(AFP) – President Donald Trump on Friday denied reports that Elon Musk would see top secret US plans for a possible war with China, saying that his billionaire ally’s links with Beijing raised potential conflicts of interest.
The rare acknowledgment of Musk’s dueling roles in business and government came as Trump pushed back against media reports saying the SpaceX and Tesla owner would receive a Pentagon briefing on its China strategy. The reports fanned concern about the influence of the world’s richest man in the White House as an unelected, South African-born tycoon who has become Trump’s closest advisor.
Musk did visit the Pentagon on Friday, but Trump insisted he was “there for DOGE, not for China” — referring to Musk’s Department for Government Efficiency, which is expanding its cost-cutting drive to the defense department. “I don’t want to show it to anybody. You’re talking about a potential war with China,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the possibility of sharing the war plan with Musk. “Certainly you wouldn’t show it to a businessman… Elon has businesses in China and he would be susceptible perhaps to that.”
Musk’s automaker Tesla produces some of its electric vehicles at a huge so-called gigafactory in Shanghai and is trying to compete with fast-growing Chinese manufacturers. The entrepreneur has become a cult figure in China and has fostered ties with its leadership. He has also caused controversy by suggesting the self-ruled island of Taiwan should become part of China.
In the United States, Trump has repeatedly insisted that Musk has no conflicts of interest, even as Musk leads a harsh overhaul of US government agencies that in some cases his companies have dealings with. Musk’s SpaceX has US government defense contracts worth billions of dollars, including for launching rockets and for the use of the Starlink satellite service.
Trump has recently further blurred the line by promoting Tesla cars after attacks by vandals over Musk’s links to the White House. Trump suggested Friday that such vandals could be deported to prisons in El Salvador.
– ‘Enemy of the people’ – According to the New York Times, Musk had been set to receive a briefing Friday on US military plans in case of a war with China, including maritime tactics and targeting plans. The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post also reported on the apparent briefing. The Times later reported that the meeting in the secure “tank” room of the Pentagon had been called off after its story was published late Thursday.
Trump, who has launched a series of attacks on journalists and news outlets in recent days, furiously lashed out at the press over the story. “They really are the enemy of the people,” Trump said of the New York Times.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Musk’s “informal meeting” at the Pentagon would focus on innovation and efficiencies, not “top secret China war plans.” “The NYT should immediately retract this fake narrative,” Hegseth said on X.
Tensions have soared between Washington and Beijing since Trump’s inauguration as the world’s two largest economies impose a slew of tariffs on each other’s imports. Democrats have meanwhile blasted Trump for handing administration policy to Musk despite him undergoing no background checks and heading companies with government contracts.
Musk joined the chorus of criticism of the Times, labeling it “pure propaganda” on his social media platform X. In a separate post replying to Hegseth, he said Friday’s meeting would not be his first visit to the US Defense Department. “I’ve been to the Pentagon many times over many years. Not my first time in the building,” he wrote.
– Danny KEMP
© 2024 AFP
