Getting your money's worth

[gcode]

I think it's more likely Trump didn't know anything about it and denied it when he found out.

now you're just making  up.

[Incogneeto]

now you're just making  up.

He did say "I Think"

[Smit]

now you're just making  up.

Not so much.

It sure sounds like Trump was taken by surprise.

Elon Musk holds unprecedented Pentagon talks, wants leakers prosecuted

Excerpt:

At the White House after the meeting, Trump said he did not want to show the United States' plans for a potential war with China to anybody and hinted at Musk's potential conflict of interest.
"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," Trump said. "Elon has businesses in China, and he would be susceptible, perhaps, to that," Trump said.
Standing next to Trump, Hegseth said he had an informal conversation with Musk which focused on innovation and efficiencies.
"There was no war plans, no Chinese war plans. There was no secret plans," Hegseth said.
Following controversy over the New York Times story, a planned meeting between Musk and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a secure meeting room in the Pentagon, known as "The Tank," ultimately did not take place.

[Incogneeto]

Relax Smit Things are looking up.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kamala-harris-picked-as-democrats-runaway-2028-favorite-in-new-poll/ar-AA1BpEjg?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=6598af45cf97469ba08bdbc6ec946c5a&ei=18

[neurosis]

That's what liberals do. Cry over nothing.

Kinda like when they cried about Obama's tan suit?

Oh wait. 

[Smit]

They set this up without consulting Trump.

Somebody might be playing 4D chess but it ain't Trump!

Why the Pentagon Scuttled Its Briefing of Musk on War Plans

Over the past 24 hours, my colleagues' report that Elon Musk was set to be briefed on the military's top-secret plans in the event of war with China has shaken Washington. It even seemed to take President Trump by surprise.

Musk's planned visit to a secure room in the Pentagon was called off after The Times published its article on the visit, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

This morning, Trump denied the briefing had been planned. But he also made clear that he thought Musk should not have access to such war plans.

"Certainly, you wouldn't show it to a businessman who is helping us so much," Trump said. He added, "Elon has businesses in China, and he would be susceptible perhaps to that."

I called Eric Schmitt, a Times national security reporter, who kindly stepped into one of the few Pentagon hallways where you can actually get cell service, and asked him to bring us up to speed.

JB: Let's start at the beginning. What did you learn yesterday about what was originally planned?

ES: The Pentagon was scheduled to give a briefing to Musk this morning on the classified war plan for China. We were told it was going to be in this secure conference room called the Tank, which is typically where you'll have very high-level military briefings with members of the Joint Chiefs or senior commanders. The idea that a civilian like Elon Musk, who's not in the chain of command, would be getting any briefing in the Tank — much less on highly sensitive war plans for China — was certainly unusual, and it was alarming to some people.

The administration has pushed back on your reporting. But you and the rest of the team are standing by the story.

We're absolutely sure this is what was scheduled. There were a couple of things that gave us confidence, besides our sourcing being very strong. If Musk were really coming to the Pentagon for a more casual discussion, why would you hold it in the Tank? What's more, the main briefer for the originally scheduled meeting was the four-star admiral in charge of the Indo-Pacific area, Samuel Paparo — and he would be the wartime commander in the event of a conflict with China.

What ended up happening this morning?

Musk arrived at about 9, on schedule. He went up to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office for what we were told would be about a 30-minute meeting. There were still tentative plans to have a Tank meeting at 9:30. Then it turned into 9:45 and 10. We were seeing top military officials moving between Hegseth's office, on the third floor, and the Tank, which is one floor below. Shortly after 10, all the aides outside the Tank dispersed, and we were told that the Tank meeting with Musk was definitely off.
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We saw Musk leave — he ignored our questions — and later, President Trump appeared in his office with Hegseth and again said our story wasn't true. But we learned that, after our story published, the White House basically scrapped the original briefing, the war plan briefing, and went to Plan B, which was the more vanilla version.

In his office today, Trump did something new: He acknowledged that Musk has potential conflicts of interest when it comes to China. What did you make of that?

It was kind of revealing in terms of how Trump thinks about Musk's role, because he praised Musk and how valuable an adviser he is. But then he stopped, just to point out pretty clearly where Musk's influence ends, and what he should not be able to be doing. He seemed to be drawing some boundaries around what Elon Musk could or could not do, which he really hasn't done very much at all up to this point.

In his remarks, Trump gave some indication that he didn't seem to know that this briefing, as it was originally proposed, had been offered to Musk. He said he called his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and Hegseth to ask about the reports when he saw them. It's not like he was clued in ahead of time.

What does this episode tell us about the White House, the Pentagon and Elon Musk?

It's raised questions about the relationship between Musk's operation and the Pentagon. Secretary Hegseth has really bent over backward to publicly welcome the DOGE staff in. Yesterday, he posted a short video saying how DOGE, working with Defense staffers, had identified $580 million in contracts that they could cut. So he's really tried to embrace the spirit of Musk and trying to win over Musk. For what purpose, we don't really know. Is it to seriously help him fulfill his pledge to cut? Is it to protect some of the programs he might want to preserve?

It also raises questions about the communication between an inexperienced defense secretary, the White House and Musk. Are they all on the same page?

Our conversation was edited for length and clarity.

[Del.]

NY Times. You so cray cray.

[Smit]

He made one hell of a good investment for his businesses not named Tesla. But that may still pay off too!

Musk Is Positioned to Profit Off Billions in New Government Contracts

Excerpt:

Within the Trump administration's Defense Department, Elon Musk's SpaceX rocketry is being trumpeted as the nifty new way the Pentagon could move military cargo rapidly around the globe.

In the Commerce Department, SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service will now be fully eligible for the federal government's $42 billion rural broadband push, after being largely shut out during the Biden era.

At NASA, after repeated nudges by Mr. Musk, the agency is being squeezed to turn its focus to Mars, allowing SpaceX to pursue federal contracts to deliver the first humans to the distant planet.

And at the Federal Aviation Administration and the White House itself, Starlink satellite dishes have recently been installed, to expand federal government internet access.

Mr. Musk, as the architect of a group he called the Department of Government Efficiency, has taken a chain saw to the apparatus of governing, spurring chaos and dread by pushing out some 100,000 federal workers and shutting down various agencies, though the government has not been consistent in explaining the expanse of his power.

But in selected spots across the government, SpaceX is positioning itself to see billions of dollars in new federal contracts or other support, a dozen current and former federal officials said in interviews with The New York Times.

The boost in federal spending for SpaceX will come in part as a result of actions by President Trump and Mr. Musk's allies and employees who now hold government positions. The company will also benefit from policies under the current Trump administration that prioritize hiring commercial space vendors for everything from communications systems to satellite fabrication, areas in which SpaceX now dominates.

Already, some SpaceX employees, temporarily working at the F.A.A., were given official permission to take actions that might steer new work to Mr. Musk's company.

The new contracts across government will come in addition to the billions of dollars in new business that SpaceX could rake in by securing permission from the Trump administration to expand its use of federally owned property.

SpaceX has at least four pending requests with the F.A.A. and the Pentagon to build new rocket launchpads or to launch more frequently from federal spaceports in Florida and California. The F.A.A. moved this month toward approving one of those deals, more than doubling the annual number of SpaceX launches for its Falcon 9 rocket allowed at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, to 120.

[Del.]

He made one hell of a good investment for his businesses not named Tesla. But that may still pay off too!

Musk Is Positioned to Profit Off Billions in New Government Contracts

Excerpt:

Good for him.

[Incogneeto]

Good for him.

LOL!! Smit screams PJmedia !! PJ media.!!!

And then is out selling The New York Times.

PJ is Right winged and doesn't lie about it.

New York Times act like they are Central...They are Not.  

[Del.]

LOL!! Smit screams PJmedia !! PJ media.!!!

And then is out selling The New York Times.

PJ is Right winged and doesn't lie about it.

New York Times act like they are Central...They are Not.  

Musk is a blessing for Space technology for the Country.

[Incogneeto]

Musk is a blessing for Space technology for the Country.

Well , He has smoked NASA , Bezos and Virgin Atlantic.

He learns every time a test explodes.

The Media loves to say He Failed , But He didn't.

[Smit]

Musk is a blessing for Space technology for the Country.

Now that we know Musk better I wouldn't call anything about him a blessing, but what he's done with SpaceX is remarkable and I give him full credit for that.

Back in the old days (pre Trump 2.0) he wouldn't have been allowed to have such an oversize role in the government, as it should be. You know, the old conflict of interest thing. I know, it sounds quaint already.

But now in our blossoming oligarchy I guess he's free to do whatever he wants.

[Incogneeto]

Now that we know Musk better I wouldn't call anything about him a blessing, but what he's done with SpaceX is remarkable and I give him full credit for that.

Back in the old days (pre Trump 2.0) he wouldn't have been allowed to have such an oversize role in the government, as it should be. You know, the old conflict of interest thing. I know, it sounds quaint already.

But now in our blossoming oligarchy I guess he's free to do whatever he wants.

Damn !! Is that you AOC???

Nope !! Maybe Bernie.

Horse walks into the Bar and the Bartender says "Hey !! Why the Long Face?"

[Del.]

Now that we know Musk better I wouldn't call anything about him a blessing, but what he's done with SpaceX is remarkable and I give him full credit for that.

Back in the old days (pre Trump 2.0) he wouldn't have been allowed to have such an oversize role in the government, as it should be. You know, the old conflict of interest thing. I know, it sounds quaint already.

But now in our blossoming oligarchy I guess he's free to do whatever he wants.

If he was doing the exact same thing for Biden you'd be sucking him off. 😝