Elon Musk Says He Was Invited to White House Reception but Will Not Attend

President Donald Trump hosted a tech summit in the State Dining Room, at the White House, on Wednesday night, September 3rd, where he gathered high profile tech leaders.

The White House Tech Summit showcased President Trump’s promise to invest in infrastructure, manufacturing and AI research, around the United States. An anonymous source told CNN the event planning was quick and smooth.

According to a White House official, among the attendants present were, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Unlike common beliefs, Elon Musk — once called Trump’s “First Buddy” — did not attend the event.

A user asked in X about the absence of the xAI, SpaceX and Tesla leader, to which Musk replied:

Jared Isaacman, tech billionaire with a withdrawn nomination to lead NASA, attended the dinner on Musk’s behalf.

People began to speculate whether the association between Musk and Trump no longer existed after Musk left his position at the Department of Government Efficiency in May 2025. Scott Jennings, a CNN contributor, held a phone interview with President Trump, where he said that he likes Musk and is a “good man”. 

“He’s got 80% super genius and then 20% he’s got some problems. When he works out the 20%, he’ll be great.” Trump wrapped the interview saying Musk “went off the reservation, and he wished he didn’t do it.”

This was the first time Musk was invited to participate in the White House Tech Summit. During Joe Biden’s administration, he was never invited, despite being an essential part to the Electric Car Revolution.