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'No China war plans': Pentagon slams ‘false’ NYT report after unprecedented meet with Elon Musk
The meeting marked Elon Musk’s first official talks with US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, amid speculation surrounding his business dealings with the Pentagon
Donald Trump's ‘First Buddy’ and billionaire Elon Musk held an unprecedented top-level meeting at the Pentagon on Friday, amping up his campaign to overhaul US government spending as the head' of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The meeting, which lasted 80 minutes, marked Elon Musk’s first official talks with US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, amid speculation surrounding his business dealings with the Pentagon.
Elon Musk slams NYT report
Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, whose companies hold numerous Defense Department contracts, took to social media before the meeting to denounce a New York Times report suggesting he would be briefed on classified war plans regarding China.
Elon Musk called the story “pure propaganda” and vowed to take legal action against those responsible for leaking what he described as "maliciously false information." “I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will be found,” Elon Musk wrote on X.
An NYT report claimed that Elon Musk will be briefed by Pentagon on US's plan for a potential war with China.
‘No Chinese war plans’
While Elon Musk’s meeting with Pete Hegseth focused on innovation and military, there were no discussions of ‘classified war plans’, according to the US defence secretary.
“There was no war plans, no Chinese war plans. There was no secret plans,” Reuters quoted Hegseth as saying, standing next to Trump.
However, amid NYT report's claims, a planned session of Elon Musk with the joint chiefs of staff in the Pentagon’s highly secure "The Tank" meeting room was reportedly cancelled.
The claims in the report has raised fresh concerns over Elon Musk's potential conflicts of interest, particularly given his extensive business operations in China through companies like Tesla and SpaceX.
US President Donald Trump, while standing alongside Hegseth, hinted at these concerns, stating that Elon Musk’s ties to China could present a security risk if sensitive military information were shared with him.
At the White House after the meeting, Trump said he did not want to show the United States' plans for a potential war with China to anybody and hinted at Musk's potential conflict of interest.
"I don't want to show that to anybody. But certainly you wouldn't show it to a businessman, who is helping us so much," Reuters quoted Donald Trump said. "Elon has businesses in China, and he would be susceptible, perhaps, to that," Trump said.
Democrats seek access to info shared with Musk
Meanwhile, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth have called for transparency regarding what information was shared with Musk, stressing there is no national security justification for providing him with such details.
Musk’s influence in Washington is growing, but so are the questions about his role in federal spending decisions, particularly as his companies, especially SpaceX, stand to gain financially from Pentagon contracts. Trump’s proposed Golden Dome missile defense system could be a major boon for SpaceX and its Starlink satellite unit.
Despite the controversies, Elon Musk remained upbeat after his meeting with Hegseth, saying, “If there’s anything I can do to be helpful, I would like us to have a good outcome here.”
