Elon Musk Friday held talks with Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth on the Pentagon however President Trump denied studies the world’s richest man was there to get a briefing on top-secret U.S. plans for a possible battle with China.
The SpaceX and Tesla mogul got here to the Division of Protection headquarters in suburban northern Virginia for what Hegseth insisted was “an informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production.”
“It’s always a great meeting,” Musk stated with Hegseth by his aspect, as he left the assembly. “If there’s anything i can do to be helpful I’d like to (assist).”
Requested what was mentioned on the morning assembly, Musk declined to elaborate.
“Why would I tell you?” Musk advised reporters earlier than leaving.
Trump trashed as “a made-up story” the New York Occasions report claiming that Musk was set to get a peek at a presentation on potential American response to Chinese language aggression towards Taiwan or different battle.
The president stated Musk shouldn’t be given entry to details about China due to his in depth enterprise ties to Beijing that might quantity to a battle of curiosity.
“I don’t want to show it to anyone, I don’t want anyone seeing potential war with China,” Trump stated within the Oval Workplace. “You certainly wouldn’t show that to a businessman. Elon has businesses in China and he would perhaps be susceptible to that.”
Hegseth chimed in that Musk wasn’t given any top-secret briefing.
“We welcomed him to the Pentagon to talk about efficiency, to talk about innovation,” Hegseth stated. “There was no China war plan. There were no secret plans.”
The Occasions report quoted two unnamed sources who stated Musk could be proven American plans for a potential battle with China, which might quantity to one of many nation’s most carefully guarded secrets and techniques.
Such a briefing could be an enormous boon for Musk as a result of it may give his corporations an incalculable benefit over rivals looking for protection contracts.
It may be an enormous safety threat for the U.S. given Musk’s in depth enterprise pursuits in China and his document of pro-Beijing statements.
Musk has publicly supported China’s coverage of reunification with Taiwan and has been hailed by Chinese language Communist Social gathering leaders for backing its “One Country, Two Systems” plan to gobble up the Western-allied island, which it considers a breakaway province.
Musk and his Division of Authorities Effectivity are enjoying a key position within the Trump administration’s push to dramatically scale back the dimensions of the federal government, though it’s unclear if these cuts would come with any of the profitable contracts his personal sprawling corporations have with Uncle Sam.
Musk has confronted intense blowback from some lawmakers and voters for his chainsaw-wielding strategy to shedding employees and slashing packages, though Trump and a few of his supporters have hailed the cuts.
The conferences got here because the Trump administration stepped up its protection of Musk and Tesla, which has suffered a string of vandalism on automobiles at dealerships as Musk has performed an more and more outstanding position within the authorities.
Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi decried the assaults as “domestic terrorism” and introduced three arrests of alleged attackers on Teslas.
The corporate is underneath strain from traders who say Musk’s right-wing politics and polarizing character are tanking gross sales. Tesla’s inventory value soared after Trump’s election win however has plunged not too long ago and is now buying and selling decrease than it was on Nov. 5 when Trump received.
Outstanding hedge fund investor Ross Gerber has known as on Musk to step down as Tesla CEO if he plans to proceed spending most of his time working with Trump on authorities issues.
