The child leered at the pens on the desk, spoke when Donald Trump was speaking and ended up on his father's shoulders with his fingers in his ears. Elon Musk's son X, who will be 5 in May, was the attraction of the day at the White House on Tuesday, February 11, far surpassing the then-revolutionary photographs of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy's children playing in the same Oval Office on December 31, 1962.

Musk was present for the signing of an executive order reinforcing the role of his budget-cutting department, the now notorious Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The owner of the social network X is under fire for the brutality with which he is dismantling US foreign aid (USAID), gave civil servants an ultimatum to resign, and attempted to break into the Treasury's computer system. Stopped in part by federal judges, Musk tried to explain himself, standing, black MAGA cap firmly on his head, while overlooking a seated Trump. It was the first time in years he was facing questions from the press.

In his confused, charisma-free language, the world's richest man and former libertarian began by explaining his supposed goal at length: To return power to the people. "If the people cannot vote and have their will be decided by their elected representatives in the form of the president and the Senate and the House, then we don't live in a democracy. We live in a bureaucracy."

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