Splash News Elon Musk accompanied Donald Trump to a high stakes summit in China earlier this month, and while much of the media attention fell on President Trump and Xi Jinping, many social media users fixated on one particular viral moment between Elon Musk and one of his rivals,

Elon Musk joined an elite delegation of American executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang

The Tesla CEO, 54, was filmed attending Donald Trump 's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, May 14, alongside his son X Æ A-Xii, 6, whom he shares with ex Grimes .

Mr. Musk is part of a delegation of business leaders to China, where his interests include Tesla’s electric vehicle factory and solar panels.

The visit was full of friendly overtures, orchestrated pageantry, business dealmaking, and headline-grabbing sideshows.

Right-wing extremists celebrated Elon Musk’s straight-arm gesture during a speech Monday, although his intention wasn’t totally clear and some hate watchdogs are saying not to read too much into it.

In mid-May 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump made a state visit to China with a number of tech CEOs.

As it turns out, Musk’s pause in political spending lasted two months. And he’s become the third largest political donor in the 2026 midterm cycle, behind Andreessen Horowitz and George Soros.

Elon Musk traveled to China with President Donald Trump, despite the trial over his lawsuit with OpenAI and a judge’s order that he remain ready to be recalled.

Elon Musk, Tim Cook and more than a dozen other top executives will join Trump's long-awaited summit with China's Xi Jingping this week.