18:03 BST
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House
Good afternoon from the sunny White House – which has become a hub of activity ahead of Elon Musk’s meeting with Donald Trump at the Oval Office.
Musk’s presence here is one that has long been a focus for the White House press corps. That’s reflected in the amount of people trickling in at the moment, on a day in which this is really the only public event expected here.
The meeting is expected to be cordial, with both men praising the work of Doge and Musk’s role over the last few months.
Trump has repeatedly defended Musk’s role at the White House, and several months ago I had the opportunity to ask Trump about him myself on a day in which I was a member of the pool.
In response to my question about Musk’s future, Trump called him “brilliant” and said that he would “like to keep him for a long time”.
That, however, came long before Musk said that he was “disappointed” in Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill – the first public sign of disagreement between the two men.
Today might also see Musk questioned about reports that he was heavily using drugs during the Trump campaign, external.
Earlier, the White House Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller, was asked about that as well.
“The
drugs that we’re concerned about are the drugs running across the southern
border,” Miller responded.