Elon Musk, Ronaldo attend Trump's dinner for Saudi Crown Prince

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Portugal's football star Cristiano Ronaldo were among the elite guests at a dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump for Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the White House.

Musk's attendance could be a sign of reconciliation in a turbulent relationship with the US president as he made his second joint public appearance since a bitter public feud earlier this year. Musk supported and funded Trump's election last year and became a close adviser to his administration early this year, leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and overseeing cuts to federal funding and jobs.

But the two soon had a falling. The billionaire businessman took to social media to attack Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill as fiscally reckless, and said he planned to create a new political party. Trump hit back threatening to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk's companies received from the federal government. The feud, along with Musk's far-right political rhetoric, hurt Tesla's brand image, sales and stock price, analysts have said.

Musk and Trump have rarely come together publicly since. Musk was last spotted shaking hands with Trump at a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September.

Ronaldo, who has scored over 950 goals for club and country, is contracted to play for the Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr until 2027, which is majority owned by the kingdom's Public Investment Fund.

Others at the dinner included Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

CROWN PRINCE BOOSTS INVESTMENT PLEDGE

At the start of his visit, the Saudi Crown Prince was greeted with a lavish display of pomp and ceremony presided over by Trump on the South Lawn, complete with a military honour guard, a cannon salute and a flyover by US warplanes.

Sitting next to Trump, bin Salman promised to increase his country's US investment to $1 trillion from a $600 billion pledge he made when Trump visited Saudi Arabia in May. But he offered no details or timetable. The two sides also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on artificial intelligence and a framework for collaboration on critical minerals, the White House said.

Spearheading an ambitious Vision 2030 plan to diversify the Saudi economy and lessen its dependence on oil, bin Salman is expected to tout his efforts at an investment conference to be attended by a slew of corporate executives on Wednesday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

ARMS SALES, CIVIL NUCLEAR AGREEMENT

During a formal black-tie dinner at the White House later on Tuesday, Trump said he was "taking our military cooperation to even greater heights" by designating Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO Ally, a status that provides a US partner with military and economic privileges but does not entail security commitments. US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June had made Saudi Arabia safer, Trump added.

A White House fact sheet said the two sides signed a Strategic Defense Agreement, which "fortifies deterrence across the Middle East," makes it easier for US defence firms to operate in the country and secures "new burden-sharing funds from Saudi Arabia to defray US costs". The agreement appeared to fall short of the congressionally ratified NATO-style treaty Saudi Arabia initially sought.

The White House announced Trump had approved future deliveries of F-35 fighter jets and the Saudis had agreed to purchase 300 American tanks.

The sale of the stealth fighter jets to the kingdom, which has requested to buy 48 of the advanced aircraft, would mark the first US sale of the advanced fighter jets to Riyadh, a significant policy shift. The deal could alter the military balance in the Middle East and test Washington's definition of maintaining what the US has termed Israel's "qualitative military edge". Until now, Israel has been the only country in the Middle East to have the F-35.

The two countries also signed a joint declaration on the completion of negotiations on civil nuclear energy cooperation, which the White House said would build the legal foundation for a long-term nuclear energy partnership.