Elon Musk has formally left his role in Donald Trump’s administration.

Mr Musk sported a black eye at a press conference with Mr Trump in which the president confirmed the tech billionaire’s expected departure on Friday.

The billionaire owner of Tesla, SpaceX, and X said his five-year-old son X Æ A-12, or X for short, was responsible for the bruising.

“I was horsing around with my son… I said ‘go ahead and punch me in the face’, and he did,” Mr Musk told reporters in the Oval Office.

“It turns out a five-year-old can punch, actually. I didn’t really feel much at the time.”

At the press conference, Mr Trump thanked Mr Musk “for his incredible service” with his work for his help setting up and running the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and suggested he would continue to be “back and forth”.

The US president handed Mr Musk a golden key in a White House-branded box, which he described as a “special present”.

“Elon gave an incredible service. [There is] nobody like him. And he had to go through the slings and the arrows, which is a shame, because he is an incredible patriot,” Mr Trump said.

“Some of the media organisations in this room are the slingers,” Mr Musk said when asked about the “slings and arrows” in an apparent dig at The New York Times.

The US president praised Mr Musk as “one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced”, commending him for “stepping forward to put his talents into our nation” by leading DOGE.

Meanwhile, Mr Musk, who was wearing a DOGE-branded baseball cap and a T-shirt with “The Dogefather” written on it, said it was “not the end of DOGE, but the beginning” and that the DOGE team would “only grow stronger”.

The 53-year-old added that he would continue to visit the White House and would still be an adviser to Mr Trump.

During the press conference, Mr Trump also turned to various conflicts around the globe, telling reporters that Israel and Hamas are “very close to an agreement” for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The president said an agreement with Iran to stop it from developing nuclear weapons was also “very close”.

Meanwhile, following recent tensions between India and Pakistan, Mr Trump took credit for de-escalating the situation between the two countries.

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The US president had handed Mr Musk the task of cutting government spending by sacking federal workers and eliminating bureaucratic waste as head of the newly formed DOGE department.

Mr Musk oversaw drastic cuts to America’s humanitarian efforts, leading to criticism that the US was relinquishing some of its global influence.

Despite promising to save taxpayers as much as $2trn (£1.5trn), DOGE currently estimates its efforts have saved $175bn (£130bn).

Mr Musk claimed the savings could be even higher, saying in the Oval Office on Friday: “We do expect over time a trillion dollars in savings. Say by the middle of next year, with presidential support, we can do it.”

Mr Trump read out a list of savings DOGE has allegedly made, including cutting $101m spent on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies in the Department of Education, $59m on hotel rooms for migrants in New York, $42m on a project for social and behavioural change in Uganda, £24m “for an Arab Sesame Street” and $8m “for making mice transgender”.

But questions have been raised about whether the department has actually saved taxpayers as much money as suggested.

Meanwhile, Mr Musk – who famously brought his son X Æ A-12 to the Oval Office – has expressed frustration about resistance to his ideas, and clashed with other senior members of the Trump administration.

He claimed DOGE had been blamed for cuts that had nothing to do with his department.

“What we found was happening was if there were any cuts anywhere, people would assume that was done by DOGE,” he explained.

“We essentially became the ‘DOGE’ boogie man.”

It comes after Mr Musk’s father, Errol Musk, speaking to Gillian Joseph on The World earlier this week, insisted there had been “no rift between Elon and Donald Trump”.

As a “special government employee”, US law allowed Mr Musk to serve for 130 days, which would have ended around Friday.

He announced he was leaving in a post on X, in which he said: “I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending.”

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the new Tesla Model S/X “refresh”, robotaxi service is coming, a new EV price war in China, and more.

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Kia’s electric SUV has already become a hit in several overseas markets. The EV5 is now arriving as the first electric Kia to be assembled in Singapore, as it rolls out to new global markets.

Kia EV5 arrives as its first locally made EV in Singapore

Shortly after its introduction at the 2023 Chengdu Motor Show, Kia launched the EV5 in China, with prices starting at about 20,000 (149,800 yuan).

Kia is now seeing a full-on recovery in China, largely thanks to the new electric SUV. Its joint venture partner in China, Yueda Kia, ranked first in sales growth among JV brands.

In China, Kia sold over 248,000 vehicles last year, the first time it has crossed the 200,000 mark since 2020. The EV5 is made at Yueda Kia’s manufacturing plant in China and exported to overseas markets like Australia and Thailand.

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In fact, the EV5 is currently the fourth best-selling EV in Australia this year through April, ahead of every BYD vehicle.

The EV5 is slightly smaller than the Tesla Model Y at 4,615 mm in length, 1,875 mm in width, and 1,715 mm in height.

After launching the EV5 in Singapore on May 28, Kia hit a milestone. The electric SUV arrives as Kia’s first locally assembled EV in the region.

The EV5 was officially launched during an event at Hyundai Motor Innovation Groupe Centre Singapore, where it will be made. It will join other Hyundai Motor electric cars, including the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6. Hyundai also builds the IONIQ 5 robotaxi here and exports it to the US.

Kia’s distributor, Cycle and Carriage, will sell the EV5 in three variants: Air, Earth, and a sporty GT-line. Two battery sizes will be available, 64.2 kWh and 88.1 kWh, providing range of 400 km and 540 km, respectively.

Prices for the base Air trim start at $194,000 (SDG), including COE. The Earth and GT-Line models start at $210,500 (SDG) and $260,000 (SDG) with COE.

Later this year, Kia will launch the global version of the EV5, which will be made at its Autoland Gwangju manufacturing plant in South Korea. It will be sold in overseas markets, including Europe and Canada, but not the US.

Kia confirmed the EV5 will be “exclusively for the Canadian market” in North America. It will be available in FWD and AWD powertrains. Two battery sizes will be offered: 60.3 kWh or 81.4 kWh, providing a range of up to 500 km (310 miles).

Source: Cycle & Carriage Kia Pte Ltd, The Straits Times