Trump and Musk — who have publicly disagreed about the administration’s best path forward — met for a final joint press conference on May 30 before the Tesla CEO returns to private life
NEED TO KNOW
- Donald Trump and Elon Musk met for a joint press conference on Friday, May 30, coinciding with the Tesla CEO’s final day in the administration.
- Musk announced on May 28 that he would be leaving the White House entirely, not just stepping back to a minor role, as previously suspected.
- The presser came amid a public disagreement between Trump and Musk — and just hours after The New York Times dropped a bombshell report about Musk’s alleged drug abuse.
- Musk, wearing a black “DOGE” cap, entered the event with a prominent bruise on his eye.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk made a final White House appearance together on Friday, May 30, as the Tesla CEO’s time in government comes to an end.
The pair came face to face for a joint press conference in the Oval Office to answer questions about Musk’s departure and his controversial work with the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk arrived with a visible bruise on his right eye, wearing a black “DOGE” cap and a shirt that reads “The Dogefather.”
Musk, 53, officially announced on May 28 that he was ready to leave his government days behind. Though he was always expected to eventually step back from leading DOGE — since his special government employee status expires on Friday — it was widely suspected that he would continue working for the administration in a less central role.
“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk posted to X. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
Ahead of Friday’s press conference, Trump, 78, posted about Musk’s departure on his Truth Social account.
“This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific! See you tomorrow at the White House,” the president wrote.
In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning that will air in full on June 1, Musk expressed his displeasure with his time in the political sector, noting that he felt all his work with DOGE could soon be undercut by Trump’s sweeping budget legislation — titled the “Big, Beautiful Bill” — which passed in the House of Representatives on May 22.
“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” he said.
The “Big, Beautiful Bill” is funding its tax cuts and military spending in part by cutting some federal health and energy programs. However, it is also poised to add an estimated $3.8 trillion to the national deficit, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both,” Musk insisted.
Trump shot back at Musk’s criticisms, claiming that he could only slash the price tag of his budget agenda so much without losing necessary Republican votes in Congress.
“We have to get a lot of votes, we can’t be cutting – we need to get a lot of support,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on May 28. “We will be negotiating that bill. I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it.”
Musk’s final joint press conference with Trump also comes in the midst of a tough news cycle for the tech billionaire. On Friday morning, The New York Times released a bombshell report about Musk’s alleged drug habits while he was working his way into Trump’s inner circle.
Citing sources close to the SpaceX CEO, the Times claims that Musk admitted to people around him that he used ketamine frequently, sometimes daily, to the point that it had started to damage his bladder. A September 2022 study by the National Institute of Health notes that “significant side effects on the urinary tract are associated with frequent recreational ketamine use.”
According to the newspaper, Musk also allegedly used ecstasy and hallucinogenic mushrooms, and was known to travel with a pill box that contained Adderall, the ADHD treatment drug, which can be a stimulant for some.
The Times‘ sources pin Musk’s drug abuse to 2024, as the SpaceX CEO was ramping up support for Trump’s reelection campaign, donating nearly $275 million. It’s unclear whether or not the alleged drug use followed him into the White House, however, public displays of erratic behavior — such as proudly displaying a Nazi-like salute and wielding a chainsaw onstage at a political conference — continued after the inauguration.
In a March 2024 interview with Don Lemon, Musk admitted to using ketamine, but said he only did the “a small amount” of the drug about once every two weeks, as a prescribed treatment for depressive moods.
“If you’ve used too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done, and I have a lot of work,” he claimed at the time.|
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