Billionaire Elon Musk was back in the White House on Tuesday night, joining US President Donald Trump for a state dinner honouring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This was Tesla CEO's first public visit to the Presidential residence since his public fallout with Trump earlier this year.
A video circulating on X showed Trump entering the venue alongside First Lady Melania Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. As he walked in, the President noticed Musk and gently tapped him on the arm. Musk acknowledged the gesture with a brief series of nods.
The small exchange quickly went viral.
The caption read, “President Trump tapped Elon Musk on his way in to the White House dinner tonight. Elon's reaction says it all. The bros are back together.”
“The boys are back,” a comment read.
Someone wrote, “Love how he nodded, like yea we so back.”
The high-profile dinner, held in the East Room on November 18, brought together a select group of distinguished guests as the White House hosted the Saudi Crown Prince on his first trip to the United States in seven years. His previous visit in 2018 was overshadowed by the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump erupted over the President's “Big, Beautiful” tax-and-spending bill, which Musk called a “disgusting abomination” that would increase the deficit and cut clean-energy incentives.
The billionaire threatened to campaign against supporters of the bill and proposed forming a new political party, breaking with his previous support for Trump. In response, Trump warned he might cut federal subsidies and contracts for Tesla and SpaceX. Musk denied receiving special subsidies, defended his NASA contracts, and accused Trump of favouring oil and gas.
On Tuesday, Musk was reportedly invited by Trump himself. He joined a guest list that included prominent figures such as golfer Tiger Woods, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Trump gave the Saudi Crown Prince an exceptionally grand welcome at the White House and defended him when a journalist questioned Salman about the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The Crown Prince arrived with full ceremonial pageantry, soldiers on horseback, a Marine Corps band and an F-35 fighter jet flyover, as the US announced a loosely defined defence cooperation pact and designated Saudi Arabia a “major non-NATO ally.”
Trump said Saudi Arabia planned to buy nearly $142 billion in American military equipment and hinted at up to $1 trillion in potential Saudi investment in the US.
