Musk vows to stay Trump's 'friend' in bizarre black-eyed farewell

Billionaire Elon Musk bade farewell to Donald Trump in an extraordinary Oval Office appearance Friday, sporting a black eye, brushing aside drug abuse claims and vowing to stay a "friend and adviser" to the US president.

As the world's richest person bowed out of his role as Trump's cost-cutter-in-chief, the Republican hailed Musk's "incredible service" and handed him a golden key to the White House.

But Trump insisted that Musk was "really not leaving" after a turbulent four months in which his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut tens of thousands of jobs, shuttered whole agencies and slashed foreign aid.

"He's going to be back and forth," said Trump, showering praise on the tech tycoon for what he called the "most sweeping and consequential government reform programme in generations."

South-African born Musk, wearing a black T-shirt with the word "Dogefather" in white lettering and a black DOGE baseball cap, said many of the $1 trillion savings he promised would take time to bear fruit.

"I look forward to continuing to be a friend and advisor to the president," he said.

But many people were more interested in the livid black bruise around Musk's right eye.

Speculation about the cause was further fuelled by accusations in the New York Times Friday that Musk used so much of the drug ketamine on the 2024 campaign trail that he developed bladder problems.

'Punch me'

The SpaceX and Tesla magnate said that his son was to blame for the injury.

"I was just horsing around with lil' X, and I said, 'go ahead punch me in the face,'" 53-year-old Musk said. "And he did. Turns out even a five-year-old punching you in the face actually is..." he added, before tailing off.

Musk, however, dodged a question about the drug allegations.

The New York Times said Musk, the biggest donor to Trump's 2024 election campaign, also took Ecstasy and psychoactive mushrooms and travelled with a pill box last year.

Musk, who has long railed against the news media and championed his X social media platform as an alternative, took aim at the paper instead.

"Is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on the Russiagate?" said Musk, referring to claims that Trump's 2016 election campaign colluded with Moscow.

"Let's move on. Okay. Next question."

Later in the day, when a reporter asked Trump if he was "aware of Elon Musk's regular drug use," Trump simply responded: "I wasn't."

Agence France-Presse