Elon Musk, the billionaire oligarch and defense contractor, had a meeting with top officials at the Pentagon on Friday. And while two major newspapers reported late Thursday that Musk would be given a briefing on closely guarded secrets about any potential war with China, it sounds like that part didn’t happen after all. But Musk thinks anyone who leaked that information should be tossed in prison.
The New York Times was the first to report Thursday that Musk would be receiving a briefing that included 20-30 slides on what a war with China might look like. These types of operational plans are drawn up by the Pentagon to simply be prepared and this doesn’t mean a shooting war is imminent. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the Times reporting a few hours later. Both newspapers have updated their stories, erasing the original versions, but the old wording of those articles can be found on archive websites.
News of the meeting raised a lot of eyebrows Thursday night, given the fact that Musk has extensive ties to China. The Tesla CEO owns an enormous car factory in Shanghai and has been praised by China for his stance on Taiwan. Musk’s views on the matter align with the Chinese government, which believes Taiwan should not be independent. Musk has also been featured in propaganda videos released by Chinese state media celebrating the workers at his factory.
The other reason Musk’s briefing on war plans with China would be odd is that he’s a defense contractor. SpaceX does an incredible amount of business with agencies like the National Reconnaissance Office and the Air Force. Getting information about what a war with China might look like would put his companies at a tremendous competitive advantage. Musk’s entire empire is built on government money, (at least $38 billion, in fact) which is precisely why it’s so galling that he’s currently allowed to roam around every federal agency like he owns them. In some way, he does.
Musk donated at least a quarter billion dollars to President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, which has paid off handsomely. The billionaire has been given unprecedented access to the government and now runs a group called DOGE that is trying to slash $2 trillion from the federal budget without any kind of congressional oversight. Musk’s goons have shuttered USAID and slashed scientific research grants to the bone, with much more illegal cuts promised on the horizon.
DVIDS, the U.S. military’s media distribution service, posted photos immediately after Musk’s meeting at the Pentagon referring to the oligarch as a “visitor” rather than using a more accurate term like “infiltrator.”
In the end, it sounds like Musk didn’t get briefed on top-secret war plans with China, as the Wall Street Journal reported that the briefing only involved “unclassified” matters. China was still discussed in some capacity.
For his part, Trump denied Musk would get a briefing on the war plans Thursday night, writing on Truth Social in his typically over-the-top fashion that it was “fake news” and insisting that “China will not even be mentioned or discussed.” Trump continued his rant Friday morning, writing that the New York Times was a “purposely inaccurate” newspaper.
“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,’” Trump wrote. “RATINGS CHALLENGED FAKE NEWS CNN immediately picked up on this absolutely ridiculous and false story, which is probably libelous, and went heavy with it.”
It’s not libelous to report that a billionaire oligarch has a massive conflict of interest here. But Trump just says things, as we all know by now.
Musk himself chimed in about the controversy on X, the social media platform he purchased in late 2022 when it was known as Twitter, and suggested anyone who leaked information about his meeting should be thrown in jail.
“The New York Times is pure propaganda. Also, I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will be found,” Musk tweeted ominously.
That line “they will be found,” is the kind of threat that would sound empty if it was coming from any other private citizen. But Musk is no longer simply a private citizen. He’s become a kind of co-president with Trump, making decisions that will be felt across government for generations to come. And there is virtually nothing to stop him, given the fact that the courts move too slowly and Congress has decided to cede most of its power to Musk. Technically, a guy like Musk has no legal authority to close entire agencies. But laws are fake unless they’re enforced by people with guns. And guys like Trump and Musk have all the guns now.
“It’s always a great meeting,” Musk said as he left the Pentagon, according to the Journal. “I’ve been here before, you know.”
The newspaper reports Musk was asked a question as he and Pete Hegseth were leaving about what the men discussed. Musk’s reply: “Why should I tell you?”
