US President praises \u201cterrific\u201d Musk and says his influence will continue despite tech tycoon returning to his companies
\n Washington
\nUS President Donald Trump hosts a grand Oval Office farewell for Elon Musk on Friday as the world\u2019s richest man ends his turbulent reign as the government\u2019s cost cutter-in-chief.
\nThe pair will hold a joint press conference at 1.30pm local time, with Trump attempting to put a positive spin on Musk\u2019s departure from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after just four months.
\nTrump, 78, praised the \u201cterrific\u201d Musk on Thursday and insisted that his influence would continue despite the South African-born tech tycoon returning to his Space X and Tesla companies.
\n\u201cThis will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way,\u201d Trump said on his Truth Social network.
\nVice President JD Musk praised Musk\u2019s \u201cincredible\u201d job in an interview with Newsmax and vowed that \u201cthe DOGE effort will continue.\u201d
\nBut the news conference will be a far cry from Musk\u2019s first dramatic appearance in the Oval Office in February, when he brought his young son with him and outshone even the attention-seeking president himself.
\nAt the time the 53-year-old was almost inseparable from Trump, glued to his side on Air Force One, Marine One, in the White House and at Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
\nYet Musk is now leaving Trump\u2019s administration under a cloud, after openly admitting disillusionment with his role, and criticizing the Republican president\u2019s spending plans.
\nDOGE rampage
\nThe right-wing magnate\u2019s DOGE has led an ideologically-driven rampage through the federal government, with its young \u201ctech bros\u201d slashing tens of thousands of jobs.
\nIt has also shuttered whole departments including the US Agency for International Development (USAID), leading to huge cuts in foreign aid that critics say will hit some of the world\u00b4s poorest people and boost US rivals.
\nBut DOGE\u2019s achievements fell far short of Musk\u2019s boasts when he blazed into Washington brandishing a chainsaw at a conservative event and bragged that it would be easy to cut two trillion dollars.
\nTrump also loudly proclaimed that DOGE was cutting \u201cwaste\u201d and would regularly reel off long lists of alleged fraud that Musk\u00b4s team was discovering, including social security claimants older than the world\u00b4s oldest person.
\nIn reality, the independent \u201cDoge Tracker\u201d site has counted just $12 billion in savings so far while the Atlantic magazine put it far lower, at $2 billion.
\nMusk\u2019s Silicon Valley-style \u201cmove fast and break things\u201d mantra was also at odds with some of his Washington colleagues.
\nHe clashed with other cabinet members and said in an interview earlier this week that he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d in Trump\u2019s recent mega tax and spending bill as it undermined DOGE\u2019s cuts.
\nMusk\u2019s companies, meanwhile, were suffering.
\nTesla shareholders called for him to return to work as sales slumped and protests targeted the electric vehicle maker, while Space X had a series of fiery rocket failures.
\nAt Friday\u2019s press conference Musk may also face questions over a New York Times report alleging intensive drug use by the tycoon while on the campaign trail for Trump last year.
\nThe Times said the 53-year-old told friends he was taking so much of the anesthetic ketamine \u201cthat it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use.\u201d
\nMusk has previously admitted to taking ketamine, saying he was prescribed it to treat a \u201cnegative frame of mind\u201d and suggesting his use of drugs benefited Tesla investors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US President praises \u201cterrific\u201d Musk and says his influence will continue despite tech tycoon returning to his companies Washington US President Donald Trump hosts a grand Oval Office farewell for Elon Musk on Friday as the world\u2019s richest man ends his turbulent reign as the government\u2019s cost cutter-in-chief. The pair will hold a joint press […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-481915","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n