US President Donald Trump reportedly asked the White House officials and his advisors whether they thought Elon Musk’s ‘behaviour’ was linked to his alleged drug abuse.
CNN has reported that while Trump may posture in public that he doesn’t care about fallout with Musk, he is privately seeking to make sense of the tech billionaire’s salvos at him.
Trump inquired about Musk’s alleged drug use
While Trump has publicly declined to comment on Musk’s alleged drug use, he is learnt to have inquired about it privately.
“I don’t want to comment on his drug use. I don’t know - I don’t know what his status is,” he said Friday (June 6) on Air Force One.
Reports on Musk’s drug use
The New York Times earlier reported that Musk was “using drugs far more intensely than previously known” as he stepped into politics during the 2024 presidential campaign of Trump.
The paper reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the Tesla boss used “ketamine often, sometimes daily, and mixing it with other drugs.”
Last year, Musk acknowledged in an interview that he took “a small amount” of ketamine to deal with negative moods. However, he clarified his heavy workload won’t allow him to use too much.
Trump now focusing on ‘big beautiful bill’
Since the Trump-Musk dispute started on social media, Trump’s aides said he has been focused on pushing forward the ‘big beautiful bill’ that caused the conflict and has told his team to do the same.
On Friday morning, his online posts were only about the economy, with no mention of Musk. He spent the morning on phone calls—not with Musk, but with South Korea’s new president, inviting him to the US for talks. He also spoke with Poland’s president about the upcoming NATO summit. Before heading to Bedminster, New Jersey, in the evening, he visited a golf course.
Tipping point
A turning point for Trump and his team, according to insiders, was Musk linking the president to Jeffrey Epstein. Musk claimed the administration was withholding information about the convicted pedophile because it involved Trump, offering no evidence or details on how he accessed any unreleased files. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Musk’s remarks an “unfortunate episode” in a statement Thursday evening.
After this, any hope of mending ties seemed lost.
For Trump, Musk’s criticism of the major bill could encourage Republicans who, like Musk, worry it would greatly increase the US deficit.