Musk & Trump Grab Dinner After Maduro Arrest
President Trump and Elon Musk grabbed dinner together at Mar-a-Lago following the US military's operation to arrest and remove Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Trump had dinner with Elon at Mar-a-Lago and within an hour Starlink was being deployed to Venezuela to aid in the transition and the U.S. oil operation.
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) January 4, 2026
He never stops working. It’s amazing. pic.twitter.com/4HaSmEKCSh
Musk called the arrest a "win for the world, that would send "a clear message to evil dictators everywhere."
Congratulations, President Trump!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2026
This is a win for the world and a clear message to evil dictators everywhere. https://t.co/GRI0XOxQFU
During the dinner, which included several Trump advisers and Silicon Valley executives, Trump reportedly praised Musk for his support - noting the billionaire's offer to provide free Starlink internet access to Venezuelan citizens.
In support of the people of Venezuela 🇻🇪 https://t.co/JKxOFWsikP
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 4, 2026
The dinner all but solidifies Musk and Trump's reconciliation after he publicly criticized Trump's legislative package in June 2025, which added to the national debt and reversed cuts to waste, fraud and abuse found by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump hit back, with Musk warning that Trump appears in unreleased Jeffrey Epstein files, to which Trump called Musk 'CRAZY."
Obviously this is water under the bridge, as the two began mending fences at Charlie Kirk's memorial last year, and Musk offering a public apology along with deleting offending posts that he said went "too far."
Maduro was captured by elite Delta Force operators, who stormed his compound in Caracas's Fuerte Tiuna complex in an overnight raid - with air defenses disabled via precision strikes before they handcuffed and blindfolded Maduro, who was taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima and flown to New York where he faces federal charges for narco-terrorism, cocaine importation, and ties to terrorist-designated groups.