Trump rejects idea that Musk should have access to top-secret China war plans

WASHINGTON — A top-secret briefing for Elon Musk on the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China was called off after The New York Times reported late Thursday that it was about to happen. On Friday, President Donald Trump said Musk should not be given access to the war plan.

Providing Musk access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded military secrets would be a dramatic expansion of his already extensive role as an adviser to Trump and leader of his effort to slash spending and purge the government of people and policies they oppose. It would also raise questions about Musk’s conflicts of interest as he ranges widely across the federal bureaucracy while continuing to run businesses that are major government contractors.

The Times reported Thursday that Musk was originally going to visit the Tank, a secure conference room at the Pentagon, for a briefing with top military leaders about the China war plan, according to two U.S. officials. The top-secret briefing was to include Adm. Christopher W. Grady, the vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, the head of the military’s Indo-Pacific Command; and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, briefing Musk on the details of U.S. efforts to counter China in the event of a military conflict.

But the Tank visit was called off after the Times’ report on it. Instead, Musk met with Hegseth and Grady in the defense secretary’s office. Still, Musk spent more than an hour with Hegseth, a remarkable amount of one-on-one exposure for an executive whose company has contracts with the Defense Department.

Nevertheless, Trump said Musk — who has extensive business in China — should not be made aware of certain sensitive information.

“We don’t want to have a potential war with China, but I can tell you, if we did, we’re very well equipped to handle it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “But I don’t want to show that to anybody, but certainly you wouldn’t show it to a businessman who is helping us so much.”

It was one of the first specific statements from the president about what he would consider a bridge too far for Musk.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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