President Donald Trump and multiple administration officials have denied reports that Tesla CEO and Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk received a Friday briefing on the Pentagon’s potential war plans with China.
Asked about Musk’s meeting on Friday at the Pentagon, Trump told reporters, “He’s there for DOGE, not there for China, and if you ever mentioned China, I think he’d walk out of the room.”
The New York Times reported on Thursday that Musk was planning on visiting the Pentagon on Friday for a meeting with administration officials. The outlet cited two U.S. officials who claimed that the meeting would involve a briefing regarding the U.S. military’s potential plans for war against China in the event of a future conflict.
Three defense officials told NBC News on Friday that Musk was scheduled to receive a briefing at the Pentagon and that China would be one of the topics discussed; however, the officials did not confirm whether the meeting would address potential war plans. Additionally, two of the defense officials told the outlet that the briefing was expected to be unclassified.
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Addressing reports of Musk’s meeting at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said The New York Times article was a ‘fake story” meant to “sort of undermine whatever relationship the Pentagon has with Elon Musk.”
“We welcomed him today to the Pentagon to talk about DOGE, to talk about efficiencies, to talk about innovations,” Hegseth added. “It was a great, informal conversation. The rest of that reporting was fake. There was no war plans, there was no Chinese war plans. There was no secret plans.”
In a Thursday post on Truth Social, Trump slammed The New York Times for publishing another “Fake News” story.
“They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China,’” Trump stated. “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!!!”
In a Thursday post on X, formerly Twitter, Hegseth confirmed that the Pentagon would be “welcoming” Musk on Friday; however, the secretary of defense said Friday’s meeting was “NOT a meeting about ‘top secret China war plans” but was an “informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production.”
Additionally, Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, confirmed in a post on X that The New York Times story was “100% Fake News” and was “Just brazenly & maliciously wrong.”