The News
Elon Musk met with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and senior military officials at the Pentagon Friday, following reports that they were set to brief the billionaire White House adviser on top secret US plans for a potential military conflict with China.
The potential discussions — reported by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal — amplified concerns about Musk’s conflicts of interest: He is leading efforts to slash government spending, but his SpaceX business holds US defense contracts, while China is a key manufacturing hub and market for Tesla.
However, Hegseth and US President Donald Trump denied those reports, and a Pentagon spokesperson called them ”100% Fake News.”
Hegseth said Musk was there to talk about “efficiencies” and “innovations,” and their meeting took place in the secretary’s office rather than in a secure conference room typically used for confidential briefings. “It was a great, informal conversation... There was no war plans, there was no Chinese war plans. There was no secret plans,” Hegseth said.
Neither he or Musk answered reporters’ questions about whether the subject of the meeting was classified or unclassified.
Trump told reporters Friday that he didn’t want anyone seeing potential war plans with China, and said Musk “was not there for China.”