A former Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) employee nicknamed “Big Balls” was reportedly badly beaten in an attempted carjacking.

Edward Coristine was left bloodied by the attack in Washington, DC, early on Sunday morning, when he is said to have been set upon by “thugs” after trying to protect a young woman.

Donald Trump, the US president, called Mr Coristine an “incredible man” and threatened to take federal control of the capital city unless its council tackled violent crime.

Mr Coristine came to prominence earlier this year following reports of his alleged connection to cybercrime groups, raising concerns about his access to sensitive data held by the US government. He has not commented on the allegations.

His nickname, “Big Balls”, comes from a name the teenager used on his social media and LinkedIn profiles.

The  19-year-old, who previously had an account on X called @‌edwardbigballer, had been hand-picked to work for Doge after interning at Neuralink, Mr Musk’s brain chip company.

Marko Elez, a fellow Doge staffer, claimed on social media that Mr Coristine had been attacked at an area in north-west Washington.

“My friend Big Balls… is a hero,” he wrote on X.

 “Edward protected a young woman from an attempted carjacking by eight thugs near Dupont Circle. Violence like this in the heart of DC is completely unacceptable.”

Mr Elez, who was briefly sacked from Doge over a racist social media comment before being rehired, included a picture he said was of Mr Coristine.

It showed a shirtless man, who resembles the 19-year-old, slumped on the ground, with blood covering his face and chest and staining his white trousers.