President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk may be on good terms again, but that doesn’t mean Trump actually remembers Musk’s name. During a recent speech, Trump accidentally called the former DOGE head “Leon,” once again sparking concerns about cognitive decline. While some people were quick to see the blunder as another sign of dementia, others suspected it had more to do with egocentrism.
After all, it’s not the first time Trump has called Musk by the wrong name.
The recent slip-up happened on June 19.
Trump calls Elon Musk "Leon" pic.twitter.com/O9Xm6nfe3t
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 19, 2026
Trump was speaking about the new Air Force One aircraft gifted by Qatar. During a speech at Joint Base Andrews, Trump touted some of the aircraft’s features, including Starlink integration. Starlink is an internet service operated by Musk’s SpaceX.
Trump commented on how his friend “Leon” would love this feature, before realizing that his friend’s name is actually Elon.
“We have communication equipment up there that’s nobody’s ever seen before,” Trump said during the speech. “It’s the highest level, including Starlink, my friend Leon…”
He then stopped himself and continued with, “My friend Elon is gonna be very happy.”
People found this amusing and concerning at the same time.
This Leon? pic.twitter.com/Nd0sIcgyFF
— Mason (@masonisonx) June 20, 2026
Because, on one hand, people saw it as another possible sign that Trump is aging. But on the other hand, they found it kind of funny that Trump couldn’t manage to remember Musk’s real name in spite of everything he’s done for him. Journalist Aaron Rupar shared a short clip of the mistake on X, and some commenters asserted that Trump appears to have dementia and/or must have missed his naps that day. Maybe he’s struggling to remember things, or maybe he just doesn’t care all that much.
“Grandpa is old,” one person wrote on X. “He doesn’t care.” Someone else wrote, “Give a guy (millions) of dollars and win him an election, but he still doesn’t remember your name.”
And some people actually kind of liked Musk’s new name. “😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂He’s Leon from now on,” another commenter concluded.
A few people referenced the feud between Musk and Trump.
It’s been about a year since the two men had their very public falling out. Interestingly, after all that drama, the two men seem buddy-buddy again, and Musk was among the several executives who accompanied Trump on his trip to China. Trump even referred to Musk as his “friend” during the recent speech. But people haven’t forgotten. One critic in the comments shared a screenshot of one of Musk’s X posts from June 2025, at the height of their feud.
At the time, Musk accused Trump of being in the Epstein files and trying to cover it up. “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” Musk wrote. “That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
The critic captioned the screenshot with, “This Leon?”
This actually isn’t the first time Trump called Musk “Leon.”
When the recent clip started circulating on social media, some people assumed it was old news — because it happened before. But nope, the clip is definitely a recent one. Trump has really forgotten Musk’s name more than once. At a rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin in 2024, Trump mentioned Musk during a speech but called him Leon instead of Elon. “Boeing’s been having a hard time…” he said at the time. “Leon’s going to send up a rocket.”
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