WASHINGTON — Tech titan Elon Musk reportedly called for unity during a meeting with President Trump at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service Sunday after the powerful pair had parted ways in June.
Musk and Trump spoke for the first time face-to-face during the ceremony after their tectonic falling out — with the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire telling the president bluntly, “If we don’t hang together we will surely hang separately, so let us unite,” according to conservative media personality Benny Johnson.
Johnson said he heard about the conversation backstage and that Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, was also present.
Kirk, who was brutally assassinated while debating college students at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, had called for Musk and Trump to reconcile their differences and help unite different factions within the GOP.
“I am hopeful, optimistic and will do everything I possibly can to try and bring this back together,” Kirk told conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly shortly after Musk left the Trump administration.
Kirk also predicted they would warm up to each other again, saying the political right was “stronger against the left” when “both sides come together” than when “we are divided.”
Musk hinted that his conversation with Trump was done to honor Kirk’s memory.
“For Charlie,” Musk wrote on X, accompanied by a picture of him sitting next to the president.
He then posted a cryptic message quoting from the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
“Well, Elon came over and said hello,” Trump told reporters of his conversation with Musk on Sunday. “I thought it was nice, he came over, we had a little conversation. We had a very good relationship but it was nice that he came over.”
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Musk added later: “I was proud to sit with my president tonight.”
The two began their relationship on glowing terms, with Musk first appearing on stage with Trump at the repeat of the Butler, Pa., rally in October of 2024.
Musk’s backing of Trump brought members of the libertarian tech movement into the MAGA fold, forming a coalition of Trump supporters that helped bring him victory in November.
The X owner was then appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency and found millions of dollars’ worth in wasteful government spending in the early months of Trump’s administration. Musk was also reported to be “best buddies” with the president, even sitting in on important foreign leader calls.
Stay up to date on the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk
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The relationship first hit a snag as Musk was headed out the door of the White House due to his special government employee status coming to a close after 130 days.
Musk had criticized Trump over the “Big Beautiful Bill,” accusing the bill of having pork-filled spending and being “disgusting” due to how much money it would cost taxpayers.
He also accused Trump of being in the so-called “Epstein files,” suggesting without evidence that the president was implicated in some way by his former association with the notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The two then semi-reconciled after Musk deleted his post about the Epstein files and said he had gone too far in his criticisms.
“I thought it was very nice that he did that,” Trump told The Post of Musk issuing an apology back in June.
