Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shakes hands with Elon Musk on March 21, 2025, as he exits the Pentagon. (Madelyn Keech/Defense Department)
Billionaire entrepreneur and White House adviser Elon Musk visited the Pentagon on Friday to discuss cost cutting and technology within the Defense Department, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said later during a news briefing in the Oval Office.
“We welcomed him today to the Pentagon to talk about [the Department of Government Efficiency], to talk about efficiencies, to talk about innovations,” Hegseth said later Friday during an appearance alongside President Donald Trump to announce a new Air Force fighter jet. “It was a great informal conversation.”
Trump and Hegseth denied news reports that Musk was to be shown a highly classified briefing on sensitive battle plans to fight China.
“We don’t want to have a potential war with China, but I can tell you, if we did, we’re very well equipped to handle it,” Trump said Friday. “But I don’t want to show that to anybody. But certainly, you wouldn’t show it to a businessman [Musk] who is helping us so much. He’s a great patriot. He’s paying a big price for helping us cut costs, and he’s doing a great job.”
The Pentagon meeting with Musk lasted about 80 minutes and came one day after Hegseth announced some $580 million in new spending cuts found by DOGE. Musk leads DOGE.
The cuts included grants aimed at eliminating carbon emissions from U.S. warships and developing equitable artificial intelligence capabilities and efforts to diversify the Navy, the defense secretary said Thursday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth welcomes Elon Musk as a visitor to the Pentagon on Friday, March 21, 2025. (Madelyn Keech/Defense Department)
Trump said the report by The New York Times late Thursday indicating Musk would be shown the sensitive planning for a military campaign against China was false.
“I just wanted to make sure I called up Chief of Staff [Susie Wiles], and I called up Pete, and I said, ‘Is there any truth to that?’ Absolutely not,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “He’s there for DOGE, not there for China. And if you ever mentioned China, I think [he would] walk out of the room.”
Trump appeared to be referring to conflicts of interest that Musk would have with dealing with intelligence about the Chinese. Musk — the CEO of electric automaker Tesla — does business with China, where the company has an assembly plant. Musk’s companies, namely SpaceX, also have billions of dollars in Pentagon contracts. SpaceX provides launch services to the Defense Department for new satellites, and the company also provides the military with Starlink satellite-based internet capabilities.
In videos posted by news organizations including CNN and Reuters, Musk did not respond to multiple reporters’ questions as he exited the Pentagon early Friday following the meeting.
Musk has led DOGE efforts to cut dramatically the size and scope of the federal government, including the Pentagon. This week, Pentagon officials said they plan to eliminate some 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs as part of the DOGE-led budget reduction efforts.
Hegseth said he welcomed Musk’s input on those efforts now and going forward.
“Elon Musk is a patriot. Elon Musk is an innovator,” the defense secretary said. “Elon Musk provides a lot of capabilities our government and our military rely on, and I’m grateful for that.”
