Elon Musk was utilizing medicine “way more intensely than beforehand identified,” whereas serving to Donald Trump efficiently marketing campaign to get again within the White Home final yr, The New York Times reported on Friday.
Musk was taking ketamine, Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, the newspaper stories, including that his “drug consumption went properly past occasional use,” presumably together with the stimulant Adderall.
He reportedly informed folks he was taking a lot ketamine, “it was affecting his bladder,” the Instances stories, noting that it is a “identified impact of continual use.”
The drug use allegedly passed off as Musk was coping with drama in his relationships with the moms of his numerous youngsters.
The Instances pointed to Claire Boucher, the musician often known as Grimes and mom of three of Musk’s youngsters, jostling for management of their 5 year-old son, X. The kid appeared alongside his father within the Oval Workplace and at different high-profile political occasions.
“Ms. Boucher has privately complained that the appearances violate a custody settlement during which she and Mr. Musk agreed to attempt to maintain their youngsters out of the general public eye, based on folks acquainted with her considerations and the supply, which has not been earlier reported,” the Instances writes. “She has informed those who she worries concerning the boy’s security and that frequent journey and sleep deprivation are harming his well being.”
The Instances additionally acknowledged it was “unclear” whether or not the controversial Tesla and SpaceX CEO had been taking medicine whereas collaborating in Trump’s second administration, together with by main its Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) initiative.
With a concentrate on Musk backing Trump’s earlier re-election effort, the Instances mentioned interviews with insiders and personal messages obtained by its reporters revealed “some individuals who knew him frightened about his frequent drug use, temper swings and fixation on having extra youngsters.”
Musk and his lawyer didn’t reply to requests for remark from the Instances about his drug use and private life and The White Home, the Instances stories, didn’t reply to questions on whether or not it had requested Musk to take drug assessments.
Although, after the Instances article was printed, the newspaper notes that White Home spokesman Harrison Fields issued an announcement crediting Musk with slicing authorities waste however didn’t touch upon his drug use.
Musk has a historical past of leisure drug use, The Wall Street Journal reported final yr.
Throughout his headline-making sit-down with Don Lemon in March 2024, the previous CNN anchor pushed him on his drug use. Musk mentioned he solely took “a small quantity” of ketamine, roughly as soon as each different week, as prescribed for occasions when he had a “destructive way of thinking.”
“Should you’ve used an excessive amount of ketamine, you may’t actually get work accomplished, and I’ve quite a lot of work,” he mentioned.
The Instances discovered he had “developed a much more critical behavior” and other people acquainted with his drug use mentioned he was taking it usually, generally every day and mixing it with different medicine.
“The road between medical use and recreation was blurry, troubling some folks near him,” the Instances reported.
Musk additionally poured his personal cash into Trump’s re-election marketing campaign. The SpaceX proprietor at one level apparently dedicated to donating $45 million a month to help Trump, though he later denied making that pledge. He then started channeling his cash right into a pro-Trump political motion committee, AmericaPAC.
Musk’s rightward political flip and associated on-line antics, together with on his X, previously Twitter, platform, coincided with a extreme dent in model pictures and gross sales for Tesla automobiles and his different companies. The tech billionaire on Wednesday mentioned he was ending his work with the federal government and specializing in his Tesla and SpaceX corporations.