EDITED BY BRIDGET BROWN, MICHAEL WARREN, CARLEY PETESCH AND CURTIS YEE
Updated 11:31 AM PDT, May 30, 2025
President Donald Trump is hosting an Oval Office news conference alongside black-eyed billionaire and Department of Government Efficiency architect Elon Musk. The world’s richest man is leaving his job having accomplished far less than he set out to do, although his tumultuous tenure will likely leave a lasting mark on the federal government.
Musk’s black eye from ‘horsing around’
By NICHOLAS RICCARDIThe tech billionaire stood in the oval office for more than 30 minutes with a visible black eye before a reporter was able to ask him directly about it. Initially Musk quipped that he wasn’t “anywhere near France,” a reference to video of President Macron being pushed in the face by his wife. Then Musk said he was “just horsing around” with his 5-year-old son, named X, “and I said ‘go ahead and punch me in the face.’” It turns out, he said, that even a 5-year-old can give you a black eye.
Musk bemoans his team becoming ‘DOGE bogeyman’
BY WILL WEISERT
Musk says his government cost-cutting team was unfairly blamed for actions it never took. He complained that about any efforts to reduce the size of government “people would assume that was done by DOGE.” Musk added that his Department of Government Efficiency team became essentially “the DOGE bogeyman.”
Musk says he expects to remain ‘friend and advisor’ to Trump
BY CHRISTINE FERNANDO
“I hope to continue to provide advice whenever the president would like,” Musk said at Friday’s news conference. “I hope so,” Trump cut in before Musk said he hopes to still achieve $1 trillion in federal spending cuts over time.
Trump gives Musk a key for his DOGE work
BY JOSHUA BOAK
President Trump gave Musk what appeared to be a gold-colored key for his work establishing the “Department of Government Efficiency,” which sought to layoff federal workers and close government agencies to achieve cost savings. Trump said that he would only bestow this gift to “very special people” and that it was a “presentation from our country.”
Musk compares his work cutting government to personal Buddhism
BY WILL WEISERT
Musk likened his work in cutting the size of government to a personal form of Buddhism, saying it will continue to permeate through the government even after he’s left his post. “It’s a way of life,” Musk said. He also promised to continue visiting the White House and “be a friend and adviser to the president.” Musk said that, even in his absence, his team would continue to try and cut the size of government – despite greatly exaggerating the cost savings and fiscal impact of his team’s work so far.
Elon’s not really leaving, Trump says
BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI
Trump said that even though Musk is formally departing the administration he will still be involved. “He’s going to be back and forth, I imagine,” Trump said. Trump noted that DOGE employees will remain embedded with government agencies and said the billionaire will probably want to keep tabs on “his baby.” Musk himself followed the president’s oval office remarks by saying he’d be back in “this amazing room.” He praised Trump’s gold leaf additions and renovations of the fabled space.
Trump talks making DOGE cuts permanent
BY CHRISTINE FERNANDO
Trump listed examples of what he called “countless wasteful and unnecessary contracts” that DOGE has cancelled, including Education Department diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; temporary housing for migrants in New York City and “social and behavioral change” in Uganda. “We are totally committed to making the DOGE cuts permanent,” he said. While Trump celebrated DOGE’s slashing of federal government contracts, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk 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.
Trump ousts head of the National Portrait Gallery
BY ASHRAF KHALIL
Trump is terminating the head of the National Portrait Gallery, continuing his aggressive moves to reshape the federal government’s cultural institutions. Trump announced Friday on his Truth Social platform that he was ousting Director Kim Sajet, calling her a “highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI, which is totally inappropriate for her position.” Sajet, a Dutch citizen raised in Australia, was appointed to the post in 2013 by President Barack Obama. She had previously served as president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania..
Trump has repeatedly criticized the national network of museums and cultural centers as leftist and anti-American. Earlier this spring, he ousted the leadership of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, dismissing the chairman and president and replacing most of the board with loyalists, who then voted Trump the new chairman.
In early May, he abruptly dismissed Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.
Trump offers kind words for Musk
BY WILL WEISERT
Trump kicked off his Oval Office press conference with Musk with some warm words for the billionaire Tesla CEO. “Today it’s about a man named Elon,” Trump said. He praised Musk’s “very great talents” and said that he’d led “the most sweeping and consequential” efforts to slash the federal workforce and reduce the size of government. Trump added to Musk, “We’ll remember you” while announcing more cuts in the future. But Trump also lamented that the process was taking a long time: “Sadly, it takes a long time.” Musk wore a black baseball cap reading “DOGE” and offered brief comments like “yeah” and other words of agreement to Trump’s comments.
Trump celebrates appeals court decision allowing him to continue collecting tariffs
BY CHRISTINE FERNANDO
During a Friday news conference, Trump celebrated an appeals court decision made Thursday that allowed him, for now, to continue collecting tariffs under an emergency powers law. “The tariffs are so important,” he said. “That’s why were were so happy with the decision yesterday where the tariffs continued. Because without the tariffs, our nation would be imperiled.”
Musk and Trump start billionaire’s farewell appearance
BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI
Musk’s status as a special government employee is expiring. He says he’s stepping back from politics to spend more time running his embattled companies. His DOGE initiative fell vastly short of the $2 trillion the tech mogul initially promised to save. It did gut some agencies like USAID, the United States’ main foreign aid arm. Former USAID global health chief Atul Gawande and researchers at Boston University estimate that disease and malnutrition deaths from the cuts will be in the hundreds of thousands in the first year alone.
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