Elon Musk appears in Oval Office alongside Trump but his son steals show by mimicking his dad - how do you pronounce his name X Æ A-Xii?

Musk was at the White House to witness Trump sign an executive order requiring federal agencies to cooperate with the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to slash costs after facing pushback last week. As Musk answered questions from the press, his son X Æ A-Xii proved to be a distraction.

His son was pulling faces, clinging onto his dad’s shoulders and interrupting him. One clip circulating on social media shows X picking his nose and wiping it on the Resolute desk, which was gifted to President Rutherford Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1880 and used by nearly every president since.

At another moment, X started mimicking his father while he was talking about democracy, prompting the billionaire to pause. Musk fans delighted in seeing X, whom he shares with singer Grimes, in the Oval Office.

One supporter wrote on the platform X (formerly Twitter): “Elon Musk is standing next to President Trump, talking about cutting the deficit in half—and his 4-year-old son, X, is just casually hanging off his dad’s shoulders, whispering to Trump, and picking his nose. Only Elon Musk could make an Oval Office press conference look like a casual family hangout!”.

However, not everyone was thrilled. One said: “I'm watching Elon Musk's son pick his nose, eat boogers and wipe them on the Resolute desk. There's no way this kid is not annoying Trump.”

Trump didn’t seem to mind being upstaged for once and described X as a “high IQ individual” as Musk took the majority of the questions from the press. The SpaceX CEO has brought his son along to a number of major political moments, including onstage at Trump’s inauguration and appearing on a live broadcast on election night.

Musk and singer Grimes, whose birth name is Claire Boucher, welcomed the birth of their son in 2020. Musk said the name is pronounced "X Ash A 12" on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

The X is just "X" and the A-12 is just "A 12". Æ is Grimes' elven spelling of Ai, which means "love and/or artificial intelligence". A-12 is Archangel 12, the precursor to the SR-71, which is "our favourite aircraft".