A few days ago, US President Donald Trump hosted his key ally, Elon Musk, at the Oval Office, where Musk brought along his four-year-old son, X Æ A-Xii. During the visit, young X was seen running around the Oval Office, making odd noises, and even picking his nose before rubbing it on the iconic Resolute Desk — all caught on live TV.

Now, President Trump has ordered the 150-year-old Resolute Desk to be removed from the Oval Office for refurbishment. While it remains unclear if the decision was directly linked to the incident, Trump’s history as a self-proclaimed germophobe has fueled speculation.

In the meantime, the Oval Office now features the C&O Desk as a temporary replacement. In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump shared a photo of the newly installed desk, writing, “A President, after the election, gets a choice of 1 in 7 desks. This desk, the ‘C&O,’ which is also very well known and was used by President George H. W. Bush and others, has been temporarily installed while the Resolute Desk is being lightly refinished—a very important job. This is a beautiful, but temporary replacement!”

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Trump didn’t mention Musk or his son in the post, but international media outlets have connected the desk’s removal to X Æ A-Xii’s visit. Musk and Trump had met for a joint Q&A session regarding the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk heads.

Elon Musk’s son, X Æ A-Xii, made an unexpected appearance during a press briefing on a new executive order related to Musk’s role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency. While introducing the four-year-old, President Donald Trump remarked, “This is X, and he’s a great guy—a high IQ individual.”

Clips of young X mimicking his billionaire father and picking his nose during the event quickly went viral online, sparking widespread chatter across social media.

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All you need to know about Oval Office’s C&O desk and Resolute desk

The C&O desk, originally built in 1920 for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’s owners, was later donated to the White House. It was used by former presidents like Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan in the West Wing Study, but it made its way into the Oval Office under George H.W. Bush.

The iconic Resolute Desk, on the other hand, was crafted from oak wood salvaged from the British ship HMS Resolute and gifted to President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1880. Since then, it has been used by nearly every US president, with the exceptions of Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald R. Ford. The desk was also famously a favorite hiding spot for young John F. Kennedy Jr.

The Resolute Desk has remained a symbol of the Oval Office, serving presidents including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump during his first term.

Trump, who has publicly identified as a germaphobe, once stated in 2017, “I’m also very much of a germaphobe, by the way, believe me,” and has previously called the practice of shaking hands “barbaric.”