Did Elon Musk's five-year-old actually punch him so hard?

WASHINGTON: Billionaire Elon Musk showed up at the White House with a black eye, and when people asked what happened, his answer surprised many. He said his five-year-old son punched him in the face.

Musk explained that he was playing around with his son, X, and jokingly told him to throw a punch. The boy took him seriously—and gave him a bruise.

Now people are wondering: is Musk just having a laugh, or did a little boy really land a punch strong enough to leave a mark?

“I was just horsing around with lil’ X, and I said, ‘Go ahead, punch me in the face,’” 53-year-old Musk told reporters when asked how he got the shiner.

“And he did. Turns out even a five-year-old punching you in the face actually is...” he added, before tailing off.

“I didn’t really feel much at the time but I guess it bruises up.”

Trump hosted the press conference with Musk to mark the Tesla boss’s last day at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk had expressed increasing disillusionment with the job but said he would remain a “friend and advisor.”

Musk’s appearance was overshadowed by allegations in The New York Times that he had engaged in heavy drug use while on the campaign trail for Trump in 2024.

Trump said he “didn’t notice” the purple bruise next to Musk’s right eye, but added: “X could do it, if you knew X.”

Musk’s son X – full name X Æ A-Xii – made frequent appearances in the White House when his father was running DOGE’s cost-cutting rampage through the federal government.

He even sat on Musk’s shoulders during the SpaceX magnate’s first Oval appearance back in February, and was seen picking his nose next to Trump’s Resolute Desk.

Musk took the chance to joke at French President Emmanuel Macron’s expense when it came to his black eye.

After Trump was asked for his reaction to a video of Macron’s wife apparently shoving the French leader’s face, Musk laughed and said: “I’ve got a little shiner here.”

Musk, wearing a DOGE baseball cap and a T-shirt saying “The Dogefather,” joked about it again when he was asked how he got the injury.

“I wasn’t anywhere near France,” he said.