Elon Musk holds unprecedented Pentagon talks, wants any leakers prosecuted

WASHINGTON - Billionaire Elon Musk took his campaign to cut the US federal government into uncharted waters on March 21, holding

an unprecedented top-level meeting

at the Pentagon and calling for the prosecution of any Defence Department officials leaking “maliciously false information” about his visit.

Mr Musk, whose businesses have a number of Defence Department contracts, met US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth for 80 minutes in his first such talks at the Pentagon, which is responsible for a large chunk of federal government spending.

It was unclear whether US generals joined that meeting virtually.

The New York Times reported that Mr Musk would be briefed on secret war plans for China, something Mr Musk, Mr Trump and others denied.

Mr Musk called the report “pure propaganda” and urged legal action against leakers.

“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 X before the meeting with Mr Hegseth.

A New York Times spokesperson said leak investigations are “meant to chill communications between journalists and their sources and undermine the ability of a free press to bring out vital information that may otherwise be hidden”.

Mr Hegseth’s chief of staff, in a memo released late on March 21, called for an investigation into “unauthorised disclosures of national security information”, to include the potential use of a polygraph tests.

At the White House after the meeting, Mr Trump said that he did not want to show the United States’ plans for a potential war with China to anybody and hinted at Mr Musk’s potential conflict of interest.

“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,” Mr Trump said.

“Elon has businesses in China, and he would be susceptible, perhaps, to that,” Mr Trump said.

Standing next to Mr Trump, Mr Hegseth said that he had an informal conversation with Mr Musk which focused innovation and efficiencies.

“There was no war plans, no Chinese war plans. There was no secret plans,” Mr Hegseth said.

Following controversy over the New York Times story, a planned meeting between Mr Trump and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a secure meeting room in the Pentagon, known as “The Tank,” ultimately did not take place.

Access to a closely guarded military plan would mark a sharp expansion of

Mr Musk’s role

as the Trump adviser who is spearheading efforts to cut US government spending.

It would also fuel questions about

conflicts of interest

for Mr Musk, who as the head of Tesla and SpaceX also has business interests in China.

“There is no legitimate national security or other rationale for providing this information to Mr. Musk,” two Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth, wrote in a letter to Mr Hegseth, demanding details on what information was shared with Mr Musk and why.

The White House has previously said Mr Musk will recuse himself if any conflicts of interest arise between his business dealings and his role in cutting federal government spending.

While Mr Musk already has several contracts with the Pentagon, the opportunities for his companies, SpaceX in particular, under Mr Trump could drive billions of dollars of revenue to his companies. Mr Trump’s planned Golden Dome missile defence shield, which could require hundreds of sensors and other satellites to keep watch for incoming ballistic missiles, would be a natural fit for SpaceX and its Starlink unit.

Mr Musk arrived in a motorcade at the Pentagon on the morning of March 21 and quickly moved upstairs to meet Mr Hegseth, who said on X the talks would focus on “innovation, efficiencies & smarter production.”

As he departed, Mr Musk was seen joking with Mr Hegseth, and said the meeting went well.

“If there’s anything I can do to be helpful, I would like us to have a good outcome here,” Mr Musk said as he departed.

Mr Musk’s businesses Starlink and SpaceX have a number of Pentagon contracts, raising questions about conflicts of interest as he advocates for innovation and re-prioritisation of Pentagon spending to find efficiencies.

Last week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said she had ordered an investigation into leaks from inside the intelligence community and is also probing internal chat rooms for any misconduct by employees.

During Mr Trump’s first term, his administration referred more media leaks for criminal investigation each year than in any of the previous 15 years, according to records released in 2021 by the Justice Department to the independent watchdog group, Project on Government Oversight, in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. REUTERS