US President Donald Trump on 9 October 2026 awarded billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk the National Medal of Science at the New Golden Age Summit in Washington, describing him as a 'modern-day Thomas Edison' and a national treasure whose technological achievements have advanced America's strategic interests, transformed space exploration, and reportedly saved lives during natural disasters.

The Tribute and the Award

In an unusually personal address, Trump praised Musk's engineering contributions across SpaceX, Tesla, Starlink, and Neuralink, calling him 'a very, very special guy.' The National Medal of Science is among the United States' highest honours for scientific achievement, awarded to Musk for engineering contributions spanning space exploration, communications, intelligence systems, and manufacturing.

'Few Americans in history have done more to advance America's national interest than Elon — in one field after another, his genius and determination have made science fiction into reality,' Trump said at the ceremony.

SpaceX, NASA and the Space Economy

Trump credited Musk with fundamentally altering the economics of space exploration through SpaceX, which was founded in 2002. He said the company's privately built rockets had reduced America's dependence on foreign nations for transporting astronauts to orbit. 'SpaceX saved NASA from relying on foreign nations to send our astronauts into space,' Trump said.

The US President also congratulated SpaceX on what he described as the safe return of Crew-12 from the International Space Station, which occurred just hours before the ceremony. Trump further praised Starship, SpaceX's reusable heavy-lift rocket, as a milestone in the commercialisation of deep-space access.

Starlink and the North Carolina Hurricane Response

Among the most personal moments of the tribute was Trump's account of Starlink's role in North Carolina following a devastating hurricane that left communities isolated by floodwaters. According to Trump, residents trapped by flooding had lost their ability to communicate with emergency responders. He said he contacted Musk directly, and that Starlink equipment arrived within hours despite significant logistical challenges.

'So I never forgot that experience. It was a terrible time and the job he (Elon Musk) did, and he acted so fast,' Trump said. The President claimed the intervention saved hundreds of lives. Notably, that figure was not independently substantiated in the summit transcript.

Tesla, Neuralink and Artificial Intelligence

Trump also praised Musk's contributions to the automobile industry through Tesla and his work on brain-computer interface technology through Neuralink. He said Neuralink was developing systems intended to restore functions such as sight, speech, and movement to people with severe disabilities. The President placed these achievements within the administration's broader goal of strengthening US leadership in emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.

The Tesla-Nikola Connection and Historical Context

In an unusual aside, Trump drew a historical link between his own family and the scientist Nikola Tesla. He said his uncle, Dr. John Trump, a longtime professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), had been asked by the US government to assess Tesla's scientific work. According to Trump, his uncle concluded that Tesla was a genuine scientific genius — a lineage of scientific appreciation Trump appeared to invoke in honouring Musk.

This comes amid a period of deepening alignment between the Trump administration and Musk, whose companies — spanning commercial space launches, electric vehicles, satellite internet, and AI — are now major partners of or contractors for the US federal government. 'Elon is our modern-day Thomas Edison,' Trump declared, in what observers noted was one of the most effusive presidential tributes to a private citizen in recent memory.

The White House has not indicated whether any additional honours or policy announcements tied to Musk's companies will follow the summit.