Elon Musk attends Trump’s dinner with Saudi crown prince

Mr Elon Musk joined a dinner with US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Nov 18, the second joint public appearance since a bitter public feud earlier in 2025.

Mr Musk’s attendance could be a sign of reconciliation in a turbulent relationship between the Tesla chief executive and the US president.

Mr Musk supported and funded Mr Trump’s election in 2024 and became a close adviser to his administration in early 2025, leading the Department of Government Efficiency and overseeing cuts to federal funding and jobs.

But the two soon had a falling out.

The billionaire businessman took to social media to attack Mr Trump’s sweeping tax and spending Bill
as fiscally reckless, and said he planned to create a new political party. Mr Trump hit back, threatening to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Mr Musk’s companies received from the federal government.

The feud, along with Mr Musk’s far-right political rhetoric, hurt Tesla’s brand image, sales and stock price, analysts have said.

Mr Musk and Mr Trump have rarely come together publicly since. Mr Musk was last spotted shaking hands with Mr Trump at a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September.

Mr Trump is hosting the Saudi de facto ruler as the latter seeks to rehabilitate his global image and deepen ties with Washington. Others at the dinner included Portugal’s soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo and Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang. REUTERS