President Donald Trump was furious when he learned Elon Musk was getting a secret briefing at the Pentagon over war plans with China and personally cancelled it.
‘What the f*** is Elon doing there? Make sure he doesn’t go,’ Trump said, according to an official who relayed his words to Axios.
The president was angry Musk was getting the briefing given that the Space X founder has billions of dollars of business interests in China. And Trump vowed that Musk, in his role as head of DOGE, would not be involved in any areas where he has conflicts of interest.
‘POTUS still very much loves Elon, but there are some red lines,’ the official said. ‘Elon has a lot of business in China and he has good relations there, and this briefing just wasn’t the right thing.’
Elon Musk and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at their March 21 meeting at the Pentagon
The New York Times reported on March 20th that Musk would be getting briefed on the U.S. military’s plans should any war break out with China.
Shortly after the report was posted online, Trump and Pentagon officials denied the session would be about military plans involving China.
‘They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. ‘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!!!’
But he posted that message after he ordered officials not to talk to Musk about China.
Musk’s Tesla company operates its biggest factory, Gigafactory Shanghai, in China. It produced about half of all Tesla vehicles last year.
The Pentagon meeting still took place. Musk arrived via motorcade on March 21, where Hegseth greeted him at the door.
The two men – along with aides and military personnel – met for 80 minutes. China was not discussed but Musk wouldn’t give more details.
‘Why should I tell you,’ he told a reporter who asked him about the sit down.
Trump was still angry the day of the meeting, blasting the Times story as ‘fake news.’
At the White House after the Musk-Hegseth sit down, Trump said he didn’t want anyone to see the United States’ plans for a potential war with China and hinted at Musk’s potential conflict of interest.
‘We don’t want to have a potential war with China, but I can tell you if we did, we’re very well-equipped to handle it, but I don’t want to show that to anybody but certainly you wouldn’t show it to a businessman,’ Trump said. ‘Elon has businesses in China and he would be susceptible perhaps to that.’
Hegseth said he had an informal conversation with Musk that focused on innovation and efficiencies.
‘There was no war plans, no Chinese war plans. There was no secret plans,’ Hegseth said.
President Donald Trump personally cancelled Elon Musk’s briefing on China
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth welcomes Elon Musk to the Pentagon
Much of the administration’s ire was focused at the New York Times, which broke the story.
Musk warned people would pay for the leak.
‘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 his X platform.
The day after the New York Times story ran, Pentagon chief of staff Joe Kasper ordered an investigation into leaks, including the use of polygraphs.
Kasper said the probe would examine ‘recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information.’
‘The use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy,’ Kasper wrote in a memo. ‘This investigation will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defense.’
He added that ‘information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure’ would be referred for criminal prosecution.’
Then, on Tuesday, about a month after the probe was ordered, two Pentagon aides were placed on administrative leave for ‘an unauthorized disclosure’ of information.
Both Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Hegseth, and Darin Selnick, the Pentagon’s deputy chief of staff, were escorted out of the Pentagon by security.
Part of the reason was Musk’s Pentagon meeting.
The leaks under investigation included military operational plans for the Panama canal, a second carrier headed to the Red Sea, the pausing the collection of intelligence to Ukraine, and Musk’s sit down with Hegseth, an official told Politico.
Top Defense aides Dan Caldwell (left) and Darin Selnick (right) were escorted out of the Pentagon on Tuesday after allegedly being identified during the leak investigation
Although Caldwell is not as well known as other senior Pentagon officials, he has played a critical role as an adviser to Hegseth.
He was the staff member designated as Hegseth’s point person in the Signal messaging chat that top Trump administration national security officials, including Hegseth, used to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen.
The chat, set up by national security adviser Michael Waltz, included a number of Cabinet members and came to light because Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was added to the group.
He and Hegseth have a longtime friendship.
Caldwell´s ties to the secretary go back to Hegseth’s time as the head of Concerned Veterans for America, a nonprofit. Caldwell worked at CVA beginning in 2013 as policy director and later as executive director.
Caldwell was by Hegseth’s side on Capitol Hill as the former Fox News host fought to keep his nomination alive during questions about his treatment of women.
Selnick also performed the duties of the under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness. He served in the White House and the Department of Veterans Affairs in the first Trump administration.
And he also has ties to Concerned Veterans for America, where he served as a senior adviser.
