On Thursday night, the New York Times, the most important and influential newspaper in the United States, announced that on Friday Elon Musk would have a meeting at the Pentagon where, among other things, he would learn about the plans in case of a potential war against China.
PUBLICIDAD
Musk entered the government with an unofficial position to cut federal expenses through the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE (of which he also does not officially appear as the head), but his power has expanded, making him the second most powerful man below Donald Trump.
PUBLICIDAD
This has already caused friction with members of the cabinet, including one with the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the top diplomatic figure of the US government.
A meeting about China would not only exceed the powers that have been officially assigned to Musk, but it would also be a strong conflict given the South African entrepreneur’s business dealings with the Asian giant, including two Tesla factories in Shanghai.
What was the Trump administration’s reaction to Musk’s visit to the Pentagon?
Not only did the Times report on Musk’s meeting to learn about plans regarding China, but the Wall Street Journal did as well, a media outlet that is theoretically closer to conservatives.
Just revealed by two of the most important media outlets in the United States late Thursday night, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the meeting with Musk at the Pentagon was only to discuss “innovation, efficiencies, and smarter production.”
In his usual style of attacks and criticisms, Donald Trump denied the information on Friday morning through his network Truth Social.
The idea was reinforced in a conversation with reporters in the Oval Office of the White House where he said, “I don’t want to show it to anyone. They are talking about a possible war with China”, Trump told journalists in the Oval Office and added, “I don’t want anyone to see a possible war with China. But I can assure you that, if we were to see it, we are very well prepared to face it.”
Regarding Musk, the President of the United States commented that “Elon has businesses in China and maybe he is susceptible to that.”
What did Elon Musk say about his meeting at the Pentagon?
In his authoritarian style, Musk wrote on his social network X that he was looking forward to “those in the Pentagon who are leaking false and malicious information to the NYT being prosecuted...They will be found.”.
Musk, who through his companies has several contracts with the Department of Defense, arrived at the Pentagon at 9 am ET this Friday to meet with Hegseth, but according to the New York Times, the discussions about China were aborted after the publication.
Regarding their meeting, Hegseth said, “We welcomed him today at the Pentagon to talk about DOGE, efficiencies, and innovations”, declared the Secretary of Defense later at the White House alongside Trump, after announcing the production of a new generation fighter jet. “It was a friendly and informal conversation. The rest of the information was false. There were no war plans, nor Chinese war plans. There were no secret plans,” added the secretary.