Donald Trump honored Elon Musk at the White House and called him a “national treasure”

Elon Musk was honored on Thursday in Washington at the “Science: A New Golden Era” summit, organized by the Donald Trump administration to celebrate contributions to technology and innovation.

The ceremony drew particular attention because of the presence of the head of Tesla and SpaceX, whom Donald Trump called the “Thomas Edison of modern times” and “a national treasure.” The U.S. president told Musk that he was his friend and a “truly exceptional” person.

Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and AMD CEO Lisa Su were also honored at the event. Michael Dell, founder of Dell, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Musk was one of Trump’s main supporters during the 2024 presidential campaign, which he financed. The two publicly fell out in the summer of 2025 after the billionaire criticized the administration’s budget policies, but their relationship subsequently grew closer again. The Pentagon recently entrusted him with a mission to identify the technologies and weaponry needed for future conflicts. At the ceremony, Trump also received a painting dedicated to his uncle, physicist John Trump, who was posthumously awarded the National Medal of Science in 1983.