US President Donald Trump bid farewell to Elon Musk, the head of the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), during a press conference on Friday. Trump presented Elon Musk with a gold White House key as a gift for his service as a special government employee.
While Musk said he will always remain at the “President’s service”, Trump praised Musk, saying, “Elon’s delivered a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington.”
Musk had on Thursday announced his decision to step down as a ‘Special Government Employee‘ in Trump administration.
Here’s what Trump and Musk said during the press conference at the Oval Office :
1.’Elon is really not leaving’: On Elon Musk’s last day, Trump assured that many of the DOGE employees are staying behind and suggested that Musk will remain integral in the project.
“Many of the DOGE people are staying behind, too, so they’re not leaving, Elon is really not leaving. He’s gonna be back and forth. I want to thank Elon for his time as a special government employee for coming and helping us,” Trump said.
2. ‘Elon willingly accepted the outrageous abuse’: Trump said, “Elon Musk’s service to America has been without comparison in modern history. He’s already running one of the most innovative car companies in the world… Yet, Elon willingly accepted the outrageous abuse, and slander, and lies and attacks because he does love our country.”
“Americans owe him a great debt of gratitude. He had to go through the slings and the arrows, which is a shame because he’s an incredible patriot,” Trump added later. The statement came on the day of a report about the billionaire’s alleged drug use during the 2024 campaign.
3. ‘Terminated many-many contracts’: The President listed the contracts that were terminated after DOGE recommendations to help boost the economy.
He said, “DOGE cancelled USD 101 million for DEI contracts at the Department of Education. USD 59 million for illegal alien hotel rooms in New York City. USD 45 million for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma. USD 42 million for social and behavioural change in Uganda, USD 40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of migrants. USD 8 million for mice transgenders,” Trump said.
On going through “millions of line items” in an “effort to cut waste, fraud, and abuse,” Musk said, “It’s just a lot of work going through the vast expenses of the federal government… We find situations where there are millions of software licenses with zero people using them.”
4. ‘This is just the beginning of DOGÉ’: Tesla CEO Musk reaffirmed that this is just the beginning of DOGE, and that the department’s influence would only grow stronger with time.
“This is not the end of DOGE but really the beginning. My time as a special government employee really had to end. It was a limited time. The DOGE will only grow stronger with time. The DOGE influence will go stronger.
Musk said he is “confident that, over time, we will see — a trillion dollars of waste and fraud reduction.”
5. ‘I expect to remain a friend and an adviser’: Musk said he intends to give the president advice even as he closes out his time in the administration. “I expect to continue to provide advice whenever the president would like advice,” Musk said in response to a question from a reporter.
“I hope so,” Trump chimed in. “I expect to remain a friend and an adviser and certainly, if there’s anything the president wants me to do, I’m at the president’s service,” Musk added.
6. On international students: Trump said, “We want to have great students here. We just don’t want students that are causing trouble.”
7. On the One Big Beautiful Bill: Trump said, “It’s going to be negotiated… but the end result is, it extends the Trump tax cuts. If it doesn’t get approved, you’ll have a 68% tax increase… It’s an amazing bill. It does amazing things… I think it’s going to be passed.”
8. ‘I’d like to see the money go to trade schools’: Trump said, “I’d like to see the money go to trade schools, where people learn how to fix motors and engines… You could have the greatest trade school system anywhere in the world… We probably found our pot of gold, and that’s what’s been wasted at places like Harvard.”
9. On the Appeals Court ruling on tariffs: “I was so honored that we got that ridiculous stay lifted because that would have taken away presidential power. It would have taken away everything that was granted by the founders… Most importantly, it would have left us vulnerable,” Trump said.
10. Gaza, Iran deal: Trumo said, “They’re very close to an agreement on Gaza… I think we have a chance of making a deal with Iran also… If we could have a deal without bombs being dropped all over the Middle East, that would be a very good thing.”
