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‘NY Times is pure propaganda’: Trump, Musk dispute ‘untrue’ report on Pentagon meeting

March 21, 2025 | | Print Article

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk blasted the “failing” New York Times for publishing “pure propaganda” about a Pentagon briefing on China.

The left-wing newspaper was the target of fiery pushback from the president and the head of his Department of Government Efficiency as it claimed in a report that the “Pentagon was scheduled on Friday to brief Elon Musk on the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China,” citing two unnamed “U.S. officials.”

“Another official said the briefing would be China focused, without providing additional details. A fourth official confirmed Mr. Musk was to be at the Pentagon on Friday, but offered no details,” the Times added in its Thursday report, adding that giving the Tesla and SpaceX CEO “access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded military secrets” would be a “dramatic expansion of his already extensive role as an adviser to Mr. Trump.”

Amid the sharps criticism of the administration that followed the alleged details, Trump came out swinging: “The Fake News is at it again, this time the Failing New York Times.”

“They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China.’ How ridiculous?” the president wrote.

“China will not even be mentioned or discussed. How disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies. Anyway, the story is completely untrue!!!” he concluded.

Musk also responded to the report, writing in a post on X that The New York Times “is pure propaganda.”

“Also, I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT,” he added, warning, “They will be found.”

“The top-secret briefing that exists for the China war plan has about 20 to 30 slides that lay out how the United States would fight such a conflict,” the Times report stated. “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.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reacted on X, writing: “This is NOT a meeting about ‘top secret China war plans.’ It’s an informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production. Gonna be great!”

Chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, released a statement about the alleged meeting and the Times’ report.

“The Defense Department is excited to welcome Elon Musk to the Pentagon on Friday. He was invited by Secretary Hegseth and is just visiting,” he said ahead of a post on X calling out the “fake news.”

“This is 100% Fake News. Just brazenly & maliciously wrong. Elon Musk is a patriot. We are proud to have him at the Pentagon,” he posted.

The Times reported that The Wall Street Journal confirmed the meeting with Musk would be about war plans regarding China. The paper also claimed the meeting was to be held in the Tank, “a secure conference room in the Pentagon, typically used for high-level meetings of members of the Joint Chiefs, their senior staff and visiting combatant commanders.”

The report concluded with a “possible reason” for the alleged meeting with Musk.

“If Mr. Musk and his team of cost cutters from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, want to trim the Pentagon budget in a responsible way, they may need to know what weapons systems the Pentagon plans to use in a fight with China,” the Times noted.

Frieda Powers
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