President Donald Trump bid farewell to Elon Musk during a joint press conference from the Oval Office on Friday, with the president thanking Musk for making a “colossal change” to the federal government during his time leading the Department of Government Efficiency.
“Elon gave an incredible service,” President Trump said. “Nobody liked him, and he had to go through the slings and the arrows, which is a shame, because he’s an incredible patriot.”
At one point early in the press conference, the president pulled out a laptop and played a clip of CNBC anchors lauding his administration and DOGE. The president, sitting at the Resolute Desk, smiled as the clip played, while Musk stood next to him in a black DOGE hat and a black shirt that said “The Dogefather.”
President Trump also listed a number of cuts DOGE made during the past few months, including axing $45 million for “diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma” and “$20 million for Arab ‘Sesame Street.’”
“Nobody knows what that’s all about,” the president commented.
Shortly after that, President Trump presented Musk with a gold key to the White House.
The press conference was Musk’s send-off as his 130-day term with the Trump Administration comes to a close.
Musk spent $275 million to help President Trump and other Republicans win during the 2024 election. He then joined the Trump Administration in January, spearheading the new department aimed at slicing government spending; Musk has said DOGE would ideally cut $1 trillion-$2 trillion from the annual federal budget, and as of Friday, DOGE has estimated it has cut $175 billion.
“This is not the end of DOGE, but really the beginning,” Musk said.
He said the DOGE team will “only grow stronger” in the years ahead, as its influence begins “permeating throughout the government.”
“It’s sort of like Buddhism; it’s like a way of life,” Musk said.
He added he is “confident” the government will ultimately reach his goal of slashing at least $1 trillion from the budget. Friday’s press conference comes a few days after Musk said he was “disappointed” with President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and felt DOGE had become a political “whipping boy.”
The Tesla CEO’s work with DOGE led to severe blowback against his electric car company, with violent protestors attacking company stores. A number of clips also went viral of vandals keying and damaging Tesla cars and trucks in the months following President Trump’s inauguration in January.
Tesla’s stock took a major hit as a result, dropping from about $380 per share at the beginning of the year to around $220 per share in April. The company’s stock has since rebounded in the last month, surging to about $350 per share by Friday afternoon.
On Friday, President Trump said Musk does not get the “credit” he deserves for serving his administration, before calling him a ” very good person.”
The president added: “We’ll remember you.”
