By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-21 16:01:52 | Updated at 2025-03-21 21:41:08
6 hours ago
US President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed reports that Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, was set to receive a briefing at the Pentagon regarding the American military’s plans for a potential armed conflict with China.
Trump’s response on social media followed a New York Times story on Thursday citing anonymous sources that claimed Musk, who has significant business interests in China, was scheduled to meet on Friday with US Defence Department officials for a briefing “focused” on the country.
“China will not even be mentioned or discussed,” wrote Trump of Musk’s Pentagon meeting. “How disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies … the story is completely untrue”.
In a separate post, the US president said the news report was predicated on a “fake concept” that “because Elon does some business in China, he is very conflicted and would immediately go to top Chinese officials and ‘spill the beans’”.
Musk serves the Trump administration as a special government employee and has been tasked with overseeing an effort to cut waste in the federal bureaucracy.
