Elon Musk raises sports black eye at White House farewell

WASHINGTON — Billionaire Elon Musk stunned the White House press corps Friday by sporting a black eye to an Oval Office event to mark the end of his 130 days in the Trump administration.

“I’ve got a little shiner here,” the 53-year-old said after President Trump answered a question from Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy about “the first lady of France slapping her husband, Emmanuel Macron.”

“I wasn’t anywhere near France,” Musk added. “I was just horsing around with Little X, and I said, ‘Go ahead, punch me in the face,’ and he did.”

“Turns out even a five-year-old punching you in the face … ” he began before trailing off.

The mark was visible in pictures posted Thursday from a separate presentation that the now-former special government employee delivered about his company SpaceX’s plans to land on Mars.

“What do you think would be easier, colonizing Mars or making the government efficient?” a reporter asked.

“It’s a tough call, but I think colonizing Mars and making life multiplanetary is harder,” he answered. “We do expect to achieve, over time, the trillion-dollar savings.”

As part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the tech mogul telegraphed optimism about hitting $2 trillion in reductions to federal spending before Trump took office.

DOGE staff had worked side by side with employees at various federal agencies cancelling grants, contracts, programs and other funding for around four months.

But by the time of his departure Wednesday, its own website listed just $175 billion, or roughly $1,087 per US taxpayer, in savings.

Those cuts will be included in congressional appropriations later this year, House Speaker Mike Johsnon (R-La.) said Wednesday, while touting $1.5 trillion more in spending reductions included in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

The mark was visible in pictures posted Thursday from a separate presentation that the now-former special government employee delivered about his company SpaceX’s plans to land on Mars and eventually make “life multiplanetary.”

Musk arrived for Friday’s sendoff wearing a black “Dogefather” T-shirt and matching “DOGE” hat — but acted subdued rather than his usual boisterous self.

Meanwhile, accounts on X were furiously questioning how the platform’s CEO got injured.

“What happened to Elon, appears he has a black eye on his right,” one user speculated of the tech billionaire’s appearance.

“Yoo did Elon Musk get straight up punched in the face? That’s a left hook black eye if I’ve ever seen one. Might explain his delayed talk?” another account suggested.

Trump later awarded the richest man in the world a key to the White House similar to that gifted to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the president’s first term.

Musk told reporters at the White House that this was “not the end of DOGE, only the beginning” and promised “the DOGE team will only grow stronger over time.”

“He’s going to be back and forth,” Trump added. “I’ve got a feeling.”