Elon Musk returns to White House for controversial state dinner with Saudi Crown Prince, 5 months after bitter Trump feud
Musk, Jeff Bezos and Cristiano Ronaldo were among the attendees at the black-tie dinner with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman
Elon Musk was once again welcomed into Trump’s inner circle on Tuesday evening, as he attended a state dinner to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.
The tech mogul was just one of several business heavyweights at the lavish reception which was thrown just hours after Donald Trump had welcomed the Middle Eastern leader to the White House.
Musk was joined by a host of famous names including Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo and several members of Trump’s own administration including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump himself even described those in attendance as ‘the biggest leaders in the world’ during his dinner speech.
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Musk’s return to the White House comes just five months after he dramatically – and very publicly – suffered a bust up with his one time BFF Donald Trump, after they failed to see eye to eye on several policy decisions.
From January until May 30, Musk had previously helmed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with Trump confirming in a statement that he would not be continuing in the role after his contract expired.
In the days that followed his departure from the post, more details emerged about his real thoughts concerning Trump’s policy decisions, in particular those relating to the ‘big beautiful bill.’
Airing his opinions on X, Musk wrote: "I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
For his part, Trump didn’t mince his words either as he went on to describe the Tesla CEO as a ‘train wreck’ and slammed him for ‘going off the rails.’
A further flurry of embittered tweets followed relating to Trump, with Musk forced to backtrack several of them in the weeks that followed.
Even despite his apologies however, the damage was done and the bromance between the pair would never recover.
"Trump doesn’t forget," a source told PEOPLE back in June. "He may say something acceptable for public consumption, but after what Elon wrote on social media, and despite his apology, Trump’s relationship with Musk will never again be the same.”
Musk’s invitation to the White House indicates a marked thawing of the duo’s otherwise frosty relationship and comes just weeks after the pair briefly reunited while attending a memorial service for Charlie Kirk.
The right-wing activist was murdered on September 10 while giving a speech at Utah Valley University,
At the memorial, which took place on September 21, the President gave a 40 minute speech in honor of Kirk, and later was caught on camera speaking to Elon for the first time in months.
The pair briefly spoke, with Trump later revealing: “We had a little conversation. We had a very good relationship, but it was nice that he came over."
Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia, Politics
Phoebe Tonks