President Donald Trump reportedly canceled a top-secret briefing on China because of his billionaire friend Elon Musk.
According to a recent report, Pentagon officials were scheduled to brief the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on plans for any potential war between the United States and a foreign country.
The commander-in-chief reportedly did not want the Tesla CEO to receive the briefing because of his personal and business ties to China.
According to a senior official, Trump asked one of his aides, “What the f— is Elon doing there?” Make sure he does not leave.
The unnamed official claimed that Musk has not completely lost favor with the Republican leader, but that the president wants limits on what and where the business magnate is briefed.
“POTUS still loves Elon, but there are some red lines,” the official said. “Elon has a lot of business in China and he has good relations there, and this briefing just was not the right thing.”
Soon after reports of the briefing surfaced, Trump claimed they were false.
“They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China,'” Trump stated in a Truth Social post on March 20. “How ridiculous?” China will not be mentioned or discussed. How disgraceful that the discredited media can fabricate such lies. Anyway, the story is absolutely false!!!”
On Tuesday, April 15, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth suspended top Pentagon officials Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick as part of an internal department investigation, shortly after the story was leaked to the New York Times.
The suspensions come as the Trump administration works to root out leaks, including those at the Defense Department. A March memo signed by Hegseth’s chief of staff directed the Pentagon’s director of defense intelligence to investigate unauthorized disclosures and authorized the use of polygraphs.
As OK! previously reported, retired Lt. General Russel L. Honoré wrote an op-ed shortly after the 2024 presidential election highlighting Musk’s “National Security risk” due to his ties to China.
The former general cited reports that Musk and SpaceX “face federal reviews from the Air Force” and others for “failing to provide details” of his recent meetings with foreign leaders, which may have violated national security rules.
“Mr. Musk’s business ventures are heavily reliant on China,” the op-ed stated. “He borrowed at least $1.4 billion from banks controlled by the Chinese government to help build Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory, which was responsible for more than half of Tesla’s global deliveries in the third quarter of 2024.”
“China does not tend to give things away,” Honoré explained. “The country’s laws stipulate that the Communist Party can demand intelligence from any company doing business in China , in exchange for participating in the country’s markets.”