During an official Oval Office event marking the end of his time working at the federal government, Elon Musk on Friday emerged with apparent facial swelling and bruising around his right eye.
“I wasn’t anywhere near France,” Musk replied when asked about the black eye, an apparent joke about Emmanuel Macron’s marital shove.
“I was just horsing around with little X, and I said, ‘Go ahead and punch me in the face,’ and he did,” he continued. “It turns out even a 5-year-old punching you in the face actually…”
“That was X that did that?” Trump interrupted.
“Yeah,” Musk said while giggling.
The black eye encapsulated another fresh round of intense chaos for Musk this week after the announcement that he was leaving the Trump administration. (The departure itself follows months of tumult for Musk as the head of DOGE.) Mere hours before the Oval Office appearance, the New York Times alleged rampant drug use by Musk—frequent ketamine, mushrooms, and ecstasy. It came amid speculation of dramatic feuding between Musk and Stephen Miller, whose wife, Katie Miller, is reportedly leaving the administration to work full-time with Musk.
Elsewhere in the Oval Office on Friday, Musk appeared distracted, at times bobbing his head or staring at the ceiling.
