President Donald Trump angrily denied reports that Elon Musk will be getting a Pentagon briefing on a plan for any war that might break out with China, calling it an ‘absolutely ridiculous and false story.’
Both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal cited two U.S. officials who said that Musk was getting a look at ‘top secret’ war plans if America and China came into conflict.
Trump took to his Truth Social account to attack some of the outlets that reported it and to slam New York Times’ reporter Maggie Haberman, who has covered Trump for years and won prizes for her reporting on him.
He said on Friday the ‘failing’ New York Times is ‘one of the worst and most purposely inaccurate newspapers anywhere in the World.’
Musk called the information ‘false’ and threated the sources behind the stories with ‘prosecution.’
‘The New York Times is pure propaganda. Also, I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will be found,’ he wrote on X.
Musk, the head of SpaceX, has several Pentagon contracts. He also serves as the head of DOGE, Trump’s initiative to slash the federal government. There has been concern he has unchecked power in the executive branch.
The exact nature of Musk’s visit to the Pentagon is unclear.
Musk will allegedly be briefed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and two other key officials on the details, which WSJ said included ‘maritime tactics and targeting plans.’
The briefing for the China war plan has about 20 to 30 slides that lay out how the United States would fight such a conflict, the Times reported.
The newspaper hypothesized that Musk – who has long had friendly relations with China – could need to know what the Pentagon was budgeting as his Department of Government Efficiency looks to trim government waste.
Elon Musk has been summoned to the Pentagon for a top secret military briefing, with rampant speculation over whether the ‘First Buddy’ was getting increased power and access
Donald Trump hit out at claims by the ‘fake news’ that Musk was being allowed a glimpse at plans for a hypothetical war with China but the exact nature of Musk’s visit is unknown
Trump called the reports ‘fake news.’
‘They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China.’ How ridiculous?’ China will not even be mentioned or discussed. How disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies. Anyway, the story is completely untrue!!!,’ he wrote on Truth Social Thursday evening.
Hegseth also denied it in a post to X, saying: ‘We look forward to welcoming @elonmusk to the Pentagon tomorrow. But the fake news delivers again — this is NOT a meeting about ‘top secret China war plans.’
The Pentagon head added that instead, they would be discussing ‘innovation, efficiencies & smarter production.’
They confirmed that Musk will be visiting on Friday but did not share further details.
‘The Defense Department is excited to welcome Elon Musk to the Pentagon on Friday. He was invited by Secretary (Pete) Hegseth and is just visiting,’ a Pentagon spokesperson said.
Trump and Hegseth are scheduled to deliver remarks from the Oval Office at 11am Friday.
Access to the closely guarded military plan would mark an sharp expansion of Musk’s role as a Trump adviser who has spearheaded efforts to cut U.S. government spending.
It would also fuel questions about conflicts of interest for Musk, who as the head of both Tesla and SpaceX has business interests in China and with the Pentagon.
The White House has previously said Musk will recuse himself if any conflicts of interest arise between his business dealings and his role in cutting federal government spending.
Trump led a chorus of administration voices in denying the ‘Fake News’ of ‘the failing New York Times’ report in a post to Truth Social
Hegseth also denied it in a post to X, saying: ‘We look forward to welcoming @elonmusk to the Pentagon tomorrow. But the fake news delivers again — this is NOT a meeting about ‘top secret China war plans’
Washington and Beijing have had tense relations for years over differences ranging from access to technology, trade tariffs and cybersecurity to TikTok, Taiwan, Hong Kong, human rights and the origins of COVID-19.
Musk, by contrast, often bent over backwards to make nice with China and its authoritarian regime as it is a huge and growing car market.
About 22.5 per cent of Tesla revenue comes from sales in China, which is tipped to soon be the biggest buyers of electric cars.
Musk routinely complies with Chinese Communist Party demands, including to make a change to Tesla cars in 2021.
He also shut down his factory for four days in 2022 during a Covid outbreak when he was told to, despite calling California health authorities ‘fascists’ for making the same order in 2020.
Tariffs on China are also not in Musk’s best interests and he railed against ones President Joe Biden put on in 2024.
‘Neither Tesla nor I asked for these tariffs. Things that inhibit freedom of exchange or distort the market are not good,’ he said at a tech conference in Paris.
‘Tesla competes quite well in the market in China with no tariffs and no deferential support. I’m in favor of no tariffs.’
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, left, shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang as he arrives for a meeting at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing in 2019
Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk poses with Tesla China-made Model 3 vehicle owners onstage during a delivery event at its Shanghai factory in China in 2020
Musk has faced intense blowback from some lawmakers and voters for his chainsaw-wielding approach to laying off workers and slashing programs, although Trump’s supporters have hailed it.
A senior defense official told reporters Tuesday that roughly 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs will be cut in the Defense Department .
Musk’s DOGE has already slashed staffing at several federal agencies, cut federal spending and in an unprecedented move emailed federal employees asking ‘what they got done last week’.
Trump and Musk have argued that the government is wasteful and bloated. DOGE claims it has saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has only publicly documented a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has been plagued by errors.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has led the charge to slash the federal workforce under the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) but its chief spokesperson appears to be completely off-message.
DOGE has faced intense scrutiny in recent weeks for its chaotic handling of layoffs, particularly its firing of key federal employees only to attempt to rehire them later.
Among those affected were workers responsible for maintaining nuclear weapons sites across the US, a move that has raised serious national security concerns and Musk and his allies are now face mounting pressure to reassess their approach.
Some terminations are part of the Education Department’s ‘final mission,’ alluding to Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools and provides federal funding for needy districts.
Musk speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory in Shanghai
Trump and Musk have argued that the government is wasteful and bloated. DOGE claims it has saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has only publicly documented a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has been plagued by errors
The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 workers, down from 4,133 when Trump took office in January.
Trump officially signed an executive order to heavily downsize the Department of Education Thursday.
Similar closures served as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the US Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans against unscrupulous lenders.
So far, DOGE has cut more than 100,000 jobs across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign aid and canceled thousands of programs and contracts, despite dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.
DOGE’s blunt approach has frustrated several White House officials and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have confronted angry constituents at town halls.
Trump told department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his first notable public move to restrain the Tesla CEO.
All US government agencies have been ordered to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, setting up the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign.
Several agencies have offered employees payments to retire early to fulfill Trump’s demand.
Affected Education Department employees will be placed on administrative leave starting on March 21, the department said.
Other agencies have offered lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who agree to leave their jobs.
Among these are the Office of Personnel Management, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, including its Food and Drug Administration.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the White House for comment.
