Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth set up a meeting at the Pentagon for unelected billionaire Elon Musk to discuss a possible war against China, U.S. officials told The New York Times:
The top-secret briefing for the China war plan has about 20 to 30 slides that lay out how the United States would fight such a conflict. It covers the plan beginning with the indications and warning of a threat from China to various options on what Chinese targets to hit, over what time period, that would be presented to Mr. Trump for decisions, according to officials with knowledge of the plan.
After the The New York Times broke story, President Donald Trump denied it, notes The Washington Post:
President Donald Trump on Friday said Elon Musk would not receive a briefing on secret plans for a potential war against China, given his substantial conflicts of interest in Beijing, following Musk’s high-level meeting at the Pentagon.
Musk met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in his office for more than an hour Friday morning. It had been anticipated they would discuss a range of defense topics, including the threat posed by China and the billionaire’s work to slash the U.S. government bureaucracy, according to people familiar with the matter.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow mocked Trump and Hegseth for their sloppy defense plans:
If you have a war plan with a foreign country, don’t show that plan to the foreign country just in case you ever have to go to war with them. Because it will mean your war plan won’t work. Get it? Do you guys get it? Do you want me to say it more slowly? I mean, the Times might as well have put it in all caps on a single page with a picture menu, right?
(Sources: The New York Times, The Washington Post), MSNBC via YouTube)