‘Trump babysitting Elon’s kid’: The internet—and Grimes—react to 4-year-old picking his nose in the White House

President Donald Trump’s cabinet choices are certainly stacking up with controversial figures as he revamps the current administration. But what about his “pick” for children’s internal affairs? It could be the 4-year-old son of tech mogul Elon Musk, who has his finger on the pulse of current events… or up the nostril, at least.

Press footage from inside the Oval Office on Feb. 11., 2025 shows an unlikely trio: Trump, Musk, and preschool-aged X Æ A-12 Musk, who stood barely above the height of the desk where Trump sat, and at one point picked his nose.

“Elon thought it was a good idea to bring his toddler into the Oval Office while he speaks to the nation,” wrote X user @CoffeyTimeNews on Feb. 11., 2025, in reaction to the event. “Watch Trump’s expression change immediately when little X speaks. He’s pissed. You can see Trump think, ‘and that’s exactly why I don’t bring that idiot Don Jr in here.’”

@CoffeyTimeNews’s post went viral, with 1.7M views, 10K likes, 1.6K reshares, and 1K comments.

“Did Elon think it was Bring Your Kid To Work Day?” wrote X user @JoHoad1 in the comments, to which @CoffeyTimeNews replied, “He’s an idiot. The socially awkward human ever.”

Why did Elon Musk bring his son to the White House?

Musk was at the White House to discuss the latest happenings with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative aiming to save money within the new presidential regime. Despite Musk’s delivery of the DOGE details, X stole the spotlight with his appropriately childlike antics.

X, who Trump introduced as “a great guy — high IQ,” can be seen in the footage mimicking his dad’s speech and stance, at one point interrupting Musk so loudly that he stumbled over his words (with nervous laughter), blaming his pause on his child’s “gravitas.” When Musk raised his fists to emphasize that point, X did the same.

Later, Musk put his son on his shoulders, carrying on with the press questions as though everything was normal and professional.

The not-to-be-silenced X found additional ways to distract viewers of the press conference. Footage and screenshots from the event show the 4-year-old doing exactly what 4-year-olds do: picking his nose, exaggerating his movements, sitting on the floor bored, making faces, no f*cks given.

Reports also allege X wiped his boogers on the desk, inches from where Trump sat.

Grimes, renowned synth-pop singer, and mother of X, learned of her son’s White House visit when another X user responded about his appearance in an unrelated X post.

“He should not be in public like this,” Grimes replied. “But I’m glad he was polite. Sigh.”

Social media calls out Trump for ‘babysitting’

It’s unsure why Musk felt compelled to bring his son to the press event, and whether Trump enjoyed the additional guest or was embarrassed by the visit. Whatever the mood, the internet seized the moment to make their own interpretations.

“Trump seethes as President Musk’s kid eats his boogers then paws his desk,” wrote X user @Mollyploofkins. The viral post has 467K views, 12K likes, 2.7K reshares, and 857 comments.

“That kid eats his boogers every time he’s on tv,” X user @grace_hackney wrote in the comments. “Is this supposed to be a sign of genius now? Cause when I was a kid and when I was raising my kids….that was a sign of a slow dumb kid.”

Others joked that Trump was taking on childcare duties of the younger Musk.

X user @RonFilipkowski, who had earlier commented that “Trump looks thrilled as President Musk gets most of the questions from the press today while he sits there,” wasted no time in sharing a screenshot of X with his finger jammed up his nose, staring at the camera.

“Trump babysitting Elon’s kid while Musk holds court with the press in the Oval Office,” he posted.

“Prediction: Trump will never again let Musk take questions in the Oval Office,” added X user @BillKristol.

X users also used the event to joke about the unseriousness of Musk’s governmental involvement in general. 

“Elon Musk standing behind the Oval Office desk with his kid on his shoulders and admitting to reporters that he spreads misinformation while Trump sits there in a confused haze. It’s the perfect image of everything that’s wrong right now,” the @PalmerReport X account posted.

X user @acnewsitics made a post with a GIF of SpongeBob SquarePants running alongside Patrick Star, while Squidward watches them from his window, with a caption that read, “JD Vance watching President Musk and VP Trump,” and X user @GMomurder reshared an awkwardly-timed screenshot of Musk, who wore a black-in-black MAGA hat, to say, “Look at my court eunuch dawg im gonna be humiliated for a century or more.”

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