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Head of the Department of Government Efficiency brought son to the Oval Office, watch Trump sign an executive order requiring all federal agencies cooperate with Elon’s department, gives DOGE more power to make staff cuts
Elon Musk and his son, X Æ A-Xii, whom the tech mogul refers to as Little X, stood with Donald Trump in the Oval Office as the President signed the order to give DOGE additional flexibility to reduce the federal workforce by making significant job cutbacks.
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order granting the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) the authority to reduce the government workforce through large-scale worker cuts. The software tycoon and his four-year-old son, X Æ A-Xii, observed the order’s signing on Tuesday in the Oval Office.
According to the White House, the new executive order directs federal agencies to “coordinate and consult” with DOGE to cut jobs and limit hiring. Each agency will be ordered to “undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force” and limit hiring to only “essential positions”.
At a press conference after the signing, Trump praised the work of DOGE and said he wanted the Tesla CEO to do more despite multiple lawsuits against his agency on whether it was acting within the law.
“For the sake of the country, I hope that the person in charge and the other people that report to me are allowed to do the right thing. I can’t imagine a judge saying you got elected to look over the country and make America great again, but you don’t have the right to look and see whether things are right, that they are paying or that things are honest,” the President said.
Meanwhile, Musk, who wore an all-black “Make America Great Again” cap, said that “you can’t have an autonomous federal bureaucracy. You have to have one that’s responsive to the people”, as he defended his role as an unelected official who has been granted unprecedented authority by the President to dismantle parts of the US government.
“We find it sort of rather odd that there are quite a few people in the bureaucracy who have a salary of a few hundred thousand dollars, but somehow manage to accrue tens of millions of dollars in net worth. We’re just curious as to where it came from,” he added.
“If the people cannot vote and have their will be decided by their elected representatives, by the form of the President, the Senate, and the House, then we don’t live in a democracy; we live in a bureaucracy.”
As Musk spoke to reporters, his son, whom the tech entrepreneur refers to as Little X, stole the show by making expressions, clinging to his father, and interrupting him.
That was one of the most incredible political press conferences I’ve ever seen.
Trump + Elon standing in the Oval Office, telling the American people directly what they are doing… basic financial management of our out of control spending.
“This isn’t optional, it’s essential.” pic.twitter.com/DDSGVjnQtW
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) February 11, 2025
Several videos of the four-year-old, who has accompanied his millionaire father to several Trump events since last year, have gone viral on social media, including one in which he is seen picking his nose and wiping it on the Resolute desk, a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford Hayes in 1880.
Since then, almost every American president has used the historical desk.
Another video captured Little X, who the tech billionaire shares with singer Grimes, mimicking his father, prompting the latter to pause briefly.
President Trump, @ElonMusk, and little X in the Oval Office 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/zIxS6O0pwX
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 11, 2025
