WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump commended Elon Musk for helping cut government spending despite “outrageous abuse” on the day of a report about the billionaire adviser’s alleged drug use during the 2024 campaign.
“He willingly accepted the outrageous abuse and slander and lies and attacks because he does love our country,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “Americans owe him a great debt of gratitude.”
“He had to go through the slings and the arrows, which is a shame because he’s an incredible patriot,” Trump added later.
A reporter tried to ask Musk about a New York Times report about his alleged drug use during the 2024 campaign. But Musk, who said, “some of the slingers are in this room,” dismissed the question from a publication that he said had falsely written about Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“Let’s move on,” Musk said, standing behind the president at the Resolute Desk.
The meeting came the same day the New York Times reported that Musk allegedly used drugs such as ketamine more frequently than previously known while campaigning with Trump in 2024. The paper said it was unclear whether Musk used drugs while working for Trump in the Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump commended Musk repeatedly during the press conference for finding at least $160 billion in savings and said the billionaire corporate chief would continue to offer advice about how to make the government more efficient.
“Elon has worked tirelessly helping lead the most sweeping and consequential government reform program in generations,” Trump said.
Musk, whose last day as a government adviser was May 30, has been critical of the House-passed package of legislation filled with Trump’s priorities to cut taxes and bolster border enforcement. As the Senate prepares to debate the bill, Musk argued it didn’t cut government spending enough.
“Elon’s really not leaving,” Trump said. “He’s going to be back and forth, I think, I have a feeling.”
What drugs has Musk acknowledged using?
Musk, the CEO of carmaker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, and owner of social-media platform X, acknowledged in March 2024 that he used prescription ketamine to combat bouts of depression. He worried corporate executives by puffing on a marijuana cigarette during a podcast in 2018.
The New York Times story built on a Wall Street Journal story in January 2024 that alleged Musk used drugs such as LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. The campaign featured some erratic behavior, such as Musk jumping on stage behind Trump during an October rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Musk didn’t respond to reporters’ questions related to his drug use, but he has previously acknowledged using “small amount” of ketamine “once every other week” and marijuana “almost never.” The New York Times reported that his ketamine use was often enough to affect his bladder.
Ketamine is an anesthetic that also has some hallucinogenic effects, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The drug gained widespread recognition after the overdose death of “Friends” television star Matthew Perry in October 2023.
Musk told journalist Don Lemon during a YouTube interview in March 2024 that he took ketamine occasionally to combat depression.
“Ketamine is helpful for getting someone out of a negative frame of mind,” Musk said.
He denied abusing it.
“If you use too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done,” Musk said. “I have a lot of work.”
Musk puffed marijuana cigarette in 2018
Musk could also be seen on video smoking marijuana during the Joe Rogan Experience podcast in September 2018. He said he partook “almost never.”
Tesla’s chief accounting officer, Dave Morton, quit just a month into the job, the company said in a filing the same day as that podcast. The company’s chief people officer, Gaby Toledano, also announced she would not return from a leave of absence, just over a year after joining the company.
Lemon asked Musk about smoking marijuana.
“I had one puff,” Musk said. “I think anyone who smokes pot can tell I don’t know how to smoke pot.”
“I can’t really get wasted because I can’t get my work done,” Musk added.
FBI investigates drugs at White House but not necessarily Musk
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced on May 26 that the agency was investigating cocaine found in the White House when President Joe Biden was in office in 2023. The Secret Service closed that investigation in July 2023, citing “a lack of physical evidence,” and concluded an investigation into the cocaine mystery without identifying a suspect.
“Shortly after swearing in, the Director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest,” Bongino wrote.
The FBI didn’t respond to a request for comment about Musk’s alleged drug use.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, brushed off a reporter’s question on May 30 about whether the administration was concerned about Musk’s possible drug use.
“The drugs that we are concerned about are the drugs coming across the southern border,” Miller said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump praises Musk cutting government spending despite ‘attacks’
