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People on social media criticized Musk for bringing his child to the press conference, with some accusing the billionaire of using his son as a distraction.
Even the child’s mother, Canadian pop singer Grimes, criticized Musk for taking their son to the Oval Office press conference, writing on X, formerly Twitter: “He should not be in public like this.”
Bowden said that he believes Musk’s son’s presence was clearly used as a “symbol” of Trump’s power.
“If you can have the wealthiest person on the planet in a room, standing with their child, still wearing their coats and hat, then clearly, you are the more powerful one,” he said.
As for Musk, Bowden thinks the Tesla CEO used his son as a distraction, particularly at one point, when he appeared to deflect a question by jokingly saying that his son, who was then on his shoulders, was sticking his fingers in his ears. A reporter had asked Musk to divulge more information about the fraud his DOGE team has claimed to have seen within the Treasury Department.
“In this moment, Musk uses his son as a vehicle to justify his own discomfort,” Bowden said. “He takes off his hat, brushes his hair back, and swings from side to side — all nervous adaptive behaviors.”
Wood called the situation bizarre, saying that Musk was trying to contain his preschooler while talking about “making significant, impactful changes” like slashing federal budgets. She thinks Musk was likely advised that having his son there would make him look “warm and fuzzy,” but that instead it made him look “clownish” and “Trump ineffective by association.”
She said that Trump made “failed” efforts to interact with the 4-year-old at points in the conference.
“Trump’s look of overt anger on his face, tilted shoulder placement that shows displeasure, while he seems to have to sit there and take it,” she said about the president’s overall demeanor.
Donaldson doesn’t think Trump seemed “overly bothered or concerned” by the child, and that when the 4-year-old became more vocal at the beginning of the conference, Trump seemed to try to silence him in a “very calm, grandparent-like fashion.”
Dudley believes Trump looked irritated during the event when Musk made a joke that “gravitas can be difficult sometimes” after his son began speaking.
“No one really laughs,” she said about the reaction to Musk’s joke. “And Trump makes a very weak smile — almost a smirk. I think this moment is important. I think Trump is doing his best to show approval of (and solidarity for) Musk’s decision to include his son in the conference.”
“However, I think Trump is annoyed,” she added. “Trump keeps his hands tightly clasped together on his desk and looks down for a while.”
“Trump’s body language says that he was not in favor of having a kid attending his important press conference,” she later added.
What did Trump’s body language convey when a reporter asked Musk about his potential conflicts of interest as the DOGE leader?
During the conference, a reporter asked Musk whether he would be “policing” himself due to his potential conflicts of interest as head of DOGE, considering his companies have received billions of dollars in federal government contracts over the years.
Dudley thinks Trump’s body language showed quite a lot at that moment.
“This is one of the few times when Trump looks at the camera, intertwines his fingers, looks at the camera again, frowns, wiggles around a little, and then starts looking back at Musk,” she said. “He keeps his fingers intertwined while frowning.”
She said she initially thought Trump’s behavior revealed a nervousness due to the reporter’s question, but then wondered if Trump was “trying to wake himself up.”
“Maybe it’s a bit of both,” she said. “The question probably did make him uncomfortable, and he probably became very interested in how Musk was going to answer it, but I also think this is where Trump lost his focus and wanted to be done with the conference.”
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