Trump to celebrate Elon Musk’s ‘last day’ in White House
President Donald Trump is hosting Elon Musk in one last Oval Office press conference, for now, as the Tesla billionaire wraps up his time working at the White House.
The president announced on his TruthSocial platform that the pair would hold a press conference together on Friday afternoon.
“I am having a Press Conference tomorrow at 1:30 P.M. EST, with Elon Musk, at the Oval Office,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial on Thursday.
“This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific! See you tomorrow at the White House.”
The billionaire’s departure and media appearance with the president comes after he criticised Trump’s “big beautiful bill”, which includes tax cuts and increased spending on border controls, and strengthens efforts to enact immigration restrictions.
Musk said it was a “massive spending bill” that expands the federal deficit and “undermines the work” of the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE.
“I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,” Musk said in an interview with CBS. “But I don’t know if it could be both.”
The press conference follows Musk’s announcement of his official departure on his social media platform X on Wednesday, as his 130-day term as a special government employee leading the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal bureaucracy and find savings comes to a close this week.
“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” he wrote. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
Musk is not the only top official leaving DOGE. Three others – adviser Steve Davis, adviser and spokesperson Katie Miller, and attorney James Burnham – are also leaving the administration, a White House official told The Hill.
The South African-born Musk has also been vocally critical of the government in his homeland, falsely claiming it was committing “genocide” against white Afrikaner farmers.
That culminated in Trump brandishing pictures from a different country at a White House visit with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last week, repeating the debunked claims.
When the billionaire CEO of Space X joined the White House to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, he said he would cut $1 trillion in federal spending. Still, in reality, the cuts have turned out to be nowhere near that figure.
Even the “wall of receipts” touted on May 26, claiming DOGE had cute $175 billion in spending, was found to have numerous errors.
In April, Musk said he would be reducing his time working with DOGE in May to refocus on his ailing EV brand, after Tesla reported disappointing earnings, since he alligned himself with the administration.
Musk’s businesses have faced a consumer backlash following his prominent position alongside Trump, but he has also faced criticism for overpromising and underdelivering in his multibillion-dollar enterprises.