Donald Trump hosted leaders from major US technology companies at a White House state dining room dinner on Thursday night, with one notable absence: Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO, once a constant presence in the White House during the early days of Trump's second term, was not in attendance. Musk stated on his social media platform X that he had been invited but could not attend, and planned to send a representative. The White House did not comment on his absence.
The dinner included Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Apple’s Tim Cook and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. Originally scheduled for the newly paved Rose Garden, it was moved indoors due to a forecast of thunderstorms. The event began with televised praise for the president from several tech leaders and a brief question-and-answer session with reporters.
Musk’s absence marks a stark turnaround from the period after the 2024 election, when Trump joked that “Elon won’t go home, I can’t get rid of him”. The vacant seat highlights a divide between the two men following a public falling out in May over policy differences, which escalated into Musk accusing Trump of being in files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Since then, Musk has vanished from high-profile government events, and the two have not been seen together publicly.
Musk’s omission echoes a 2022 incident when then-President Joe Biden failed to invite him to a summit on electric vehicles, a snub that Musk later said cost Democrats his vote. Musk has since taken a hard turn to the political right, turning X into a platform for far-right influencers and contributing nearly $300m to Trump’s re-election campaign. After the inauguration, he led the so-called “department of government efficiency”, overseeing the dismantling of federal agencies.
As Musk’s influence wanes, rival tech moguls have grown closer to the administration. Earlier this month, Trump hosted Apple CEO Tim Cook, who gifted the president a 24-karat-gold souvenir. Meanwhile, Trump aides have discussed cutting Musk’s government contracts, according to the Wall Street Journal, though they found it difficult to do so.
