President Donald Trump gifted Elon Musk a key to the White House for leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during his send-off press conference in the Oval Office on Friday.
Friday marks the end of Musk’s special government employee tenure, which is capped at 130 days. Trump lauded Musk for the work that DOGE has done in exposing waste, fraud, and abuse.
“Today, it’s about a man named Elon, and he’s one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced. He stepped forward to put his very great talents into the service of our nation, and we appreciate it,” Trump said.
“And just want to say that Elon has worked tirelessly helping lead the most sweeping and consequential government reform program in generations. And you know the kinds of things that he’s found, and his people have found — he’s brought a group of very smart people in — and they found things that are pretty unbelievable,” Trump added.
Trump emphasized that Musk endured “slings and arrows” during his time at DOGE and contended that the vast majority of the country appreciates his efforts just before giving the Tesla, X, and SpaceX CEO the gold key.
Musk, who had a black eye and sported a shirt that appeared to read “Dogefather,” thanked Trump and emphasized that this is just the beginning of DOGE, rather than the end, and expressed confidence that a $1 trillion reduction in waste and fraud will materialize.
“The DOGE team will only grow stronger over time. The DOGE influence will only grow stronger. It’s, I’d liken it to a sort of Buddhism. It’s like a way of life. So, it is permeating throughout the government,” Musk said.
“The calculations of the DOGE team thus far, in terms of an FY 25 to FY 26 delta, are over $160 billion, and that’s climbing. We expect… that number will probably go over $200 billion soon,” he added.
Both Trump and Musk said the mogul will still be a familiar face.
“I’ll continue to be visiting here and be a friend and adviser to the president, and I look forward to times being back in this amazing room,” Musk said.
Trump noted Musk is “really not leaving; he’s going to be back and forth, I think.”
“It’s his baby, and I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things,” Trump added.
Musk went out with a bang Friday when things were opened up to questions. When Fox News’s Peter Doocy began to ask a question about a New York Times report, Musk trashed the newspaper.
