According to reports, Donald Trump prevented Elon Musk from joining a confidential government meeting on China after the tech mogul irked White House officials.
Following an inquiry into the leak about the China briefing reaching Musk, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took action against two Pentagon higher-ups, Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick, putting them on suspension.
According to Axios, Hegseth did not just choose to call off the meeting after the leak, but the US President himself ordered staffers to kill it.
Upon learning about Musk’s potential presence at the meeting, Trump was said to have expressed strong disapproval, instructing his staff to ensure Musk’s exclusion with colorful language, as recounted by an official familiar with the incident.
The president was reportedly angry that Musk was being given the briefing because the SpaceX founder has billions of pounds of business interests in China.
It comes after it was revealed that Musk’s constant presence at the White House, his bizarre social media posts, and his brazen movements within his Department of Government Efficiency role has angered several administration officials.
Though Trump has previously praised Musk and welcomed his involvement in government matters, this time, officials say the tech mogul’s extensive business ties to China crossed a line.
Trump had also pledged that Musk, in his role as head of DOGE, would not be involved in any areas where he could have conflicts of interest.
President Donald Trump is said to have personally cancelled Elon Musk’s briefing on China
Top Defense aides Dan Caldwell (left) and Darin Selnick (right) were escorted out of the Pentagon on Tuesday after allegedly being identified during the leak investigation
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth greets Elon Musk at Pentagon ahead of their March 21 meeting
‘POTUS still loves Elon, but there are red lines,’ one source told the news outlet. ‘Elon has a lot of business in China and he has good relations there, and this briefing just wasn’t the right thing.’
The New York Times reported on March 20 that Musk would be getting briefed on the US military’s plans for what to do should any war break out with China.
Shortly after the report was posted online, Trump and Pentagon officials denied the session would be about military plans involving China.
‘They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
‘How ridiculous? China will not even be mentioned or discussed. How disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies. Anyway, the story is completely untrue!!!’
According to Axios he posted that message after he ordered officials not to talk to Musk about China.
Musk’s Tesla company operates its biggest factory, Gigafactory Shanghai, in China. It produced about half of all Tesla vehicles last year.
The Pentagon meeting still took place. Musk arrived via motorcade on March 21, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth greeted him at the door.
The two men – along with aides and military personnel – met for 80 minutes. China was not discussed but Musk wouldn’t give more details.
‘Why should I tell you,’ he told a reporter who asked him about the sitdown.
The New York Times reported on March 20 that Musk would be getting briefed on the US military’s plans for what to do should any war break out with China
Trump greets Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk during a rally the day before Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, January 19, 2025
Trump was still angry the day of the meeting, blasting the New York Times story as ‘fake news.’
At the White House after the Musk-Hegseth sitdown, Trump said he didn’t want anyone to see the United States’ plans for a potential war with China and hinted at Musk’s potential conflict of interest.
‘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, but I don’t want to show that to anybody but certainly you wouldn’t show it to a businessman,’ Trump said. ‘Elon has businesses in China and he would be susceptible perhaps to that.’
Much of the administration’s ire was focused at the New York Times, which broke the story. Musk warned people would pay for the leak.
‘I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will be found,’ he wrote on his X platform.
While the details of the meeting remain shrouded in secrecy, Trump’s anger comes at a delicate time, with tensions between the US and China soaring.
The US President has ramped up the trade war with China, slapping a staggering 125 per cent tariff on Chinese imports, on top of a 20 per cent fentanyl-related levy introduced earlier this year – bringing the effective tariff rate to 145 per cent.
This has sparked an equally aggressive response from Beijing. In retaliation, China raised its own tariffs on US goods from 84 per cent to 125 per cent.
