Musk jokingly linked the black eye to shock video that emerged this week of French President Emmanuel Macron appearing to be slapped by his wife Brigitte, saying he ‘wasn’t anywhere near France.’
The remarks came after Musk was confronted by an explosive New York Times report that alleged he was using a cocktail of drugs on the campaign trail including ketamine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms.
Musk slammed the reporting as he spoke alongside Trump at the farewell, saying people ‘can’t trust’ the Times and said he was ‘moving on’ from the controversy.
Trump thanked Musk for his work at the Department of Government Efficiency as his five-month stint in office came to an end, and added that Musk would be ‘going back and forth’ between the White House and private life.
The billionaire was handed a large key by Trump before vowing that DOGE’s work slashing the federal government’s spending would not end with him leaving.
He likened his work slashing government spending to a personal form of Buddhism, describing it as a ‘way of life’ that he hopes permeates throughout the government.
The remarks came after DailyMail.com exclusively reported that discontent with Musk from some in Trump’s orbit was escalated by an alleged violent outburst at Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this year.
Musk’s role working for Trump was always intended to be a temporary stint, however his departure notably comes after he broke ranks with the White House and trashed its ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ earlier this week.
He said he was ‘disappointed’ in the president for ‘undermining’ the work he did at DOGE, in a parting shot before saying he was returning to his multi-billion-dollar businesses ’24/7.’
Musk alluded to these complaints in his Friday meeting with Trump, saying his department became the ‘DOGE boogeyman’ and was unfairly blamed for controversies that weren’t his fault.
Many of the cuts made by DOGE have not been codified, but Trump said at the meeting on Friday he was ‘totally committed to making the DOGE cuts permanent.’
‘This is not the end of DOGE, this is really the beginning,’ Musk added.
‘The DOGE team will only grow stronger over time. I’m confident over time we will see a trillion dollars of waste and fraud reduction.
‘I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job, they’re going to continue doing an incredible job and I’ll continue visiting her and being a friend and adviser to the president.’
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