lon Musk threatened Pentagon staff who leaked what he called “false information” to the New York Times over a story saying he will receive a briefing about highly sensitive American military plans for any potential war with China.
A Pentagon spokesman told the publication that Musk would be at the Department of Defense on Friday at the invitation of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth “and is just visiting.”
But The Wall Street Journal also later reported that Musk would receive a “top secret” briefing on American tactics and planning for war with China, among other issues to be discussed. The Journal, like the NYT, cited anonymous U.S. officials.
“The New York Times is pure propaganda,” Musk posted on his X platform in the early hours of Friday morning. “Also, I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will be found.”
Why It Matters
Musk is a close political ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and is spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose access to and power over various federal departments is facing multiple legal challenges in the courts.
The billionaire CEO of electric automaker Tesla and space tech company SpaceX also has business interests in China. And SpaceX has billions of dollars’ worth of federal contracts with the U.S. government to develop military technology, including satellites.
What To Know
Trump rejected the Times report about the briefing reportedly slated for Friday.
“The Fake News is at it again, this time the Failing New York Times,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“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!!!”
Hegseth confirmed that Musk would be visiting the Pentagon on Friday, and criticized the reporting about the nature of the visit.
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The defense secretary wrote on X that “this is NOT a meeting about ‘top secret China war plans.’ It’s an informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production. Gonna be great!”
The U.S. military has long been planning for a potential war with China. The biggest flashpoint is Taiwan, and there are also tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims most of as its own.
It is possible that the U.S. would intervene to defend Taiwan if China were to invade, though it operates a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the question.
China sees self-governing Taiwan, a democracy, as part of its own territory, and observers believe Beijing will one day try to take over the island militarily if it cannot do so politically.
Musk’s interests straddle both sides. On the one hand, his commercial interests in China would suffer greatly if war were to break out. On the other, his SpaceX company would be very well positioned to benefit from Pentagon spending on defense.
What People Are Saying
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell shared a screenshot of the Times story on X and said: “This is 100% Fake News. Just brazenly & maliciously wrong. Elon Musk is a patriot. We are proud to have him at the Pentagon.”
Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focused on defense strategy, told the Times: “Musk at a war-planning briefing? Giving the CEO of one defense company unique access seems like this could be grounds for a contract protest and is a real conflict of interest.”
What’s Next
Musk is due to visit the Pentagon on Friday but the purpose of his visit remains unclear and is being scrutinized.
As Musk said, the Trump Administration will likely try to find the sources of the leaks to the American media.