US President Donald Trump on Thursday awarded the National Medal of Science to Elon Musk and five other technology leaders at a ceremony in Washington. The event was held at a peace institute that was recently renamed after Trump.
During the event, Trump called Musk a “national treasure” and said that "Elon is our modern-day Thomas Edison," referring to the American inventor of the lightbulb. "Elon, I want to congratulate you. You're my friend, and all of that, but you are a very, very special guy," Trump added at the summit, dubbed "Science: A New Golden Age.”
In a video shared by the White House, Trump and Musk appeared awkward as they avoided eye contact during the ceremony. Trump patted Musk on the back while presenting him with a wooden case containing his medal.
Trump, Elon Musk's Fallout And Reconciliation
Musk and Trump had a public fallout in 2025 after the trillionaire SpaceX and Tesla boss left Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk, one of the biggest donors to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, had spent months working from a small office in the White House complex as DOGE pushed to reduce the federal workforce and restructure government agencies. He also attended Cabinet meetings alongside Trump and brought his young son into the Oval Office.
Following their fallout, relations between the two billionaires quickly turned bitter. The duo spent some time throwing shade at each other on Musk owned social media platform X.
However, relations have appeared to improve in recent months. SpaceX's rockets remain an important part of the US space and defence programmes, while Musk has resumed engagements with the Trump administration. Musk attended Trump's state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping in September and joined discussions on artificial intelligence at the White House last week.
Google Co-Founder, Nvidia CEO Among Award Recipients
Alongside Musk, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su received the National Medal of Science from Trump at the ceremony.
Technology entrepreneur Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella were awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the US government's top honour in the field.
Trump was also presented with a framed National Medal of Science awarded posthumously to his late uncle, John Trump, who was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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