Trump Honors Elon Musk With National Medal of Science

President Trump has presented Elon Musk with the National Medal of Science, praising him as “an industrial titan, a brilliant engineer, and one of the greatest technology founders to ever live.” Musk received the medal Thursday at the White House’s Science: A New Golden Age Summit, alongside fellow science medalists including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and AMD CEO Lisa Su, while Dell CEO Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

This is the first time Trump has handed out either award in either of his terms.

What Trump Said About Musk and Tesla

Trump’s speech walked through Musk’s companies one by one. He celebrated SpaceX for Starship and Starlink, and recalled calling Musk to get Starlink equipment to North Carolina after a major hurricane cut off communications, saying it saved hundreds of lives.

Tesla got its own nod, too. Trump described it as “the first successful new car manufacturer in over 75 years, producing the first commercially viable electric cars with the first consumer self-driving technology.” He also told a story about his uncle, Dr. John Trump, who studied Nikola Tesla’s work for the government, before wrapping up with “Elon is our modern-day Thomas Edison” and calling him a friend.

You can watch Trump’s full speech below (via @SawyerMerritt):

Musk later thanked the teams at Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company on X. The honor comes as Musk recently reclaimed his spot as the world’s first and only trillionaire after a dip in his on-paper wealth.

From Feud to Medal

Thursday’s heartfelt moment is a long way from summer 2025, when the two had a public falling out over Trump’s spending bill. It came shortly after Musk stepped away from leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for the Trump administration. Trump threatened to end EV subsidies — which he eventually did — and SpaceX’s government contracts.

Musk has since admitted he got too involved in politics, saying in a July interview, “I think I got a little too involved in politics,” and has refocused on his companies. The relationship between arguably the two most powerful men in America has warmed again, with Musk joining Trump on an official visit to China and attending the White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping in September.

Trump’s views on EVs haven’t shifted as much. At a rally in Las Vegas in August, he called EV drivers “crazy” and mocked range anxiety as a “disease”, even while saying “We love Elon.” Now he’s handed the nation’s top science honor to the person most responsible for bringing EVs into the mainstream.