Featured Image Credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Contributor / Getty
It sounds like President Donald Trump has the mouth of a sailor, with the Commander-in-Chief apparently launching into a swear-laden rant to ensure that Elon Musk didn't attend a classified cabinet meeting.
Things had been going smoothly between the POTUS and his self-confessed 'First Buddy', but just over 100 days into Trump's second term, the honeymoon phase could be over.
There have been questions about Elon Musk's position in American politics, and although he wasn't elected, his designation as a 'special government employee' has seen him become a familiar face at the White House.
Some wondered how long it would take for Musk and Donald Trump to come to verbal blows, and with the former already raising eyebrows with his comments about the recent trade tariffs, there have been rumbles of tension behind the scenes.
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Now, it seems the pair might've reached boiling point.
According to Axios, Musk tried to attend a 'highly classified' meeting about China, with a source claiming that Trump said: "What the f**k is Elon doing there? Make sure he doesn’t go."
It comes after there were reports that Musk was going to be brief on America's 'secret' plan for China, with it all going back to a fateful day in March.
Elsewhere, it's reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has suspended top Pentagon officials Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick during an investigation into who briefed Musk on the meeting.
In the end, it didn't go ahead, and instead of Hesgeth just calling off the covert China discussed, Trump supposedly had it killed. Musk has a clear interest in China, but the likes of Tesla having a lot of business there, Trump is apparently worried about a conflict of interest.
One official told the outlet: "POTUS still very much loves Elon, but there are some red lines. Elon has a lot of business in China and he has good relations there, and this briefing just wasn't the right thing."
Back then, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to downplay the idea that Musk was going to attend the briefing, branding it as 'fake news' from the 'failing' New York Times. A disgruntled President wrote: "They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential 'war with China'...How ridiculous?
The New York Times is pure propaganda.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2025
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
“China will not even be mentioned or discussed. How disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies. Anyway, the story is completely untrue!!!"
It sounds like there could've been more to the story.
Even though Musk still met with Hegseth at the Pentagon on March 21, China was supposedly off the table. The same day, Trump told reporters: "I certainly wouldn't want, you know — Elon has businesses in China, and he would be susceptible, perhaps, to that. But it was such a fake story."
An equally vexed Musk took to X and added: "I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will be found."
As for Trump's potty mouth, he's known for dropping the odd big of colorful language, with some branding him the 'cursing President'.
