'For Charlie': Donald Trump, Elon Musk seen together for the first time since messy split; watch video

Months after a public falling out, Donald Trump sat side-by-side with billionaire Elon Musk, a once trusted advisor, at a memorial event for right-wing leader Charlie Kirk.

Trump chatted in a manner that appeared friendly with Musk, who once led the Republican's so-called "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE), which took a hatchet to the US federal workforce and agencies when the Republican took office for his second term.

This marks the first public encounter between Trump and Musk since Musk resigned from his position as a special government employee under tense circumstances. Musk had served as head of the Department of Government Efficiency until late May, when he criticised the administration's signature policy bill, calling it "fiscally irresponsible".



The pair sat in the stands of a stadium in Glendale, Arizona, where tens of thousands had gathered to pay tribute to Kirk, who was shot dead on September 10 at a Utah university campus.

Video of the two sharing a handshake was shared by the official White House account on social media platform X, which Musk owns.

Musk donated more than $270 million to Trump's presidential campaign, barnstorming key battleground states for the Republican.

After the election, he oversaw the launch of the DOGE, a controversial initiative that eliminated thousands of government jobs deemed by the agency to be part of a pattern of waste, fraud and abuse.

But Musk broke with Trump over the White House's flagship tax and spending bill, which Musk called "utterly insane and destructive."

After the falling out, Musk went as far as to announce he was launching his own "America First" party, but little has materialized so far.

Musk on his X account posted an image of him and Trump sitting together at the memorial, captioning it: "For Charlie."