Times said Musk, the biggest donor to Trump's 2024 election campaign, also took ecstasy and psychoactive mushrooms and traveled with a pill box last year. Musk, who has long railed against the news media and championed his X social media platform as an alternative, took aim at the paper instead. "Is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on the Russiagate?" said Musk, referring to claims that Trump's 2016 election campaign colluded with Moscow. "Let's move on. Okay. Next question." The White House had earlier played down the report. "The drugs that we're concerned about are the drugs running across the southern border" from Mexico, said Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, whose wife works for Musk. Musk has previously admitted to taking ketamine, saying he was prescribed it to treat a "negative frame of mind" and suggesting his use of drugs benefited his work. 'Tech bros' The latest in a series of made-for-TV Oval Office events was aimed at putting a positive spin on Musk's departure. Musk is leaving Trump's administration under a cloud, after admitting disillusionment with his role and criticizing the Republican president's spending plans. It was a far cry from his first few weeks as Trump's chainsaw-brandishing sidekick. Partner service Learn French with Gymglish Thanks to a daily lesson, an original story and a personalized correction, in 15 minutes per day. Try for free At one time Musk was almost inseparable from Trump, glued to his side on Air Force One, Marine One, in the White House and at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The right-wing magnate's DOGE led an ideologically-driven rampage through the federal government, with its young "tech bros" slashing tens of thousands of jobs. But DOGE's achievements fell far short of Musk's boasts when he blazed into Washington brandishing a chainsaw at a conservative event and bragged that it would be easy to cut two trillion dollars. In reality, the independent "Doge Tracker" site has counted just $12 billion in savings while the Atlantic magazine put it far lower, at $2 billion. Musk's "move fast and break things" mantra was also at odds with some of his cabinet colleagues, and he said earlier this week that he was "disappointed" in Trump's planned mega tax and spending bill as it undermined DOGE's cuts. Musk's companies, meanwhile, have suffered. Tesla shareholders called for him to return to work as sales slumped and protests targeted the electric vehicle maker, while SpaceX had a series of fiery rocket failures.
LeMonde
5 days ago
- Business
- LeMonde
Elon Musk announces government role departure, thanks Trump and says DOGE mission 'will only strengthen over time'
Elon Musk is leaving his government role as a top adviser to President Donald Trump after spearheading efforts to reduce and overhaul the federal bureaucracy. His departure, announced Wednesday evening, May 28, marks the end of a turbulent chapter that included thousands of layoffs, the evisceration of government agencies and reams of litigation. Despite the upheaval, the billionaire entrepreneur struggled in the unfamiliar environment of Washington, and he accomplished far less than he hoped. He dramatically reduced his target for cutting spending – from $2 trillion to $1 trillion to $150 billion – and increasingly expressed frustration about resistance to his goals. Sometimes he clashed with other top members of Trump's administration, who chafed at the newcomer's efforts to reshape their departments, and he faced fierce political blowback for his efforts. Musk's role working for Trump was always intended to be temporary, and he had recently signaled that he would be shifting his attention back to running his businesses, such as the electric automaker Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX. But administration officials were often vague about when Musk would step back from his position spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, and he abruptly revealed that he was leaving in a post on X, his social media website. "As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending," he wrote. "The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Musk announced his decision one day after CBS released part of an interview in which he criticized the centerpiece of Trump's legislative agenda by saying he was "disappointed" by what the president calls his "big beautiful bill." The legislation includes a mix of tax cuts and enhanced immigration enforcement. Musk described it as a "massive spending bill" that increases the federal deficit and "undermines the work" of his Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. "I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful," Musk said. "But I don't know if it could be both." 'I sympathize with Elon' Trump, speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday, defended his agenda by talking about the delicate politics involved with negotiating the legislation. "I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it," he said. Trump also suggested that more changes could be made. "We're going to see what happens," he said. "It's got a way to go." Partner service Learn French with Gymglish Thanks to a daily lesson, an original story and a personalized correction, in 15 minutes per day. Try for free Republicans recently pushed the measure through the House and are debating it in the Senate. Musk's concerns are shared by some Republican lawmakers. "I sympathize with Elon being discouraged," said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson. Speaking at a Milwaukee Press Club event on Wednesday, Johnson added that he was "pretty confident" there was enough opposition "to slow this process down until the president, our leadership, gets serious" about reducing spending. He said there was no amount of pressure Trump could put on him to change his position. Speaker Mike Johnson has asked senators to make as few changes to the legislation as possible, saying that House Republicans reached a "very delicate balance" that could be upended with major changes. The narrowly divided House will have to vote again on final passage once the Senate alters the bill. On Wednesday, Johnson thanked Musk for his work and promised to pursue more spending cuts in the future, saying "the House is eager and ready to act on DOGE's findings."
LeMonde
19-05-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
Ruling party tops Portugal polls marked by far-right surge
Portugal's incumbent center-right party won the most seats in the country's third general election in three years on Sunday, May 18, but again fell short of a parliamentary majority, while support for the far-right Chega rose. The outcome threatens to extend political instability in the NATO and European Union member state as the bloc faces growing global trade tensions and works to strengthen its defences. Near complete official results showed that Prime Minister Luis Montenegro's Democratic Alliance (AD) captured 32.7% of the vote in Sunday's poll, with the Socialist Party (PS) and Chega virtually tied in second place. That would boost the AD's seat tally in the 230-seat parliament to 89, short of the 116 seats required for a ruling majority. "The people want this government and this prime minister," Montenegro told his cheering supporters after the results were announced. The Socialists had 23.4%, their worst result in decades, trailed closely by Chega ("Enough") with 22.6%, which would give each party 58 seats. Even with the backing of the upstart business-friendly party Liberal Initiative (IL), which won nine seats, the AD would still need the support of Chega to pass legislation. But Montenegro, 52, a lawyer by profession, has refused any alliance with the anti-establishment party, saying it is "unreliable" and "not suited to governing." 'Nothing will be the same' Support for Chega has grown in every general election since the party was founded in 2019 by Andre Ventura, a former trainee priest who later became a television football commentator. It won 1.3% of the vote in a general election in 2019, the year it was founded, giving it a seat in parliament – the first time a far-right party had won representation in Portugal's parliament since a coup in 1974 toppled a decades-long rightist dictatorship. Chega became the third-largest force in parliament in the next general election in 2022 and quadrupled its parliamentary seats last year to 50, cementing its place in Portugal's political landscape and mirroring gains by similar parties across Europe. There are still four seats left to be assigned representing Portuguese who live abroad, and Ventura said he was confident Chega would pick up a few and become the country's second political force for the first time, ahead of the Socialists. "Nothing will ever be the same again," Ventura told his supporters, who chanted "Portugal is ours and it always will be." Partner service Learn French with Gymglish Thanks to a daily lesson, an original story and a personalized correction, in 15 minutes per day. Try for free Sunday's election was triggered when Montenegro lost a parliamentary vote of confidence in March after less than a year in power. He called for the vote following allegations of conflicts of interest related to his family's consultancy business, which has several clients holding government contracts. Montenegro denied any wrongdoing, saying he was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the firm. Tighter immigration rules The AD formed a minority government after the last election. It passed a budget that raises pensions and public sector wages, and slashes income taxes for young people, because the PS abstained in key votes in parliament. But relations between the two main parties soured after the confidence vote, and it is unclear if a weakened PS will be willing to allow the centre-right to govern this time around. Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos, a 48-year-old economist, had accused Montenegro of engineering the election "to avoid explaining himself" about the firm's activities to a parliamentary enquiry. After the results were announced, he said he would call an internal party election to pick a new leader. Montenegro has criticized the immigration policies of the previous Socialist government, accusing it of leaving Portugal in "bedlam." Under the Socialist Party, Portugal became one of Europe's most open countries for immigrants. Between 2017 and 2024, the number of foreigners living in Portugal quadrupled, reaching about 15% of the total population. Montenegro has since toughened the immigration policy, and during the campaign, his government announced the expulsion of some 18,000 irregular migrants, leading critics to accuse it of pandering to far-right voters.
