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US President Donald Trump has personally cancelled the planned secret briefing by billionaire Elon Musk on the situation with China, which was to take place last month at the Pentagon. This was reported by Axios on 16 April, citing sources in the administration.
According to journalists, Musk’s participation in the strategic briefing angered the president, who, despite his general sympathy for the businessman, saw it as crossing “red lines”.
“He has a lot of business in China, he has good relations there. And this briefing was simply inappropriate,” said one Trump administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
When the head of the White House learned about Musk’s invitation to the briefing, he reacted sharply:
“Why the hell would Elon be there? Make sure he doesn’t go,” Axios quoted Trump as saying.
The situation continued publicly on 20 March, when Trump denied on Truth Social that The New York Times had reported that Musk had attended a Pentagon briefing – the event had already been cancelled by then.
However, according to the newspaper, on 21 March, Musk did visit the Pentagon, where he met with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin (Hagseth). However, according to sources, China was not discussed during this meeting.
Elon Musk is the head of the US government’s Office of Management and Budget and is one of the world’s most influential businessmen whose business is deeply integrated into the Chinese market, in particular through Tesla.
The briefing incident demonstrates the sensitivity of the Chinese issue in the Trump administration, and that even the president’s loyal allies can be subject to restrictions when it comes to national security.
