Trump financier Elon Musk, who has described himself as “pro-China” and who has intensive monetary ties to that nation, is scheduled to obtain a briefing on the Pentagon on the army’s prime secret conflict plans for China, based on a number of experiences.
An official instructed the Wall Road Journal that the Friday briefing would come with info on concentrating on plans and maritime ways. A number of officers additionally knowledgeable The New York Instances about plans for the briefing, highlighting rising fears of intelligence leaks by the billionaire in addition to vital battle of curiosity issues.
President Donald Trump angrily responded to leaks of the deliberate assembly, fuming on his social media account in regards to the experiences.
“Their FAKE concept for this story is that because Elon does some business in China, that he is very conflicted and would immediately go to top Chinese officials and ‘spill the beans,’” Trump wrote. Trump accused Maggie Haberman, one of many New York Instances reporters who labored on the story and who he has spoken to at size during the last ten-plus years, of constructing up sources.
The US has not had a “Department of War” since 1947.
Trump and Musk communicate to reporters close to a pink Mannequin S Tesla car on the South Garden of the White Home on March 11, 2025, in Washington.
Musk has intensive ties to China by means of his satellite tv for pc of firms that do enterprise there. Tesla, his automobile firm, has a manufacturing facility in Shanghai and acquired a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars} in tax credit from the Chinese language authorities in trade for doing so. The power is Tesla’s largest manufacturing facility and produces half of the corporate’s vehicles.
Musk has described himself as “kind of pro-China” whereas advocating for China’s place on worldwide points and commerce.
Vox experiences that Premier Li Qiang, who’s second in charge of the Chinese language authorities, reportedly provided Musk a inexperienced card once they met in 2019.
Tu Le, director of Sino Auto Insights, instructed Vox, “China is the linchpin to Tesla’s overall long-term strategy.”
Tesla was criticized in 2022 by none aside from now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the corporate opened a showroom within the Xinjiang area of China. The U.S. authorities has described the remedy of Uyghur Muslims in that space as genocide.
“Nationless corporations are helping the Chinese Communist Party cover up genocide and slave labor in the region,” Rubio wrote in response.
Musk’s different firms—together with xAI, SpaceX, and Neuralink—additionally reportedly have Chinese language traders, that means the person who donated tens of millions to Trump has a monetary incentive in conserving China comfortable.
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Trump has demonstrated fierce loyalty to Musk, always defending him from criticism and attacking his critics. Trump has enabled Musk’s assaults on the federal authorities through the Division of Authorities Effectivity and has mentioned he can be palms off on conflicts of curiosity stemming from Musk’s involvement in his administration.
Opening the door for China on prime army secrets and techniques would look like the logical subsequent step within the Trump-Musk alliance.
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