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Trump's failed spectacle in the "farewell" to Musk...
The press conference in the Oval Office of the White House, where Donald Trump wanted to greet the entrepreneur who became his right-hand man – almost a “co-president” – during the first weeks of his term, turned, in fact, into a rally for the president, who spoke about everything except praising Musk, while the latter made a few brief interventions and faced prepared questions from pro-Trump journalists.
One of them, speaking about the interventions of judges who try to block the president’s executive orders as illegal or unconstitutional, turned the accusations of abuse of power against the courts upside down, asking if, since they do whatever they want and have the power to block it, he wouldn’t prefer to trade the position of president for that of a judge. Another prompted him to make fun of an alleged incident with French President Macron, who was slapped by his wife.
From immigration to public debt, from ISIS to Afghanistan, to tariffs, inflation, Ukraine and the Middle East – Trump moved from one topic to another, occasionally praising Musk, who stood next to him in his usual black suit, a “Doge” hat and a T-shirt with the inscription “Dogefather” – in the style of the titles of the film The Godfather.
For a long moment in silence and with his arms folded, Musk nodded as Trump spoke, before the president handed him a large golden key to the White House as a farewell gift.
Trump praised Musk's work, saying that his team would continue working without him, but expressed his belief that "Elon will continue to deal with it from afar, coming in when needed." The president then listed several (mostly modest) spending cuts, which he presented as avoiding abuses or "exotic" uses of citizens' taxes.
When he gave the floor to Musk, he simply thanked Trump for the trust he had placed in him and promised that his commitment would continue remotely. He admitted that the initial objectives (savings of $2 trillion) had not been achieved, as changing the mechanisms of bureaucracy proved to be an almost impossible mission.
The processes are very slow: so far, according to Musk, the savings have only reached $160 billion, but he is sure that they will increase in the coming years, until they get closer to the targets.
The first question he was asked was about an investigation published the day before by the New York Times into his use of ketamine and other narcotic substances, which Musk has always stated that he uses in controlled doses to cope with depressive episodes. But according to the daily, drug use increased during the election campaign, while his private life also became more chaotic, with conflicts with his ex-wives, especially with the singer Grimes, who had opposed the public appearances of their son X at Mar-a-Lago and the White House.
Musk refused to answer, stating only that for him this newspaper has no credibility, as it had also written lies about the “Russiagate” issue. He spoke about the boy later, when the lights went out and a reporter asked him about a bruise on his face near his eye: “I challenged my son X to punch me in the face, and this is the result,” he replied.
In the end, Musk described his transformation into an advisor and his relationship with Trump and the government “not as an end, but as a beginning: when the president needs my contribution, he will call me and I will be ready to serve the country.” In an effort to avoid the feeling of a somber divorce, Musk even complimented Trump on the way he had restored the Oval Office, painting the ceilings gold. / Adapted from "Corriere Della Sera"
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