On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump will dine with some of the most powerful business leaders in the newly renovated Rose Garden.
Elon Musk will be eating elsewhere.
The dinner is Trump’s first official event in the garden since its much-publicized renovation, and it’s expected to feature a who’s who of CEOs and tech founders. The invite list boasts two dozen business leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
A White House spokesperson confirmed the invitees for the Rose Garden dinner to Business Insider, which was first reported by The Hill.
Musk said later on Thursday that he had been invited to the event, but “unfortunately” could not attend, and that a representative for him would attend instead.
A White House spokesperson told Business Insider that Musk’s company had been invited and confirmed that a representative would attend.
The dinner is slated to follow an event first lady Melania Trump is hosting about AI.
Other attendees include Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, and Scale AI founder (and recent Meta recruit) Alexandr Wang.
A representative from OpenAI confirmed that Altman and company president Greg Brockman will be there. Spokespeople from Blue Origin and Advanced Micro Devices confirmed that their respective CEOs, David Limp and Lisa Su, will also attend. Representatives from other invitees didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider about their attendance.
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Business and tech leaders have courted Trump throughout his second term, with many donating to and attending his inauguration. Some, such as Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, have struck deals with the White House.
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It wouldn’t be the first time Musk has been notably absent from a high-profile White House guest list.
In August of 2021, former President Joe Biden held a summit on the future of electric vehicles and notably didn’t invite Tesla, the biggest EV maker in the US. Musk didn’t soon forget the incident — he brought it up frequently over the next few years, even mentioning it on Christmas Eve of 2023.
Musk began a notable rightward shift during Biden’s term and repeatedly criticized the former president. The Tesla CEO eventually endorsed Trump by the summer of 2024, spent at least $277 million to help him and the GOP that election cycle, and served as the face of the White House DOGE Office.
By June of this year, though, Musk and Trump had a public, messy falling out, and the two have periodically traded insults since. Musk also announced plans to form the “America Party.”
On Wednesday, Trump said that Musk is “80% super genius, and then 20% he’s got some problems. And when he works out the 20%, he’ll be great.”
Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
When Palantir cofounder and PayPal Mafia member Joe Lonsdale was asked on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” about reports of Musk’s snubbing on Thursday, he suggested Musk had plenty of other things to do.
“I know he’s extremely busy trying to build his businesses and hire talent. It’s an insane war for talent right now in Silicon Valley — I know he’s spending a lot of time on it.”
Additional reporting by Henry Chandonnet
