Steve Bannon Demands Pentagon Investigate Musk’s Push For Sensitive Briefings On China

Steve Bannon on UnHerd Friday called for a full investigation into what he said were Elon Musk’s efforts to secure highly classified briefings on U.S. war plans against China, accusing the billionaire of improperly seeking sensitive information.

During an interview with Unherd’s Freddie Sayers, Bannon questioned Musk’s motives, asking why he, with no clear need for such information, would push to gain access to highly classified Pentagon briefings. Bannon’s comments stem from a report by The Atlantic, which reported that a planned Pentagon briefing for Musk was met with strong opposition from President Donald Trump, who believed Musk’s business ties to China made him unfit for sensitive national security discussions, especially regarding potential conflicts with Beijing.

“Why is Elon Musk, who has no need to know of that whatsoever, why was he forcing himself into the Pentagon to get a highly-classified brief? That has to be investigated. And his security clearance should be held in abeyance, and with no security clearance he can’t run the companies,” Bannon said.

The former Trump advisor said Musk should not be privy to national security matters, particularly regarding Taiwan and the Chinese Communist Party.

“Yesterday as a CEO and founder and major shareholder of a company that gets 80% to 90% of its revenues off government contracts, he just willy-nilly said he’s canceled one of the biggest programs, coupled with the reports that have not been refuted. He didn’t want to deal with it in the Oval when he was asked a question by the Fox reporter,” Bannon said. “So you have two major companies controlled by this guy, and I say the easiest way to do it is use the Defense Production Act. You’ve got a management team that I hear underneath him is quite stable.”

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