Pentagon to brief Musk on top-secret plan for potential war with China, NYT reports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Billionaire Elon Musk, U.S. President Donald Trump's adjacent ally, is owed to beryllium briefed connected Friday by the Pentagon connected the U.S. military's program for immoderate warfare that mightiness interruption retired with China, the New York Times reported connected Thursday, citing U.S. officials.

Access to the intimately guarded subject program would people an crisp enlargement of Musk's relation arsenic a Trump advisor who has spearheaded efforts to chopped U.S. authorities spending.

It would besides substance questions astir conflicts of involvement for Musk, who arsenic the caput of some Tesla and SpaceX has concern interests successful China and with the Pentagon.

The White House has antecedently said Musk volition recuse himself if immoderate conflicts of involvement originate betwixt his concern dealings and his relation successful cutting national authorities spending.

The briefing for the China warfare program has astir 20 to 30 slides that laic retired however the United States would combat specified a conflict, the New York Times reported.

The Pentagon confirmed that Musk volition beryllium visiting connected Friday but did not stock further details.

"The Defense Department is excited to invited Elon Musk to the Pentagon connected Friday. He was invited by Secretary (Pete) Hegseth and is conscionable visiting," a Pentagon spokesperson said.

But different authoritative Pentagon relationship connected X, known arsenic DoD Rapid Response, said: "The NYT is simply a propaganda instrumentality that desperately needs to clickbait radical into speechmaking their FAKE quality articles."

A U.S. official, speaking connected the information of anonymity, said that the briefing for Musk would beryllium attended by elder U.S. subject officials successful the Pentagon and would beryllium an overview connected a fig of antithetic topics, including China.

Washington and Beijing person had tense relations for years implicit differences ranging from entree to technology, commercialized tariffs and cybersecurity to TikTok, Taiwan, Hong Kong, quality rights and the origins of COVID-19.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Kanishka Singh successful Washington; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Stephen Coates)