Elon Musk gets black eye from X, his son

Elon Musk appeared at a White House event on May 30, 2025, marking his departure from his role in the United States (U.S.) government as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Something else had been marked too, and visibly so - a bruised, black right eye.

One reporter at the event asked Musk about his injury, Reuters reported.

Musk initially humorously quipped, "Well, I wasn't anywhere near France", referring to a viral video of French President Emmanuel Macron being shoved in the face by his wife, Brigitte Macron.

Musk then explained that he had been "horsing around" with his son X Æ A-Xii.

Musk said that he had told X to "go ahead, punch me in the face", and that X did.

Musk said he did not feel the injury much at the time, but that it eventually led to a bruise.

Trump remarked:

"That was X that did that? X could do it. If you knew X, [he] could do it."

Trump added that he had not noticed the bruise before.

Musk's departure

Musk's departure comes 130 days after Trump took office, which is the maximum period allowable through his status as "special government employee".

It nevertheless marks the end of his formal cost-cutting role in the U.S. administration.

Musk had led Doge in aggressive cost-cutting measures aimed at several government agencies.

Doge had also eliminated most programmes run by USAID, the main U.S. foreign aid organisation.

Despite the farewell, Trump said that Musk is "not really leaving", and will continue to "back and forth" to the White House, referring to Doge as Musk's "baby".

The event comes days after Musk publicly criticised Trump's "big, beautiful" bill while speaking to CBS News, which included multi-trillion dollar tax breaks and an increased commitment to defence spending.

Musk felt that it had undermined the "cost-cutting" work he did for Trump, and said he was "disappointed".

The departure also comes at a time of slowdown in Tesla sales, partly caused by Musk's political reputation, Le Monde reported.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Tesla's board has in fact started a search for a CEO to succeed Musk, though both Tesla and Musk have denied the papers' claims.

Trump, however, said on May 30 that Musk had "worked tirelessly, helping lead the most sweeping and consequential government reform programs in generations".

Top photo from Allison ROBBERT/AFP & nonstop.archived/Instagram