Elon Musk to visit the Pentagon on Friday
Rebecca Falconer
Elon Musk will visit the Pentagon on Friday, President Trump and senior administration members confirmed while strongly denying reports that he'll be briefed on a plan for a potential war with China.
Why it matters: Some lawmakers and ethics experts have raised conflicts of interest concerns about Musk's role as senior adviser to the president while his companies hold substantial government contracts — in particular SpaceX, which has deals with the Pentagon and NASA.
The Wall Street Journal in reporting that a China war plan "will be one of several topics" discussed during the billionaire's visit said the meeting could give Musk "as the head of Tesla, which relies on China for car production," and SpaceX "access to sensitive military secrets unavailable to business competitors."
Driving the news: The New York Times first reported Thursday that unnamed U.S. officials said Musk would be briefed on a military blueprint "for any war that might break out with China" — prompting the Pentagon's chief spokesperson Sean Parnell on X to call the report "brazenly & maliciously wrong."
Parnell called Musk, the face of DOGE-driven federal cuts that have triggered protests and seen Tesla vehicles and dealerships targeted in attacks the FBI is investigating as domestic terrorism, "a patriot" and said he's "proud to have him at the Pentagon."
Trump weighed in on Truth Social late Thursday to call the NYT's report on war plans "Fake News" and "ridiculous," adding: "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!!!"
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X Thursday night he looked forward to welcoming Musk to the Pentagon for "an informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production" and said it would not be "a meeting about 'top secret China war plans.'"
Representatives for the White House, Pentagon, SpaceX, Tesla and the New York Times did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment in the evening.
https://www.axios.com/2025/03/21/musk-pentagon-visit-china-trump-hegseth
