CNN
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President Donald Trump has asked aides and advisers if they believe Elon Musk’s behavior over the past 48 hours could be related to his alleged drug use, privately seeking to understand the tech billionaire’s broadsides against him while signaling publicly he doesn’t care, a source familiar with the conversations told CNN.
In his own telling, Trump is not wasting any time thinking about the man who, one week ago, was receiving a giant golden key in the Oval Office and has since lobbed insults toward its occupant. The president told CNN’s Dana Bash in a brief phone call Friday morning he was “not even thinking about Elon” and wouldn’t be speaking to Musk “for a while.”
But questions about the spectacularly public break-up have come nonetheless.
Talking to reporters on Air Force One Friday night, Trump said he would “take a look at” canceling some of Musk’s government contracts, a possibility he had floated on Truth Social in the height of their feud, and asserted the country would be fine without them.
“The US can survive without almost anybody – except me,” he said, adding that he was joking on the latter point.
Though the source said Trump had privately inquired about Musk’s alleged drug use, the president declined to weigh in on the matter publicly.
“I don’t want to comment on his drug use. I don’t know – I don’t know what his status is,” he said on Air Force One, adding that New York Times reporting on the matter “sounded very unfair.”
CNN has reached out to a Musk representative. When Musk was asked about the report during his Oval Office farewell with Trump a week ago, he declined to answer and attacked the newspaper instead.
The Times reported that Musk was “using drugs far more intensely than previously known,” as he rose to prominence in Trump’s inner circle in 2024, including “using ketamine often, sometimes daily, and mixing it with other drugs,” according to people familiar. In a 2024 interview with Don Lemon, Musk acknowledged he took “a small amount” of ketamine to treat negative moods, under a prescription, but that a heavy workload prevented him from using too much. Neither Musk nor his lawyer responded to the Times’ request for comment about his drug use. CNN also reached out to his representative about the allegations at the time.
Last week, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, whose wife Katie Miller left a job with the Department of Government Efficiency to work for Musk, told CNN he had no concerns over the New York Times report that Musk used drugs more extensively than previously known.
In the day since the Trump-Musk feud erupted on their respective social media platforms, Trump’s aides said the president has been focused on advancing that supersized bill that started the whole thing, and has directed his team to follow suit.
His online presence Friday morning was limited to posts about the economy, without any mention of the tech billionaire. He spent the morning on the phone — not with Musk, but with the new president of South Korea, whom he invited to the US for talks. He chatted with the president of Poland about the upcoming NATO summit. And before traveling to Bedminster, New Jersey, in the evening, he stopped to tour a golf course.
Whether the president is successful in turning attention away from the ugly spat remains to be seen. The Justice Department’s announcement late Friday afternoon that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has returned to the US to face criminal counts began to shift the narrative.
Nor was it precisely clear what effect the wreckage of the Trump-Musk alliance would have on the president’s agenda bill being considered by Congress, on Musk’s businesses or on the direction of the Republican Party.
All seemed potentially caught in the undertow after the two men spent Thursday afternoon and evening lashing out at each other online.
A tipping point for Trump and his advisers, people familiar with what was happening behind the scenes said, was Musk’s linkage of the president to Jeffrey Epstein. Musk suggested the administration wasn’t releasing information about the convicted pedophile because it invokes Trump. (Musk cited no evidence and gave no detail how he would have gained access to unreleased files.) White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called his claims an “unfortunate episode” in a Thursday evening statement.
After that, any chance of reconciliation appeared to be scuttled.
For Trump, Musk’s criticism of the major legislative package could only embolden Republicans who share the tech CEO’s concerns the bill would explode the US deficit.
Rep. Thomas Massie, who voted against the bill, told CNN that he thinks Musk’s opposition could fuel buyer’s remorse.
And Rep. Michael McCaul, who supported it, said he worries that a prolonged fight between Musk and Trump could become a distraction for getting Trump’s agenda passed, before going on to cite “very good intelligence” that the two men would soon settle their spat.
But Musk – who less than a month ago had said he’d spend “a lot less” on politics – has also threatened to put his substantial spending power behind efforts to remove from office Republicans who vote for the bill.
After spending more than $290 million to help elect Trump and Republicans last year, the future of Musk’s political spending now appears unknown. Funds Musk privately promised to groups associated with Trump are now in doubt.
One powerful Trump ally, Steve Bannon, suggested Trump use his power to go after Musk in multiple ways.
He said on his “War Room Live” show Thursday that Trump should begin deportation proceedings for Musk, saying he is “illegal” and has “got to go.” Musk was born in South Africa but became an American citizen in 2002.
Bannon also suggested the Trump administration investigate Musk’s alleged drug use, and potentially suspend his security clearance.
Still, allies of both seemed to hold out hope the rupture would not be permanent, and that the two most dominant figures in current Republican politics might be able to patch things up.
“I’m not going to speak for either of them. I was with the president in the Oval Office yesterday afternoon as some of this unfolded. And I can just say he was disappointed. I mean, he said that himself. And I was, as well,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday.
“I believe in redemption,” Johnson went on. “I hope we can resolve it, get everybody together again. That’s really important for all of us.”
CNN’s Hadas Gold, Molly English, Lauren Fox and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
