Elon Musk also attended the White House dinner for the Saudi crown prince, indicating that his bitter feud with President Trump has come to an end.
Cristiano Ronaldo also attends Trump Saudi Prince Dinner
Elon Musk and several other tech titans attended a black-tie, candlelit White House dinner.
WASHINGTON – He left the White House in a fit of rage six months ago amid an epic feud with Donald Trump punctuated by accusations that the president’s name was included in the private Jeffrey Epstein files.
But Elon Musk returned to office on November 18, much more quietly than when he left office, as the bitter feud between the world’s richest man and the US president cooled down.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk was one of about 140 guests at a White House dinner for Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, where President Trump touted Saudi investments and nuclear energy partnerships promised to American companies. This is Musk’s first public appearance in Washington since May, when he resigned as head of the Office of Government Efficiency, which was a critic of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Wearing a bow tie and black tuxedo, Musk fit right in with other wealthy and famous guests, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Dell CEO Michael Dell, golfer Bryson DeChambeau, soccer player Christian Ronaldo and several members of the Trump family.
It was as if Mr. Musk’s bitter back-and-forth with Mr. Trump nearly six months ago had never happened.
“He’s had a rough time. He’s had bad periods, he’s had some bad moments,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Oct. 27. “It was a stupid moment in his life. Very stupid. I’m sure he would say that. But I love Elon and I think I always will.”
From bromance to rivalry, now friendship is on the mend
At the height of their friendship, Mr. Musk stayed overnight at the White House, rode on Air Force One with Mr. Trump, and stood at the center of Cabinet meetings as the top official at DOGE, which was working to dismantle federal departments and lay off federal workers.
But an all-out war between the two men broke out in early June after Musk left DOGE and worked to defeat President Trump’s signature bill, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Musk said on his social media platform X that Trump would not have won the 2024 election without the money he poured into his campaign. Musk wrote that President Trump’s tariffs would cause a recession. He has suggested starting a new political party to counter Trump and the Republican Party. And the Trump administration said it withheld files related to Epstein, the disgraced financier and indicted sex trafficker, because they contained Trump’s name.
President Trump responded by threatening to terminate Musk’s company’s government contracts. When the relationship broke down on June 5, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “Look, Elon and I had a great relationship,” adding, “I don’t know if we’ll ever have that again.”
Relations between the two countries appear to be improving, with Musk expected to participate in a discussion on artificial intelligence and technological advances at the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Investment Forum in Washington, which Trump will also attend. Musk will be joined by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.
Musk, who has poured more than $300 million into his 2024 campaign to support Trump, last week endorsed Republican Rep. Byron Donald in the Florida gubernatorial race.
Further commemorating his return to the political scene, the New York Times reported that Musk plans to attend a reunion this weekend in Austin, Texas, with dozens of DOGE alumni to reminisce about his efforts to bring the wrecking ball to the federal government.
As for the third party Musk once promised to create, the so-called “American Party,” no formal steps have yet been taken with the Federal Election Commission to launch what would have been an expensive and complex effort.
X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.
Contributed by: Reuters
