{"id":2441066,"date":"2025-05-30T16:41:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T20:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/musk-exits-white-house-with-a-black-eye-and-trumps-thanks\/"},"modified":"2025-05-30T16:43:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T20:43:43","slug":"musk-exits-white-house-with-a-black-eye-and-trumps-thanks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/musk-exits-white-house-with-a-black-eye-and-trumps-thanks\/","title":{"rendered":"Musk exits White House with a black eye and Trump&#8217;s thanks"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmusk-exits-white-house-with-a-black-eye-and-trumps-thanks%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2441066&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Elon Musk recently attended his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bill-belichick-begins-his-departure-press-conference-by-referencing-tim-tebow\/\" title=\"Bill Belichick starts his press conference by mentioning Tim Tebow\">farewell press conference<\/a> at the White House, were he appeared with a visible black eye, which he humorously attributed to his son, X, who he said playfully punched him in the face.After a 130-day tenure as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-biden-coronavirus-adviser-announces-last-day-in-job\/\" title=\"Top Biden Coronavirus Adviser Announces Last Day in Job\">special government employee<\/a>,Musk expressed his commitment to continue his work,despite facing criticism and challenges during his time in the governance.<\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump praised Musk for his contributions to the Department of Government Efficiency and presented him with a gold key as a farewell gesture. Though, Musk&#8217;s tenure was marked by controversy, particularly surrounding significant job cuts and other contentious government policies, which made him a target for political opponents. Musk criticized the judicial system for its perceived overreach and reiterated his belief in the ongoing meaning of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-hosts-lawmakers-at-mar-a-lago-heres-what-to-know\/\" title=\"... hosts lawmakers at Mar-a-Lago: Here\u2019s what to know\">government efficiency initiatives<\/a>, likening them to a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >long-term commitment similar<\/a> to Buddhism.<\/p>\n<p>the press conference mixed lighthearted moments with serious discussions about Musk&#8217;s tenure and the challenges he faced, as he left office amid mixed reviews and ongoing political debates.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Elon Musk exits the White House with a black eye and Trump&rsquo;s thanks<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2134602\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Billionaire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/elon-musk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Elon Musk\">Elon Musk<\/a> showed up to his farewell White House press conference vowing to continue the fight &mdash; and with a bruise to show for it.<\/p>\n<p>Musk appeared to have a black eye on the right side of his face on Friday in the Oval Office alongside President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a>. After 130 days, he&rsquo;s leaving his post as a special government employee, but said the wound had nothing to do with politics.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3427080\/trump-paul-ingrassia-head-office-of-special-counsel-hampton-dellinger\/\">Trump nominates Paul Ingrassia to head Office of Special Counsel after firing Hampton Dellinger<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3425847\/trump-pardons-and-commutations-second-term-clemency\/\">Trump pardons and commutations: Notable acts of clemency in his second term<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3427056\/trump-says-biden-autopen-use-white-house-great-scandal\/\">Trump says Biden autopen could become one of the &#8216;great scandals&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;I was just horsing around with little X,&rdquo; Musk said, referring to his young son. &ldquo;I said, &lsquo;go ahead, punch me in the face,&rsquo; and he did. It turns out that even a five-year-old punching you in the face [can do some damage].&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Musk began the exchange by making a joke about French President Emmanuel Macron getting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3422893\/elysee-palace-emmanuel-macron-shove-align-messaging-viral-wife\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"shoved by his wife\">shoved by his wife<\/a>, saying, &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t anywhere near France.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The jab fell flat, but Trump tried to lighten the mood again by saying that those who know X know he can give someone a black eye.<\/p>\n<p>On more serious matters, Trump thanked Musk for his work with the Department of Government Efficiency and promised the job was not over.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Today it&rsquo;s about a man named Elon, and he&rsquo;s one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;He stepped forward to put his very great talents into the service of our nation, and we appreciate it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>DOGE was the biggest story in Washington during January and February, as thousands of layoffs hit various federal agencies, turning Musk into a polarizing figure and leading opponents to target his Tesla car dealerships.<\/p>\n<p>In that sense, the black eye Musk sported Friday could be seen as a metaphor for the political beating he&rsquo;s taken since Jan. 20. He fell far short of finding a trillion dollars in DOGE cuts, with about $<a href=\"https:\/\/doge.gov\/savings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"175 billion\">175 billion<\/a> to date. His swift government work with a tech team came with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3335694\/elon-musk-doge-walks-back-mistakes-push-streamline-government\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"mistakes\">mistakes<\/a>, such as canceling the programs fighting an Ebola outbreak, and a flurry of lawsuits to stop federal employee layoffs and program cuts.<\/p>\n<p>His involvement in GOP politics, funneling millions into the 2024 election to support Trump and the unsuccessful effort to elect a conservative judge to the Wisconsin Supreme Court this year, made him a regular target for Democrats&rsquo; protests. <\/p>\n<p>However, the end of Musk&rsquo;s tenure came with a whimper, as he criticized Trump&rsquo;s &ldquo;one big, beautiful bill&rdquo; for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3423547\/elon-musk-disappointment-big-beautiful-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"undermining his team's efforts\">undermining his team&rsquo;s efforts<\/a> at cost-cutting. Trump tried to give Musk a proper send-off with the Friday afternoon presser, which included the gift of a special White House gold key.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@POTUS<\/a> presents <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@elonmusk<\/a> with a gold White House key as a gift for his service as a special government employee. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vmpp3RcSTm\">pic.twitter.com\/vmpp3RcSTm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapidResponse47\/status\/1928515860101988759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Many of the DOGE people are staying behind too, so they&rsquo;re not leaving, and Elon is really not leaving,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to be back and forth, I think. I have a feeling. It&rsquo;s his baby.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, most of the hourlong Oval Office sendoff centered on Trump, who did the bulk of the speaking and answered most of the press&rsquo;s questions.<\/p>\n<p>Musk chimed in a few times, outlining what he considers to be the failure of his political opponents.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think the fundamental moral flaw of the Left is empathy for the criminals and not empathy for the victims,&rdquo; Musk said, repeating the point for emphasis. <\/p>\n<p>Musk also joined Trump in criticizing the courts for trying to thwart DOGE cuts and executive actions, including tariffs and migrant deportations.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s been immense judicial overreach that is unconstitutional, that was never intended, and it&rsquo;s undermining people&rsquo;s faith in the legal system,&rdquo; Musk said. &ldquo;It needs to stop. It&rsquo;s gone too far.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He responded to a question about a <em>New York Times <\/em>story <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/30\/us\/elon-musk-drugs-children-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"alleging\">alleging<\/a> drug use by saying it was the same paper that won a Pulitzer Prize for &ldquo;false reporting on Russiagate.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-transform:uppercase\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3427056\/trump-says-biden-autopen-use-white-house-great-scandal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Trump says Biden autopen could become one of the &lsquo;great scandals&rsquo;\">Trump says Biden autopen could become one of the &lsquo;great scandals&rsquo;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Musk promised that DOGE is still in its beginning phase rather than its ending, saying the team will grow stronger over time.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I liken it to Buddhism &mdash;&nbsp;it&rsquo;s like a way of life,&rdquo; Musk said. &ldquo;It is permeating throughout the government, and I&rsquo;m confident that over time we&rsquo;ll see $1 trillion in savings.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2134602\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2134602\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elon Musk leaves the White House with a black eye and Trump&#8217;s gratitude<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2635,"featured_media":2441067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Elon-Musk-black-eye-White-House.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[41557,4250,32127],"class_list":["post-2441066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-black-eye","tag-musk","tag-white-house"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Elon-Musk-black-eye-White-House.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2635"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2441066"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2441070,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441066\/revisions\/2441070"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2441067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2441066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2441066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2441066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}