Elon Musk Friday held talks with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon but President Trump denied reports the world’s richest man was there to get a briefing on top-secret U.S. plans for a potential war with China.
The SpaceX and Tesla mogul came to the Department of Defense headquarters in suburban northern Virginia for what Hegseth insisted was “an informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production.”
“It’s always a great meeting,” Musk said with Hegseth by his side, as he left the meeting. “If there’s anything i can do to be helpful I’d like to (assist).”
Asked what was discussed at the morning meeting, Musk declined to elaborate.
“Why would I tell you?” Musk told reporters before leaving.
Trump trashed as “a made-up story” the New York Times report claiming that Musk was set to get a peek at a presentation on potential American response to Chinese aggression against Taiwan or other conflict.
The president said Musk should not be given access to information about China because of his extensive business ties to Beijing that could amount to a conflict of interest.
“I don’t want to show it to anyone, I don’t want anyone seeing potential war with China,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “You certainly wouldn’t show that to a businessman. Elon has businesses in China and he would perhaps be susceptible to that.”
Hegseth chimed in that Musk wasn’t given any top-secret briefing.
“We welcomed him to the Pentagon to talk about efficiency, to talk about innovation,” Hegseth said. “There was no China war plan. There were no secret plans.”
The Times report quoted two unnamed sources who said Musk would be shown American plans for a possible war with China, which would amount to one of the nation’s most closely guarded secrets.
Such a briefing would be a huge boon for Musk because it could give his companies an incalculable advantage over rivals seeking defense contracts.
It could also be a huge security risk for the U.S. given Musk’s extensive business interests in China and his record of pro-Beijing statements.
Musk has publicly supported China’s policy of reunification with Taiwan and has been hailed by Chinese Communist Party leaders for backing its “One Country, Two Systems” plan to gobble up the Western-allied island, which it considers a breakaway province.
Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency are playing a key role in the Trump administration’s push to dramatically reduce the size of the government, although it’s unclear if those cuts would include any of the lucrative contracts his own sprawling companies have with Uncle Sam.
Musk has faced intense blowback from some lawmakers and voters for his chainsaw-wielding approach to laying off workers and slashing programs, although Trump and some of his supporters have hailed the cuts.
The meetings came as the Trump administration stepped up its defense of Musk and Tesla, which has suffered a string of vandalism on vehicles at dealerships as Musk has played an increasingly prominent role in the government.
Attorney General Pam Bondi decried the attacks as “domestic terrorism” and announced three arrests of alleged attackers on Teslas.
The company is under pressure from investors who say Musk’s right-wing politics and polarizing personality are tanking sales. Tesla’s stock price soared after Trump’s election win but has plunged recently and is now trading lower than it was on Nov. 5 when Trump won.
Prominent hedge fund investor Ross Gerber has called on Musk to step down as Tesla CEO if he plans to continue spending most of his time working with Trump on government matters.
