President Donald Trump missed the chance to show off his newly revamped White House Rose Garden to some of the country’s wealthiest and most powerful businessmen while hosting a group of billionaire tech tycoons at an AI event on Thursday evening.
Trump, 79, had originally intended to welcome the likes of Microsoft mogul Bill Gates, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, and OpenAI founder Sam Altman to a lavish dinner held outside in the newly paved space—however, torrential rain put paid to those plans.
Still, the president managed to pull in quite the impressive array of guests for the dinner, which he hosted alongside his wife, Melania Trump, and where several of the tech moguls in attendance took the opportunity to lavish praise on the country’s leader for his support of their industry.
“Thank you for being such a pro-business, pro-innovation president. It’s a very refreshing change,” Altman, who has an estimated net worth of $2 billion, told Trump, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“I think it’s going to set us up for a long period of leading the world, and that wouldn’t be happening without your leadership.”
Trump—who was seated in between his wife and Zuckerberg—was just as enthusiastic in his praise of his guests, telling them: “The most brilliant people are gathered at this table. This is definitely a high-IQ group.”
The president also vowed to continue working to help the industry’s wealthiest leaders fight for additional electricity to power data centers that are required for the ongoing progress of AI development.
“I know everybody at the table indirectly through reading about you and studying, knowing a lot about your business, actually making it very easy for you in terms of electric capacity and getting it for you, getting your permits,” he went on.
The president went on to hint that he might be lining up Zuckerberg for a career in politics, telling the Facebook founder: “This is the beginning of your political career,” prompting the chuckling businessman to respond: “No, it’s not.”
But while many of the industry’s biggest names were in attendance, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook—there was one very notable absence: the president’s former DOGE czar, Elon Musk.
Musk, 54, was, at the time of the inauguration, a very outspoken supporter of Trump and his administration; however, their relationship soured dramatically in June, when the Tesla founder slammed the president’s “big, beautiful bill” as a “disgusting abomination.”
His criticism of the proposed legislation, which has since been passed, sparked a bitter and very public feud between the former political allies, with Trump most recently describing his former backer as having “80% super genius” and “20% problems.”
Though Trump hastened to insist that he “always liked him” and still “likes him now” during an interview with radio host Scott Jennings, it appears that their rift has not yet been mended enough to secure Musk a seat at the table for Trump’s AI event.
It had initially been reported earlier in the week that the dinner was set to be held outdoors in the White House’s Rose Garden, which had been prepared with tables earlier in the day, according to reports.
The event was meant to have been the first held in the space since Trump had it paved over earlier in the summer in a bid to make it more comfortable for guests, particularly women in heels—a move that sparked fury from critics.
“You know, we use [the Rose Garden] for press conference and it doesn’t work because the people fall,” he said during a March interview on Fox News. “The terrain can be wet, and the soft ground can be an issue for some. Women, with the high heels, it just didn’t work.”
For decades, the grassy space has served as one of the most iconic exterior areas of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., made famous by the colorful rose bushes that bordered the immaculately landscaped lawn.
Despite the backlash over the plans, Trump pressed on with his redesign of the Rose Garden, with images taken in June revealing that the grass had been ripped up and replaced with gravel.
Weeks later, the paving of the Rose Garden was completed, and photos revealed that it is now dotted with a number of white tables and chairs, each of which bears its own colorful striped umbrella, which some critics have compared to the poolside accessories found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Days before those photos were released, Trump told reporters that he had received “great reviews” of his redesign, adding that he “had to” overhaul the space to prevent it from flooding in the future.
Though Trump’s AI event could not be held there, a spokesperson for the president told The Hill that the president has plans to host many more gatherings in the space moving forward.
“The Rose Garden Club at the White House is the hottest place to be in Washington, or perhaps the world. The president looks forward to welcoming top business, political, and tech leaders for this dinner and the many dinners to come on the new, beautiful Rose Garden patio,” Davis Ingle said.
Since January, many of the country’s most prominent tech founders have shown increasing support for Trump, or, at the very least, a desire to cement their status within his inner circle.
According to Forbes, at least 26 billionaires had donated to his campaign as of August 2024—including WWE tycoon Linda McMahon, banking heir Timothy Mellon, and housing supply company founder Diane Hendricks.
Trump’s second presidency has also provided a significant boost to D.C.’s luxury housing market, with several of his most high-profile supporters snapping up pricey properties in the capital in the months after he was reelected.
Zuckerberg was revealed as the mystery buyer of a mansion located 2 miles from the White House earlier this year, having purchased the expansive home for $23 million in March.
Cantor Fitzgerald CEO turned commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, also found a new home in the capital soon after the election results were announced, buying a sprawling estate from Fox News host Bret Baier for $29 million back in December.
