STORY: Musk met John Podesta, a Democratic stalwart who serves as Biden's senior adviser for clean energy innovation, and Mitch Landrieu, who oversees infrastructure spending, the White House said.

The billionaire and Biden have often been at odds over political and labor issues.

A Reuters witness on Friday saw Podesta, Landrieu and Musk entering a downtown building that houses both Tesla's Washington lobbying operation and the Center for American Progress, a think tank Podesta founded. Landrieu and Podesta left about half an hour later and did not answer questions.

Later, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the meeting took place and added that Musk did not meet with Biden personally.