Trump and Pentagon officials deny Elon Musk got China war plan briefing

WASHINGTON — Trump adviser Elon Musk visited the Pentagon on Friday for a briefing that President Donald Trump insists was focused on the tech mogul's Department of Government Efficiency efforts, disputing a New York Times report that the meeting would include a discussion of plans for any potential war with China.

"He's there for DOGE, not there for China, and if you ever mentioned China, I think he'd walk out of the room," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office later in the morning when asked about Musk's meeting.

The Times was first to report Musk's Pentagon briefing. Citing two U.S. officials, the news outlet also reported that the meeting would focus on what the military might do if any war were to break out with China. Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, repeatedly denied the report.

“We welcomed him today to the Pentagon to talk about DOGE, to talk about efficiencies, to talk about innovations," Hegseth told reporters at the Oval Office after he and Trump had announced the production of a next-generation fighter jet. "It was a great, informal conversation. The rest of that reporting was fake. There was no war plans, there was no Chinese war plans. There was no secret plans."

Hegseth, who had met with Musk in the morning