Elon Musk brought his four-year-old son X Æ A-X12 to the Oval Office on Wednesday at a press meeting with Donald Trump about the functioning of the Department of Government Efficiency.
The following day, ‘Lil X’ was joined by two more of his siblings in accompanying Musk as he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss technology innovation. X and two of his siblings exchanged gifts with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi while Musk met with the leader to discuss technology innovation. It’s not the first time Musk has taken his children to work, he’s also taken his kids to a meeting with the president of Turkey, a memorial service at Auschwitz concentration camp, and a Time magazine ceremony.
Why Elon Musk makes his children tag along
Still, Mr. Braddock thought the decision to bring Musk’s preschooler to the Oval Office was unusual.
X appeared bored during the 30-minute press briefing as he mimicked his father, sat on the floor, and received the occasional side glance and smile from the leader of the free world. At one point, it appeared he told someone in the room to “shush” their mouth.
Mr Braddock said he believes their inclusion is intentional – a distraction that benefits both Musk and Trump.
“I do think that there is a bit of a strategy here trying to draw attention to some things while diverting attention to other things,” he said.
Jon Haber, a strategic communication consultant who has worked with five presidential campaigns and teaches at Harvard, said Musk’s children making frequent appearances – and creating viral moments – is beneficial for Trump.
“For Trump, the more chaos, the more he floods the zone, the less anybody can really focus on. Chaos works for him,” Mr Haber said.
Grimes, Musk’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of X, criticized her son’s appearance in the Oval Office.
“He should not be in public like this,” she wrote in a post on X. “I did not see this… but I’m glad he was polite. Sigh.”
In a 2022 Vanity Fair article, she said that she wasn’t a fan of her son being in the spotlight.
“Whatever is going on with family stuff, I just feel like kids need to stay out of it, and X is just out there. I mean, I think E is really seeing him as a protégé and bringing him to everything and stuff.… X is out there. His situation is like that. But, yeah, I don’t know.”
Musk’s Children with Multiple Partners
Musk has had 12 children with three different women. His most-recognized son, X Æ A-12, goes by “Lil X”, the same letter Musk used to re-name Twitter when he purchased the social media company.
The four-year-old son has been dubbed an “emotional support human” by Musk himself.
Musk became a father in 2002 when his ex-wife Justine Wilson welcomed their son Nevada Alexander, who tragically died at just 10 weeks old. The couple went on to have five more children, twins Vivian and Griffin and triplets Kai, Saxon and Damian.
Musk and Wilson divorced in 2008 and the tech billionaire went on to marry actress Talulah Riley twice, although they do not share any children. In 2020, Musk and Grimes announced the birth of X Æ A-12.
They also have two more children, a girl, Exa Dark Sideræl, and a boy, Techno Mechanicus. Just weeks before the birth of their second child, musk secretly fathered twins, Strider and Azure, with Shivon Zilis, an executive at one of his companies.
MAGA influencer Ashley St Clair claimed on Friday night that she had given birth to Musk’s 13th child secretly. “Five months ago, I welcomed a new baby into the world. Elon Musk is the father,” she wrote in an X post.
Her announcement comes as the Tesla CEO’s children have begun making frequent appearances alongside Musk since he was made lead of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency by Donald Trump.
Ashley St Clair, known for her far-right affiliations and controversial opinions, said she had not been planning to reveal that she’d had a child with Musk in her Valentine’s Day post. “I have not previously disclosed this to protect our child’s privacy and safety, but in recent days it has become clear that tabloid media intends to do so, regardless of the harm it will cause,” she said.
She added: “I intend to allow our child to grow in a normal and safe environment. For that reason, I ask that the media honor our child’s privacy, and refrain from invasive reporting.”
Elon Musk: Family-Centric and Innovative
Long before politics, Musk allowed his children to tag along.
A decade ago, when he was still building his profile and eager to draw attention to his electric vehicle maker Tesla, it wasn’t unusual to see them at events.
As analysts and reporters waited for one unveiling to begin at a Tesla facility in Silicon Valley in 2015, his five children could be seen running through the hallways chasing after each other and shrieking with laughter.
Despite being forced to wait for hours for attendees, the presence of Musk’s children created an atmosphere that felt relaxed and even joyous.
It was a departure from the stiff, far more formal events held by other companies for which the prospect of seeing an executive’s very young children would have come across as odd.
Walter Isaacson, the author of Musk’s biography, said on The Diary of a CEO podcast that Musk is “deeply committed” to his children and is “almost obsessed by them”.
“With his own children, his lovers, his wives, there is the same intensity that is baked into everything he does,” Mr Isaacson said.
“He always likes having some of his children around him. He always likes having a companion, but that doesn’t mean that he likes calmness.”
Elon Musk frequently brings his children to public appearances, including high-profile meetings with world leaders. This strategy appears to serve multiple purposes, from creating viral moments to providing a sense of normalcy and companionship for Musk. However, it has also drawn criticism and raised questions about the appropriateness of involving young children in such public and formal settings.
