US President, Donald Trump pushed back on reports that Billionaire Tesla owner, Elon Musk was being briefed on US military plans for a potential war with China while at the Pentagon on Friday, saying he wouldn’t want to show such plans “to anybody.”
“I don’t want to show it to anybody. You know you’re talking about a potential war with China,” Trump said in remarks from the Oval Office.
“We don’t want to have a potential war with China, but I can tell you, if we did, we’re very well equipped to handle it.”
Trump’s comments came amid questions over why Musk was at the Pentagon on Friday morning, March 21, where he met with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for over an hour.
The New York Times in a report Trump blasted as “fake” reported Thursday that Musk was receiving a briefing on the US military’s plan for potential conflict with China. Pentagon officials resoundingly dismissed the report.
Trump acknowledged that Musk also has his own business interests in China, which could pose a conflict of interest if he was briefed on a potential war plan with the nation.
“I don’t want to show that to anybody – but certainly, you wouldn’t show it to a businessman who is helping us so much,” the president said. “You know, Elon has businesses in China, and he would be susceptible, perhaps, to that – but it was such a fake story.”
Musk who is serving as a special government employee under Trump reportedly has a top-secret security clearance.
Hegseth has said the Defense Department would be working with Musk’s DOGE to find fraud and waste within the department.
Musk maintains lucrative contracts with the Defense Department. In October 2024, the US Space Force awarded $733 million in launch contracts to Musk’s SpaceX.
