The New York Times on Thursday published an article in which it claimed Tesla owner Elon Musk was scheduled to meet with the Pentagon to be briefed on a top-secret U.S. war plan for a potential conflict with China.
President Donald Trump denied the report and lashed out at The Times for spreading misinformation.
Four officials reportedly told The New York Times about the meeting, which was scheduled to be held in the Tank, a secure room typically reserved for high-level military briefings. It would have included senior officials such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top military leaders.
The Wall Street Journal had published a similar report, suggesting that Musk would receive a war briefing. The idea is that this would have raised concerns because of Musk’s extensive business ties with China.
Defense expert Todd Harrison told The Times that “Giving the CEO of one defense company unique access seems like this could be grounds for a contract protest and is a real conflict of interest.”
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell gave The Times a short statement: “The Defense Department is excited to welcome Elon Musk to the Pentagon on Friday. He was invited by Secretary Hegseth and is just visiting.”
Yet, in a post on X published after the NYT article was published, he referred to the report as “100% Fake News.”
This is 100% Fake News. Just brazenly & maliciously wrong.
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellATSD) March 21, 2025
Elon Musk is a patriot.
We are proud to have him at the Pentagon. pic.twitter.com/LiyXrl8gCi
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Musk himself fired back on X, calling The New York Times “pure propaganda” and saying he looks forward to “the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT.”
The New York Times is pure propaganda.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2025
Also, I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT.
They will be found. pic.twitter.com/xANvLMOH5j
President Trump entered the fray on Thursday evening, squashing speculation about Musk’s Pentagon visit in a post on Truth Social in which he referred to the NYT as “one of the worse and most purposely inaccurate newspapers anywhere in the World.
In typical Trumpian fashion, the president then lashed out at other media outlets and journalists.
Their FAKE concept for this story is that because Elon does some business in China, that he is very conflicted and would immediately go to top Chinese officials and “spill the beans.” RATINGS CHALLENGED FAKE NEWS CNN immediately picked up on this absolutely ridiculous and false story, which is probably libelous, and went heavy with it. Fortunately, nobody was watching! Maggot Hagerman, the really dumb “scammer” who constantly writes about me for the Times, using anonymous, made up (nonexistent!) sources, and who I haven’t spoken to in ages, is a big part of the Scam. She lead the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, only to realize that she was duped and got it wrong. She owes me a totally discredited Pulitzer Prize for her bad reporting. The Fake News is the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE…And Elon is NOT BEING BRIEFED ON ANYTHING CHINA BY THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR!!!
Musk has “taken a growing interest in U.S. national security policy,” according to The Wall Street Journal. However, this does not necessarily mean he would be privy to classified briefings on potential war plans with China. It appears the NYT might have gotten out over their skis once again.
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