--- title: "Elon Musk Acting Strangely as He Stammers Through Oval Office Appearance" description: "At an Oval Office press conference with Donald Trump, Elon Musk acted bizarrely, frequently rambling and stuttering through sentences." date: "2025-02-12" modified: "2025-02-12" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-oval-office-appearance" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "trump" --- # Elon Musk Acting Strangely as He Stammers Through Oval Office Appearance ![At an Oval Office press conference with Donald Trump, Elon Musk acted bizarrely, frequently rambling and stuttering through sentences.]() *\Image: Andrew Harnik via Getty / Futurism\* On Tuesday, Donald Trump gave a [press conference out of the Oval Office](), joined by his "First Buddy" and anti-federal spending hatchetman Elon Musk — who, looking strikingly worse for wear, became the center of attention for all the wrong reasons. When Trump handed the stage to Musk to talk about what his so-called [Department of Government Efficiency]() was achieving, the world's richest man stumbled into a strange and rambling monologue, replete with such zingers like "some of the things I say will be incorrect" when a journalist prodded him for spreading blatant misinformation. But we won't get into the weeds about every eyebrow-raising thing Musk said here. Instead, let's turn an eye to just how bizarre this whole spectacle is: Musk wearing his "Dark Maga" hat, standing with his antsy four-year-old son for good PR, and who probably shouldn't be there ([just ask his mom]()); Trump doing his best to look patient as he sits at the Resolute desk, head turned as he listens to Elon's intoning, his [supposed subordinate]() looming over him and practically running the whole presser; and back to Musk, who noticeably struggles to finish his trains of thought, often laughing awkwardly — and all this dragged out over thirty agonizing minutes. "Gravitas can be difficult sometimes," Musk stiffly joked at one point, after being interrupted by his son. In short, Musk's behavior here is weird. Not even his little kid's adorable antics — and again, why is he there? — can distract from the fact that Musk looks like a fish out of water, wholly unprepared to speak coherently at length about anything. This is a man used to being worshipped at his companies, not someone who's accustomed to having to answer to the public. And it shows. On multiple occasions, Trump intervenes to get Musk back on track, which neatly sums up their whole [testy dynamic](). "And also could you also mention some of the things your team has found?" asked the president, after Musk spent a couple minutes pontificating about the meaning of democracy. Later, Musk is asked about the serious conflicts of interests he brings as someone who is determining how federal money is spent, because his companies like SpaceX enjoy large government contracts. Tellingly, Musk doesn't deny those conflicts exist, and even [says]() he'll declare any that come up himself, which he has yet to actually do. It's unconvincing stuff. Then Trump, an experienced public speaker unlike Musk, puts the issue to bed by simply declaring that his administration "wouldn't let" Musk work in areas where there's a conflict of interest. Deftly, Trump pivoted to hammering home claims that DOGE found rampant "fraud and abuse," though of course without evidence. Needless to say, [strange behavior]() is what we've come to expect from Musk. Before mustering the courage to perform back-to-back [Nazi salutes]() at Trump's post-inauguration party, he looked [totally spaced out](), twitching his face and eyes like he was high. (Musk has [admitted to frequently taking ketamine]().) We'll end by highlighting how Musk vowed that he'd be "as transparent as possible" regarding his actions at DOGE. So far, it's been anything but; he and his team of [twenty-something lieutenants](), themselves not subject to standard background checks, have [gained access to federal systems]() and data in a way that critics argue is unconstitutional. Musk can't hide from the cameras, though, and this showing provided a candid look at a man struggling to explain what it is he actually does for the government, or the American people. So far, what little transparency we've been afforded has looked equal parts damning and absurd. **More on Elon Musk:** [*State Department Insider Speaks on Elon Musk Accessing Nuclear Weapons*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()