As Mr. Musk entered President Trump’s orbit, his private life grew increasingly tumultuous and his drug use was more intense than previously known.

By Kirsten Grind and Megan Twohey

You can send the reporters tips at nytimes.com/tips.

Published May 30, 2025

Updated May 31, 2025, 8:29 a.m. ET

Leer en español

As Elon Musk became one of Donald J. Trump’s closest allies last year, leading raucous rallies and donating about $275 million to help him win the presidency, he was also using drugs far more intensely than previously known, according to people familiar with his activities.

Mr. Musk’s drug consumption went well beyond occasional use. He told people he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use. He 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, according to a photo of the box and people who have seen it.

It is unclear whether Mr. Musk, 53, was taking drugs when he became a fixture at the White House this year and was handed the power to slash the federal bureaucracy. But he has exhibited erratic behavior, insulting cabinet members, gesturing like a Nazi and garbling his answers in a staged interview.

At the same time, Mr. Musk’s family life has grown increasingly tumultuous as he has negotiated overlapping romantic relationships and private legal battles involving his growing brood of children, according to documents and interviews.

On Wednesday evening, Mr. Musk announced that he was ending his stint with the government, after lamenting how much time he had spent on politics instead of his businesses.

Mr. Musk and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment this week about his drug use and personal life. He has previously said he was prescribed ketamine for depression, taking it about every two weeks. And he told his biographer, “I really don’t like doing illegal drugs.”

At a news conference with Mr. Trump on Friday afternoon, Mr. Musk was asked about The New York Times’s coverage. He questioned the newspaper’s credibility and told the reporter to “move on.” That evening, President Trump told reporters outside Air Force One that he was not aware of regular drug use by Mr. Musk. “I’m not troubled by anything with Elon,” he said. “I think he’s fantastic.”

As a large government contractor, Mr. Musk’s aerospace firm, SpaceX, must maintain a drug-free work force and administers random drug tests to its employees. But Mr. Musk has received advance warning of the tests, according to people close to the process. SpaceX did not respond to questions about those warnings.

Mr. Musk, who joined the president’s inner circle after making a vast fortune on cars, satellites and rocket ships, has long been known for grandiose statements and a mercurial personality. Supporters see him as an eccentric genius whose slash-and-burn management style is key to his success.

But last year, as he jumped into the political arena, some people who knew him worried about his frequent drug use, mood swings and fixation on having more children. This account of his behavior is based on private messages obtained by The Times as well as interviews with more than a dozen people who have known or worked with him.

This year, some of his longtime friends have renounced him, pointing to some of his public conduct.

“Elon has pushed the boundaries of his bad behavior more and more,” said Philip Low, a neuroscientist and onetime friend of Mr. Musk’s who criticized him for his Nazi-like gesture at a rally.

And some women are challenging Mr. Musk for control of their children.

One of his former partners, Claire Boucher, the musician known as Grimes, has been fighting with Mr. Musk over their 5-year-old son, known as X. Mr. Musk is extremely attached to the boy, taking him to the Oval Office and high-profile gatherings that are broadcast around the world.

Ms. Boucher has privately complained that the appearances violate a custody settlement in which she and Mr. Musk agreed to try to keep their children out of the public eye, according to people familiar with her concerns and the provision, which has not been previously reported. She has told people that she worries about the boy’s safety, and that frequent travel and sleep deprivation are harming his health.

Another mother, the right-leaning writer Ashley St. Clair, revealed in February that she had a secret relationship with Mr. Musk and had given birth to his 14th known child. Mr. Musk offered her a large settlement to keep his paternity concealed, but she refused. He sought a gag order in New York to force Ms. St. Clair to stop speaking publicly, she said in an interview.

A Ketamine Habit

Mr. Musk has described some of his mental health issues in interviews and on social media, saying in one post that he has felt “great highs, terrible lows and unrelenting stress.” He has denounced traditional therapy and antidepressants.

He plays video games for hours on end. He struggles with binge eating, according to people familiar with his habits, and takes weight-loss medication. And he posts day and night on his social media platform, X.

Mr. Musk has a history of recreational drug use, The Wall Street Journal reported last year. Some board members at Tesla, his electric vehicle company, have worried about his use of drugs, including Ambien, a sleep medication.

In an interview in March 2024, the journalist Don Lemon pressed him on his drug use. Mr. Musk said he took only “a small amount” of ketamine, about once every two weeks, as a prescribed treatment for negative moods.

“If you’ve used too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done, and I have a lot of work,” he said.

He had actually developed a far more serious habit, The Times found.

Mr. Musk had been using ketamine often, sometimes daily, and mixing it with other drugs, according to people familiar with his consumption. The line between medical use and recreation was blurry, troubling some people close to him.

He also took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms at private gatherings across the United States and in at least one other country, according to those who attended the events.

The Food and Drug Administration has formally approved the use of ketamine only as an anesthetic in medical procedures. Doctors with a special license may prescribe it for psychiatric disorders like depression. But the agency has warned about its risks, which came into sharp relief after the death of the actor Matthew Perry. The drug has psychedelic properties and can cause dissociation from reality. Chronic use can lead to addiction and problems with bladder pain and control.

By the spring of last year, Mr. Musk was ramping up criticism of President Joseph R. Biden Jr., particularly his policies on illegal immigration and diversity initiatives.

Mr. Musk was also facing federal investigations into his businesses. Regulators were looking into crashes of Tesla’s self-driving cars and allegations of racism at its factories, among other complaints.

“There are at least half a dozen initiatives of significance to take me down,” he wrote in a text message to someone close to him last May. “The Biden administration views me as the #2 threat after Trump.”

“I can’t be president, but I can help Trump defeat Biden and I will,” he added.

He publicly endorsed Mr. Trump in July.

Around that time, Mr. Musk told people that his ketamine use was causing bladder issues, according to people familiar with the conversations.

On Oct. 5, he appeared with Mr. Trump at a rally for the first time, bouncing up and down around the candidate. That evening, Mr. Musk shared his excitement with a person close to him. “I’m feeling more optimistic after tonight,” he wrote in a text message. “Tomorrow we unleash the anomaly in the matrix.”

“This is not something on the chessboard, so they will be quite surprised,” Mr. Musk added about an hour later. “‘Lasers’ from space.”

After Mr. Trump won, Mr. Musk rented a cottage at Mar-a-Lago, the president-elect’s Florida resort, to assist with the transition. Mr. Musk attended personnel meetings and sat in on phone calls with foreign leaders. And he crafted plans to overhaul the federal government under the new Department of Government Efficiency.

Family Secrets

Mr. Musk has also been juggling the messy consequences of his efforts to produce more babies.

By 2022, Mr. Musk, who has married and divorced three times, had fathered six children in his first marriage (including one who died in infancy), as well as two with Ms. Boucher. She told people she believed they were in a monogamous relationship and building a family together.

But while a surrogate was pregnant with their third child, Ms. Boucher was furious to discover that Mr. Musk had recently fathered twins with Shivon Zilis, an executive at his brain implant company, Neuralink, according to people familiar with the situation.

Mr. Musk was by then sounding an alarm that the world’s declining birthrates would lead to the end of civilization, publicly encouraging people to have children and donating $10 million to a research initiative on population growth.

Privately, he was spending time with Simone and Malcolm Collins, prominent figures in the emerging pronatalist movement, and urging his wealthy friends to have as many children as possible. He believed the world needed more intelligent people, according to people aware of the conversations.

Mr. Collins declined to comment on his relationship with Mr. Musk, but said, “Elon is one of the people taking this cause seriously.”

Even as Mr. Musk fathered more children, he favored his son X. By the fall of 2022, during a period when he and Ms. Boucher were broken up, he began traveling with the boy for days at a time, often without providing advance notice, according to people familiar with his actions.

Ms. Boucher reconciled with Mr. Musk, only to get another unpleasant surprise. In August 2023, she learned that Ms. Zilis was expecting a third child with Mr. Musk via surrogacy and was pregnant with their fourth.

Ms. Boucher and Mr. Musk began a contentious custody battle, during which Mr. Musk kept X for months. They eventually signed the joint custody agreement that specified keeping their children out of the spotlight.

By mid-2023, unknown to either Ms. Boucher or Ms. Zilis, Mr. Musk had started a romantic relationship with Ms. St. Clair, the writer, who lives in New York City.

Ms. St. Clair said in an interview that at first, Mr. Musk told her he wasn’t dating anyone else. But when she was about six months pregnant, he acknowledged that he was romantically involved with Ms. Zilis, who went on to become a more visible fixture in Mr. Musk’s life.

ImageMs. St. Clair said that Mr. Musk told her he had fathered children around the world, including one with a Japanese pop star. He said he would be willing to give his sperm to anyone who wanted to have a child.

“He made it seem like it was just his altruism and he generally believed these people should just have children,” Ms. St. Clair said.

Ms. St. Clair said that when she was in a delivery room giving birth in September, Mr. Musk told her over disappearing Signal messages that he wanted to keep his paternity and their relationship quiet.

On election night, Ms. St. Clair and Mr. Musk both went to Mar-a-Lago to celebrate Mr. Trump’s victory. But she had to pretend that she hardly knew him, she said.

He offered her $15 million and $100,000 a month until their son turned 21, in exchange for her silence, according to documents reviewed by The Times and first reported by The Journal. But she did not want her son’s paternity to be hidden.

After she went public in February, ahead of a tabloid story, she sued Mr. Musk to acknowledge paternity and, later, to get emergency child support.

Mr. Musk sought a gag order, claiming that any publicity involving the child, or comments by Ms. St. Clair on her experience, would be a security risk for the boy.

‘No Sympathy for This Behavior’

Some of Mr. Musk’s onetime friends have aired concerns about what they considered toxic public behavior.

In a January newsletter explaining why their friendship had ended, Sam Harris, a public intellectual, wrote that Mr. Musk had used his social media platform to defame people and promote lies.

“There is something seriously wrong with his moral compass, if not his perception of reality,” Dr. Harris wrote.

Later that month, at a Trump inauguration event, Mr. Musk thumped his chest and thrust his hand diagonally upward, resembling a fascist salute. “My heart goes out to you,” he told the crowd. “It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured.”

Mr. Musk dismissed the resulting public outcry, saying he had made a “positive gesture.”

Dr. Low, who is chief executive of NeuroVigil, a neurotechnology company, was outraged by the performance. He wrote Mr. Musk a sharp email, shared with The Times, cursing him “for giving the Nazi salute.”

When Mr. Musk didn’t respond to the message, Dr. Low posted his concerns on social media. “I have no sympathy for this behavior,” he wrote on Facebook, referring to the gesture as well as other behaviors. “At some point, after having repeatedly confronted it in private, I believe the ethical thing to do is to speak out, forcefully and unapologetically.”

The next month, Mr. Musk once again found himself under scrutiny, this time for an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington.

As he walked onto the stage, he was handed a chain saw from one of his political allies, Javier Milei, the president of Argentina. “This is the chain saw for bureaucracy!” Mr. Musk shouted to the cheering crowd.

Some conference organizers told The Times that they did not notice anything out of the ordinary about his behavior behind the scenes. But during an onstage interview, he spoke in disjointed bouts of stuttering and laughing, with sunglasses on. Clips of it went viral as many viewers speculated about possible drug use.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5731799&forum_id=2#48976506)

The comments section is closed. To submit a letter to the editor for publication, write to letters@nytimes.com.

Reader PicksFrom NYTAll

Mike commented May 30

M

Mike

Traverse City

May 30

I worked as a traveling nurse for r30 plus years and was required to pass a drug and alcohol screen for employment for every job that I applied for as well as submit to random drug and alcohol screen drug test during my employment.

Ketamine is an intravenous injectable drug and ecstasy, methamphetamines and hallucinogenic mushrooms are a schedule one drug as defined by the D.E.A.

This grifter is getting a pass on his illicit drug use while the rest of Americans are faced with job loss, prosecuted and imprisoned for drug use.

11 Replies7841 RecommendShareFlag

J. B. commented May 30

J

J. B.

Aurora, CO

May 30

My partner lost their job as a federal contractor due to the DOGE cuts. This guy has disrupted our lives so much, and to hear this makes me even angrier.

There really is a different set of rules for the oligarchy.

29 Replies6727 RecommendShareFlag

TS commented May 30

T

TS

Virginia

May 30

Federal workers are regularly subjected to random drug tests and many have to hold a security clearance that comes with strict drug and mental health requirements. Yet here is a billionaire who can fire any Federal worker while on any drug money can buy.

8 Replies5172 RecommendShareFlag

James commented May 30

J

James

VA beach

May 30

I like how poor black people on drugs who show signs, but no confirmation, of drug induced erratic behavior are beaten by the police and tossed in jail, but when everybody knows Musk is on drugs doing the same stuff, it’s fine.

10 Replies4588 RecommendShareFlag

GPaul commented May 30

G

GPaul

DE

May 30

Musk couldn't hold a government job with his drug habit, but he was given the power to fire tens of thousands of civil employees.

5 Replies4414 RecommendShareFlag

Larry commented May 30

L

Larry

Sunny Florida

May 30

He's unfixable. But as with Donald Trump, the problem for us is not the man. Both of them will be gone one day, one way or another. The problem is their supporters and their enablers. What to do about boards of directors who world never tolerate such behavior in another leader? What to do about the people who give him a courtesy advance warning about drug testing? In the broader picture, what to do about the millions of people who admire and support his and Donald Trump's behaviors?

As for Musk, I think about nearly every James Bond movie often. There's always a villain with plans for world domination and strange behaviors. They obsessively pet a cat. They keep a tank of man eating sharks. You name it. But you never learn of their back story. Why they are the way they are. Now we know.

27 Replies4296 RecommendShareFlag

Debbie commented May 30

D

Debbie

SF

May 30

The fact that this man was hired by the POTUS and given access to all US citizen’s sensitive information without even a security clearance is outrageous. Not to mention that Trump has asked the Supreme Court to keep all DOGE information secret due to “national security”.

15 Replies3759 RecommendShareFlag

Patricia Hale commented May 30

P

Patricia Hale

Tucson, AZ

May 30

Dr. Harris got it right. “There is something seriously wrong with his [Musk’s] moral compass, if not his perception of reality.

The same could be said about Donald J Trump.

5 Replies3358 RecommendShareFlag

N’est Pas Une Pipe commented May 30

N

N’est Pas Une Pipe

Chicago

May 30

The same people who think poor people should submit to drug screening to get SNAP benefits thought it was a good idea to hand federal budget cuts over to this guy.

1 Reply3131 RecommendShareFlag

Jill C commented May 30

J

Jill C

Hastings, NY

May 30

Musk’s grotesque antics with women, his virulent racism and his various drug addictions, are sideshows compared to jaw dropping corruption he brings to everything he does. He illegally destroyed the agencies investigating him, he stole the private data of Americans and still has his hand in the pocket of taxpayers to the tune of many billions of dollars.

7 Replies2789 RecommendShareFlag

Vera commented May 30

Vera

Vera

PNW

May 30

Why wasn't this used to stop him and doge? Are there laws preventing substance abuse on staff with security clearance? Democrats need to use this kind of amoral behavior to fight Musk's ability to dismantle and stage our democracy. It's bad enough he was allowed to buy the presidency of the other amoral ego. And make him pay a monstrous fine and clear the oceans from his other lunacy space pet project.

30 Replies2506 RecommendShareFlag

TheProf commented May 30

T

TheProf

Maine

May 30

This goes a long way toward explaining Musk's behavior. Not excusing it, just explaining it.

SpaceX should loose all federal funding until random drug tests show that Musk is clean.

9 Replies2173 RecommendShareFlag

Frances commented May 30

F

Frances

new York

May 30

Reporters who attend this afternoon's press conference with Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk need to repeatedly ask about the issues raised in this article until Trump cuts off the electricity.

13 Replies2134 RecommendShareFlag

MDCooks8 commented May 30

MDCooks8

MDCooks8

The Old New World

May 30

Odd that on the last day Elon Musk can work as a special employee of the federal government the New York Times publishes a speculative story about drug use by the wealthiest person in the world, even though these reporters had 4 months to report this information, especially if it supposedly common knowledge.

4 Replies1826 RecommendShareFlag

Kirsten Grind commented May 30

Kirsten Grind

Kirsten Grind

Reporter

May 30

@MDCooks8 Hi - thank you for reading. Unfortunately this kind of reporting is very hard, and it can often take a long time to establish the facts. So it doesn’t always happen as quickly as we would like.

In Reply Thread1798 RecommendShareFlag

Daniel Herkes commented May 30

D

Daniel Herkes

Sugar Grove, IL

May 30

Musk's drug use was noticeable at a Space X engineering meeting last year. The company directors had to remove him from the stage at one point due to his incoherent speech.

8 Replies1792 RecommendShareFlag

College Dad commented May 30

C

College Dad

Westchester

May 30

The drug use is obvious.

All the “cost cutting”, just nonsense.

But the day will come when we find out just how much data was stolen during these sprees of drug induced invincibility.

And all Republicans will be “shocked, shocked” to find out the true goal of the DOGE exercise.

5 Replies1645 RecommendShareFlag

Kirsten Grind commented May 30

Kirsten Grind

Kirsten Grind

Reporter

May 30

@Vera Hi Vera - There was a Democratic representative, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, who introduced a bill earlier this year to drug test Elon Musk and other members of DOGE, but it has not moved forward, and now Mr. Musk has said he is departing the government. Thanks for reading

In Reply Thread1597 RecommendShareFlag

Judy commented May 30

J

Judy

Kentucky

May 30

Why have various media been largely silent on this issue? It is obvious that both musk and trump have deep mental health issues. And now we discover to what extent musk is deluded and taking massive quantities of illegal drugs? When is Congress going to act to restore sanity in this government?

7 Replies1360 RecommendShareFlag

Kirsten Grind commented May 30

Kirsten Grind

Kirsten Grind

Reporter

May 30

@Larry Hi Larry, you bring up a good point on Musk’s supporters and his boards of directors. The structure of Musk’s boards has long been a problem that investors and others have criticized. I’ve done quite a lot of research into this, both at Tesla and SpaceX. Both those boards were at times filled largely with his longtime friends and also his brother, Kimbal Musk. The Tesla board had even classified some of these directors as “independent” until shareholders complained several years ago.

In Reply Thread1185 RecommendShareFlag

PEP commented May 30

P

PEP

Houston

May 30

...and now the whole country is suffering the withdrawal symptoms.

We are withdrawing from world trade, from rational thought & scientific methods, basic understanding of human suffering and empathy towards others.

2 Replies1018 RecommendShareFlag

Sean99 commented May 30

S

Sean99

NYC

May 30

As someone in recovery, it was clear to me from just brief observations and also snippets of what he said, that he was becoming an addict, or was one. Drugs (to include alcohol) will get a grip that is like an iron fist on one's life. That's how they work--they tap into and then pervert one's reward system. Also--if someone is using--everything, nearly everything bad that happens (inside / around) can mostly be deconstructed to the drugs. People debate endlessly about how "he has changed" and "his behavior" and the chainsaw and this and that--and his relationships--we like to do that, because we like to attribute behavior to clear free will and intent. It's a little less easy for society to accept what is the simple, basic truths--it's always, always about the drugs and alcohol, believe me. (yes mental health issues come into play but they are shadowed and accentuated by the beast of addiction). His ego probably won't allow him to go to treatment. Matthew Perry famously glued his hands to his pants with super glue in a desperate attempt to stop "using"--that is the power of drugs.

6 Replies1011 RecommendShareFlag

Sameen Farouk commented May 30

S

Sameen Farouk

Scotland

May 30

Aren't you meant to be licensed before prescribing and administering controlled substances? Who was prescribing a pill box and kétamine? It seems as though he may as well have been buying this cocktail himself.

Bearing in mind the use of substances, isn't there even the basic safeguarding flag in terms of being responsible for a small child?

9 Replies981 RecommendShareFlag

JK commented May 30

J

JK

Paris

May 30

I sincerely hope that a day of legal judgment will come for Elon Musk just as for his boss who didn't, doesn't and will never have the guts to face the music for what he has done and is doing to America. As for Musk's drug use, I imagine he might be even more obviously a lunatic without them. The Trump Administration seems a repository for substance abusers, past and present, as well as those who demonstrate very shaky mental balance in their public behavior. Trump has indeed replaced "the swamp" but with a cesspool of incompetent, unqualified and pathologically vicious people like himself.

2 Replies896 RecommendShareFlag

Kirsten Grind commented May 30

Kirsten Grind

Kirsten Grind

Reporter

May 30

@Sameen Farouk Hi Sameen - that’s right, doctors who prescribe ketamine for depression, which is known as “off label,” do have to get a special license. That’s because ketamine is approved by the FDA only for anesthetic purposes. Musk has said that he has a prescription for ketamine for depression, and that a doctor has prescribed it, but he’s never shown proof of this (and we have asked for it as well.) Thanks for reading!

In Reply Thread831 RecommendShareFlag

Kirsten Grind commented May 30

Kirsten Grind

Kirsten Grind

Reporter

May 30

@Mike Hi Mike - As I’ve reported on Musk’s drug use over the years, I have heard a lot both from employees at his companies and other experts on drug testing that there does seem to be a real divide on how strict companies are for lower-level workers versus c-level executives. If you’re interested in how SpaceX handled and reported Musk’s drug use internally, you can read this story we wrote several months ago on Musk’s security clearance: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/17/technology/elon-musk-spacex-national-security-reporting.html

In Reply Thread815 RecommendShareFlag

Jim commented May 30

J

Jim

Cleveland

May 30

He looks so very sad except when he’s helping destroy the careers of talented civil servants. That really seems to make him smile.

1 Reply765 RecommendShareFlag

Megan Twohey commented May 30

Megan Twohey

Megan Twohey

Investigative Reporter

May 30

@Frances We'll be watching the press conference with interest. The White House did not respond to our questions about whether it had asked Mr. Musk to take drug tests. After this article was published a White House spokesman issued a statement to us crediting Mr. Musk with helping cut government waste. The spokesman declined to comment on Mr. Musk’s drug use.

In Reply Thread731 RecommendShareFlag

Megan Twohey commented May 30

Megan Twohey

Megan Twohey

Investigative Reporter

May 30

@Debbie To what extent Mr. Musk was screened by the Trump administration is a good question. The White House did not respond to our questions about whether it had asked him to take drug tests.

In Reply Thread678 RecommendShareFlag

DVargas commented May 30

D

DVargas

Brooklyn

May 30

To add insult to injury, he has managed to deceive a significant amount of people into believing he is intelligent, which he is not, and to take credit for “inventing” things when he had simply bought the companies hat invented and manufactured them.

Enough money can buy you anything, even a completely false reputation .

In Reply Thread658 RecommendShareFlag

andy commented May 30

a

andy

Virginia

May 30

Very interesting, not a surprise to any of us who knew him when he was starting up SpaceX, but a little too late given all the damage he and DOGE have done to our government and global aid programs

1 Reply639 RecommendShareFlag

RickyDick commented May 30

R

RickyDick

Montreal

May 30

So glad I didn’t buy a Tesla. So glad.

11 Replies637 RecommendShareFlag

Chilled commented May 30

C

Chilled

Travelling

May 30

Elon Musk… “only the best” will come into the US Government.

Musk could not ever pass a background check for a security clearance or senior government job.

Yet… here we are.

2 Replies586 RecommendShareFlag

Anonymous commented May 30

A

Anonymous

DC

May 30

Musk’s drug use is obvious to anyone because he makes so many outrageous statements such as Social Security is a Ponzi scheme when in fact it saves lives of elderly people. Only in Trump’s presence, Musk looks relatively “normal “ because the president says so many nonsensical things. It is tragic that despite all the wealth and education, the US has turned into a circus that will probably be financially destroyed by poor economic performance except for the meaningless crypto industry.

7 Replies545 RecommendShareFlag

Karen commented May 30

K

Karen

Katz

May 30

The Wall Street Journal has also reported extensively on this.

One thing that both amuses and appalls me is how critical the Right is about single mothers but a man who spews his seed all over the place is cool, if his name is Musk.

1 Reply541 RecommendShareFlag

Megan Twohey commented May 30

Megan Twohey

Megan Twohey

Investigative Reporter

May 30

@TheProf Thanks for reading! As a large government contractor, SpaceX administers random drug tests to its employees and must maintain a drug-free workplace. But people close to the process told us that Mr. Musk has received advance warning of the tests. And SpaceX did not respond to our questions about those warnings.

In Reply Thread520 RecommendShareFlag

David commented May 30

D

David

Washington DC

May 30

While Republicans in Texas want the Ten Commandments displayed in every classroom, they apparently haven't read them. The "thou shall not commit adultery" commandment must be invisible to Republicans because they have elevated two prominent adulterers to the top of their party.

Sure, some Democrats also commit adultery. But they aren't trying to inject their religion into your lives.

3 Replies483 RecommendShareFlag

Susan commented May 30

Susan

Susan

California

May 30

Thousands of people have died due to Musk's egregious cuts at USAID, while he jumps around, high on ketamine. How can this be acceptable?

1 Reply476 RecommendShareFlag

Antonia commented May 30

A

Antonia

North Carolina

May 30

Musk uses drugs, and has access to classified documents and government meetings. Trump used Musk to benefit Trump. Why has Musk singled out that child? I would be very concerned, if I were that mother. Musk is a very disturbed man and has done a great deal of damage to our country.

1 Reply450 RecommendShareFlag

Carla commented May 30

C

Carla

NY

May 30

And this guy ruined the careers of how many federal employees? Gutted agencies we all rely on to protect our health and our public parks, provide valuable research, and on and in? Denigrated our judicial system? Unbelievable.

4 Replies432 RecommendShareFlag

Sue commented May 30

S

Sue

Philadelphia

May 30

This is excellent reporting but not very surprising. Narcissists often mask their emotion pain and blunt their need for constant (inappropriate) attention with drugs, and addiction then follows.

I hope his children have happy, productive lives far away from him and his disfunction. And I hope Elon gets exactly whatever someone like him deserves.

2 Replies431 RecommendShareFlag

Kelley commented May 30

K

Kelley

Baltimore MD

May 30

@Larry

"Both of them will be gone one day"

Sorry Larry but I recently left Federal service (SSA) and Musk's DOGE has put backdoor code in every Federal Agency system. They have exfiltrated (stolen) our personal data (medical, bank, voting, employment, etc).

The damage and lies have been painful to watch and I had to leave. I fear our future because of Trump/Musk/Vought/Miller and all those folks in this Administration. Our Country will never be the same after what they have done.

To hear Musk has been high on drugs this entire time makes perfect sense to me.

Wake up America!!

In Reply Thread414 RecommendShareFlag

Brooklyncowgirl commented May 30

B

Brooklyncowgirl

Down In the Pines Of Jersey

May 30

@J. B.

"There really is a different set of rules for the oligarchy."

The rich are indeed different and as Trump and Musk both know very well rules are for little guys. Musk's drug use, Trump's blatant corruption would land anyone else on the unemployment line or in prison.

Perhaps as Democrats struggle to define their core beliefs a good place to start is "No one is above the law."

In Reply Thread398 RecommendShareFlag

Esmom commented May 30

E

Esmom

Chicago

May 30

@J. B. It makes me even angrier, too. It is absolutely appalling that Musk's drug-fueled whims could unleash so much chaos and do so much damage to so many people. I can only hope he will face some sort of accountability in the future, but I'm not holding my breath.

In Reply Thread376 RecommendShareFlag

N’est Pas Une Pipe commented May 30

N

N’est Pas Une Pipe

Chicago

May 30

@James not only fine, he’s put in charge of dismantling the entire government.

In Reply Thread362 RecommendShareFlag

Nancy B commented May 30

N

Nancy B

Philadelphia

May 30

@J. B.

Bizarre to me that anyone thinks it is pro-natalist to encourage rich men to impregnate as many women as possible, to create children that will supposedly be "superior," but who will be of no real concern as a son or daughter to their father.

This is the new conservative idol of masculinity?

In Musk's case, though, it's probably better for those children if they don't have an erratic, drug-dependent, dishonest parent in their lives.

In Reply Thread362 RecommendShareFlag

Carrie commented May 30

C

Carrie

Traverse City

May 30

Articles like this are important. Musk would love to just slither off to his old pre-Trump life and carry on, but it’s important to expose him for the disaster and menace that he is. He still controls deeply powerful companies, and he’s still (apparently) on good terms with Trump. Now is the time to expose, expose, expose. The man flew too close to the sun, and it’s time for his chariot to burn before he finds new ways to cause disasters.

Reply350 RecommendShareFlag

Joe B. commented May 30

J

Joe B.

Center City

May 30

So it is now ok to point out the fact that musk was/is plainly a drug addict and was often obviously tweaking in the Oval Office?

2 Replies343 RecommendShareFlag

Eric commented May 30

E

Eric

Chicago

May 30

@James not to mention that Musk is allowed to own and use firearms, having clearly lied on his 4473 forms that specifically ask about drug use.

In Reply Thread340 RecommendShareFlag

Roy commented May 30

R

Roy

California

May 30

@MDCooks8

"Odd that on the last day Elon Musk can work as a special employee of the federal government the New York Times publishes a speculative story about drug use by the wealthiest person....

Why is that odd? what does timing have to do with it.....?

And his drug habits are not speculative.....

In Reply Thread337 RecommendShareFlag

Jay C commented May 30

J

Jay C

New York, NY

May 30

While drug use may answer some of his odd behaviors, it seems he was lucid enough to use the Trump Administration to dismantle the federal agencies that regulate his companies, then depart. Mission accomplished for Musk. Bamboozled Trump?

2 Replies332 RecommendShareFlag

A Mostly Useless Tree commented May 30

A

A Mostly Useless Tree

California

May 30

@MDCooks8 I'm just glad it we're not finding this out in an explosive and revealing hardcover book that's going to be published in 2026

In Reply Thread330 RecommendShareFlag

Andrew commented May 30

A

Andrew

Genua

May 30

If incoherent speech, posting on social media at all hours, obsessively playing games for hours, fathering children with multiple women, and behaving erratically in high visibility situations is a sign of excessive drug use, what are we to make of someone who behaves that way sober?

1 Reply329 RecommendShareFlag

Rho commented May 30

Rho

Rho

One of the Springfields

May 30

@Vera

The people in charge of the agencies that investigate and prosecute things like illegal drug use have no incentive to do that in the case of Musk. Do you think Pam Bondi and Kash Patel are going to bring the force of law down on Trump's pet billionaire?

In Reply Thread327 RecommendShareFlag

Megan Twohey commented May 30

Megan Twohey

Megan Twohey

Investigative Reporter

May 30

@Sean99 You’re right that Matthew Perry long struggled with addiction. And, in the end, he died of “acute effects of ketamine,” according to the Medical Examiner. Perry had reportedly started using ketamine with a prescription and then procured it illegally. Doctors with a special license may prescribe ketamine for psychiatric disorders like depression. But the FDA has warned that chronic use can lead to addiction.

In Reply Thread321 RecommendShareFlag

HAP commented May 30

H

HAP

California

May 30

"The picture of the world's richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one.” --Bill Gates earlier this month.

Reply320 RecommendShareFlag

RG commented May 30

R

RG

Ohio

May 30

The behavior of this immature man-child is the perfect metaphor for the trump administration. There are no rules, no restraints, no ideals. They are children with piles of cash who think about no one but themselves.

Reply306 RecommendShareFlag

Kelly commented May 30

K

Kelly

Michigan

May 30

@Kirsten Grind, “As a matter of constitutional law, Mr. Trump could grant a security clearance to anyone after his inauguration, even if others in the government object.”

My question for the legal experts is this: if a president knowingly grants security clearance to a person who then engages in traitorous behavior, how do we hold that president accountable for his actions. Furthermore, does Congress have a legal obligation to impeach said president?

Since, up to now, Congress has abdicated it’s responsibility to be a check on Executive power, are its members also thwarting the law?

In Reply Thread278 RecommendShareFlag

kglen commented May 30

k

kglen

East Rock

May 30

Drug use seems obvious.

But how do you explain trump, who insists on his sobriety?

These men are all deranged, in one way or another.

AND they're in charge.

Why did we allow this to happen, America?

5 Replies277 RecommendShareFlag

Julia commented May 30

J

Julia

Oakland

May 30

@MDCooks8 I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make here. Elon Musk has been very forthcoming about his use of hallucinogenic drugs and has probably setback ketamine assisted psychotherapy at least 20 years

In Reply Thread267 RecommendShareFlag

Tree hugger. commented May 30

T

Tree hugger.

North Carolina

May 30

@Larry Exactly. I think the key has to be to show them how much Trump and Musk despise their own supporters. I'm amazed we haven't had a hot mic moment yet with one of these guys revealing how little they think of the people they claim to champion. The press should be exposing this.

In Reply Thread245 RecommendShareFlag

JW commented May 30

J

JW

Buxton, Maine

May 30

The drug addict does the firing, not the other way around.

Only in TrumpWorld.

Reply240 RecommendShareFlag

617to416 commented May 30

617to416

617to416

Ontario via Massachusetts

May 30

@James

It's always been this way. Back in the early 80s when I was a student at the University of Chicago, the Black people in the neighbourhoods around the university were being arrested in crackdowns for drugs, while we privileged students were smoking dope and taking LSD nightly in the dorms. A roommate of mine was busted for selling pot (which he sold in quantity)—but when he appeared before the judge, the case was dismissed because the cops didn't have a warrant and the judge said "a University of Chicago student would be too smart to let the cops in without a warrant." How many poor Black men got that same kind of leniency from a judge do you think?

It's shameful. The United States locked up a whole generation of Black men—destroying many Black families—for doing what wealthier white students who went on to prominent and very lucrative careers in law, finance, and so forth did every day with impunity.

In Reply Thread230 RecommendShareFlag

Jaegerle commented May 30

J

Jaegerle

Heidelberg

May 30

About time the NYT investigates into the perilous drug habits of CEOs and politicians, not just showbusiness celebrities. I'm sure this is only the tip of a huge iceberg.

it would also be interesting to know how many executives had to resign because of illicit drug use during the past few years, and how many have run scot free with impunity.

It almost looks like the upper echelon of US business and lawmakers get away with their long term drug habits while all the others have to eat cake. A competitive advantage?

3 Replies226 RecommendShareFlag

MJ Brodie commented May 30

M

MJ Brodie

California

May 30

Yes, ok, a drug-addled, promiscuous, white supremacist oligarch got access to everyone's Social Security information for his private corporation because he donated $250 million to the current president's election campaign but let's focus on the real story here: Joe Biden was experiencing cognitive decline in his early 80s as president and Hilary sent personal emails from her government laptop (or something?) and George Floyd had been a user of fentanyl and meth and so on and so on...

... one rule for Democrats, another rule for Republicans and the wealthy oligarchs they enable. I hope all the working Americans who voted Republican in 2024 are happy with the irrevocable damage to the federal infrastructure and American standards of living that they unleashed.

Reply216 RecommendShareFlag

Scanmike commented May 30

S

Scanmike

Rockaway Queens NY

May 30

This is about as frightening as it gets when you consider the power he was given over peoples lives. All this misery he caused to fulfill a drug-fueled ego.

Reply209 RecommendShareFlag

Sk3 commented May 30

Sk3

Sk3

MA

May 30

Appalling. It's become an embarrassment to live in this country. I hope to someday live in a society that values integrity, honor, honesty, compassion, civic and moral duty more than it does power.

3 Replies206 RecommendShareFlag

Roxanne commented May 30

R

Roxanne

🌎

May 30

As long as you have money! Looks like it's ok to have someone with a drug habit dismantling government agencies.

Well.. he did purchase a presidency.

Reply199 RecommendShareFlag

Andrew commented May 30

A

Andrew

Mississippi

May 30

Amazing that the world’s richest man can take ketamine, mushrooms, and other psychoactive drugs freely; yet, through DOGE, limit, remove, and ban NIH and NSF funding for research into their potential to treat chronic diseases.

Reply196 RecommendShareFlag

Jay commented May 30

J

Jay

Chicago

May 30

@Sameen Farouk When you have millions, you just find someone who will play ball. It’s easier than subverting democracy.

In Reply Thread194 RecommendShareFlag

Balthasar commented May 30

B

Balthasar

Massachusetts

May 30

Leaving aside Musk’s drug use, would a person with his kind of overseas financial entanglements and disordered personal life qualify for even a low level security clearance?

3 Replies191 RecommendShareFlag

Searching for Sanity commented May 30

S

Searching for Sanity

Sacramento, CA

May 30

@Vera How would you use this to stop him, when the current admin has clearly demonstrated it cares not a whit for the laws, rules and regulations that would have prevented such a thing in the past? Who can make him pay a fine and clean up his space junk? The courts? The WH has ignored every court order given already.

How do we put a stop to any of this?

In Reply Thread191 RecommendShareFlag

Jen commented May 30

J

Jen

NH

May 30

I don't normally like to focus too much on "can you imagine..." statements, but seriously: can you imagine the meltdown from the right had President Obama or President Biden had a single person in their orbit with just one of Musk's issues? Pick one. The drug use. The mania. The...multiple parenting carousel.

And yet, this person, who clearly entered the political arena with the intent to eradicate existing investigations into his business behavior (which was successful), was handed the keys to the castle, and now has access to massive troves of Americans' personal information.

2 Replies189 RecommendShareFlag

poslug commented May 30

p

poslug

cambridge

May 30

@Daniel Herkes

And how is it that a Board does not remove Elon from corporate management? Space X has security and federal funding. Tesla is traded on Wall Street. How is it Elon has not been removed at Tesla given his overall performance? Massive incompetence by the Board. Are they too on drugs needs to be asked. Certainly on the take (stock options).

No one mentions it is the engineers who produce the products. Elon is irrelevant, and not an engineer.

In Reply Thread188 RecommendShareFlag

earth commented May 30

e

earth

earth

May 30

and who said they hire only 'the best people'?

Reply186 RecommendShareFlag

Mike commented May 30

M

Mike

Traverse City

May 30

I worked as a traveling nurse for r30 plus years and was required to pass a drug and alcohol screen for employment for every job that I applied for as well as submit to random drug and alcohol screen drug test during my employment.

Ketamine is an intravenous injectable drug and ecstasy, methamphetamines and hallucinogenic mushrooms are a schedule one drug as defined by the D.E.A.

This grifter is getting a pass on his illicit drug use while the rest of Americans are faced with job loss, prosecuted and imprisoned for drug use.

11 Replies7841 RecommendShareFlag

J. B. commented May 30

J

J. B.

Aurora, CO

May 30

My partner lost their job as a federal contractor due to the DOGE cuts. This guy has disrupted our lives so much, and to hear this makes me even angrier.

There really is a different set of rules for the oligarchy.

29 Replies6727 RecommendShareFlag

TS commented May 30

T

TS

Virginia

May 30

Federal workers are regularly subjected to random drug tests and many have to hold a security clearance that comes with strict drug and mental health requirements. Yet here is a billionaire who can fire any Federal worker while on any drug money can buy.

8 Replies5172 RecommendShareFlag

James commented May 30

J

James

VA beach

May 30

I like how poor black people on drugs who show signs, but no confirmation, of drug induced erratic behavior are beaten by the police and tossed in jail, but when everybody knows Musk is on drugs doing the same stuff, it’s fine.

10 Replies4588 RecommendShareFlag

GPaul commented May 30

G

GPaul

DE

May 30

Musk couldn't hold a government job with his drug habit, but he was given the power to fire tens of thousands of civil employees.

5 Replies4414 RecommendShareFlag

Larry commented May 30

L

Larry

Sunny Florida

May 30

He's unfixable. But as with Donald Trump, the problem for us is not the man. Both of them will be gone one day, one way or another. The problem is their supporters and their enablers. What to do about boards of directors who world never tolerate such behavior in another leader? What to do about the people who give him a courtesy advance warning about drug testing? In the broader picture, what to do about the millions of people who admire and support his and Donald Trump's behaviors?

As for Musk, I think about nearly every James Bond movie often. There's always a villain with plans for world domination and strange behaviors. They obsessively pet a cat. They keep a tank of man eating sharks. You name it. But you never learn of their back story. Why they are the way they are. Now we know.

27 Replies4296 RecommendShareFlag

Debbie commented May 30

D

Debbie

SF

May 30

The fact that this man was hired by the POTUS and given access to all US citizen’s sensitive information without even a security clearance is outrageous. Not to mention that Trump has asked the Supreme Court to keep all DOGE information secret due to “national security”.

15 Replies3759 RecommendShareFlag

Patricia Hale commented May 30

P

Patricia Hale

Tucson, AZ

May 30

Dr. Harris got it right. “There is something seriously wrong with his [Musk’s] moral compass, if not his perception of reality.

The same could be said about Donald J Trump.

5 Replies3358 RecommendShareFlag

N’est Pas Une Pipe commented May 30

N

N’est Pas Une Pipe

Chicago

May 30

The same people who think poor people should submit to drug screening to get SNAP benefits thought it was a good idea to hand federal budget cuts over to this guy.

1 Reply3131 RecommendShareFlag

Jill C commented May 30

J

Jill C

Hastings, NY

May 30

Musk’s grotesque antics with women, his virulent racism and his various drug addictions, are sideshows compared to jaw dropping corruption he brings to everything he does. He illegally destroyed the agencies investigating him, he stole the private data of Americans and still has his hand in the pocket of taxpayers to the tune of many billions of dollars.

7 Replies2789 RecommendShareFlag

Vera commented May 30

Vera

Vera

PNW

May 30

Why wasn't this used to stop him and doge? Are there laws preventing substance abuse on staff with security clearance? Democrats need to use this kind of amoral behavior to fight Musk's ability to dismantle and stage our democracy. It's bad enough he was allowed to buy the presidency of the other amoral ego. And make him pay a monstrous fine and clear the oceans from his other lunacy space pet project.

30 Replies2506 RecommendShareFlag

TheProf commented May 30

T

TheProf

Maine

May 30

This goes a long way toward explaining Musk's behavior. Not excusing it, just explaining it.

SpaceX should loose all federal funding until random drug tests show that Musk is clean.

9 Replies2173 RecommendShareFlag

Frances commented May 30

F

Frances

new York

May 30

Reporters who attend this afternoon's press conference with Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk need to repeatedly ask about the issues raised in this article until Trump cuts off the electricity.

13 Replies2134 RecommendShareFlag

MDCooks8 commented May 30

MDCooks8

MDCooks8

The Old New World

May 30

Odd that on the last day Elon Musk can work as a special employee of the federal government the New York Times publishes a speculative story about drug use by the wealthiest person in the world, even though these reporters had 4 months to report this information, especially if it supposedly common knowledge.

4 Replies1826 RecommendShareFlag

Kirsten Grind commented May 30

Kirsten Grind

Kirsten Grind

Reporter

May 30

@MDCooks8 Hi - thank you for reading. Unfortunately this kind of reporting is very hard, and it can often take a long time to establish the facts. So it doesn’t always happen as quickly as we would like.

In Reply Thread1798 RecommendShareFlag

Daniel Herkes commented May 30

D

Daniel Herkes

Sugar Grove, IL

May 30

Musk's drug use was noticeable at a Space X engineering meeting last year. The company directors had to remove him from the stage at one point due to his incoherent speech.

8 Replies1792 RecommendShareFlag

College Dad commented May 30

C

College Dad

Westchester

May 30

The drug use is obvious.

All the “cost cutting”, just nonsense.

But the day will come when we find out just how much data was stolen during these sprees of drug induced invincibility.

And all Republicans will be “shocked, shocked” to find out the true goal of the DOGE exercise.

5 Replies1645 RecommendShareFlag

Kirsten Grind commented May 30

Kirsten Grind

Kirsten Grind

Reporter

May 30

@Vera Hi Vera - There was a Democratic representative, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, who introduced a bill earlier this year to drug test Elon Musk and other members of DOGE, but it has not moved forward, and now Mr. Musk has said he is departing the government. Thanks for reading

In Reply Thread1597 RecommendShareFlag

Judy commented May 30

J

Judy

Kentucky

May 30

Why have various media been largely silent on this issue? It is obvious that both musk and trump have deep mental health issues. And now we discover to what extent musk is deluded and taking massive quantities of illegal drugs? When is Congress going to act to restore sanity in this government?

7 Replies1360 RecommendShareFlag

Kirsten Grind commented May 30

Kirsten Grind

Kirsten Grind

Reporter

May 30

@Larry Hi Larry, you bring up a good point on Musk’s supporters and his boards of directors. The structure of Musk’s boards has long been a problem that investors and others have criticized. I’ve done quite a lot of research into this, both at Tesla and SpaceX. Both those boards were at times filled largely with his longtime friends and also his brother, Kimbal Musk. The Tesla board had even classified some of these directors as “independent” until shareholders complained several years ago.

In Reply Thread1185 RecommendShareFlag

PEP commented May 30

P

PEP

Houston

May 30

...and now the whole country is suffering the withdrawal symptoms.

We are withdrawing from world trade, from rational thought & scientific methods, basic understanding of human suffering and empathy towards others.

2 Replies1018 RecommendShareFlag

Sean99 commented May 30

S

Sean99

NYC

May 30

As someone in recovery, it was clear to me from just brief observations and also snippets of what he said, that he was becoming an addict, or was one. Drugs (to include alcohol) will get a grip that is like an iron fist on one's life. That's how they work--they tap into and then pervert one's reward system. Also--if someone is using--everything, nearly everything bad that happens (inside / around) can mostly be deconstructed to the drugs. People debate endlessly about how "he has changed" and "his behavior" and the chainsaw and this and that--and his relationships--we like to do that, because we like to attribute behavior to clear free will and intent. It's a little less easy for society to accept what is the simple, basic truths--it's always, always about the drugs and alcohol, believe me. (yes mental health issues come into play but they are shadowed and accentuated by the beast of addiction). His ego probably won't allow him to go to treatment. Matthew Perry famously glued his hands to his pants with super glue in a desperate attempt to stop "using"--that is the power of drugs.

6 Replies1011 RecommendShareFlag

Sameen Farouk commented May 30

S

Sameen Farouk

Scotland

May 30

Aren't you meant to be licensed before prescribing and administering controlled substances? Who was prescribing a pill box and kétamine? It seems as though he may as well have been buying this cocktail himself.

Bearing in mind the use of substances, isn't there even the basic safeguarding flag in terms of being responsible for a small child?

9 Replies981 RecommendShareFlag

JK commented May 30

J

JK

Paris

May 30

I sincerely hope that a day of legal judgment will come for Elon Musk just as for his boss who didn't, doesn't and will never have the guts to face the music for what he has done and is doing to America. As for Musk's drug use, I imagine he might be even more obviously a lunatic without them. The Trump Administration seems a repository for substance abusers, past and present, as well as those who demonstrate very shaky mental balance in their public behavior. Trump has indeed replaced "the swamp" but with a cesspool of incompetent, unqualified and pathologically vicious people like himself.

2 Replies896 RecommendShareFlag

Kirsten Grind commented May 30

Kirsten Grind

Kirsten Grind

Reporter

May 30

@Sameen Farouk Hi Sameen - that’s right, doctors who prescribe ketamine for depression, which is known as “off label,” do have to get a special license. That’s because ketamine is approved by the FDA only for anesthetic purposes. Musk has said that he has a prescription for ketamine for depression, and that a doctor has prescribed it, but he’s never shown proof of this (and we have asked for it as well.) Thanks for reading!

In Reply Thread831 RecommendShareFlag

Kirsten Grind commented May 30

Kirsten Grind

Kirsten Grind

Reporter

May 30

@Mike Hi Mike - As I’ve reported on Musk’s drug use over the years, I have heard a lot both from employees at his companies and other experts on drug testing that there does seem to be a real divide on how strict companies are for lower-level workers versus c-level executives. If you’re interested in how SpaceX handled and reported Musk’s drug use internally, you can read this story we wrote several months ago on Musk’s security clearance: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/17/technology/elon-musk-spacex-national-security-reporting.html

In Reply Thread815 RecommendShareFlag

Jim commented May 30

J

Jim

Cleveland

May 30

He looks so very sad except when he’s helping destroy the careers of talented civil servants. That really seems to make him smile.

1 Reply765 RecommendShareFlag

Megan Twohey commented May 30

Megan Twohey

Megan Twohey

Investigative Reporter

May 30

@Frances We'll be watching the press conference with interest. The White House did not respond to our questions about whether it had asked Mr. Musk to take drug tests. After this article was published a White House spokesman issued a statement to us crediting Mr. Musk with helping cut government waste. The spokesman declined to comment on Mr. Musk’s drug use.

In Reply Thread731 RecommendShareFlag

Megan Twohey commented May 30

Megan Twohey

Megan Twohey

Investigative Reporter

May 30

@Debbie To what extent Mr. Musk was screened by the Trump administration is a good question. The White House did not respond to our questions about whether it had asked him to take drug tests.

In Reply Thread678 RecommendShareFlag

DVargas commented May 30

D

DVargas

Brooklyn

May 30

To add insult to injury, he has managed to deceive a significant amount of people into believing he is intelligent, which he is not, and to take credit for “inventing” things when he had simply bought the companies hat invented and manufactured them.

Enough money can buy you anything, even a completely false reputation .

In Reply Thread658 RecommendShareFlag

andy commented May 30

a

andy

Virginia

May 30

Very interesting, not a surprise to any of us who knew him when he was starting up SpaceX, but a little too late given all the damage he and DOGE have done to our government and global aid programs

1 Reply639 RecommendShareFlag

RickyDick commented May 30

R

RickyDick

Montreal

May 30

So glad I didn’t buy a Tesla. So glad.

11 Replies637 RecommendShareFlag

Chilled commented May 30

C

Chilled

Travelling

May 30

Elon Musk… “only the best” will come into the US Government.

Musk could not ever pass a background check for a security clearance or senior government job.

Yet… here we are.

2 Replies586 RecommendShareFlag

Anonymous commented May 30

A

Anonymous

DC

May 30

Musk’s drug use is obvious to anyone because he makes so many outrageous statements such as Social Security is a Ponzi scheme when in fact it saves lives of elderly people. Only in Trump’s presence, Musk looks relatively “normal “ because the president says so many nonsensical things. It is tragic that despite all the wealth and education, the US has turned into a circus that will probably be financially destroyed by poor economic performance except for the meaningless crypto industry.

7 Replies545 RecommendShareFlag

Karen commented May 30

K

Karen

Katz

May 30

The Wall Street Journal has also reported extensively on this.

One thing that both amuses and appalls me is how critical the Right is about single mothers but a man who spews his seed all over the place is cool, if his name is Musk.

1 Reply541 RecommendShareFlag

Megan Twohey commented May 30

Megan Twohey

Megan Twohey

Investigative Reporter

May 30

@TheProf Thanks for reading! As a large government contractor, SpaceX administers random drug tests to its employees and must maintain a drug-free workplace. But people close to the process told us that Mr. Musk has received advance warning of the tests. And SpaceX did not respond to our questions about those warnings.

In Reply Thread520 RecommendShareFlag

David commented May 30

D

David

Washington DC

May 30

While Republicans in Texas want the Ten Commandments displayed in every classroom, they apparently haven't read them. The "thou shall not commit adultery" commandment must be invisible to Republicans because they have elevated two prominent adulterers to the top of their party.

Sure, some Democrats also commit adultery. But they aren't trying to inject their religion into your lives.

3 Replies483 RecommendShareFlag

Susan commented May 30

Susan

Susan

California

May 30

Thousands of people have died due to Musk's egregious cuts at USAID, while he jumps around, high on ketamine. How can this be acceptable?

1 Reply476 RecommendShareFlag

Antonia commented May 30

A

Antonia

North Carolina

May 30

Musk uses drugs, and has access to classified documents and government meetings. Trump used Musk to benefit Trump. Why has Musk singled out that child? I would be very concerned, if I were that mother. Musk is a very disturbed man and has done a great deal of damage to our country.

1 Reply450 RecommendShareFlag

Carla commented May 30

C

Carla

NY

May 30

And this guy ruined the careers of how many federal employees? Gutted agencies we all rely on to protect our health and our public parks, provide valuable research, and on and in? Denigrated our judicial system? Unbelievable.

4 Replies432 RecommendShareFlag

Sue commented May 30

S

Sue

Philadelphia

May 30

This is excellent reporting but not very surprising. Narcissists often mask their emotion pain and blunt their need for constant (inappropriate) attention with drugs, and addiction then follows.

I hope his children have happy, productive lives far away from him and his disfunction. And I hope Elon gets exactly whatever someone like him deserves.

2 Replies431 RecommendShareFlag

Kelley commented May 30

K

Kelley

Baltimore MD

May 30

@Larry

"Both of them will be gone one day"

Sorry Larry but I recently left Federal service (SSA) and Musk's DOGE has put backdoor code in every Federal Agency system. They have exfiltrated (stolen) our personal data (medical, bank, voting, employment, etc).

The damage and lies have been painful to watch and I had to leave. I fear our future because of Trump/Musk/Vought/Miller and all those folks in this Administration. Our Country will never be the same after what they have done.

To hear Musk has been high on drugs this entire time makes perfect sense to me.

Wake up America!!

In Reply Thread414 RecommendShareFlag

Brooklyncowgirl commented May 30

B

Brooklyncowgirl

Down In the Pines Of Jersey

May 30

@J. B.

"There really is a different set of rules for the oligarchy."

The rich are indeed different and as Trump and Musk both know very well rules are for little guys. Musk's drug use, Trump's blatant corruption would land anyone else on the unemployment line or in prison.

Perhaps as Democrats struggle to define their core beliefs a good place to start is "No one is above the law."

In Reply Thread398 RecommendShareFlag

Esmom commented May 30

E

Esmom

Chicago

May 30

@J. B. It makes me even angrier, too. It is absolutely appalling that Musk's drug-fueled whims could unleash so much chaos and do so much damage to so many people. I can only hope he will face some sort of accountability in the future, but I'm not holding my breath.

In Reply Thread376 RecommendShareFlag

N’est Pas Une Pipe commented May 30

N

N’est Pas Une Pipe

Chicago

May 30

@James not only fine, he’s put in charge of dismantling the entire government.

In Reply Thread362 RecommendShareFlag

Nancy B commented May 30

N

Nancy B

Philadelphia

May 30

@J. B.

Bizarre to me that anyone thinks it is pro-natalist to encourage rich men to impregnate as many women as possible, to create children that will supposedly be "superior," but who will be of no real concern as a son or daughter to their father.

This is the new conservative idol of masculinity?

In Musk's case, though, it's probably better for those children if they don't have an erratic, drug-dependent, dishonest parent in their lives.

In Reply Thread362 RecommendShareFlag

Carrie commented May 30

C

Carrie

Traverse City

May 30

Articles like this are important. Musk would love to just slither off to his old pre-Trump life and carry on, but it’s important to expose him for the disaster and menace that he is. He still controls deeply powerful companies, and he’s still (apparently) on good terms with Trump. Now is the time to expose, expose, expose. The man flew too close to the sun, and it’s time for his chariot to burn before he finds new ways to cause disasters.

Reply350 RecommendShareFlag

Joe B. commented May 30

J

Joe B.

Center City

May 30

So it is now ok to point out the fact that musk was/is plainly a drug addict and was often obviously tweaking in the Oval Office?

2 Replies343 RecommendShareFlag

Eric commented May 30

E

Eric

Chicago

May 30

@James not to mention that Musk is allowed to own and use firearms, having clearly lied on his 4473 forms that specifically ask about drug use.

In Reply Thread340 RecommendShareFlag

Roy commented May 30

R

Roy

California

May 30

@MDCooks8

"Odd that on the last day Elon Musk can work as a special employee of the federal government the New York Times publishes a speculative story about drug use by the wealthiest person....

Why is that odd? what does timing have to do with it.....?

And his drug habits are not speculative.....

In Reply Thread337 RecommendShareFlag

Jay C commented May 30

J

Jay C

New York, NY

May 30

While drug use may answer some of his odd behaviors, it seems he was lucid enough to use the Trump Administration to dismantle the federal agencies that regulate his companies, then depart. Mission accomplished for Musk. Bamboozled Trump?

2 Replies332 RecommendShareFlag

A Mostly Useless Tree commented May 30

A

A Mostly Useless Tree

California

May 30

@MDCooks8 I'm just glad it we're not finding this out in an explosive and revealing hardcover book that's going to be published in 2026

In Reply Thread330 RecommendShareFlag

Andrew commented May 30

A

Andrew

Genua

May 30

If incoherent speech, posting on social media at all hours, obsessively playing games for hours, fathering children with multiple women, and behaving erratically in high visibility situations is a sign of excessive drug use, what are we to make of someone who behaves that way sober?

1 Reply329 RecommendShareFlag

Rho commented May 30

Rho

Rho

One of the Springfields

May 30

@Vera

The people in charge of the agencies that investigate and prosecute things like illegal drug use have no incentive to do that in the case of Musk. Do you think Pam Bondi and Kash Patel are going to bring the force of law down on Trump's pet billionaire?

In Reply Thread327 RecommendShareFlag

Megan Twohey commented May 30

Megan Twohey

Megan Twohey

Investigative Reporter

May 30

@Sean99 You’re right that Matthew Perry long struggled with addiction. And, in the end, he died of “acute effects of ketamine,” according to the Medical Examiner. Perry had reportedly started using ketamine with a prescription and then procured it illegally. Doctors with a special license may prescribe ketamine for psychiatric disorders like depression. But the FDA has warned that chronic use can lead to addiction.

In Reply Thread321 RecommendShareFlag

HAP commented May 30

H

HAP

California

May 30

"The picture of the world's richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one.” --Bill Gates earlier this month.

Reply320 RecommendShareFlag

RG commented May 30

R

RG

Ohio

May 30

The behavior of this immature man-child is the perfect metaphor for the trump administration. There are no rules, no restraints, no ideals. They are children with piles of cash who think about no one but themselves.

Reply306 RecommendShareFlag

Kelly commented May 30

K

Kelly

Michigan

May 30

@Kirsten Grind, “As a matter of constitutional law, Mr. Trump could grant a security clearance to anyone after his inauguration, even if others in the government object.”

My question for the legal experts is this: if a president knowingly grants security clearance to a person who then engages in traitorous behavior, how do we hold that president accountable for his actions. Furthermore, does Congress have a legal obligation to impeach said president?

Since, up to now, Congress has abdicated it’s responsibility to be a check on Executive power, are its members also thwarting the law?

In Reply Thread278 RecommendShareFlag

kglen commented May 30

k

kglen

East Rock

May 30

Drug use seems obvious.

But how do you explain trump, who insists on his sobriety?

These men are all deranged, in one way or another.

AND they're in charge.

Why did we allow this to happen, America?

5 Replies277 RecommendShareFlag

Julia commented May 30

J

Julia

Oakland

May 30

@MDCooks8 I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make here. Elon Musk has been very forthcoming about his use of hallucinogenic drugs and has probably setback ketamine assisted psychotherapy at least 20 years

In Reply Thread267 RecommendShareFlag

Tree hugger. commented May 30

T

Tree hugger.

North Carolina

May 30

@Larry Exactly. I think the key has to be to show them how much Trump and Musk despise their own supporters. I'm amazed we haven't had a hot mic moment yet with one of these guys revealing how little they think of the people they claim to champion. The press should be exposing this.

In Reply Thread245 RecommendShareFlag

JW commented May 30

J

JW

Buxton, Maine

May 30

The drug addict does the firing, not the other way around.

Only in TrumpWorld.

Reply240 RecommendShareFlag

617to416 commented May 30

617to416

617to416

Ontario via Massachusetts

May 30

@James

It's always been this way. Back in the early 80s when I was a student at the University of Chicago, the Black people in the neighbourhoods around the university were being arrested in crackdowns for drugs, while we privileged students were smoking dope and taking LSD nightly in the dorms. A roommate of mine was busted for selling pot (which he sold in quantity)—but when he appeared before the judge, the case was dismissed because the cops didn't have a warrant and the judge said "a University of Chicago student would be too smart to let the cops in without a warrant." How many poor Black men got that same kind of leniency from a judge do you think?

It's shameful. The United States locked up a whole generation of Black men—destroying many Black families—for doing what wealthier white students who went on to prominent and very lucrative careers in law, finance, and so forth did every day with impunity.

In Reply Thread230 RecommendShareFlag

Jaegerle commented May 30

J

Jaegerle

Heidelberg

May 30

About time the NYT investigates into the perilous drug habits of CEOs and politicians, not just showbusiness celebrities. I'm sure this is only the tip of a huge iceberg.

it would also be interesting to know how many executives had to resign because of illicit drug use during the past few years, and how many have run scot free with impunity.

It almost looks like the upper echelon of US business and lawmakers get away with their long term drug habits while all the others have to eat cake. A competitive advantage?

3 Replies226 RecommendShareFlag

MJ Brodie commented May 30

M

MJ Brodie

California

May 30

Yes, ok, a drug-addled, promiscuous, white supremacist oligarch got access to everyone's Social Security information for his private corporation because he donated $250 million to the current president's election campaign but let's focus on the real story here: Joe Biden was experiencing cognitive decline in his early 80s as president and Hilary sent personal emails from her government laptop (or something?) and George Floyd had been a user of fentanyl and meth and so on and so on...

... one rule for Democrats, another rule for Republicans and the wealthy oligarchs they enable. I hope all the working Americans who voted Republican in 2024 are happy with the irrevocable damage to the federal infrastructure and American standards of living that they unleashed.

Reply216 RecommendShareFlag

Scanmike commented May 30

S

Scanmike

Rockaway Queens NY

May 30

This is about as frightening as it gets when you consider the power he was given over peoples lives. All this misery he caused to fulfill a drug-fueled ego.

Reply209 RecommendShareFlag

Sk3 commented May 30

Sk3

Sk3

MA

May 30

Appalling. It's become an embarrassment to live in this country. I hope to someday live in a society that values integrity, honor, honesty, compassion, civic and moral duty more than it does power.

3 Replies206 RecommendShareFlag

Roxanne commented May 30

R

Roxanne

🌎

May 30

As long as you have money! Looks like it's ok to have someone with a drug habit dismantling government agencies.

Well.. he did purchase a presidency.

Reply199 RecommendShareFlag

Andrew commented May 30

A

Andrew

Mississippi

May 30

Amazing that the world’s richest man can take ketamine, mushrooms, and other psychoactive drugs freely; yet, through DOGE, limit, remove, and ban NIH and NSF funding for research into their potential to treat chronic diseases.

Reply196 RecommendShareFlag

Jay commented May 30

J

Jay

Chicago

May 30

@Sameen Farouk When you have millions, you just find someone who will play ball. It’s easier than subverting democracy.

In Reply Thread194 RecommendShareFlag

Balthasar commented May 30

B

Balthasar

Massachusetts

May 30

Leaving aside Musk’s drug use, would a person with his kind of overseas financial entanglements and disordered personal life qualify for even a low level security clearance?

3 Replies191 RecommendShareFlag

Searching for Sanity commented May 30

S

Searching for Sanity

Sacramento, CA

May 30

@Vera How would you use this to stop him, when the current admin has clearly demonstrated it cares not a whit for the laws, rules and regulations that would have prevented such a thing in the past? Who can make him pay a fine and clean up his space junk? The courts? The WH has ignored every court order given already.

How do we put a stop to any of this?

In Reply Thread191 RecommendShareFlag

Jen commented May 30

J

Jen

NH

May 30

I don't normally like to focus too much on "can you imagine..." statements, but seriously: can you imagine the meltdown from the right had President Obama or President Biden had a single person in their orbit with just one of Musk's issues? Pick one. The drug use. The mania. The...multiple parenting carousel.

And yet, this person, who clearly entered the political arena with the intent to eradicate existing investigations into his business behavior (which was successful), was handed the keys to the castle, and now has access to massive troves of Americans' personal information.

2 Replies189 RecommendShare

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5731799&forum_id=2#48976509)

This is not a well man

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5731799&forum_id=2#48976580)