Trump Holds Dinner With Technological Officials At White House, Elon Musk Absent

JAKARTA — Presiden Donald Trump mengadakan jamuan makan malam pada Kamis malam 4 September 2025 di Gedung Putih bersama para petinggi perusahaan teknologi dan pemimpin bisnis serta politik lainnya. Namun, CEO Tesla, Elon Musk, tidak termasuk di antara para tamu yang hadir.

Lebih dari selusin tokoh teknologi ternama diundang ke acara tersebut, termasuk pendiri Meta Mark Zuckerberg, CEO Apple Tim Cook, pendiri Microsoft Bill Gates, pendiri OpenAI Sam Altman, CEO Google Sundar Pichai, dan CEO Microsoft Satya Nadella, menurut keterangan Gedung Putih. The Hill pertama kali melaporkan daftar undangan tersebut.

Trump duduk di samping Zuckerberg, sementara Gates duduk di samping Ibu Negara Melania Trump. Presiden yang telah menjalin hubungan dekat dengan para CEO perusahaan seperti Apple dan Nvidia, serta meminta komitmen investasi dari beberapa di antaranya. Ia juga memuji para pemimpin bisnis tersebut sebagai "kelompok yang memimpin revolusi dalam bisnis dan kejeniusan."

"Ini benar-benar kelompok dengan IQ tinggi, dan saya sangat bangga dengan mereka," ujar Trump.

Trump mengundang beberapa eksekutif untuk berbicara, termasuk Zuckerberg, Nadella, dan Pichai. Gates, yang yayasan amalnya berfokus pada kesehatan masyarakat, menggunakan waktu berbicaranya untuk membahas kemajuan dalam teknologi vaksin. Pernyataannya ini disampaikan beberapa jam setelah Menteri Kesehatan dan Layanan Kemanusiaan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., yang dikenal sebagai skeptis vaksin, menghadapi pertanyaan sengit dalam sidang Senat.

Gates memuji inisiatif vaksin COVID-19 Operation Warp Speed milik Trump dan mengatakan bahwa meskipun "kita tidak memerlukan ilmu baru" untuk vaksin polio, penelitian baru diperlukan untuk penyakit seperti HIV dan anemia sel sabit.

Ketika ditanya oleh wartawan apakah ia percaya pada Kennedy, Trump menyebutnya sebagai "orang yang sangat baik" yang "berniat baik" dan memiliki "pandangan yang berbeda."

"Bukan pembicaraan standar, saya kira," kata Trump tentang pandangan Kennedy mengenai vaksin dan obat-obatan. "Tapi jika kita melihat apa yang terjadi di dunia terkait kesehatan, dan juga di negara ini, saya suka fakta bahwa dia berbeda."

Elon Musk Mengaku Diundang tetapi Tidak Bisa Hadir

Musk, yang merupakan orang terkaya di dunia, mengatakan di platform X, "Saya diundang, tetapi sayangnya tidak bisa hadir. Perwakilan saya akan hadir di sana." Seorang pejabat Gedung Putih juga mengonfirmasi bahwa Musk telah diundang.

Awal tahun ini, Musk berselisih secara terbuka dengan Trump saat ia meninggalkan administrasi, mengkritik Trump dan pemerintahannya terkait pengeluaran pemerintah dan dokumen Epstein. Musk berjanji untuk memulai partai politik baru yang disebut "America Party," meskipun hingga kini belum terwujud.

Awal pekan ini, Trump memprediksi bahwa Musk pada akhirnya akan kembali ke Partai Republik. "Saya rasa dia tidak punya pilihan," kata Trump dalam wawancara di "The Scott Jennings Radio Show." "Apa yang akan dia lakukan, bergabung dengan kaum kiri radikal? Mereka gila. Saya rasa dia tidak punya pilihan. Dia orang yang punya akal sehat, dia orang baik."

Trump juga menyebut Musk sebagai "80% super jenius, dan 20% bermasalah," seraya menambahkan, "dan ketika dia menyelesaikan 20% itu, dia akan luar biasa, tapi dia punya sedikit kesulitan."

Jamuan makan malam pada Kamis malam itu sempat dibuka untuk kamera pers sebelum dilanjutkan secara tertutup. Sebelumnya pada hari yang sama, Ibu Negara Melania Trump mengadakan pertemuan tentang kecerdasan buatan (AI), yang dihadiri oleh beberapa tamu makan malam.

Trump telah menjalin hubungan erat dengan para CEO teknologi, mengundang sejumlah dari mereka untuk pertemuan di Gedung Putih dan bahkan memberikan akses istimewa pada acara pelantikannya. Beberapa CEO tersebut juga menyumbang untuk dana pelantikan Trump.

Bulan lalu, Cook mengumumkan komitmen Apple sebesar 100 miliar dolar AS untuk memproduksi di AS dalam sebuah acara di Gedung Putih. Pemerintah AS juga mengumumkan pengambilan saham 10% di Intel, beberapa hari setelah pertemuan di Gedung Putih dengan CEO Intel, Lip-Bu Tan, sebuah langkah yang menuai kritik dari beberapa kalangan konservatif dan ekonom.

Sementara itu, Trump mendesak perusahaan teknologi untuk meningkatkan kehadiran mereka di AS, mengancam akan menerapkan tarif sekitar 100% pada semikonduktor impor kecuali perusahaan setuju untuk mulai memproduksi chip di AS.

JAKARTA President Donald Trump held a dinner on Thursday evening September 4, 2025 at the White House with high-ranking technology companies and other business and political leaders. However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was not among the guests.

More than a dozen well-known tech figures were invited to the event, including Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, OpenAI founder Sam Altman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, according to White House information. The Hill first reported on the list of invites.

Trump sits next to Zuckerberg, while Gates sits next to First Lady Melania Trump. The president, who has established close ties with company CEOs such as Apple and Nvidia, has asked for investment commitments from some of them. He also praised the business leaders as "the group that led the revolution in business and genius."

"It's really a group with a high IQ, and I'm very proud of them," Trump said.

Trump invited several executives to speak, including Zuckerberg, Nadella, and Pichai. Gates, whose charitable foundation focuses on public health, used his speech time to discuss advances in vaccine technology. This statement comes hours after the Minister of Health and Humanitarian Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., known as vaccine skeptics, faced heated questions at Senate hearings.

Gates praised Trump's COVID-19 Operation Warp Speed vaccine initiative and said that although "we don't need new knowledge" for polio vaccines, new research is needed for diseases such as HIV and sickle anemia.

When asked by reporters if he believed in Kennedy, Trump called him a "very good person" who was "well-intentioned" and had "different views."

"It's not standard talk, I think," Trump said of Kennedy's views on vaccines and medicines. "But if we look at what's happening in the world regarding health, and also in this country, I like the fact that he's different."

Elon Musk Claims To Be Invited But Cannot Attend

Musk, who is the richest person in the world, said on platform X, "I was invited, but unfortunately I couldn't attend. My representative will be there." A White House official also confirmed that Musk had been invited.

Earlier this year, Musk publicly clashed with Trump as he left the administration, criticizing Trump and his administration for government spending and Epstein documents. Musk promised to start a new political party called the "America Party," although it has yet to materialize.

Earlier this week, Trump predicted that Musk would eventually return to the Republican Party. "I don't think he has a choice," Trump said in an interview on "The Scott Total Radio Show." "What will he do, join the radical left? They are crazy. I don't think he has a choice. He's a person with common sense, he's a good person."

Trump also referred to Musk as "80% super genius, and 20% problematic," adding, "and when he resolves that 20%, he will be amazing, but he has a bit of trouble."

The dinner on Thursday night was opened to the press cameras before being continued behind closed doors. Earlier on the same day, First Lady Melania Trump held a meeting on artificial intelligence (AI), which was attended by several dinner guests.

Trump has been in close contact with technology CEOs, inviting a number of them to a meeting at the White House and even giving special access to his inauguration ceremony. Some of the CEOs also contributed to Trump's inauguration funds.

Last month, Cook announced Apple's $100 billion commitment to producing in the US at an event at the White House. The US government also announced a 10% stake-taking in Intel, days after a meeting at the White House with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, a move that has drawn criticism from some conservatives and economists.

Meanwhile, Trump urged tech companies to increase their presence in the US, threatening to impose a rate of around 100% on imported semiconductors unless companies agree to start producing chips in the US.

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