Latest news with #TheDogefather
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Drugs, marital advice and that black eye: key takeaways from Trump's Oval Office send-off for Elon Musk
Donald Trump hosted an Oval Office press conference with Elon Musk on Friday to mark the end of the tech billionaire's tenure as a special government employee overseeing the so-called 'department of government efficiency', or Doge. Musk's departure comes after weeks of increasing pressure over his time leading Doge, in which he slashed thousands of jobs, resources and public spending. Here are the key takeaways from the event: Musk 'is really not leaving' and many of his Doge team will stay on in the administration, Trump told reporters on what was meant to be Musk's official last day as a 'special government employee'. 'Elon is really not leaving,' Trump said. 'He's going to be back and forth. I think I have a feeling it's his baby, and I think he's going to be doing a lot of things.' Musk later declared 'this is not the end of Doge but really the beginning', adding he will continue to visit the White House as a 'friend and adviser' to the president. 'I hope to continue to provide advice whenever the president would like,' Musk said. 'I hope so,' Trump replied. Related: Oval and out: Musk and Trump's farewell marred by disillusionment Trump praised Musk as 'one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced' and paid glowing tribute to the tech billionaire's 'sweeping and consequential' efforts to slash the federal workforce and reduce the size of government. The lavish praise came just days after Musk publicly criticised Trump's tax spending bill, saying he was 'disappointed' with it and claiming it 'undermines the work that the Doge team is doing'. Musk's comments appeared to indicate that the honeymoon between the two men was over, but on Friday, there were no signs of friction between the pair. Trump presented Musk with a large golden key emblazoned with the White House insignia, which he said he only gave to 'very special people' as a thank-you from the country. Musk attended the press conference wearing a black Doge cap, a black jacket and a black T-shirt with the words 'The Dogefather' – as well as a visibly bruised right eye. Asked about the bruise, Musk said his five-year-old son, X Æ A-12, had punched him in the face: 'I was just horsing around with X and I said: 'Go ahead, punch me in the face.' And he did.' 'I didn't really feel much at the time,' he added. 'But I guess it bruises up.' Musk quipped that he wasn't 'anywhere near France' at the time, a reference to a viral video appearing to show French president Emmanuel Macron's wife, Brigitte, pushing Macron in the face. Asked about the video of Macron and his wife and whether he had any 'marital advice' for the couple, Trump replied: 'Make sure the door remains closed.' 'He's fine. They're fine,' Trump added. 'They're two really good people I know very well, and I don't know what that was all about, but I know him very well, and they're fine.' Musk brushed off a New York Times report about his alleged drug use while serving as one of Trump's closest advisers. 'Let's move on,' he said when asked about the article, before railing against the paper for their 'lies about the Russiagate hoax'. According to the Times, Musk engaged in extensive drug consumption during his rise to political prominence, regularly consuming ketamine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. His regular medication box contained pills bearing Adderall markings alongside other substances, the paper said. His use of ketamine was so frequent that he told people it caused bladder problems, the report says. Sources told the paper that he consumed the powerful anaesthetic sometimes daily rather than the 'small amount' taken 'about once every two weeks' he claimed in interviews.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk Dodges Trump Questions... Before Diving Into His Own Gripes About Government
Elon Musk doesn't want to talk about politics... unless he's got something to complain about. The billionaire's interview with 'CBS Sunday Morning' began on a stiff note as he shut down questions about President Donald Trump's ongoing tariff tumult and the administration's bid to throttle international students from coming into the country. But soon after trying to swerve from any contentious topics, Musk began grousing about the government, unprompted. 'My opinion of the government is that the government is just like the DMV that got big,' he told interviewer David Pogue. 'So when you say, 'Let's have the government do something,' you should think, do you want the DMV to do it?' Musk tried to shut down CBS from asking about anything other than "spaceships" — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 1, 2025 Treading carefully around his qualms with the Trump regime, Musk said, 'You know, it's not like I agree with everything the administration does. So it's like, I mean, I agree with much of what the administration does, but we have differences of opinion.' 'You know, the things that I don't entirely agree with,' he added. 'But it's difficult for me to bring that up in an interview because then it creates a bone of contention.' 'So then I'm a little stuck in a bind where I'm like, well, I don't want to, you know, speak up against the administration, but I don't want to...' he trailed off with a heavy sigh. Musk then deflected blame for the chaos wrought by his wade in politics, saying, 'I also don't want to take responsibility for everything the administration is doing.' ... but then he started going on effusively about his views on government and Trump — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 1, 2025 In April, the Department of Government Efficiency's chief architect announced he would be retreating from his role on Capitol Hill after spending months trying to disembowel the country's vast bureaucratic ecosystem. As Trump feted the Tesla CEO with an Oval Office send off on Friday, he told reporters, 'Elon's delivered a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington' and that he'd still 'back and forth' between the White House and his batch of businesses. Musk, who was sporting a black eye and a black shirt which said 'The Dogefather' during the gathering, also insisted his federal budget-busting project would be just fine without him. After accepting a ceremonial key from the president, he said, 'I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job. They're going to continue to be doing an incredible job.' Trump Addresses Elon Musk's Alleged Drug Use After Bombshell New York Times Report Musk's DOGE Takeover Of Peace Institute Left Building With Rats And Roaches 5 Things Elon Musk Can Tell His Manager He Accomplished As A Federal Employee
1News
a day ago
- Business
- 1News
Musk spotlighted US govt spending, but cut less than he wanted
Elon Musk's effort to dramatically cut US government spending is expected to fall far short of his grand early pronouncements, and perhaps even his most modest goals. It didn't have to be that way. According to experts across the ideological spectrum, a major problem was a failure to deploy people who understood the inner workings of government to work alongside his team of software engineers and other high-wattage technology talent. Even that might not have achieved Musk's original target of US$2 trillion, which is roughly the size of the entire federal deficit. Musk, whose last day spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency is Friday, slashed his goal for savings from US$2 trillion to $1 trillion to finally only $150 billion. The current DOGE results put Musk's efforts well short of US president Bill Clinton's initiative to streamline the federal bureaucracy, which saved the equivalent of US $240 billion by the time his second term ended. ADVERTISEMENT Clinton's effort reduced the federal workforce by more than 400,000 employees. According to government estimates, the total civilian federal workforce — not counting military personnel or postal workers — reaches 2.4 million people. It also seems clear that Musk was unable to change the overall trajectory of federal spending, despite eliminating thousands of jobs. The Yale Budget Lab, in an analysis of Treasury data, shows money is flowing out of government coffers at an even faster pace than the previous two years. 'It was an impossible goal they were trying to achieve. They kept lowering the standards of success," said Alex Nowrasteh, vice president for economic and social policy studies for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. "A more knowledgeable DOGE team wouldn't have made insane promises that would be impossible to keep. They set themselves up for failure.' At a White House event with Trump on Friday, Musk said his team would stay in place and renewed the goal of reaching at least US $1 trillion in cost savings. 'This is not the end of DOGE, but really the beginning. The DOGE team will only grow stronger over time. It's permeating throughout the government,' Musk said in the Oval Office, wearing a black blazer over a T-shirt emblazoned with 'The Dogefather.' ADVERTISEMENT 'We do expect over time to achieve the $1 trillion.' The early evidence suggests that the goal will be exceedingly difficult to reach. Elon Musk speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (Source: Associated Press) By relying chiefly on IT experts, Musk ended up stumbling through Washington and sometimes cutting employees vital to US President Donald Trump's own agenda. Immigration judges were targeted at the same time the administration was trying to accelerate deportations of people in the US illegally. Likewise, technologists with the Bureau of Land Management were purged from the Department of Interior, despite their significance to clearing the way for petroleum exploration, a Trump administration priority. In many cases, fired employees were rehired, adding administrative costs to an effort aimed at cutting expenditures. ADVERTISEMENT Had Musk's team been staffed with experts on what positions are required under federal law to continue efforts such as drilling and immigration enforcement, it could have avoided similar mistakes across multiple departments, Nowrasteh said. 'I just think there were a lot of unforced errors that a more knowledgeable DOGE team would have avoided,' Nowrasteh said. Grover Norquist, president and founder of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, had a more favorable perspective on Musk's work, saying it should be judged not only by the total dollars saved but his ability to spotlight the issues. 'When you find the problem, you don't know how far the cancer has spread. You just found a cancer cell,' he said. Norquist said it's up to Congress to take the baton and set up a permanent structure to continue where Musk is leaving off. 'I just think it's going to be seen five to 10 years from now as something very big and very permanent,' Norquist said, 'and that was done only because of a guy like Musk, who can come in and shake things up.' Elaine Kamarck, a key figure in Clinton's government efficiency push, said their efforts were guided by more modest fiscal targets than DOGE. ADVERTISEMENT The initiative was led by Vice President Al Gore, and it was aimed at making the government more responsive to people who used it, and focused heavily on updating antiquated hiring and purchasing procedures. It took years and carried into Clinton's second term. 'We went about it methodically, department by department and, yes, used some outside analysts, but they were seasoned government civil servants who knew about government in general,' Kamarck said. Clinton's effort saved US$136 billion by the end of Clinton's second term, the equivalent of more than $240 billion today, and contributed to budget surpluses for each of the final four fiscal years he was in office. Kamarck said she expects what she called Musk's 'chaotic' approach will reveal mistakes or oversights that could create crises down the road, such as a transportation problem, response to a natural disaster, or delivery of entitlement benefits. 'These are the things that really hurt presidents, and they are increasing the probability that something is going to happen,' Kamarck said.
Arab Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Arab Times
Trump gives Musk an Oval Office sendoff
WASHINGTON, May 31, (AP): President Donald Trump bid farewell to Elon Musk in the Oval Office on Friday, providing a cordial conclusion to a tumultuous tenure for the billionaire entrepreneur. Musk is leaving his position spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency, and he'll be rededicating himself to running his businesses, including electric automaker Tesla, rocket company SpaceX and social media platform X. Trump credited Musk with "a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington" and said some of his staff would remain in the administration. Musk, who wore all black including a T-shirt that said "The Dogefather,' nodded along as the president listed contracts that had been cut under his watch. "I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job," Musk said after accepting a ceremonial key from the president. "They're going to continue to be doing an incredible job.' He left a searing mark on the federal bureaucracy, including thousands of employees who were fired or pushed out. Some government functions were eviscerated, such as the US Agency for International Development, which had provided a lifeline for impoverished people around the world. Boston University researchers estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have already died as a result of the USAID cuts. Despite the upheaval, Musk also fell far short of his goals. After promising to cut $1 trillion or even $2 trillion in federal spending, he lowered expectations to only $150 billion in the current fiscal year. It's unclear whether that target has been hit. The DOGE website tallies $175 billion in savings, but its information has been riddled with errors and embellishments. Trump said Musk had led the "most sweeping and consequential government reform effort in generations." He suggested that Musk is "really not leaving' and "he's going to be back and forth' to keep tabs on what's happening in the administration. Musk had a bruise next to his right eye in the Oval Office, which he explained by saying he had been "horsing around" with his young son. "I said, go ahead punch me in the face," he said. "And he did.' Musk, the world's richest person, recently said he would reduce his political donation s. He was Trump's top donor in last year's presidential campaign. Trump appeared eager to end Musk's service on a high note.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Did somebody beat him up ..., speculations go viral as Elon Musk turns up with Black eye at the White House; he says he got it while ...
Image credits: X/@consequence Billionaire Elon Musk sparked intense speculation when he appeared with a Black eye for his Oval Office farewell with US President Donald Trump on Friday, May 30, 2025. The shiner seemed a fitting metaphor for his tumultuous 130-day stint as a 'special government employee' leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). His right eye socket was visibly swollen and purpled—a clear, unmistakable bruise. His businesses and public image took a hit, and now, it seemed, so had his face. Did somebody beat him up? Musk, however, offered a lighthearted explanation: His five-year-old son, X Æ A-Xii, had punched him during a playful moment. 'I was horsing around with lil' X, and I said, 'go ahead, punch me in the face,'' the 53-year-old South African-born tech mogul told reporters. 'He did. Turns out, even a five-year-old's punch can leave a mark. I didn't feel much at the time, but it bruises up.' The press conference, hosted by Trump to mark Musk's final day at DOGE, was overshadowed by a New York Times report alleging Musk's heavy drug use during Trump's 2024 campaign. Trump claimed he 'didn't notice' the bruise but quipped, 'X could do it, if you knew X,' referring to Musk's son, who often accompanied his father at the White House. X Æ A-Xii notably appeared on Musk's shoulders during his first Oval Office visit in February 2025 and was once spotted picking his nose by Trump's 'Resolute' Desk. Musk, sporting a DOGE baseball cap and a 'The Dogefather' T-shirt, seized the moment to poke fun at French President Emmanuel Macron. Referencing a video of Macron's wife seemingly shoving the French leader's face, Musk grinned and said, 'I've got a little shiner here, but I wasn't anywhere near France.' Despite stepping down, Musk vowed to remain a 'friend and advisor' to Trump, though he expressed growing disillusionment with the DOGE role. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
