Trump gives Elon Musk top US science medal

US President Donald Trump presented Elon Musk with the National Medal of Science on Thursday, marking a public return to favour for the SpaceX and Tesla boss after their earlier political rift.

Trump called Musk a “national treasure” and “our modern-day Thomas Edison” at the Washington event, which was billed as “Science: A New Golden Age.” Trump patted Musk on the back as he gave him a wooden case containing the medal, although the two largely avoided eye contact.

Musk was among six US technology leaders honoured by Trump. Google co-founder Sergei Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD chief Lisa Su also received the National Medal of Science. Computer executive Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Musk was the biggest donor to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and later worked from the White House complex as head of the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency. His time there ended acrimoniously in 2025 after he opposed a Trump tax and spending bill.

Relations later became bitter, with Trump threatening to deport the South African-born Musk and Musk alleging links between Trump and late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Musk has returned to Trump administration events in recent months. He attended Trump's state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping in September and joined technology executives at the White House last week for talks on artificial intelligence.

At Thursday's event, Trump was also presented with a frame containing the National Medal of Science posthumously awarded to his late uncle John Trump, a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.