Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency, is set to visit the Pentagon on Friday, Trump administration officials confirmed late on Thursday, while vehemently denying a New York Times report of the billionaire being briefed about the U.S. military’s plan in the event of a war with China.
Elon Musk leaves a meeting with House Republicans in the basement of the U.S. Capitol building in ... More
According to the New York Times, which first reported the planned visit citing unnamed U.S. officials, Musk will receive a “China focused” briefing at the Pentagon that will include, “the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China.”
The report noted that the Pentagon’s war plans—known as operational plans—against adversarial nations are among the military’s “most closely guarded secrets,” and Musk’s knowledge of the plan could raise questions about the billionaires' various conflicts of interest over his companies’ U.S. military contracts and business interests in China.
President Donald Trump firmly denied this in a post on his Truth Social platform saying “Fake News is at it again…They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China.’ How ridiculous?”
The president then added that “China will not even be mentioned or discussed,” as he accused the media of making up “such lies.”
In a post on X, the Pentagon's top spokesperson Sean Parnell also called the report “100% Fake News” and “brazenly & maliciously wrong,” before appearing to confirm Musk’s visit, saying: “We are proud to have him at the Pentagon.”
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Musk shared a screenshot of Trump’s Truth post on X and attacked the New York Times, saying the paper was “pure propaganda.” Musk then appeared to threaten legal consequences against the anonymous Pentagon officials who spoke to the Times and wrote “I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will be found.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Musk’s Pentagon visit in an X post, saying: “We look forward to welcoming Elon Musk to the Pentagon tomorrow.” He also criticized the Times’ report, saying “fake news delivers again — this is NOT a meeting about “top secret China war plans.” It’s an informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production.” It is unclear if Musk’s visit will focus on the billionaire’s controversial agenda with DOGE to dramatically slash federal government spending.
Pentagon Set Up Briefing for Musk on Potential War With China (New York Times)