Edward Coristine, Elon Musk‘s former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee, was allegedly “beaten mercilessly by local thugs” in Washington DC, according to Donald Trump’s recent social media post. The young man in question is better known by his nickname “Big Balls.”

Relaying the news of Coristine’s alleged assault, the US president took to his social media platform to threaten a federal takeover of the nation’s capital. “Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago, then this incredible young man, and so many others, would not have had to go through the horrors of violent crime,” Trump wrote. “If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and federalise this city. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Why is Edward Coristine in the news again?

A snap of a bloodied Coristine, as shared by Trump, has been widely circulating on social media ever since, sparking a new conversation about violence in the US capital altogether. Elon Musk also took to his X profile, pushing the same message about potentially “federalising” DC in an attempt to curb such cases.

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Despite the perceived fall-out between Musk and Trump, the Tesla boss re-posted the POTUS’ Truth Social post on X, detailing what is believed to have happened to Edward Coristine. Without actually dropping his name, Elon wrote about how a few days ago, a gang of violent young men “tried to assault a woman in her car at night in DC.”

Thereafter, a DOGE team member, presumably Coristine, came out to defend the woman. While he is said to have saved the woman, he ended up getting “severely beaten to the point of concussion,” as per Musk’s account.

Marko Elez, claiming to be a friend of “Big Balls,” went on to disclose on X that he snapped the heart-rending picture of Coristine that even the ‘official Rapid Response account of the Trump 47 White House’ shared on the platform. “I took this photo after Edward protected a young woman from an attempted carjacking by 8 thugs near Dupont Circle,” he wrote. “Violence like this in the heart of DC is completely unacceptable.”

Who is Edward Coristine? What we know so far

Coristine is a 19-year-old who first made headlines when he spoke to Fox News in an interview about DOGE’s plans to cut fraud and waste in the US government. During an interaction with the agency, he said earlier this year that he picked his esoteric alias as a joke. Flashing the same on LinkedIn, he sought to turn the professional platform upside down with its cheekiness.

“People on LinkedIn take themselves super seriously, and they’re averse to risk,” he said at the time. “I wanted to be neither of those things, so I just said it.”

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The news outlet’s DC arm further shared that the man with the nickname “Big Balls” was one of two DOGE employees who is believed to have been given exclusive access to a wide range of systems at the Small Business Administration (SBA) in early February. Consequently, DOGE was able to get into the National Finance centre, the system holding payroll and HR functions for the Justice Department, Homeland Security, FBI and other agencies.

He initially came in as a permanent government employee at the General Services Administration (GSA). Upon resigning from that post, he stepped up as a special government employee at the Social Security Administration. Spokesperson Stephen McGraw told the DailyBeast back then that Edward would be working toward improving the SSA website’s functionality and advancing their mission by delivering more efficient service to Americans.

His X profile goes by the username @as400495, which is also followed by Elon Musk. Although a freshman engineering major at the time, Edward “Big Balls” Coristine left his university behind to become one of the earliest DOGE hires. Reports often identify him as a “baby-faced nerd.”