Trump awards national medals to Musk, Brin, Huang, Su, Nadella and Dell
In short
US President Donald Trump presented national medals for achievements in science and technology to six heads of major US technology companies at a ceremony in Washington on 8 October 2026. Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, Jensen Huang and Lisa Su received the National Medal of Science, while Satya Nadella and Michael Dell received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Trump called Musk "the Thomas Edison of our time".
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US President Donald Trump presented national medals for achievements in science and technology to six heads of major American technology companies, Russian outlets reported. The ceremony took place on 8 October 2026 in Washington at the US Institute of Peace, as part of the Science: A New Golden Age summit, according to iXBT. Vedomosti said the White House reported the venue. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 ]
The National Medal of Science went to SpaceX and Tesla head Elon Musk, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia head Jensen Huang and AMD head Lisa Su. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. RBC, citing AFP, called the science medal the country's highest scientific award. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
"Elon is the modern-day Thomas Edison. Elon, I want to congratulate you. You are my friend. But you are also a special guy," Trump said, according to Kommersant. He described Brin as a visionary who gave "all people access to all of humanity's knowledge". iXBT reported that the presenter cited Musk for engineering achievements "of extraordinary ambition and scale" that expanded the frontiers of space exploration, intelligent systems and communications. Brin was recognised for work on search and information processing, Huang for graphics processors and parallel computing, and Su for semiconductor design and high-performance computing, iXBT said. [ 2 , 3 , 6 ]
"We live in an era of American technological wonders, and with the help of the men and women present here today we will always be on top," Trump said, according to 3DNews. White House spokesperson Liz Huston said the recipients "help achieve America's leadership in the world of innovation". Michael Kratsios, who heads the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, also spoke at the ceremony. [ 5 ]
Vedomosti reported that Trump several times mentioned his uncle John Trump (1907-1985), a physicist and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who received the National Medal of Science in 1983, and that his medal was ceremonially presented to the president. [ 3 ]
3DNews wrote that a day earlier US authorities had announced a suspension of residence permits for employees of Microsoft and some other companies who come to work in the United States from abroad, which prompted some guests at the ceremony to stress the importance of immigration for America's scientific potential. The National Medal of Science was established by Congress in 1959 and first awarded in 1963, while the technology medal was first awarded in 1985, iXBT reported. [ 5 , 6 ]
Why it matters
Russian business, tech and official outlets covered the awards, which RBC, citing AFP, described as the highest scientific award in the United States. 3DNews noted that the ceremony came a day after US authorities announced a suspension of residence permits for foreign employees of Microsoft and some other companies, prompting some guests to stress the importance of immigration for American science.
Key facts
- Trump presented state awards for achievements in science and technology to six heads of major US technology companies. [ 2 , 3 , 5 ]
- Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, Jensen Huang and Lisa Su received the National Medal of Science. [ 3 , 5 , 6 ]
- Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Michael Dell of Dell Technologies received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. [ 3 , 5 , 6 ]
- The ceremony took place on 8 October 2026 at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, as part of the Science: A New Golden Age summit. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 ]
- Trump called Musk a modern-day Thomas Edison. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Trump described Google co-founder Sergey Brin as a visionary who gave people access to humanity's knowledge. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The National Medal of Science was established by Congress in 1959 and first awarded in 1963; the National Medal of Technology and Innovation was first awarded in 1985. [ 6 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Trump awarded Musk for scientific achievements and called him a modern-day Thomas Edison. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Musk, Brin, Huang and Su received the National Medal of Science, and Nadella and Dell received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. [ 3 , 5 , 6 ]
- The ceremony was held at the US Institute of Peace in Washington. [ 3 , 5 , 6 ]
- The event was the Science: A New Golden Age summit. [ 2 , 6 ]
Still unclear
- US authorities announced a suspension of residence permits for foreign employees of Microsoft and some other companies the day before the ceremony. Reported only by 3DNews, without further detail.
- Whether the National Medal of Science is the highest US scientific award or one of the highest. RBC, citing AFP, calls it the highest scientific award, while iXBT calls it one of the country's highest state awards.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- 8 October: TASS reports that Trump awarded Musk and called him the Thomas Edison of our time. [ 1 ]
- 8 October: Kommersant reports the awards to six technology company heads. [ 2 ]
- 9 October: Vedomosti reports the ceremony at the Institute of Peace in Washington, citing the White House. [ 3 ]
- 9 October: RBC, citing AFP, reports that Musk received the National Medal of Science. [ 4 ]
- 9 October: 3DNews reports the awards and the residence permit suspension for foreign employees. [ 5 ]
- 9 October: iXBT reports the citations for each laureate. [ 6 ]