Elon Musk Claims "Was Invited To White House", But He Was Never On Guest List

US President Donald Trump on Thursday hosted a high-powered group of Silicon Valley tech titans at the White House, but his former 'first buddy,' Elon Musk, was not among the attendees. At the table instead was one of Tesla CEO's biggest rivals in artificial intelligence, Sam Altman of OpenAI.

Earlier, news agency Reuters and US outlet The Hill reported that Musk, who served as a Trump adviser before a public split earlier this year, was not on the invite list for the event. But, the billionaire claimed he was invited to the gathering, which also saw the attendance of heads of major tech companies, including Google-parent Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft and artificial intelligence star OpenAI.

"I was invited, but unfortunately could not attend. A representative of mine will be there," the xAI, SpaceX, and Tesla leader said on Thursday, replying to an X user who questioned his absence on the guest list.

I was invited, but unfortunately could not attend. A representative of mine will be there.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2025

It was not confirmed if a representative from Musk's side attended the event. If the Tesla CEO was indeed invited to the gathering, it could be a sign that the relationship between him and the White House is thawing after his messy blowup with the president this summer, following his departure from the position at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head. 

Who Attended The Event

The event saw attendance of some of the most important tech world executives-- including Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighting Trump's complicated but evolving relationship with Silicon Valley and the broader tech industry.

The dinner also included Jared Isaacman, who founded the payment processing company Shift4. Isaacman was a Musk ally chosen by Trump to lead NASA, only to have his nomination withdrawn because he was, in Trump's words, "totally a Democrat."

Trump, sitting at the centre of a long table and flanked by First Lady Melania Trump, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on one side and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the other, said, "The most brilliant people are gathered around this table. This is definitely a high-IQ group and I'm very proud of them,"

"It's an honour to be here with this group of people. They're leading a revolution in business and in genius and in every other work you can imagine," Trump said, sitting across from Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The dinner was expected to be held in the Rose Garden, where Trump recently paved over the grassy lawn and set up tables, chairs and umbrellas that look strikingly similar to the outdoor setup at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

But because of inclement weather, officials decided to move the event to the White House State Dining Room.

The event followed an afternoon meeting of the White House's new Artificial Intelligence Education task force, which First Lady Melania Trump chaired, and some tech leaders participated in.