Following his explosive online feud with President Donald Trump in June, Elon Musk returned to the White House this week for a dinner with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The dinner, held on the evening of Nov. 18, marked the first time the SpaceX founder had visited Washington since stepping down from Trump’s administration in May as the head of the DOGE department.
Venture capitalist David Sacks, who chairs the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, shared a photo on X (formerly Twitter) that showed him posing with Musk, OpenAI’s president Greg Brockman, and Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang. “AI Diplomacy,” Sacks captioned his photo.
Upon seeing the photo, online netizens became fixated on an unexpected part of Musk’s outfit: His shoes.
The Tesla CEO donned gray canvas shoes with black laces, which stood out amongst the dress shoes worn by the other men. Notably, the size of his shoes — or at least the way his shoes appeared in the photo — caught people’s attention.
A closeup of Elon Musk shoes at Atreju political meeting organised by the young militants of Italian right wing party Brothers of Italy in December 2023. Musk similar shoes to a White House dinner in Nov. 2025 that drew criticism.(Photo credit Marco Ravagli/Future Publishing via Getty Images)Future Publishing via Getty ImagCountless posts on the platform began teasing Musk for his shoes, with the general consensus being that they looked too big for his feet.
“Hey @grok would you say Elon Musk’s shoes are the perfect size?” wrote one user, tagging the platform’s AI chatbot designed to access real-time information.
Others joshed with comments like, “Hello Elon Musk, where can you buy these astronaut shoes?” and, “Is Elon Musk wearing clown shoes?”
One commenter pointed out the casual nature of the shoes, saying, “Someone please tell Elon Musk those shoes don’t work with Black Tie.”
However, there were also supporters of his choice of footwear. “Elon Musk[’s] shoes look sporty and comfortable,” defended one person.
This is not the first time Musk has worn shoes like this. He was spotted wearing similar footwear during an appearance at ‘Atreju 2023,’ a conservative Political Festival In Rome. However, the size of his shoes were less noticeable without other shoes for comparison.
Elon Musk attending Atreju 2023 – Orgoglio Italiano – Day 3, the celebration of Fratelli d’Italia, in Rome, Italy, on December 16, 2023. (Photo by Domenico Cippitelli/NurPhoto via Getty Images)NurPhoto via Getty ImagesAccording to BuzzFeed, the shoes Musk wore to the White House dinner may have been Kizik sneakers.
On Nov. 19, Musk returned to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for the U.S. Saudi Investment Forum, where he donned regular black dress shoes.
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