Trump denies Musk will be briefed on the secret plan of potential war with China

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump denied reports from The New York Times that his close ally billionaire Elon Musk will brief the Pentagon on Friday on Friday about any war plans that could break out with China.

“China will not even be mentioned or discussed,” Trump said in a Pentagon meeting on Thursday.

Pentagon head Pete Hegseth said in an article on X that the conference will be “about innovation, efficiency and smarter production.”

A U.S. official spoke on anonymously said senior U.S. military officials in the Pentagon will attend Musk’s briefing, which will be an overview of many different topics, including China.

According to the New York Times report, the briefing will include 20 to 30 slides that illustrate how the United States fights in the conflict with China. The newspaper quoted two unidentified U.S. officials.

Entering a strict military plan will mark a sharp expansion of Musk's role as Trump's adviser, who pioneered the efforts to reduce U.S. government spending.

This will also raise questions about Musk's conflict of interest, who has commercial interests in China and the Pentagon as head of Tesla and the Astronauts.

The White House has previously said Musk would withdraw himself from himself if there was any conflict of interest between his business deal and his role in reducing federal spending.

Washington and Beijing have been strained over the differences for years, ranging from access to technology, trade tariffs and cybersecurity to Tiktok, Taiwan, Hong Kong, human rights and the origins of Covid-19.

(Reported by Phil Stewart, Washington's Idrees Ali and Kanishka Singh; Editors by Stephen Coates and Edwina Gibbs)