‘First buddy’ Elon Musk seems to have worn out his welcome in the West Wing.
Musk was described as “annoying” and “irritating” by senior Trump administration officials in an interview with Rolling Stone.
“Talking to the guy is sometimes like listening to really rusty nails on a chalkboard,” one official said. “He’s just the most irritating person I’ve ever had to deal with, and that is saying something.”
The official also describes Musk as “not funny” even though he tries to be and “looks almost hurt if you don’t lap up his humor.”
“I keep using the word ‘annoying’; a lot of people who have to deal with him do,” the official said. “But the word doesn’t do the situation justice. Elon just thinks he’s smarter than everyone else in the room and acts like it, even when it’s clear he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
Musk spent over $250 million to send Trump back to the White House and was rewarded with the position of leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a task force created by Trump to slash “waste and fraud” from the federal government, but has failed to hit their spending cut targets.
Musk has also become a constant presence at the White House, even joining cabinet meetings which has “annoyed” some senior Trump administration officials, especially Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Rolling Stone.
Three sources told the outlet that Rubio “hasn’t hidden his disdain for Musk,” and that some State Department officials have started referring to Musk as ‘Crazy Uncle Elon’.
The New York Times reported last month that Rubio and Musk clashed at a cabinet meeting.
The Rolling Stone report further claims that “Trump lieutenants” have walked out of meetings with Musk and wondered if he was “high”.
“Administration officials joked to one another about subjecting Musk to mandatory drug testing, which Musk himself has said would be a ‘great idea’ for federal employees. (A lawyer for Musk has said he’s ‘regularly and randomly drug-tested at SpaceX and has never failed a test.’),” the report says.
