CNN
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Elon Musk pays a go to to the Pentagon on Friday after the tech billionaire acquired an invite from Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Protection Division mentioned late Thursday night.
“The Protection Division is happy to welcome Elon Musk to the Pentagon on Friday. He was invited by Secretary Hegseth and is simply visiting,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell mentioned in an announcement to CNN.
The New York Instances reported earlier Thursday that Musk might be briefed on the US navy’s top-secret plan for any warfare that may escape with China.
President Donald Trump in a late evening Fact Social post dismissed the New York Instances report, saying that “China won’t even be talked about or mentioned.”
The go to comes because the Pentagon, inspired by Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity, considers major cuts to the top of the military in an effort to embrace the Trump administration’s push to shrink the federal authorities. Hegseth said last month that DoD could be leaning on DOGE to assist the division “discover fraud, waste and abuse within the largest discretionary price range within the federal authorities.”
CNN has reached out to the White Home and the Division of Authorities Effectivity for remark.
Hegseth’s latest strategic steering memo, despatched to Pentagon leaders earlier this month and reviewed by CNN, directed a shift in focus and sources in direction of a doable battle with China however supplied few particulars as to what that may appear like.
A number of variations of US navy warfare plans are sometimes ready at various ranges of classification, in line with folks acquainted.
On the highest degree, navy operational plans include so-called “code phrase” clearance info that includes delicate sources and strategies comparable to the usage of human and technical belongings. Much less delicate variations of briefings are additionally often ready that don’t embrace extremely categorized info. It’s unclear which model might be introduced to Musk.
CNN has reported that Musk has a top-secret safety clearance and is serving within the Trump administration as a particular authorities worker. Nevertheless, even people with enough safety clearances nonetheless require a “must know” earlier than accessing explicit info, in line with the US authorities’s categorized dealing with procedures.
According to a Justice Department summary, a particular authorities worker is “anybody who works, or is anticipated to work, for the federal government for 130 days or much less in a 365-day interval.”
Musk maintains profitable contracts with the Protection Division. In October 2024, the US House Drive awarded $733 million in launch contracts to Musk’s SpaceX.
This story has been up to date with further reporting.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen and Package Maher contributed to this report.
