Elon Musk received an exuberant standing ovation at President-elect Donald Trump’s Thanksgiving celebration at Mar-a-Lago.
The billionaire spent the evening Thursday beside his mother, Maye Musk, and the president-elect for the holiday dinner at the club. Trump’s youngest son, Barron, and wife Melania Trump shared the same table.
Musk and his mom waved to the crowd as holiday celebrants at the club stood and cheered for the tech billionaire, which was captured in footage shared on social media. Later clips showed the Trumps and Musk seated at the table and listening to “Y.M.C.A.,” the president-elect’s signature song. Musk and Trump swayed to the song, as other attendees stood up, danced and filmed the action.
Earlier this week, Musk re-posted a message on X claiming he and Trump are “basically best friends.” The original post included a clip of Musk’s mother praising her son’s relationship with the president-elect, describing them as friends who have fun together.
“Of course, I’ve seen them together, but very shortly,” she told Fox Business. “I live in New York, and they’re in Mar-a-Lago or [at a] SpaceX launch, and they just seem to be having fun — a lot of fun.”
She added: “It’s nice for both of them to have fun, and [Elon] really respects him a lot and is really happy that there’s a future for America now.”
Maye Musk also claimed in the interview it’s “degrading” for people to call her son, the richest man in the world, “wealthy.”
“I don’t like the word ‘wealthy’ or ‘billionaire’ or things like that because I think it’s degrading,” she added. “I think he’s the genius of the world, and people are loving him for that! … They love him because of what he does, and they respect him. And I’m very proud of him.”
Musk is considered the president-elect’s “first buddy” and the soon-to-be first lady enjoys having the billionaire around, a source close to Trump told Page Six last week.
But other insiders have hinted that Musk’s tight relationship with the Trump may not last.
Veteran tech journalist Kara Swisher told CNN earlier this month that Trump insiders described Musk’s growing influence and apparently warm ties to the president-elect “odd.”
“But he’s not going anywhere until Trump throws him out,” Swisher conceded. “Which could happen, because they’re both really strong personalities who like to be at the center of attention.”
The president-elect has also repeatedly quipped he can’t get Musk to leave.
“Elon, what a job, what a job he does,” Trump said earlier this month during his first major speech after winning the White House. “He’s great, he happens to be a really good guy. You know, he likes this place. I can’t get him out of here.”
The previous day, Trump made virtually the same joke during a meeting with House Republicans: "Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him, at least until I don’t like him.”
Trump has chosen Musk to co-chair the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which will operate outside of the government, alongside former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk is already identifying specific government employees with “fake jobs” as he recommends mass firings once Trump takes office in January.
