Musk Attends WH Dinner for Saudi Crown Prince

[ad_1] President Donald Trump hosted an elaborate White Home dinner Tuesday night for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, drawing a high-profile visitor checklist that included tech government Elon Musk, who returned to the East Room after months of public stress with the administration.

The White Home held a black-tie dinner honoring Prince Mohammed, bringing collectively senior administration officers and distinguished enterprise leaders.

Musk, the billionaire government who beforehand led the administration's Division of Authorities Effectivity initiative, was seen seated amongst visitors regardless of a public cut up with the president earlier this 12 months.

Different attendees included Vice President JD Vance, second girl Usha Vance, Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner, Secretary of Conflict Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White Home deputy chief of employees Stephen Miller, first girl Melania Trump, and Home Speaker Mike Johnson.

The visitor checklist prolonged past political and enterprise figures.

Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo was current, prompting the president to acknowledge him throughout the dinner. Trump instructed attendees that he had launched his son Barron to Ronaldo earlier within the night.

Trump opened his remarks by saying, "This room is loaded up with the most important leaders on the planet."

Musk's presence drew consideration, given his dispute with the White Home in June over the president's sweeping reconciliation proposal often called the One Massive Lovely Invoice Act.

The disagreement led to a extremely publicized break after Musk had spent months steering a federal downsizing effort by means of DOGE.

The 2 exchanged criticisms on social media platforms following the cut up, although each have been later seen sitting collectively throughout the September funeral of conservative chief Charlie Kirk.

Tuesday's dinner marked one of the elaborate international chief welcomes held on the White Home this 12 months.

Earlier within the day, Trump greeted the crown prince on the South Garden with a army ceremony that included a band, a horseback procession, and a fighter jet flyover.

The Saudi chief's go to comes as Riyadh continues to face sharp criticism from human rights organizations and a few U.S. lawmakers over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. U.S. intelligence businesses decided that the crown prince ordered the operation, findings that the Saudi authorities has disputed.

The dominion has additionally confronted scrutiny over broader human rights issues, at the same time as Prince Mohammed advances financial and social reforms geared toward modernizing the nation.

The administration has emphasised strategic ties with Saudi Arabia, citing vitality cooperation and regional safety. The dinner provided the president a chance to highlight these priorities whereas showcasing help from political allies and influential enterprise figures.

Jim Thomas ✉ Jim Thomas is a author based mostly in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's diploma in Political Science, a legislation diploma from U.I.C. Legislation College, and has practiced legislation for greater than 20 years.