Trump presents Musk with gold key during farewell press conference: ‘Today it’s about a man named Elon’

US President Donald Trump presents a "key to the White House" to Elon Musk during a news conference in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 30, 2025. Musk, who stormed into US politics as President Trump's chainsaw-brandishing sidekick, announced on May 28 that he is leaving his role in US government, intended to reduce federal spending, shortly after his first major break with the President over Trump's signature spending bill. (Photo by Allison ROBBERT / AFP) (Photo by ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump presents a “key to the White House” to Elon Musk during a news conference in the Oval Office (Photo by ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Blake Wolf
1:45 PM – Friday, May 30, 2025

President Donald Trump presented Elon Musk with a gold key in a farewell press conference to honor Musk’s work in leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut down on wasteful government spending.

President Trump began the conference from the Oval Office alongside Musk, stating “Today it’s about a man named Elon, and he’s one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced.”

“He stepped forward to put his very great talents into the service of our nation, and we appreciate it,” Trump continued, going on to indicate that Musk will continue to stay involved in DOGE despite Friday marking his last day as a special government employee in an official capacity.

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“Elon is really not leaving,” Trump stated. “He’s going to be back and forth.”

“I expect to continue to provide advice whenever the president would like that advice,” Musk stated. “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.”

President Trump provided Musk with a gold key to honor his work with DOGE, stating “This is a presentation from our country,” while noting that he only gives the golden key to “very special people.”

The 47th President then opened the conference up to questioning, where reporters asked Musk about the bruising on his right eye.

“I was just horsing around with little X, and I said, ‘Go ahead, punch me in the face.’ and he did,” Musk stated.

”That was X that did that?” Trump quickly interjected. “X could do it. If you knew X, he could do that.”

Musk went on to discuss his work with DOGE, and some of the roadblocks it faced in slashing government spending.

“It’s just a lot of work going through the vast expenses of the federal government and just really asking questions: ‘What’s this money for? Are you sure it’s actually being used well?’” he stated. “Many times we can’t even find anyone who defends it.”

“So for a lot of the expenses, there’s actually no defender at all. And then we have to just go work through the process of stopping the spending where there’s often literally no defender, nobody even knows why the money is being spent. It’s truly absurd,” Musk added.

Additionally, President Trump was asked about the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” stating that he would like to see additional tax cuts in the Senate’s revised version of the bill.

“I’d like to see a bigger cut in taxes. … I’d like to see it get down to an even lower number. I was shooting for a slightly lower number,” Trump stated. “It’s an amazing bill. It does amazing things with all of that. It’s going to be adjusted a little bit over the next coming weeks. And I think it’s going to be passed.”

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