Musk joked about the slap Macron took from his wife when asked about his black eye

Elon Musk made a joke about French first lady Brigitte Macron slapping French President Emmanuel Macron when asked by the media about his own black eye on Friday.

The tech mogul appeared with a black eye in the Oval Office for his farewell news conference, as President Donald Trump praised his tenure as a special government employee that came to an end this May 30.

The cause of the coup

A reporter asked the Tesla CEO what the reason for the injury was. "Well I wasn't anywhere near France," Musk joked to the press.

As some laughed, another reporter asked, "What does that mean?"

Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was also present at the "Musk tribute," clued the reporter in that it was a reference to Brigitte Macron punching her husband's face as they disembarked from the plane in Vietnam earlier in the week.

A few minutes later Musk himself revealed that his five-year-old son, X, was the real culprit behind the blow that had left his eye black. "I was just horsing around with little X and I said, 'Go ahead, punch me in the face.' And he did," he said.

Trump interjected and exclaimed, "It was X that did that? X could do it! If you knew X, he could do that," the president assured reporters.

Praise and a golden key for Musk

At the beginning of the press conference, Donald Trump expressed his gratitude to Musk for his work at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in reaching the limit of 130 special government employees, and achieving significant savings to taxpayers and the country.

"Today is about a man named Elon, one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced. He stepped forward to put his great talents to work for our nation, and we appreciate it," the Republican praised.

The president gifted Musk a gold key to the White House as a token of his appreciation.