It should certainly come as no surprise that Elon Musk’s recent appearance from the Oval Office has been welcomed with a degree of criticism.
The SpaceX and Tesla creator, now acting head of the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency, answered a number of questions from the press, including a rather unusual one referencing a claimed shipment of $50 million worth of condoms to Gaza.
Recall that Musk has received harsh criticism in some places for merely holding an active position in the White House.
The 53-year-old has never run for office; instead, President Donald Trump appointed him to the position after he contributed millions of dollars to Trump’s campaign and launched a vigorous public relations campaign on his social media platform, X.
As was to be expected, Trump’s first few weeks in office have been filled with events. The real estate tycoon has signed several controversial executive orders and made a lot of plans that are, to be honest, hard for people to believe.
The fact that Elon Musk spoke to the media from the Oval Office while carrying his 4-year-old son, X Æ ‘X’ A-Xii (we know), is just another chapter in the lucid fever dream we seem to be living, especially in light of the frequently weird events that have characterized President Trump’s life and, in fact, entire administrations.
However, it was undoubtedly strange, since Musk was compelled to publicly retract a claim he had made about providing $50 million worth of condoms to Gaza in the Middle East when, in reality, it was Gaza in Mozambique.
Following Musk’s admission that he was mistaken, the journalist questioned, “How can we ensure that all of the statements that you made were accurate, so we can trust what you say?”
Musk retorted, “Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected.”
“You know, we’ll make mistakes, but we’ll take swift action to fix them.”
Feb. 11, Washington, DC: Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, talks during the signing of an executive order in the White House Oval Office on February 11, 2025, in Washington, DC, with his son X Musk by his side. The “workforce optimization initiative” of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will be implemented by an executive order signed by Trump. Trump claims that this initiative will encourage agencies to reduce the size of the federal government and limit hiring. (Getty Images/Andrew Harnik photo)
Musk went on: “To be honest, I don’t think we should be shipping $50 million worth of condoms to any place. I doubt Americans would be particularly thrilled about that.
The fact that President Trump was seated next to Musk at his desk during the line of questioning added interest to the conversation. Additionally, the president was seen to be responding even though he remained silent.
