Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell called on the New York Times to retract its "completely fake" report that Elon Musk was privy to top secret war plans with China, Breitbart reported. Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency, was invited Friday as an adviser for a meeting at the Pentagon.
The Times claimed that Musk was scheduled to meet at the Pentagon to receive information about the "U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China" based on tips from two anonymous officials. A third allegedly told the newspaper just that it was "China-focused."
The news outlet ran with the story, but Parnell rebuked the Times for its false reporting in a post to X, formerly Twitter. "This is 100% Fake News. Just brazenly & maliciously wrong. Elon Musk is a patriot. We are proud to have him at the Pentagon," Parnell wrote.
This is 100% Fake News. Just brazenly & maliciously wrong.
Elon Musk is a patriot.
We are proud to have him at the Pentagon. pic.twitter.com/LiyXrl8gCi
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellATSD) March 21, 2025
Parnell set the story straight on Friday's "Fox & Friends" morning program. "On the record, that is completely fake," Parnell asserted.
"And let me show you — this, this started with this New York Times headline, and they since changed it, but, ‘Musk Set to Get Access to Top Secret U.S. Plan for Potential War with China.’ This is egregious. This is fake. The New York Times should retract this story," the spokesman added.
"Five anonymous sources. I’ve been on bilat[arel] calls with the Secretary. I see how hard he’s working to implement the president's agenda and pursue peace through strength, this type of garbage from the New York Times undermines that process and undermines that mission, it shouldn’t happen at all," Parnell said.
"Elon Musk is just coming over here for a visit. Again, he’s an innovator. This is a guy that shot a rocket at thousands of miles an hour, that’s thousands of pounds, and as it landed back on the earth, it was grabbed out of mid-air by a giant robot arm," Parnell went on about the SpaceX mogul.
"We want a guy like Elon Musk in the Defense Department to help us come up with creative solutions to the problems that we face of the day. But this article, this article is ridiculous. It’s fake, and I can confirm that on the record," Parnell said.
The Times report declared that Musk "is a leading supplier to the Pentagon and has extensive financial interests in China," it said. However, war strategies are "among the military’s most closely guarded secrets" and are kept secret to maintain the element of surprise.
The implication is that the Pentagon was sharing these with Musk and that it would put the U.S. in danger. However, President Donald Trump also attested that Musk was not privy to such plans.
"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,'" Trump posted on his Truth Social Thursday.
"How ridiculous? 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!!!" Trump noted.
The mainstream media has it out for Musk, and this hit piece by the New York Times is another attempt to scare the public about his involvement in the administration. However, Musk has a unique set of skills that Trump is tapping into that can help make America even better.
