Insiders Spill Elon Musk's Frenzied Drug Use at Trump's Side
Elon Musk was using drugs on a much larger and more 'serious' scale than previously thought during the 2024 campaign trail, according to an explosive report.
Musk, the tech billionaire who became arguably the most influential person in President Donald Trump's inner circle, is alleged to have taken so much ketamine it ended up damaging his bladder, as well as frequently taking ecstasy and magic mushrooms, The New York Times reports.
Musk is also said to have carried a box around with him, which normally contained around 20 pills, including Adderall, according to a photo seen by The Times and others.
It's unclear whether Elon Musk continued using an extreme cocktail of drugs while leading the Department of Government Efficiency during Trump's second term. However, Musk has continued to exhibit erratic behavior. He was accused of giving a Nazi salute at a January inauguration event and appeared frantic and disjointed in interviews and public appearances.
Multiple reports from inside Trumpworld suggested that the frenzied tech billionaire was fraying nerves and wearing out his welcome at Mar-a-Lago and the White House. He even stayed in the Lincoln bedroom, which is usually reserved for visiting world leaders, during sleepovers at the White House that would see Musk raiding the kitchen for midnight snacks and gorging on caramel Häagen-Dazs.
The alleged drug use reportedly occurred during a period of personal turmoil for Musk, including public clashes with estranged children and revelations of previously unknown offspring.
One of his baby mamas, the MAGA influencer Ashley St. Clair, told the New York Times that when she began dating Musk he told her that she was the only woman in his life. When she was around six months pregnant, she says he told her that he was also in a romantic relationship with Shivon Zilis, who worked for him at Neuralink.
Musk had also kept the details of his relationship with Zilis secret from Grimes, according to the Canadian singer-songwriter. She told The Times she was furious to learn that Zilis had recently given birth to twins, while a surrogate was pregnant with her third baby with him.
St. Clair, who revealed she had a secret love child with Musk in February, also claimed he had revealed to her that he donated sperm to a Japanese pop star so she could have one of his children.
Musk has admitted to occasionally using small amounts of prescribed ketamine to manage his mental health.
'If you've used too much ketamine, you can't really get work done, and I have a lot of work,' Musk told former CNN anchor Don Lemon in March 2024.
But sources close to Musk claim he was taking the anesthetic almost daily, and at times mixed it with recreational drugs.
Musk is said to have told people close to him that his ketamine use had become so frequent that it was damaging his bladder, which is a common side effect of the drug among its heavy users. This was around the time that Musk publicly endorsed Trump for president in July 2024.
He also allegedly used ecstasy and magic mushrooms at private gatherings across the U.S. and at least once event overseas.
According to The Times, Musk was even alerted in advance when random drug testing was scheduled at his company, SpaceX.
'Elon has pushed the boundaries of his bad behavior more and more,' Philip Low, a neuroscientist and former friend of Musk, told The Times.
The bombshell claims surfaced just as Trump and Musk were set to appear together at a Friday press conference to officially announce Musk's departure from his federal cost-cutting role.
The Daily Beast has reached out to a Musk spokesman for comment.
Musk's official position as a 'special government employee' requires him to step down after 130 days, with that deadline ending on May 30.
Musk was seen as a hugely influential person in the Trump administration while heading DOGE's mandate to cut federal spending and 'waste.'
This has involved firing tens of thousands of workers, and gutting entire federal departments.
However, Musk is said to have isolated himself among Trump's Cabinet in recent months due to his erratic behaviour and attempt to overhaul Washington, D.C.
This includes a shouting match between him and Scott Bessent at the White House which allegedly resulted in the treasure secretary yelling 'F--- you!' in Musk's face in April.
Another damming profile on Musk, this time in The Atlantic suggested that Musk role in the Trump administration was being downsized because he was irritating too many people.
'We kicked him out of town,' Rushab Sanghvi, general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees told The Atlantic. 'If he had stayed in the shadows and done his stuff, who knows how bad it would have been? But no one likes the guy.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Axios
14 minutes ago
- Axios
Good economic news can't catch a break
America is so far defying the gloomiest economic forecasts, but tariff threats keep scrambling the good news. Why it matters: Inflation is at a four-year low, consumer sentiment might be on the mend and the stock market has recovered from its post- "Liberation Day" lows — but it's all being overshadowed by intensifying China trade tensions. State of play: President Trump signaled Friday that the U.S.-China trade truce, a deal that effectively reopened trade between the world's two largest economies in May, might be in danger. "The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Friction point: The big economic threat is that tariffs ramp up, instead of the de-escalation and new deals that the White House has indicated and Wall Street expects. Economists don't expect price pressures to seep into the data until the summer months. Retailers are rolling through inventory stockpiled before the worst of the tariffs took effect. The irony is that two consumer sentiment surveys this past week showed consumers started to feel good about the economy of late — or at the very least, did not feel worse — after the administration lowered tariffs on Chinese goods. The University of Michigan's closely watched consumer sentiment index held steady in May. Sentiment is still near the lowest level ever, but the data ended four straight months of the index falling off a cliff. The Conference Board noted a huge surge in its index as well. Consumers are tying their economic fortunes to trade — and nothing else. "Despite the many headlines about the tax and spending bill that is moving through Congress, the bill does not appear to be salient to consumers at this time," the University of Michigan said in a release. What to watch: So far, Trump's trade drama has played out against a largely favorable economic backdrop. But there are early signs that backdrop might be shifting. Consumers pulled back on spending last month, choosing to sock away their income, rather than buy things. Separate data this past week showed the most recurring unemployment filings since November 2021, a indication that jobs are getting harder to find.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Conservative lawyer: Attacks on judges are about ‘Trump getting what he wants'
As unfavorable court rulings pile up against the Trump administration, The White House continues to undermine public confidence in the judiciary. George Conway and Kimberly Atkins Stohr join The Weekend to discuss.


Fox News
17 minutes ago
- Fox News
Amber Heard
Amber Heard has acted in many television shows and movies including 'Aquaman,' and 'Criminal Minds.' Heard also had a lot of press around her very public relationship with now ex-husband, Johnny Depp. She was born on April 22, 1986, in Austin, Texas to parents Paige and David Heard. Heard, whose net worth is now $-6 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth losing the defamation trial to Depp, got her film debut in the movie, 'Friday Night Lights' in 2004. After that movie, she went on to work in many other films like 'North Country,' 'All the Boys Love Mandy Lane,' 'Pineapple Express' and 'Zombieland.' She also had various television appearances in shows like 'The O.C,' 'Criminal Minds,' 'Californication' and 'Hidden Palms.' Some other films Heard was in during the earlier stages of her career were 'The Stepfather,' 'The Ward,' 'Drive Angry,' 'Syrup,' and '3 Days to Kill.' In 2011, Heard played Chenault in 'The Rum Diary.' She and Depp met during the filming of the movie. They were both in relationships at the time, but eventually started dating in 2012. The pair got married in 2015, but got divorced two years later. They have been in a huge legal battle since Heard wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post, implying that she was abused by Depp. After a six week trial in Fairfax, Virginia that millions tuned in to watch, the jury found that Heard had defamed Depp and awarded the actor $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive, which were reduced to $350,000 due to Virginia's law. Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages due to the statements made by Depp's attorney Adam Waldman. Heard owes $10.35 million to Depp, an amount that her lawyers have said she cannot afford to pay. Heard and her team have tried to appeal, but have been unsuccessful in their endeavors. One big role that the actress is known for is playing Mera, in 'Aquaman' with Jason Mamoa. She also plays the character in the 2017 'Justice League' and in 'Zack Snyder's Justice League.' She is in the 'Aquaman' sequel, 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom' that is set to come out in 2023, even though her appearance in the "Aquaman" sequel has became controversial after the legal situation with her and Depp. Even though Depp was Heard's most public relationship, she has also been connected with painter and photographer Tasya van Ree in 2008, model Cara Delevingne, Tesla founder and billionaire Elon musk on and off from 2016-2018 and art dealer Vito Schnabel. She does however have a a daughter Oonagh Paige Heard, who was born via surrogate April 8, 2021.