Elon Musk vows DOGE is not dead as he bows out of Trump's White House

Elon Musk bid farewell to his government role in a press conference with President Trump.

Musk wore an all-black outfit including a T-shirt that said 'The Dogefather,'

He said:

I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job. They're going to continue to be doing an incredible job. DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism.'

Trump said Musk had led the 'most sweeping and consequential government reform effort in generations.'

He suggested that Musk is 'really not leaving' and 'he's going to be back and forth' to keep tabs on what's happening in the administration.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania

President Donald Trump touched down in the Pittsburgh area late Friday afternoon to take a victory lap after backing a 'partnership' to take place between U.S. Steel and Japan's Nippon.

Neither Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro nor Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who's from the area, met the president at the airport - as the deal still lacks support from the International Steelworkers Union.

Hundreds of steel workers - sporting the trademark orange U.S. Steel jackets - were waiting for Trump in a massive building on-site at the Irvin Works, a U.S. Steel facility in West Mifflin, a borough located just outside of Pittsburgh that hugs the Monongahela River.

Outside the facility a vendor was selling specialized 'Terrible Towels' for the occassion - at $20 a pop.

These gold towels, a common sight at Pittsburgh Steelers games, read 'President Trump ...Make USS Great Again, The Birthplace of Steel.'

U.S. Steel workers on-site held generally positive views of the deal.

John Bielich, 68, of Bethel Park is about to hit his 47th anniversary working for U.S. Steel or as a contractor.

He said he was 'relieved' last week when he heard news of Trump backing the deal.

'Because this deal, when it was first proposed, was a great deal for United States Steel, its workers, the communities that these plants sit in,' Bielich told the Daily Mail. 'It will sustain United States Steel operations, specifically in Pittsburgh and the Mon Valley, for many, many years to come.'

When Bielich first heard that it was a Japanese firm looking to acquire U.S. Steel he said he was skeptical.

'The heart sank a little bit, but then as I started to understand the value of the deal of what Nippon was going to bring to U.S. Steel, given the state of steel-making in this country, I accepted it as a great opportunity,' Bielich said.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

After President Donald Trump's eyebrow-raising appearance Friday in the Oval Office with Elon Musk, the president heads to Pittsburgh to tout a steel deal that he says will bring unprecedented job growth in the industry in Pennsylvania.

Trump has boasted about a 'planned partnership' between the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel and Japan-based Nippon Steel, who originally had wanted to acquire the American firm.

While Trump initially said he'd hold a 'BIG rally' Friday in Pittsburgh, he's now delivering remarks at the Irvin Works, a U.S. Steel plant located outside the city limits, hugging the Monongahela River in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania's Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who live steps away from U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson plant in Braddock, initially applauded to deal in an X post on the heels of Trump's announcement.

'Vowed to jam that up almost a year and a half ago and we did. The original deal was a death sentence for Mon Valley steel. Nippon coughed up an extra $14B. This is why we fight for the union way of life, and I will continue to support @steelworkers no matter the cause,' Fetterman posted, tagging the United Steelworkers in the post.

But it's the United Steelworkers who've remained the most skeptical of the deal.

A spokesperson for the USW told the Daily Mail that the union 'does not currently plan to participate in any of the events on Friday.'

Charlie Spiering, Senior Political Reporter

Billionaire Elon Musk drew instant curiousity after he appeared in the Oval Office with a black eye.

His condition was not mentioned until New York Post reporter Stephen Nelson asked him what happened to his face.

Musk admitted he was 'horsing around' with his son 'Little X' and that he hit him in the face.

'I said, "Go ahead punch me in the face," and he did, turns out even a five-year-old punching you the face actually does ... I didn't really feel anything at the time."

'Oh X did that?' Trump asked. 'X could do it. If you knew X, he could do it.'

'Well, I wasn't anywhere near France,' Musk replied jokingly, referring to a viral video of First Lady Brigitte Macron hitting her husband Emanuel Macron on the face last weekend while they were on a plane.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

President Donald Trump said he spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron after video showed Brigitte Macron shoving her husband in the face just before the stepped off an airplane.

Trump's advice: 'Make sure the door remains closed,' he said with a grin.

'He's fine,' Trump added. 'Two really good people I know very well. ,,, I don't know what that was all about.'

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

Elon Musk attacked the New York Times when asked about its report he used drugs on the campaign trail in 2024.

‘The New York Times, is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on the Russia gate, same organization?,’ he said when asked about the story during an Oval Office press conference with President Donald Trump. ‘They might have to give back that Pulitzer Prize.’

He didn’t deny the story but refused to discuss it.

‘That New York Times? Let's move on,’ Musk said.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

President Donald Trump gave Elon Musk a key to the White House in thanks for his government service.

'It goes to very special people, and I thought I'd give it to Elon as a presentation from our country,' Trump said, handing over a box with a large gold key in it.

Musk thanked him for the gift.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

President Donald Trump appeared to defend Jill Biden when asked if she should testify in front of Congress about Joe Biden’s mental health.

‘Well, I hate the concept of it,’ Trump said in the Oval Office during a press conference with Elon Musk.

‘It's the wife of a man who was going through a lot of problems, and everybody that dealt with him understood that. And I guess it came out during the debate loud and clear. That was a big that was the biggest signal of all.’

Some Republicans – and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt – said Jill Biden should testify about what she saw on her husband’s health while he was in the White House.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

President Donald Trump joined other top Republicans in attacking the Congressional Budget Office after its estimate showed his ‘big, beautiful bill’ would add $3.8 trillion to the debt and run multi-year annual deficits.

‘The Democrat inspired and “controlled” Congressional Budget Office (CBO) purposefully gave us an EXTREMELY LOW level of Growth, 1.8% over 10 years. How ridiculous and unpatriotic is that!’ Trump complained on Truth Social.

‘They did the same thing to us in 2017, and we DOUBLED their numbers. The information they recently released is even more absurd and indefensible. I predict we will do 3, 4, or even 5 times the amount they purposefully “allotted” to us (1.8%) and, with just our minimum expected 3% Growth, we will more than offset our Tax Cuts (which will, in actuality, cost us no money!).’

Under the Budget Act, the head of the CBO is a non-partisan official chosen by the Speaker and the Senate President Pro Tempore. CBO, which showed deficits for the first initial years in the bill in part due in part to renewing Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, last year produced an analysis of its accuracy going back decades.

‘For years for which comparable projections are available, 1993 to 2023, errors in CBO’s budget-year projections of deficits were similar to errors in budget-year projections of deficits made by the Office of Management and Budget’ – meaning on par with the White House, CBO said.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller brushed off a question about Elon Musk’s alleged drug use during the 2024 campaign Friday.

‘The drugs that we're concerned about are the drugs running across the southern border,’ Miller said when asked whether the White House was concerned about his drug use following a New York Times expose alleging Musk's 'intensive' drug use.

He didn’t provide a direct answer when asked what China did to provoke President Trump’s angry post that it ‘totally violated’ its agreement with the U.S.

"It's a great question and a very valid question. I'm going to let the USTR, the trade rep, Jamieson Greer, as well as Secretary of Commerce, Secretary Lutnick, provide more detail on that,’ he said.

He also responded to a bombshell report that uncovered seven fake citations in RFK, Jr.’s MAHA report. He told DailyMail.com when asked about the errors and if there would be any consequences: ‘I don't believe that's true. But even regardless, the reality is, is that what has been fake for generations now is the medical and nutrition advice that some of this government has been giving our families.’

Anna Wintour visited the White House on Thursday despite Melania Trump's irritation at not appearing on the cover of Vogue as first lady.

The legendary editor of Vogue was at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for a meeting with Donald Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles to discuss the impact of the president's tariffs on the fashion industry.

But the internet lit on fire with speculation the meeting may result in Melania Trump getting her first Vogue cover as first lady.

It was notable in the first Trump term that Melania Trump was missing from the pages of the fashion bible. She and Donald Trump knew Wintour socially, had attended The Met Gala and Melania graced the cover in February 2005 wearing her wedding dress.

In comparison, Jill Biden and Michelle Obama appeared on the cover of Vogue three times each during their tenures as first lady.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

President Donald Trump's red Tesla, which is parked by the entrance into the West Wing, got a test run Thursday night by two prominent staffers.

'Taking President Trump’s Tesla out for a ride with @PressSec!,' wrote top aide Margo Martin on X. 'Best boss ever.'

She added a photo of her and press secretary Karoline Leavitt in the electric vehicle. Martin was in the driver's seat.

Supreme Court justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the ruling that could allow President Trump to deport 500,000 migrants from four countries.

The two justices warned of the 'devastating consequences' of upending the 'lives and livelihoods of nearly half a million non-citizens while their legal claims are pending," they wrote.

'The Court has plainly botched this assessment today," they added.

They said the migrants 'now face two unbearable options. On the one hand, they could elect to leave the United States and, thereby, confront dangers in their native countries, experience destructive family separation,' and possibly forfeit any chance of remedy based on their claims.

'On the other, they could remain in the United States.. and risk imminent removal at the hands of Government agents, along with its serious attendant consequences, the justices wrote.

President Donald Trump will maintain the traditional role of a U.S. general at the helm of NATO at least for now, sources told Reuters.

Trump himself privately communicated the decision to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, a Western official said.

The decision will relieve European NATO allies and even some of Trump's fellow Republicans.

Trump's administration has discussed possible troop reductions in Europe, where about 80,000 U.S. personnel are based.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled President Trump can end humanitarian parole for over 500,000 people from four countries, exposing them to deportation.

He can revoke temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan, Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan migrants living in the United States, bolstering his drive to step up deportations.

The court put on hold Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani's order halting the administration's move to end the immigration 'parole; granted to 532,000 of these migrants by Trump's predecessor Joe Biden.

It potentially exposed many of them to rapid removal, while the case plays out in lower courts.

As with many of the court's orders issued in an emergency fashion, the decision was unsigned and gave no reasoning.

Two of the court's three liberal justices, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor, publicly dissented.

Joe and Jill Biden attended mass in Wilmington, Del., on Friday to mark the 15th anniversary of the death of their son Beau.

The former first couple were seen at St. Joseph on the Brandywine, the Catholic Church were Beau is buried.

The public sighting comes as the former president battles prostate cancer and the former first lady is facing calls to testify about her role in an alleged coverup of Joe Biden's health while he was in office.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

President Donald Trump slammed China in a social media post Friday morning for violating a trade agreement with the U.S.

'Two weeks ago China was in grave economic danger! The very high Tariffs I set made it virtually impossible for China to trade into the United States marketplace which is, by far, number one in the World,' His Truth Social post began.

'We went, in effect, cold turkey with China, and it was devastating for them. Many factories closed and there was, to put it mildly, 'civil unrest.''

The Republican shared that he offered to help China with a deal, but that the country has since breached the agreement.

'The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, has totally violated its agreement with us.'

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday trade negotiations with China were 'a bit stalled.'

He suggested President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could get involved.

I would say that they are a bit stalled. I believe that we will be having more talks with them in the next few weeks, and I believe we may, at some point, have a call between the president and party chair Xi.

The world's two biggest economies agreed this month to pause reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, a surprise de-escalation in their bitter trade war following talks between top officials in Geneva.

Under the May 12 truce, Washington agreed to temporarily reduce the tariff on Chinese imports to 30 percent from 145 percent, while China said it would lower its import duty on American goods to 10 percent from 125 percent.