President Donald Trump was livid after he learned that Pete Hegseth had invited Elon Musk for an exclusive briefing at the Pentagon, according to a new report in The Atlantic.
The meeting made headlines in March when The New York Times reported that the defense secretary would brief Musk on plans for a potential war with China—where the world’s richest man conducts significant business.
Publicly, Musk, Hegseth, and Trump were united in their dismissal of the story. The president called it “fake news” and claimed that China was never intended to be discussed in the briefing.
Behind closed doors, however, Trump was upset that Hegseth extended the invitation at all.
When he learned about the briefing the night before it was set to happen, the president called Hegseth, insiders told The Atlantic. Trump told him that the briefing was “a bad look” for the administration.
In an in-person conversation the following day, Trump reiterated his displeasure to Hegseth. “This is crazy and stupid,” the president said, according to the insiders. “Why would we even do this?”
Trump acknowledged publicly at the time that Musk should not receive Pentagon intel on China, due to his interests in the region.
“I certainly wouldn’t want, you know—Elon has businesses in China, and he would be susceptible, perhaps, to that,” he told reporters at the White House. “But it was such a fake story.”
The moment marked a turning point in Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon—and in his relationship with Trump. That Hegseth had the briefing take place in the Tank, a storied Pentagon conference room where top officers meet with the president, only added to the insult, The Atlantic reported.
“Up until then, DOD had been the golden child,” a person close to Hegseth’s office told The Atlantic.
But afterwards, Hegseth began to spiral. Not long after, the defense secretary became wrapped up in the Signalgate scandal—when he shared operational attack details on a group chat that included The Atlantic‘s editor-in-chief.
The Pentagon was also wracked by leaks, creating paranoia for Hegseth. He ended up firing three top staffers, whom he alleged were guilty of sharing information with the media.
“Things were heading in the right direction,” the Hegseth insider said. “But then the leaks and Signalgate just really f---ed up Pete.”
Reflecting on what went wrong, insiders pointed to Hegseth’s tendency to “flex” his office. He likes to impress people with his access and power, they said.
“He’s got this $180,000 Ferrari. That’s the Pentagon for him,” one insider told The Atlantic. “And he likes to show it off.”
Asked for comment on The Atlantic‘s report, the Pentagon directed the Daily Beast to an X post by top spokesperson Sean Parnell.
“While Secretary Hegseth is at NATO successfully convincing our allies to spend more on defense, The Atlantic is doing what they do best, writing fake news recycled gossip columns,” he wrote. “Just total BS.”
The White House did not immediately answer The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
However, an unnamed White House official told The Atlantic that Hegseth’s job is “100 percent safe.”
Meanwhile, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told the magazine that the entire administration is “fully behind Secretary Hegseth’s mission to prioritize our warfighters, eliminate terrorists, and restore common sense at the DOD.”
