Musk says to remain ‘friend and adviser’ to Trump

WASHINGTON: Billionaire Elon Musk said on Friday he would remain a “friend and adviser” to Donald Trump, as the US president hosted an Oval Office farewell for the man who led his turbulent cost-cutting drive.

“I look forward to continuing to be a friend and adviser to the president,” Musk told reporters after Trump handed a golden key as a gift to the departing leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk, clad in a black T-shirt and jacket and wearing a baseball cap as he stood next to the seated Trump, said he would keep supporting the team that is “relentlessly pursuing a trillion dollars in waste” in reductions that will “benefit the American taxpayer.”