‘Go ahead, punch me in the face’: Elon Musk reveals the culprit behind his black eye

Explaining the bruise, Musk said he had been “horsing around” with his son, X Æ A-12 — known simply as X — and told him, “Go ahead, punch me in the face. And he did.”

“Turns out even a five-year-old punching you in the face actually does — that was X,” he added with a grin.

The bruise that Elon Musk got on his eye was because of Lil X punching / playing with him.

He wasn’t in France 😂 pic.twitter.com/j6MjYI9ZyS

— حسن سجواني 🇦🇪 Hassan Sajwani (@HSajwanization) May 30, 2025

Trump then interjected. “That was X that did that? …X could do it. If you knew X.”

Musk said he didn’t feel much when it happened, but the bruise showed up later.

The Tesla CEO is stepping down from the Trump administration after spearheading a turbulent cost-cutting campaign that shook up multiple federal agencies — though it ultimately fell short of achieving the sweeping, long-term savings he had aimed for.

“Let’s move on.”

The news conference took an unexpected turn when Musk was asked about a recent New York Times report alleging heavy drug use during Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Before the reporter could finish the question, Musk interrupted and responded by referencing a recent judge’s decision allowing Trump to move forward with a defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post and New York Times over their coverage of alleged ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.

“That New York Times?” Musk said. “Let’s move on.”