Frustrated White House officials dub working with Elon Musk ‘listening to rusty nails on a chalkboard’

WASHINGTON, DC: Elon Musk may be sitting at the table with Washington’s most powerful but he’s reportedly wearing out his welcome.

According to a blistering report from Rolling Stone, senior White House officials working under President Donald Trump are increasingly frustrated with the tech billionaire’s presence in cabinet-level meetings, calling him "irritating" and questioning his judgment.

White House official slams Elon Musk as ‘most irritating’

“I have been in the same room with Elon, and he always tries to be funny. And he’s not funny. Like, at all,” one top administration official told Rolling Stone.

“He makes these jokes and little asides and smiles and then 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. 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.”

The official didn’t hold back, calling Musk “the most irritating person I’ve ever had to deal with,” and compared engaging with him to “listening to rusty nails on a chalkboard.”

Tensions surrounding Musk’s involvement in the Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have reached new highs. Sources close to the administration say at least two Trump lieutenants have walked out of Musk-led briefings, with one reportedly asking whether the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was “high.”

Musk’s legal team pushed back on the rumors, stating he’s routinely drug-tested by SpaceX and has never failed a screening.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to two officials, has started referring to Musk behind closed doors as “Crazy Uncle Elon,” frustrated by what he sees as the billionaire’s erratic input on policy matters.

Tech billionaire Musk blames ‘political propaganda war’ and admits he’s often his own worst enemy

Elon Musk is no stranger to public scrutiny, but a new tool from political pollster Nate Silver puts hard numbers behind the backlash and the results are brutal.

Pollster Nate Silver rolled out a new “popularity tracker” on Friday, April 11, this time turning the spotlight on Musk and the early results weren’t exactly flattering. In fact, they backed up what plenty of people have suspected for a while, Musk just isn’t that well-liked.

Silver, who’s long tracked Donald Trump’s approval numbers, launched this tool to monitor public sentiment around Musk as well. And while neither man is exactly winning any popularity contests, Musk’s ratings are particularly dismal, a fact even he didn’t shy away from acknowledging.

Nate Silver posted on X, “We just launched an Elon Musk popularity tracker to accompany our Trump approval tracker. Currently, he's at a −14 as compared with Trump's −5.”

Musk didn’t stay silent. He wrote, “The inevitable outcome of having a political propaganda war waged against me while I have almost no countervailing campaign and, at times, digging my own grave way better than my enemies do.”

Silver’s data shows Musk’s popularity has taken a nosedive since January 2024, when he still had a modest net favorability of +5.9%. Things started to unravel after his public endorsement of Donald Trump and the launch of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk now co-runs.

Silver’s tracker went live just as a Rolling Stone piece made waves, revealing that some senior figures from Trump’s camp are growing increasingly frustrated with Musk.

White House official's dig at Elon Musk as ‘most irritating’ sparks fierce internet backlash

A White House official’s reported swipe at Elon Musk calling him the “most irritating person” has triggered a firestorm of reactions online, with users quickly coming to Musk's defense and slamming the tone from the administration.

One user wrote, “Very unfortunate to treat a person who has sacrificed his businesses for his political affiliation,” while another simply called, “That's a shame.”

“They’re just bullying people on the spectrum,” one user pointed out.

Others chimed in with praise for Musk’s intellect and accomplishments. “I mean he is smarter than anyone else in the room, so there is that,” one commenter noted. Another added, “I guess some people will believe any trash talk about someone they can never emulate.”

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