On Friday night, ABC, CBS, and NBC celebrated a story from Thursday by their friends at The New York Times alleging the Department of Defense was set to grant Elon Musk a top-secret briefing on hypothetical war plans against China as part of his Friday meeting at the Pentagon, but was changed due to The Times raising concerns about his business work with Tesla in China. Of course, that’s not what happened and came despite vehement pushback from Trump officials.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell tore The Times a new one on Friday’s Fox & Friends, declaring the allegations “completely false,” “egregious,” and “fake” based on “five anonymous sources.”
“The New York Times should retract this story...I’ve on [bilateral] calls with the Secretary. I see how hard he’s working to implement the President’s agenda and achieve piece through strength. This type of garbage from The New York Times undermines that process and undermines our mission. It shouldn’t happen at all,” he added, holding up a printout of the article.
Along with Hegseth also offering on-camera remarks, President Trump tore into the newspaper on Friday:
None of that mattered to the liberal broadcast networks. ABC chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce beamed in an tease for World News Tonight:
Elon Musk visits the Pentagon, meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid a New York Times report Musk was to receive a top secret briefing on China. President Trump calling it fake news as he awards a much-needed contract to Boeing. What the White House says is behind the new fighter jet’s name.
Bruce later said in the segment that Trump “den[ied] reports the world’s richest man was scheduled to meet with the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a briefing on the Pentagon’s potential China war plan” and that he “doesn’t want Musk briefed on war plans about China.”
Chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz, using her Deep State sources, confirmed The Times’s spin (click “expand”):
RADDATZ: Tonight, two U.S. officials confirming that a scheduled Pentagon meeting between Elon Musk and the joint chiefs was changed this morning after a bombshell report in The New York Times saying Musk’s visit would include a top secret briefing on potential war plans with China, which would be an extraordinary expansion beyond the tech billionaire’s DOGE responsibilities, especially given his business connections to China. Instead, Musk’s Pentagon visit turned into an office meeting with Defense Secretary Hegseth, which came after a furious post from Musk denying the top secret meeting was ever in play: “I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to [New York Times]. They will be found.” President Trump denying a top secret meeting as well, saying he wouldn’t want to show war plans to anyone.
TRUMP: I don’t want to show it to anybody. You know, you’re talking about a potential war with China.
RADDATZ: Trump also addressing the potential conflict of interest such a briefing would pose for Musk.
TRUMP: I don’t want to show that to anybody, but certainly you wouldn’t show it to a businessman who is helping us so much. He’s a great patriot. He’s taken — he’s paying a big price for helping us cut costs.
Raddatz gave more kudos to The Times, boasting they were “not backing down on their report.”
NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt was similarly buoyed: “Now to Elon Musk’s visit to the Pentagon on the heels of a report that he would be shown war plans for a potential conflict with China. President Trump calling the story false saying musk was there to find ways to cut costs.”
Senior White House correspondent Garrett Haake at least admitted Musk has a security clearance (which wasn’t surprising, given the extensive government work carried out by his company SpaceX) (click “expand”):
HAAKE: Top Trump ally Elon Musk, from the President’s Department of Government efficiency, visiting the Pentagon today. The New York Times reported Musk was to be briefed “on the U.S. military plan for any war that might break out with China,” according to “two U.S. officials.” President Trump slamming the story as false when he was asked about the war plans:
TRUMP: I don’t want to show it to anybody. You know, you’re talking about a potential war with China. [SCREEN WIPE] I don’t want to show it to anyway, but certainly you wouldn’t show it to a businessman who is helping us so much. [SCREEN WIPE] Elon has businesses in China and he would be susceptible perhaps to that. But it was such a fake story.
HEGSETH: We welcomed him today to the Pentagon to talk about DOGE, to talk about efficiencies. [SCREEN WIPE] There was no Chinese plans. There was no secret plans.
HAAKE: Two defense officials said Musk, who has a security clearance, was expected to receive an unclassified briefing on China. Musk’s business interesting include this massive Tesla giga factory in Shanghai, which produces nearly one million cars per year.
TRUMP: He’s there for DOGE, not there for China. And, if you ever mentioned China, I think he’d walk out of the room.
The CBS Evening News still covered it, but punted it to its “round-up” portion, leaving only 15 seconds for co-anchor Maurice DuBois to declare: “And Elon Musk was at the Pentagon today meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The President and Hegseth denied news reports that Musk was to receive a briefing on secret battle plans for a potential war with China.”
To see the relevant March 21 transcripts, click here (for ABC) and here (for NBC).
