Trump pats Musk while entering White House for dinner with MBS: Is the bromance back? — WATCH

After multiple visuals of tech billionaire Elon Musk surfaced showing at the White House alongside the US President and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, it is being signalled and speculated that the relationship between both is repairing. This marks a second public sighting together since a bitter feud earlier this year.

The invitation for a candlelit dinner by Trump followed just months after Elon Musk publicly demanded the impeachment of Trump and indicated that the president was linked to the case involving sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Meanwhile, before the fallout, Musk had been one of the biggest supporters of Trump, who supported and funded the presidential election.

He also emerged as a significant adviser for the Trump administration, heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and overseeing cuts to federal funding and jobs as soon as the US president came to power. But soon, the relationship between them quickly soured.

Following this, Musk criticised Trump’s expansive tax-and-spending legislation as reckless and announced plans to form a new political party. In response, Trump threatened to withdraw federal subsidies that benefit the companies of Musk.

Elon Musk's handshake at a September memorial for Charlie Kirk

Analysts indicated that the clash, coupled with Musk’s shift toward hard-right political messaging, hurt the brand perception, sales, and stock value of Tesla. Since then, the two have rarely appeared together. Their most recent public encounter was a brief handshake at a September memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Trump is now hosting Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader as the kingdom works to repair its international reputation and strengthen ties with the US. Also present at the dinner were Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.