Elon Musk’s closing hours working for President Donald Trump had been spent partially by deflecting questions on his drug use, which a New York Occasions investigation on Friday revealed was way more in depth than beforehand identified.
Standing beside Trump within the Oval Workplace to mark his final day in authorities, Musk reduce off a reporter for even mentioning the New York Occasions’ reported allegations that he repeatedly consumed ketamine, ecstasy, and psychedelic mushrooms whereas touring with Trump on the marketing campaign path final yr. “The New York Occasions. Is that the identical publication that received a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on Russiagate?” Musk stated when requested in regards to the report, alluding to conservative criticism of the Occasions’ protection of Russian interference within the 2016 US election. “Let’s transfer on.”
Musk has had a ubiquitous presence on the White Home over the previous yr, attending Cupboard conferences, showing repeatedly with Trump within the Oval Workplace, and serving as the general public face of the Division of Authorities Effectivity, a community of engineers tasked with rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse from the federal authorities. His position, whereas technically unpaid and short-term, grew in each scope and affect—usually bypassing conventional bureaucratic channels.
However as Musk’s visibility rose, so did issues about his conduct behind the scenes. The Occasions report described an more and more erratic determine whose drug use went far past the occasional ketamine prescription he had beforehand disclosed. In line with individuals aware of his actions, he instructed associates that he was taking a lot ketamine that it was damaging his bladder, a identified consequence of power abuse. He additionally traveled with a every day remedy field full of roughly 20 drugs, together with Adderall, The Occasions reported.
It stays unclear whether or not Musk was beneath the affect whereas in his authorities position. However some critics have famous his erratic conduct, corresponding to his Nazi-like gesture at a rally, garbled solutions throughout interviews, and frequent insults of high Trump officers.
The White Home declined to remark immediately on the matter. Trump’s deputy chief of employees Stephen Miller instructed reporters Friday that he has no issues over Musk’s alleged drug use. “The medicine I’m involved about are the medicine which are coming throughout the border from the legal cartels which are killing a whole bunch of hundreds of Individuals,” Miller stated.
Musk has beforehand admitted his historical past of leisure drug use. In a 2024 interview with Don Lemon, he acknowledged he took “a small quantity” of prescribed ketamine to deal with destructive moods about as soon as each two weeks, however that his heavy workload prevented him from utilizing it an excessive amount of. “In the event you’ve used an excessive amount of ketamine, you may’t actually get work executed, and I’ve lots of work,” he stated.
Musk introduced on Friday that he plans to proceed advising Trump and the U.S. DOGE Service even after he formally departs the federal government to focus extra on his firms, which embody Tesla and SpaceX, amongst others. Throughout his time within the authorities, Musk oversaw DOGE’s sweeping cuts to the federal workforce as a part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to vastly scale back federal spending. He had initially sought to chop $2 trillion from the nation’s roughly $6.8 trillion federal price range, earlier than strolling again that determine. DOGE’s web site claims it has secured $175 billion in estimated financial savings, however media shops have discovered its assertions to be exaggerated and deceptive. TIME has not been in a position to independently confirm these financial savings.
“I anticipate to proceed to offer recommendation, at any time when the President would really like recommendation,” Musk stated on Friday.
“I hope so,” Trump chimed in.
“I anticipate to stay a buddy and an adviser,’ Musk added, “and definitely, if there’s something the President desires me to do, I’m on the President’s service.”
