President Donald Trump on Monday said he hopes claims that Elon Musk brought drugs into the White House were not true, but he said he “really” didn’t know if they were.
“I really don’t know,” Trump said. “I don’t think so. I hope not.”
The president added that he wishes Musk well in spite of the animosity his former backer showed to him last week.
“We had a good relationship, and I just wish him well,” Trump said. “Very well, actually.”
Accusations of Musk using drugs surfaced before he left the White House, and Musk himself was asked about the issue during a farewell press conference inside the Oval Office.
Musk did not answer directly, instead lobbing criticism at the New York Times, the outlet that reported the allegations of drug abuse.
“Is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on Russiagate? I think it is!” Musk said, looking at Trump, who agreed. “I think a judge just ruled against the New York Times for their lies about the Russiagate hoax, and they might have to give back that Pulitzer Prize.”
He later took to social media to say the outlet was “lying their ass off,” acknowledging he had used prescription ketamine to get “out of dark mental holes” but claiming he had not used the drug recently.
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Musk blew up at Trump last week in another series of X posts, implying that Trump should be impeached, that he was in the Epstein files, and that his tariffs would cause a recession in the second half of this year.
Trump, when asked if he plans to speak to Musk on the phone soon, said the South African billionaire was not on the top of his mind.
“I haven’t really thought about it, actually,” Trump said. “I would imagine he wants to speak to me. I would think so.”
The president did opine on another politically active celebrity, suggesting that climate change activist-turned-Gaza supporter Greta Thunberg needs anger management classes.
“She’s a strange person,” Trump said. “She’s a young, angry person. I don’t know if it’s real anger — it’s hard to believe, actually. But I saw what happened. She’s certainly different. Anger management — I think she has to go to an anger management class. That’s my primary recommendation for her.”
Thunberg attempted to sail from Italy to Gaza to provide aid to the embattled strip, but the ship was intercepted by Israeli authorities, who mocked it as a “selfie yacht.”
Thunberg said the group has been kidnapped, but Trump disagreed.
“I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg,” he added.