Donald Trump hosts dinner for top tech CEOs at White House, Elon Musk ‘not invited’

United States President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump hosted a dinner with top tech and business leaders at the White House on Thursday evening, where discussions focused on artificial intelligence, innovation, and domestic investment.

CEOs, including Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and OpenAI founder Sam Altman, attended, with several announcing major investment pledges in the US.

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Trump’s dinner was supposed to be held in the Rose Garden, but due to the rain, it was shifted inside. The dinner was followed by a meeting of the White House’s new Artificial Intelligence Education task force, chaired by First Lady Melania.

Elon Musk was notably absent, as was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. As per media reports, Musk was not present on the list of invitees.

Earlier this week, during an interview on the Scott Jennings Show, Trump stated that Musk had no choice but to join the Republican Party.

“I don’t think he has a choice,” the President stated after a highly public verbal feud with Elon Musk earlier this year.

Musk and Trump’s friendship was the talk of the town. Tesla CEO backed the Republican leader in the fight for the White House and invested millions in his presidential campaign.

Soon after, Musk was appointed an unpaid presidential advisor under the “special government employee” category and made co-chair of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), highlighting his growing rapport with Trump.

Their relationship soured earlier this year over the US President’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” Musk criticised the Trump administration’s spending plan, warning it would increase the federal deficit and undermine DOGE’s objectives.

Trump, in retaliation, accused Musk of opposing the bill because it eliminated EV tax credits, which he alleged would hurt Tesla. “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump remarked at the time.

The clash quickly escalated into a public war of words on social media. Amid the fallout, Musk resigned as DOGE co-chair, citing a need to dedicate more time to Tesla.