Elon Musk Responds to Drug Claims: ‘Photographed Constantly’
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has hit back at a report in The New York Times alleging he was using drugs “intensely” during the election campaign which returned President Donald Trump to the White House.
Musk, who was in Trump’s inner circle, had sparked concerns about his alleged frequent use of drugs such as the anesthetic ketamine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.
The tech billionaire posted on X, formerly Twitter, the platform that he owns, that the number of meetings and photographs he was in daily would make such drug use extremely obvious and said that the NYT’s report was “bs.”
Newsweek has contacted The New York Times and Musk via Tesla for comment.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington D.C. on May 30, 2025.
ALLISON ROBBERT/Getty Images
Why It Matters
The NYT report said it was not clear whether Musk was using drugs when he entered the White House as a senior adviser to Trump, who tasked him with leading the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a role he stepped back from this week.
However, the report suggests that the drug use could be an explanation for “erratic behavior” that included giving what was condemned as a “Nazi salute” at a rally and giving garbled answers in an interview.
What To Know
The Times said Musk’s drug consumption “went well beyond occasional use” and that he had told people he was taking so much ketamine, it was affecting his bladder.
He also allegedly took ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms and traveled with a daily medication box that held about 20 pills, including ones with the markings of the stimulant Adderall.
Musk spent around $300 million on Trump’s campaign and has spent millions more to support conservative candidates across the country in 2025.
I’m in meetings with dozens to hundreds of people every day and am photographed constantly.
If this bs from NYT were true, it would have been EXTREMELY obvious 🤣🤣
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2025
The paper said that since Trump entered the White House, Musk had repeated clashes with top administration officials and Cabinet members and faced an increasingly tumultuous” family life, including child custody battles.
As he entered the political arena, there were growing concerns about his drug use, mood swings and fixation on having more children, The NYT said citing private messages it obtained and interviews with those who knew or worked with him.
The paper said that Musk and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment and noted how he had previously revealed he had been prescribed ketamine for depression, telling his biographer, “I really don’t like doing illegal drugs.”
When asked about the claims at the White House on Friday, Musk told the reporter to “move on.” Trump told reporters he was not aware of Musk’s reported drug use, but said he was “not troubled” by the billionaire.
Musk took a couple of jibes at the NYT which he denounced as “pure propaganda” in a post on Friday evening.
He followed this up with a post that he was in meetings and meeting hundreds of people each day which would make it “extremely obvious” if the claims were true. This post prompted a thread in which Musk got the backing of other X users.
What People Are Saying
The New York Times said that Musk “took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. And he traveled with a daily medication box that held about 20 pills, including ones with the markings of the stimulant Adderall.”
Elon Musk on X: “I’m in meetings with dozens to hundreds of people every day and am photographed constantly. If this bs from NYT were true, it would have been EXTREMELY obvious.”
President Donald Trump on Friday: “I’m not troubled by anything with Elon.”
What Happens Next
Musk has denied the report and Trump has said he has no concerns about the billionaire being part of his inner circle.
Meanwhile, after Musk said he would step away from the White House, DOGE is still embedded across the federal government with a mandate from Trump to recommend drastic cuts in spending. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the “entire Cabinet” remains committed to DOGE.
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