What to Know
During President Donald Trump’s state visit to China, he was accompanied by a bunch of CEOs, including Tim Cook of Apple and Elon Musk of Tesla. On Thursday, May 14, China’s president, Xi Jinping, hosted a state banquet. And while you might expect a certain level of professionalism for such an occasion, videos of Musk at the formal dinner show him messing around and making weird facial expressions.
At this point, tons of people have shared footage from the state banquet and created memes inspired by Musk’s strange behavior. Even Musk himself shared a video in which everyone else appears to be taking the event seriously… and he’s making weird faces on camera.
It’s unclear why Musk is even there in the first place.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 15, 2026
Members of Trump’s cabinet joined him for his trip to China, and so did 17 CEOs and top executives, for some reason. People have also been wondering why Trump’s son Eric and his wife Lara were invited. So, Musk is definitely not the only person people have questions about, but his behavior has been particularly divisive online.
There are some people who are wondering why Musk couldn’t just act normal during the state banquet. Some of his critics assumed that he had to be on drugs during the visit (White House chief of staff Susie Wiles previously called him an “avowed ketamine user,” after all.)
Sharing a clip of Musk’s unusual facial expressions on X, one critic wrote that it looked like he “almost got all the way through the dinner when suddenly his ketamine suppository kicked in.” Someone else said, “Elon Musk should go to rehab. This is just sad.”
A clip of him filming videos also went viral and quickly became a meme.
Now you know why Epstein didn't invite him to the island. pic.twitter.com/nHEAblkmXj
— Zhao DaShuai 东北进修🇨🇳 Commentary (@zhao_dashuai) May 14, 2026
People have also joked (and complained) that Musk has treated a serious state visit like a fun vacation. Reacting to a video of Musk moving his phone around to presumably record a video, someone wrote, “Elon busy being a tourist on a state visit when everyone else is paying attention to the diplomatic protocol.”
Another person shared the same footage and captioned it with, “Now you know why Epstein didn’t invite him to the island.”
“Why is he acting weird throughout the visit?” a commenter wrote back. Although a lot of people online found his antics embarrassing, others actually defended him and even found him amusing. “I wonder if he is similar to me at being uncomfortable in a large crowd of people you don’t know well because I think I would be making similar expressions,” one person wrote in his defense.
Seth Meyers also joked about it on his show.
The late-night host described the state visit as “a high-stakes summit between two geopolitical rivals, during a time of major global conflict.” At the same time, Meyers didn’t make his expectations for Musk seem that high: just act normal, basically.
“We need statesmen, people who can project dignity and poise,” he explained. “Elon, all you need to do is attend the state banquet, and be normal.”
He then played footage that suggested Musk failed at this. “WHAT THE F-–K ARE YOU DOING, DUDE?!” Meyers said in response. “What, are you whistling for your imaginary friend to come save you from Tim Cook?! You look like an 8-year-old who’s ruining the family Christmas card!”
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