Pentagon changed course for the visit of musizcle after reporting on him seeing China’s war plans: officials

The technological billionaire Elon Musk was scheduled to visit the Pentagon on Friday and attend a meeting of the Jewish Staff Chiefs that would touch China, among other things, two officials from the United States confirmed ABC News, but that plan changed after the New York Times reported that Musk would be informed about the possible war plans of China.

Musk visited the Pentagon on Friday, but instead of meeting with the joint bosses, Musk met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and employees, said an American official.

The meeting between Musk and the joint bosses should be at the non-classified and virtually assisted level by Admiral Sam Paparo, the EE Indo-Pacific Command commander. UU., Said an official. But some time between the publication of the New York Times History On Thursday and Musk’s visit to Pentagon on Friday morning, the visit became a meeting with Hegseth.

The New York Times reported that Musk would receive an informative session of superior military leaders on a high secret military plan for a possible war with China. The publication said the meeting was canceled due to its initial report.

Musk, Hegesh and President Donald Trump denied the report, with Trump stating that Musk would not be informed about a war plan with China.

“I don’t want to show that to anyone. But certainly, you wouldn’t show it to a businessman who is helping us so much. He is a great patriot … but he certainly didn’t want to, you know, Elon has business in China, and he would be susceptible to that. But it was such a false story,” Trump told journalists in the Oval office on Friday.

Hegseth said Musk was in the Pentagon to talk about the Efficiency Department of the Musk government.

“There were no war plans. There were no Chinese war plans. There were no secret plans. That is not what we were doing in the Pentagon,” Hegseth said.

Musk arrived at the Pentagon just before 9 am and remained in Hegseth’s office during his visit.

The meeting of the team leaders took place as scheduled, but Paparo did not join the meeting as scheduled above. One of the officials said that the meeting of the team leaders in the conference room known as “El Tank” continued for approximately two hours.

Musk left the pentagon at 10:21 am, approximately 20 minutes after it seemed that the meeting in the tank really started.

When Musk started from Hegesh’s office on Friday, journalists asked him how the meeting was and replied that “it is always a great meeting.”

“I’ve been here before, you know,” Musk added while he and Hegesh walked together. Musk visited the Pentagon in 2016 to meet with the then Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.

When they were out of the Pentagon, Hegseth and Musk set their hand and Musk was high: “If there is something that can be done to be useful, I would like to see you.”

Neither of them answered the questions at that time about whether they had discussed China or if it was a classified information session.

Hegseth previously published in X that the meeting was not “China War Plans”, but described it as an “informal meeting on innovation, efficiency, efficiency and smarter production. “

Trump published on his conservative social networks that China would not be mentioned or discussed during the meeting.

Musk went so far as to suggest that there should be prosecutions of anyone in the pentagon that could have leaked information.

“They will be found,” Musk wrote in X.

Justin Gómez and Chris Boccia of ABC News contributed to this report.