Musk Melts Down at NYT Over Drug Use Report
The tech billionaire paired up with Donald Trump to discredit the story.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Elon Musk has lashed out at a bombshell report claiming he was taking so much ketamine that it was affecting his bladder.
In a detailed article on Friday based on multiple unnamed sources, The New York Times accused the Tesla boss of abusing drugs on the 2024 campaign trail, just as he was ramping up his bid to get Donald Trump re-elected.
Elon Musk receives the key to the White House from President Donald Trump during a press conference in the Oval Office on Friday. Musk, who sported a black eye during the event, has officially left the Department of Government Efficiency.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
According to the report, Musk, who once admitted to using ketamine, a general anesthetic, for therapeutic reasons, had been taking so much of the substance that it started to damage his bladder.
Sources claimed he was also using ecstasy and hallucinogenic mushrooms, and was known to travel with a pill box that contained the ADHD drug Adderall.
During a press conference to mark the “official” end of Musk’s DOGE appointment, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked the tech billionaire about The New York Times report, saying that it “accuses you of blurring the line between —”
Musk, visibly unimpressed, interjected before the full question came out.
“Is The New York Times the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on the Russiagate? Is it the same organization?” he said, turning to Trump, who was sitting next to him behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
“I think it is,” Musk said. “ I think the judge just ruled against The New York Times for their lies about the Russiagate hoax and that they might have to give back that Pulitzer Prize. That New York Times? Let’s move on! Okay, next question?”
Elon Musk, sporting a black eye given to him by his son X, listens as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30, 2025.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Musk was referencing a court case in which Trump had sued the Pulitzer board for refusing to take back the journalism prize it had awarded The New York Times and The Washington Post for their coverage of Russian interference in his 2016 election campaign.
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Trump scored a win in the case on Wednesday after a Florida judge ruled that his lawsuit could proceed.
“We are holding the Fake News Media responsible for their LIES to the American People, so we can, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” the president posted after the Wednesday ruling.
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