(Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
Elon Musk has broken his silence on a New York Times report alleging he was to be briefed on a potential war with China, blasting the paper as “pure propaganda” while threatening prosecutions of the Times’ anonymous sources.
Musk was set to be briefed Friday on plans for any war the U.S. might have with China, two anonymous U.S. officials told the paper. A third said the briefing would focus on China, but did not offer details.
Replying to President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post attacking the Times story, Musk issued his own rebuke on his X platform, saying “The New York Times is pure propaganda.”
He added: “Also, I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will be found.”
Trump and Musk were not the only ones to deny the report. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell were also quick to decry the “fake news.”
Parnell, appearing on Fox & Friends Friday
On the record that is completely fake. Let me show you, this started with this “New York Times” headline and they have since changed it but ‘Musk set to get access to top secret U.S. Plan for at that point war with China. This is egregious, this is fake. The New York Times should retract this story — five anonymous sources.I have been on bilat calls with the secretary. I see how hard he is working to implement the president’s agenda and pursue peace through strength. This type of garbage from the “New York Times” undermines that process and undermines our mission. It shouldn’t happen at all. Elon Musk is just coming over here for a visit. Again, he is an innovator. This is a guy that shot a rocket thousands of miles an hour that’s thousands of pounds, and as it landed back on the Earth, it was grabbed out of mid-air by a giant robot arm.We want a guy like Elon Musk in the Defense Department to help us come up with creative solutions to the problems we faced of the day. This article is ridiculous. It’s fake. And I can confirm that on the record.
The Times noted that the Pentagon may be briefing Musk so that if DOGE makes cuts to the department, it would be able to do so “in
Musk’s reported involvement in the China briefing was particularly notable because Musk’s company, Tesla Motors, has an auto factory and a battery plant in Shanghai. Meanwhile, Musk’s companies also do business with the U.S. Department of Defense.