Donald Trump showered Elon Musk with extraordinary praise during the National Medal of Sciences award ceremony in the United States. Alongside the owner of Tesla and the X platform, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and AMD CEO Lisa Su were also honored. In addition, the U.S. President personally awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation — the country’s highest distinction for technological achievement — to Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, and Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. Naturally, it was his words directed at Musk that carried the most significance.
For approximately five months — roughly from June through October 2025 — the two sides appeared to be at each other’s throats, with little appetite for reconciliation. Just before winter set in, Trump extended an olive branch with a series of public statements, and Musk followed suit. Their relationship hasn’t quite returned to where it stood before the 2024 elections, but it has been restored nonetheless.
Read more: Elon Musk to take leadership role in Pentagon program on the future of warfare — Hegseth’s announcement
Trump to Musk: “Few have done more to advance the national interest”
“We honor an industrial titan, a brilliant engineer, and one of the greatest technology founders to ever live. His name is Elon Musk. Few Americans in history have done more than Elon to advance America’s national interests,” said the U.S. President — who may also be eyeing the billionaire’s continued support ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. Elsewhere in his remarks, Trump called Musk the “Thomas Edison of our time” and described him as “my friend and a very, very great guy.”
Trump on Elon Musk:
We honor an industrial titan, a brilliant engineer and one of the greatest technology founders to ever live. His name is Elon Musk.
Quite honestly, there’s nobody like him.
His genius and determination have made science fiction into reality, and that is… pic.twitter.com/vq6e8o5lnk
— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 8, 2026
American media networks noted that all of the honorees are or have been aligned with Trump. Musk, who briefly joined the Trump administration to lead an effort to reduce the federal workforce, was the president’s largest private donor during the 2024 campaign. Brin also made significant donations to the Republican National Committee in 2025.
Trump:
My uncle, Dr. John Trump, was commissioned by the United States government to do a report on Nikola Tesla.
They wanted to know: Was he real or not real? Was he a true genius or not?
My uncle, after a fairly short period of time, determined that he was a true and great… pic.twitter.com/IMce3tt2mS
— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 8, 2026
Trump on Elon Musk:
Elon is our modern-day Thomas Edison. pic.twitter.com/ujvDQ6QTc7
— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 8, 2026
Photo source: Fox News (Facebook)
