MAGA torchbearer Steve Bannon says everything changed for Elon Musk when Donald Trump denied the Tesla CEO access to a secretive China briefing

Steve Bannon said “everything changed” for Elon Musk after Donald Trump denied a report that Musk would get a secret Pentagon briefing about China, as mentioned in The Atlantic interview.

According to the New York Times report, in March Musk would be briefed on any possible war between the US and China. After this, Democratic lawmakers got angry. They were worried about national security and ethics.

Critics felt Musk had too much power in Trump’s White House, especially because of his role in the DOGE office, which was cutting down the size of the government.


Trump wrote on Truth Social that the New York Times story was “fake news” and not true. He said Musk was not going to the Pentagon and that “China will not even be mentioned.”

Bannon said this moment, when Trump denied the story, was when the “fever broke” and everything started changing for Musk. As per The Atlantic report, Musk began slowly moving away from his public work in the DOGE government project.

Musk said he would now focus more on Tesla, SpaceX, and X instead of being involved in government stuff. Musk also said he would cut down on political donations. Even though Musk is stepping back, DOGE will still continue its mission to reduce government size, as per reports.

According to the report by Business Insider, Leavitt said DOGE employees will keep working with Trump’s cabinet. Recently, Musk was seen with Trump during a trip to the Middle East. Musk also sat with Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office during a meeting.

Bannon has been critical of Musk for years. Back in August 2018, Bannon told CNN that Tesla was “out of control” and called Musk a “man-child” along with other tech CEOs. In April 2024, Bannon said Musk “was always evil” and called him a “techno-feudalist”, as mentioned in the report by Business Insider.

FAQs

Q1. Did Elon Musk get a secret meeting about China from the Pentagon?
No, Trump said that story was not true.

Q2. Is Elon Musk still a part of DOGE?
No, he is now focusing on Tesla, SpaceX, and X.