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3471Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is being ridiculed behind closed doors by senior Trump administration officials who say he’s become a major problem in Washington.
One senior Trump official, speaking to Rolling Stone, put it bluntly: “I have been in the same room with Elon, and he always tries to be funny.
And he’s not funny. Like, at all.” Others reportedly refer to him as “Crazy Uncle Elon” for his erratic behavior and over-the-top antics.
Despite not being elected, confirmed, or formally appointed, Musk has amassed sweeping influence in Trump’s second term.
He’s helped lead a mass purge of federal employees, with tens of thousands of probationary workers fired via DOGE, often without cause.
Musk justified the terminations by mocking workers online and even quoting Office Space to their faces.
Ben Vizzachero, a former wildlife biologist with the Los Padres National Forest, was one of those let go.
He says Musk smirked and told him, “What would you say you do here?” — a line from the 1999 comedy. “My job is my identity,” Vizzachero said. And Musk treated it like a joke.
Musk’s dismissive attitude has earned him few fans inside the administration. According to one official, he constantly tries to crack jokes and gets visibly uncomfortable if others don’t laugh.
“He 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,” the official told the Rolling Stone.
Others in the administration have grown frustrated with Musk’s erratic behavior, especially after his bizarre appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February.
He waved a chainsaw onstage, wore sunglasses indoors, and rambled about “living the meme.”
Some senior Trump officials have speculated about Musk’s mental state and possible drug use. “Talking to the guy is sometimes like listening to really rusty nails on a chalkboard,” one said.
Jokingly, some even considered subjecting him to drug testing.
Outside of Washington, Musk’s influence has sparked mass protests. DOGE’s sweeping firings, cuts to safety-net programs, and aggressive rhetoric have triggered national backlash.
Activists launched a “Tesla Takedown” campaign, urging people to sell their cars and dump Tesla stock.
Musk, however, seems unfazed. He has laughed off criticism, handed out $1 million checks at political events, and claimed protests are financed by George Soros.
At a recent town hall in Wisconsin, he paid attendees $100 to sign petitions and tried to sway a state Supreme Court race — only for his candidate to lose by 10 points.
Even some within Trump’s inner circle are growing tired of the tech billionaire’s act. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sources say, “hasn’t hidden his disdain.”
Meanwhile, Musk continues to push for more control, more contracts, and more cuts.
“He’s just the most irritating person I’ve ever had to deal with, and that is saying something,” one Trump official said.
Though his future in the administration remains unclear, Musk’s impact on the federal government — and the anger he’s stirred — is likely to last well beyond his time in Washington.
As Vizzachero put it: “I would thank him for radicalizing me. I had never attended a protest until I was fired.”
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