GLENDALE: Donald Trump sat beside billionaire Elon Musk during a memorial event for right-wing leader Charlie Kirk on Sunday.
The US president appeared friendly with Musk, who once led Trump’s controversial Department of Government Efficiency initiative.
Both men occupied seats in an Arizona stadium where thousands gathered to honour Kirk, fatally shot on September 10 at a Utah university campus.
Official White House social media accounts shared video of Trump and Musk exchanging a handshake on X, the platform Musk owns.
Musk contributed over 270 million dollars to Trump’s presidential campaign and campaigned extensively in key battleground states.
He later oversaw the DOGE launch, which eliminated thousands of government jobs deemed wasteful or fraudulent.
Their relationship soured when Musk criticised Trump’s flagship tax and spending bill as utterly insane and destructive.
Musk announced plans to form his own America First party following the split, though little progress has materialised.
Musk posted an image of himself with Trump at the memorial on his X account with the caption For Charlie. – AFP
