United States President Donald Trump thrashed media report claiming tech billionaire Elon Musk will be briefed on Friday by the Pentagon on the US military’s plan for any war that might break out with China. Trump called it “Fake News” and noted that “China will not even be mentioned or discussed”.
The New York Times, citing US officials, reported on Thursday that Musk, who is Trump’s close ally, is due to be briefed by the Pentagon on the US military’s plan.
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‘China will not even be mentioned’
In response, Trump took to his Truth Social account and posted, “The Fake News is at it again, this time the Failing New York Times. They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential “war with China”. How ridiculous?”
He added, “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!!!”
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The Pentagon confirmed that Musk will be visiting on Friday, which means a meeting is scheduled to happen, but details were not revealed.
“The Defense Department is excited to welcome Elon Musk to the Pentagon on Friday. He was invited by Secretary (Pete) Hegseth and is just visiting,” a Pentagon spokesperson said.
The report raised many eyebrows as Musk getting access to the top secret military plan would be a sharp expansion of his role as a Trump adviser, presently spearheaded efforts to cut US government spending.
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Furthermore, it would also raise concerns over conflicts of interest for Musk, who as the head of both Tesla and SpaceX has business interests in China and with the Pentagon.
The NYT report even mentioned that the briefing for the China war plan has about 20 to 30 slides that lay out how the United States would fight such a conflict.
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Meanwhile, after the report was published, chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, in a statement said, “The Defense Department is excited to welcome Elon Musk to the Pentagon on Friday. He was invited by Secretary Hegseth and is just visiting.”
In a separate post on X, Parnell posted a message, “This is 100% Fake News. Just brazenly & maliciously wrong. Elon Musk is a patriot. We are proud to have him at the Pentagon.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also commented on X late in a late post, saying: “This is NOT a meeting about ‘top secret China war’ plans. It’s an informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production. Gonna be great!”
(With inputs from agencies)