Elon Musk joined President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump for a meal at Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 3, he said on social media.

“Had a lovely dinner last night with @POTUS and @FLOTUS,” Musk said in his Jan. 4 post. “2026 is going to be amazing!”

Hours before their dinner, Trump in a press conference addressed the surprising development that U.S. troops had captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife after months of escalating U.S. pressure on the South American country.

“Elon’s great,” Trump said when asked on Air Force One if Musk was “back in the fold” as the president flew back to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 4. “I say about Elon, he’s 80% super genius and 20% he makes mistakes. But he’s a good guy.”

The ‘Big Beautiful’ Beef: Timeline of Elon Musk-Donald Trump dispute

Musk and Trump dinner comes months after dramatic falling-out

This time last year, Musk was on his way to Washington with Trump to oversee the newly created, government-slashing Department of Government Efficiency. He was soon a fixture in Trump’s White House, sometimes staying there overnight.

But by mid-July, he had left DOGE and gone on a public campaign against the Trump-backed legislation that has become known as the “Big Beautiful Bill.”

The two men barbed publicly in the process. Musk posted on social media that Trump wouldn’t have won the 2024 election if not for Musk’s campaign contributions and teased launching a new political party. Trump threatened to end government contracts with Musk’s companies. In a since-deleted post, Musk said Trump wouldn’t release the files on Jeffrey Epstein because Trump was in them.

But Musk conceded some of his posts “went too far.”

Their friendship, however, appears to be on the mend.

“He had a bad spell. He had a bad period. He had a bad moment,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Oct. 27. “It was a stupid moment in his life. Very stupid. I’m sure he’d tell you that. But I like Elon, and I suspect I’ll always like him.”

On Nov. 18, Musk also attended a White House dinner for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.

Contributing: Joey Garrison, Erin Mansfield, USA TODAY

Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X (Twitter), Bluesky and TikTok.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Melania dined together months after feud