Pentagon grants Musk access to top‑secret military plans
The Pentagon is set to inform Elon Musk on Friday about the U.S. military's plans regarding a potential conflict with China. Allowing him access to highly confidential military secrets expands his role as an advisor to President Donald Trump, reports "The New York Times".
"Providing Mr. 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 advisor to Mr. Trump and leader of his effort to slash spending and purge the government of people and policies they oppose," states "NYT".
According to the newspaper, this would also highlight concerns about Musk's conflicts of interest, as he is actively involved in the federal system while still managing companies that are major government contractors. Regarding access to classified data, "NYT" points out that Musk, billionaire and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, is a significant Pentagon contractor and has substantial financial interests in China.
"Pentagon war plans, known in military jargon as O-plans or operational plans, are among the military’s most closely guarded secrets. If a foreign country were to learn how the United States planned to fight a war against them, it could reinforce its defences and address its weaknesses, making the plans far less likely to succeed," argues the newspaper.
Quoting officials, it specifies that the top-secret briefing on the war plan with China contains about 20 to 30 slides illustrating how the U.S. would engage in a conflict. The plan includes indications and warnings about threats from Beijing, which Chinese targets to strike and when, and which matters will be presented to Trump for decision-making.
"Elon Musk is a patriot"
NYT also claims that the Pentagon's chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, did not respond to an email request for comment on Musk's briefing. After the article was published in the newspaper on Thursday evening, he made a brief statement: "The Defence Department is excited to welcome Elon Musk to the Pentagon on Friday. He was invited by Secretary Hegseth and is just visiting."
As reported by the newspaper, an hour later, Parnell posted a message on the social media platform X: "The Defence Department is excited to welcome Elon Musk to the Pentagon on Friday. He was invited by Secretary Hegseth and is just visiting."
