President Trump is scheduled to present Elon Musk with the National Medal of Science on Thursday, an honor that several people familiar with their relationship say reflects a reconciliation after last year’s bitter falling-out.
Mr. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, will receive the medal at the White House’s “Science: A New Golden Age Summit,” alongside Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su, AFP reported. Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella are set to receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. The ceremony will be the first time Mr. Trump has presented either award in either of his administrations, Fox News Digital first reported.
White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said in a statement that the administration is grateful to the honorees and credits them with helping the United States keep its lead in innovation.
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Mr. Musk joined the Trump administration in 2025 to help oversee its Department of Government Efficiency initiative, known as DOGE, before departing in May. The two clashed publicly the following month after Mr. Musk criticized the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, calling it a “disgusting abomination.” Fox News Digital reported that Mr. Trump answered on social media, and that Mr. Musk then said the president would not have won the 2024 election without his financial support. Mr. Musk spent more than $290 million on the 2024 election, including about a quarter-billion dollars through America PAC, according to FEC filings as reported by CNN. Fox News Digital also reported that Mr. Musk later accused Mr. Trump of being named in the Epstein files without providing proof. The feud included Mr. Trump threatening Mr. Musk’s government contracts, Fox News Digital reported.
A former White House official told Fox News Digital that Mr. Musk was completely removed from the White House fold after the split. A third source familiar with the matter said Mr. Musk began returning to Mr. Trump’s good graces earlier this year. A current administration official disputed that Mr. Musk was ever fully out of the fold and said he has been seen at the White House recently, in part because he is following through on pledges to financially support Republican candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.
“Water under the bridge,” one former administration official said of the falling-out and the rekindled relationship.
Mr. Musk has made several recent appearances with the president. He attended the late-September launch of America.gov and was seated at Mr. Trump’s table during last month’s state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to Fox News Digital. AFP reported that Mr. Musk and Mr. Huang were both at the dinner and that tech executives met at the White House last week, where they pledged to self-regulate against possible threats from artificial intelligence. Mr. Musk also co-leads Project Meridian, a 120-day Pentagon study of future warfare that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Sept. 30 alongside Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
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