Elon Musk was using drugs “far more intensely than previously known,” while helping Donald Trump successfully campaign to get back in the White House last year, The New York Times reported on Friday.
Musk was taking ketamine, Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, the newspaper reports, adding that his “drug consumption went well beyond occasional use,” possibly including the stimulant Adderall.
He reportedly told people he was taking so much ketamine, “it was affecting his bladder,” the Times reports, noting that this is a “known effect of chronic use.”
The drug use allegedly took place as Musk was dealing with drama in his relationships with the mothers of his various children.
The Times pointed to Claire Boucher, the musician known as Grimes and mother of three of Musk’s children, jostling for control of their 5 year-old son, X. The child appeared alongside his father in the Oval Office and at other high-profile political events.
“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 previous reported,” the Times writes. “She has told people that she worries about the boy’s safety and that frequent travel and sleep deprivation are harming his health.”
The Times also stated it was “unclear” whether the controversial Tesla and SpaceX CEO had been taking drugs while participating in Trump’s second administration, including by leading its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.
With a focus on Musk backing Trump’s earlier re-election effort, the Times said interviews with insiders and private messages obtained by its reporters revealed “some people who knew him worried about his frequent drug use, mood swings and fixation on having more children.”
Musk and his lawyer didn’t respond to requests for comment from the Times about his drug use and personal life and The White House, the Times reports, didn’t respond to questions about whether it had asked Musk to take drug tests.
Though, after the Times article was published, the newspaper notes that White House spokesman Harrison Fields issued a statement crediting Musk with cutting government waste but didn’t comment on his drug use.
Musk has a history of recreational drug use, The Wall Street Journal reported last year.
During his headline-making sit-down with Don Lemon in March 2024, the former CNN anchor pushed him on his drug use. Musk said he only took “a small amount” of ketamine, roughly once every other week, as prescribed for times when he had a “negative frame of mind.”
“If you’ve used too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done, and I have a lot of work,” he said.
The Times found he had “developed a far more serious habit” and people familiar with his drug use said he was taking it often, sometimes daily and mixing it with other drugs.
“The line between medical use and recreation was blurry, troubling some people close to him,” the Times reported.
Musk also poured his own money into Trump’s re-election campaign. The SpaceX owner at one point apparently committed to donating $45 million a month to support Trump, although he later denied making that pledge. He then began channeling his money into a pro-Trump political action committee, AmericaPAC.
Musk’s rightward political turn and related online antics, including on his X, formerly Twitter, platform, coincided with a severe dent in brand images and sales for Tesla cars and his other businesses. The tech billionaire on Wednesday said he was ending his work with the government and focusing on his Tesla and SpaceX companies.
