The partnership between Donald Trump and Elon Musk—once a high-profile alliance of disruptive ambition—has come to a spectacular and strange conclusion, complete with a bruised face, allegations of heavy drug use, and a symbolic but hollow “golden key” farewell.

Musk’s sudden exit from his post as head of the Department of Government Efficiency after just four months drew widespread attention—not just for its timing, but for the bizarre visuals and stories surrounding it. Once hailed as the Silicon Valley savior who would trim government bloat and champion innovation, Musk left looking visibly exhausted, drawing jokes and concern alike from commentators and audiences.

The tech billionaire attributed a visible facial bruise to “roughhousing” with his son, known publicly as “X.” “I said, ‘Go ahead, punch me in the face,’ and he did,” Musk quipped during a farewell appearance. But observers weren’t laughing, with many questioning whether this was a metaphor for his time in Washington—or something more troubling.

Indeed, the swirl of speculation grew darker with a New York Times exposé alleging that Musk had been using a potent cocktail of ketamine, ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms, and Adderall throughout his stint in Washington. According to the report, he traveled with a daily medication kit holding 20 pills and once claimed the ketamine use was affecting his bladder.

The revelations struck a discordant note given Musk’s official responsibilities and public image as a champion of productivity. His tenure was marked by lofty promises to “cut the fat” in government, but it ended with skyrocketing federal spending under Trump’s new budget—$200 billion more than the previous administration in the same timeframe.

In a soft-spoken final interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Musk tried to air his frustrations. “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill,” he said. “In our minds, the work the DOGE team is doing was meant to find efficiency. A bill can be big or beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both.”

Despite that rare break in decorum, Musk largely avoided political confrontation during the interview, repeatedly attempting to steer the conversation toward his more familiar comfort zone: rockets and space travel. “I was told we’d be talking about spaceships,” he sighed at one point.

The awkwardness of the sendoff was magnified by Trump’s theatrical presentation of a “golden key” to Musk—described as something he gives to “very special people.” The gesture, however, felt more like a parody than a prize, especially after Trump emphasized he had given out many such keys.

“Enjoy your useless key,” quipped one commentator. “You couldn’t just hand it over—you had to make it about yourself.”

This symbolic moment underscored the hollow nature of the Musk-Trump relationship, which had already been severely tested. Musk reportedly spent $300 million of his own money backing Trump’s return to power—a move that has significantly tarnished his brand and strained his business ventures.

Musk’s presence in Washington was supposed to herald a “golden age” of efficiency and innovation. Instead, it ended in what many are calling a slow-motion implosion: public embarrassment, policy contradictions, and persistent rumors of substance abuse.

According to insiders, even Trump was eager to salvage face, using praise-heavy language in his sendoff remarks but offering little of substance. “I thought I’d give it to Elon as a presentation from our country,” he said of the key, though it remained unclear what that meant beyond the optics.

As Musk slinks out of Washington, the legacy of his brief political stint is far from clear. Was he a well-meaning reformer undone by chaos and contradiction—or a cautionary tale about the cost of aligning tech ambition with political theater?

One thing is certain: The spectacle of his departure, complete with bruises, pills, and an awkward key ceremony, will be replayed in memes, segments, and political commentary for months to come.

Even the statue of Abraham Lincoln, it seems, was not amused.

“Look at Lincoln,” a commentator joked. “Even Lincoln is looking down going, ‘Somebody Booth me. I can’t watch this anymore.’”

From tech titan to political pariah, Elon Musk’s four months in Washington may go down as one of the most bizarre interludes in modern political history—a cautionary epic of unchecked ambition, political miscalculation, and golden keys that open absolutely nothing.