Published on
US President Donald Trump on Thursday awarded SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and a handful of other tech titans the prestigious National Medal of Science during a ceremony at the Peace Institute in Washington, DC.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Musk received the award alongside Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD chief Lisa Su.
“I want to thank everyone for being here as we celebrate the exciting advances in science and technology in America’s golden age,” Trump said in his opening remarks, before turning his attention to Musk, whom he called an “industrial titan” and “our modern-day Thomas Edison.”
“Few Americans in history have done as much as Elon to advance America’s national interest in one area after another. His genius and determination made science fiction a reality,” Trump said.
“Elon, I want to congratulate you. You’re my friend and all that, but you’re a very, very special guy. Thank you very much and congratulations Elon,” he added.
Despite his glowing words, Trump and Musk have had a rather volatile relationship in recent years.
Musk joined Trump in the latter stages of his presidential campaign and later took on a high-profile role as de facto head of the cost-cutting White House Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) after Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, leading efforts to slim down government.
But the relationship between the two men broke down after Musk criticized Trump’s spending bill, the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” sparking the start of a bitter and public feud.
However, Musk has found himself in Trump’s world in recent weeks, with the Tesla CEO set to take on the role of co-director of “Project Meridian.”
The project, commissioned by the Department of Defense, will study the future of warfare, help identify the weapons and technologies the U.S. military will need to build and master, and provide “concrete solutions to begin developing, testing, and fielding these capabilities.”
A White House press release said Musk received the National Medal of Science “for technical achievements of extraordinary ambition and scale that have pushed the frontiers of space exploration, intelligent systems, communications and beyond, renewing American technological leadership and opening a new chapter in American manufacturing.”
Gn bussni
