President Donald Trump is set to host tech CEOs and business leaders in an event at the newly renovated Rose Garden at the White House.
Elon Musk Is Officially Not On The List
The gathering, which will follow First Lady Melania Trump's event on AI at the White House, has an extensive guest list including Microsoft Corp's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Founder Bill Gates, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, Meta Platforms Inc.'s (NASDAQ:META) Mark Zuckerberg, among others, The Hill reported on Wednesday.
Interestingly, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, with whom Trump shared close ties, was snubbed from the guest list, making him the most high-profile omission. Other guests include Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai, as well as Microsoft's Satya Nadella.
Other guests include Social Capital's founder Chamath Palihapitiya, White House's AI and Crypto czar David Sacks and Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD).
"The president looks forward to welcoming top business, political, and tech leaders for this dinner and the many dinners to come on the new, beautiful Rose Garden patio," White House Spokesperson Davis Ingle said in the report, adding that the Rose Garden was the "hottest place to be in" in Washington and the world.
Elon Musk Snubbed Despite Eased Tensions And Possible MAGA Return?
The news comes as tensions had reportedly eased between Trump and Musk, with Trump even calling the SpaceX founder a "good person" when asked about Musk.
Several prominent figures in the MAGA camp also called for Musk to return to the contingent, with Vice President JD Vance saying in an interview that he would be open to Musk's return to MAGA.
Musk also defended Trump over reports in the media that said the President sent letters to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on the latter's 50th birthday, despite previously attacking Trump over the Epstein files row.
However, Musk's omission from the guest list raises questions about whether or not relations between the pair have improved. It's also worth noting that Musk reportedly donated more than $250 million to Trump's campaign in the run-up to the 2024 Presidential Election.
A Series Of Anti-EV Decisions, Easing Space Regulations
The Trump administration has taken several decisions which could be viewed as anti-EVs, with the president announcing an end to the $7,500 Federal EV credit, which aimed to boost EV adoption in the U.S.
The decisions have been a point of contention between Musk and Trump and have caused tensions between the pair in the past.
The administration also relaxed CAFE or Corporate Average Fuel Economy norms, which also affected revenue streams of EV makers like Tesla and Rivian Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) via sales of ZEV credits, taking legal pressure off legacy automakers to meet emissions norms by buying credits.
Trump's EPA also proposed rescinding the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which forms the basis of much of the U.S.'s climate action and emissions standards, while also boasting legal importance.
On the other hand, the Trump administration also eased space regulations by removing regulatory hurdles for commercial space flight companies to obtain launch licenses for their spacecraft, which could be a boost for SpaceX.
Tesla's Dwindling Sales, Musk's AI Push
Tesla, meanwhile, has been grappling with lackluster sales as the company experienced a 40.2% drop in sales in the European market, with Tesla also recording a modest demand in the Indian market, with 600 Model Y orders.
Elsewhere, Musk has been pushing hard on AI and robotics, predicting that the Optimus line of robots will make up for over 80% of the EV giant's value in the future. Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI has also reportedly invested over $40 billion in the Memphis data center.
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