The breakup between the two men first ignited after Musk, a former special government employee who spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), argued that the GOP’s budget megabill, which passed over the summer, would add trillions to the national debt and undermine his work at the nongovernmental agency.

The world’s richest man dutifully fell in line and did exactly as Trump asked after the president talked down to him at a billionaire gathering.

Perhaps the most famous member of Trumpworld to be banished was Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO and former DOGE chief whose roughshod run of the White House in January-April of this year rankled members of Trump’s Cabinet and quickly led to the downfall of Musk’s political crusade as he became a political anchor around the necks of Republicans.

Having struck an uneasy truce with the president, Elon Musk is starting to make political appearances again, and his allies are planning a DOGE reunion party.

Musk’s first public appearance in Washington for months marks a new chapter for the president and his former “First Buddy”.