'Probably Libelous': Trump Unleashes on New York Times and CNN Over 'Absolutely Ridiculous and False Story'
It was a compelling tale combining the left’s current bête noir, its most long-running nefarious character, and a revelation that secrets that should be only entrusted to true-believing members of a proper government were being thrown about willy-nilly.
But President Donald Trump says a report from The New York Times, echoed in part by CNN, that he has allowed tech mogul and Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk to browse secret war plans concerning China is false.
“’Elon Musk will be briefed by the Pentagon about the USA’s top secret plans against China should there be a War,’ according to the Failing New York Times, one of the worst and most purposely inaccurate newspapers anywhere in the World,” Trump lashed out on Truth Social.
“Their FAKE concept for this story is that because Elon does some business in China, that he is very conflicted and would immediately go to top Chinese officials and ‘spill the beans,’” Trump wrote.
Look how the New York Times subtly suggests that @elonmusk would leak military secrets to China. All innuendo. pic.twitter.com/OQ7eV90Jdt
— Kristina Wong 🇺🇸 (@kristina_wong) March 21, 2025
“RATINGS CHALLENGED FAKE NEWS CNN immediately picked up on this absolutely ridiculous and false story, which is probably libelous, and went heavy with it. Fortunately, nobody was watching!” Trump wrote.
“Maggot Hagerman, the really dumb ‘scammer’ who constantly writes about me for the Times, using anonymous, made up (nonexistent!) sources, and who I haven’t spoken to in ages, is a big part of the Scam,” Trump wrote.
Trump said Times reporter Maggie Haberman, among those who wrote the story in question, “lead the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, only to realize that she was duped and got it wrong. She owes me a totally discredited Pulitzer Prize for her bad reporting,” he wrote.
“The Fake News is the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE…And Elon is NOT BEING BRIEFED ON ANYTHING CHINA BY THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR!!!” Trump wrote.
Citing sources it did not name, the Times had reported Thursday that Musk was scheduled to receive a Friday briefing on America’s plans for a conflict with China.
The Times argued in its report that “providing Mr. Musk 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 and leader of his effort to slash spending and purge the government of people and policies they oppose.”
Sean is, again, correct with this absolute master class pushback against media lies.
The NYT should immediately retract this fake narrative. https://t.co/Rq8S6gPfhs
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) March 21, 2025
Noting that Musk’s companies do business with China, the Times said the briefing “would also bring into sharp relief the questions about Mr. Musk’s conflicts of interest as he ranges widely across the federal bureaucracy while continuing to run businesses that are major government contractors.”
The report quoted multiple sources from the Pentagon, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as saying that while Musk would visit the Pentagon Friday, no briefing on war plans was part of the visit.
CNN cited the Times report in its reporting on Musk’s visit.
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.
They will be found. pic.twitter.com/xANvLMOH5j
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2025
“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. They will be found,” Musk posted on X.
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