Vance hours earlier suspended Microsoft from foreign-worker visa program
President Trump presented National Medals of Science and Technology to six technology executives Thursday at the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace in Washington, including Elon Musk.
Hours before the ceremony, Vice President JD Vance announced Microsoft had been suspended from a federal program that allows companies to sponsor foreign workers for green cards. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation at the same event.
Five of the six honorees were born outside the United States: Musk in South Africa, Brin in Russia, Huang in Taiwan, Su in Taiwan and Nadella in India. Michael Dell is from Texas.
Trump told about 300 invited guests at the “Golden Age of American Innovation summit” that they represented “an extremely high-IQ audience for a change.” Trump avoided discussing data centers during his remarks, according to the Guardian.
The president presented Musk with the National Medal of Science and described the SpaceX chief executive as an “industrial titan,” “brilliant engineer,” “national treasure” and “modern-day Thomas Edison.” Trump added, “It all works out well for Elon, right?”
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios presented Trump with the National Medal of Science that had been awarded to his late uncle, Dr. John Trump, in 1983. The elder Trump was an MIT electrical engineer. A short film shown at the ceremony described John Trump’s research as producing X-ray generators used in early cancer radiation treatments and radars that “jammed German defences” during the D-Day invasion in 1944.
The awards came against a turbulent year in Trump’s relationship with Musk. The Guardian reported that Musk contributed to Trump’s 2024 election effort and led the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, which reduced federal agency staffing — including at agencies that had investigated Musk’s companies. Trump described Musk’s Grok chatbot as “ingenious” after it correctly predicted celebrations among ordinary Venezuelans following the removal of leader Nicolás Maduro, according to Time magazine.
The relationship later fractured publicly. In a post on his X platform, Musk wrote: “Time to drop the really big bomb: [Trump] is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.” The Guardian reported that Trump and Musk were both named in the files. Vice President Vance reportedly brokered a reconciliation between the two.
After the medal ceremony, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang remained on stage alongside Trump as the Village People’s “YMCA” played from loudspeakers.