Elon Musk attends Trump’s dinner with Saudi crown prince
(Reuters) -Elon Musk attended a dinner with U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday; This was the second joint public appearance since a violent public row earlier this year.
Musk’s involvement could be a sign of reconciliation in the tumultuous relationship between the Tesla CEO and the US president.
Musk supported and financed Trump’s election last year and became a close adviser to his administration earlier this year, leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and overseeing federal funding and job cuts.
However, the two soon fell out. The billionaire businessman attacked Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill on social media as fiscally reckless and said he plans to launch a new political party. Trump responded by threatening to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies Musk’s companies receive from the federal government.
This controversy, along with Musk’s far-right political rhetoric, hurt us Tesla’sBrand image, sales and stock prices are important, analysts said.
Musk and Trump have rarely met publicly since then. Musk was last seen shaking hands with Trump at a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September.
Trump is hosting the Saudi de facto ruler, who is trying to improve his global image and deepen ties with Washington. Among those attending the dinner were Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Abhirup Roy, writing by Christian Martinez; editing by Scott Malone and Stephen Coates)
