Trump, Musk deny media report claiming Musk was briefed on China war plans

President Donald Trump on Thursday said a report by The New York Times claiming Elon Musk would be briefed on China war plans during a visit to the Pentagon was completely false. Trump said China would not even be mentioned. Musk did visit the Pentagon on Friday on an invitation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who also denied the NYT claims.

The original NYT report said Musk would be made privy to military secrets about the U.S. plan for a potential war with China. The story alleged Musk had a possible conflict of interest, since his SpaceX and Tesla businesses are Pentagon suppliers and also do plenty of business in China.

The New York Times sourced its information from several anonymous government officials. Musk on Friday said Pentagon employees leaking false information to the press would be prosecuted.

Why did Musk visit the Pentagon? Hegseth’s assistant, Sean Parnell, said the Department of Defense wanted to benefit from Musk’s creative problem solving. Hegseth said the conversation would focus on innovation and efficiency. Neither man disclosed the content of the meeting after it concluded Friday morning, despite shouted questions from reporters, according to CNN.

Have Musk and Hegseth previously cooperated on government initiatives? Hegseth in a Thursday memo announced that the Department of Defense was ending more than $580 million in contracts and programs deemed wasteful spending. The Department of Government Efficiency, advised by Musk, identified which initiatives to cut, according to a news release.