US President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed reports that Elon Musk, the worldโs richest man, was set to receive a briefing at the Pentagon regarding the American militaryโs plans for a potential armed conflict with China.
Trumpโs response on social media followed a New York Times story on Thursday citing anonymous sources that claimed Musk, who has significant business interests in China, was scheduled to meet on Friday with US Defence Department officials for a briefing โfocusedโ on the country.
โChina will not even be mentioned or discussed,โ wrote Trump of Muskโs Pentagon meeting. โHow disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies โฆ the story is completely untrueโ.
In a separate post, the US president said the news report was predicated on a โfake conceptโ that โbecause Elon does some business in China, he is very conflicted and would immediately go to top Chinese officials and โspill the beansโโ.
Musk serves the Trump administration as a special government employee and has been tasked with overseeing an effort to cut waste in the federal bureaucracy.