A former U.S. lieutenant normal warned Sunday that Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who has develop into intricately concerned in President-elect Trump’s transition, might pose nationwide safety dangers resulting from his ties to China and Russia.
Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré pointed to the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s enterprise pursuits in China, in addition to his reported conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The fact that Mr. Musk spent a quarter of a billion dollars to help re-elect Mr. Trump does not give the incoming White House the license to look the other way at the national security risks he may pose,” Honoré wrote in a New York Instances op-ed.
“If Mr. Trump and his appointees mean what they say about getting tough on America’s adversaries, then they will act on this matter without delay,” he continued. “There is too much at stake to ignore what’s right in front of them.”
China is a serious marketplace for Musk’s Tesla, which owns a manufacturing unit in Shanghai. Honoré famous that Chinese language regulation requires corporations doing enterprise within the nation to show over data if requested.
“This means Mr. Musk’s business dealings in China could require him to hand over sensitive classified information, learned either through his business interests or his proximity to President-elect Donald Trump,” the retired normal wrote.
Honoré additionally voiced considerations concerning the tech mogul’s feedback about China and associated political points. Musk beforehand praised China’s “economic prosperity” and advised Taiwan develop into a “special administrative zone” of China — a remark that was obtained nicely by leaders in Beijing.
Musk’s corporations maintain in depth contracts with the U.S. authorities — Tesla and SpaceX have secured at the very least $15.4 billion in federal contracts over the previous decade, in accordance with a New York Instances evaluation.
These contracts have come underneath scrutiny since The Wall Road Journal reported in October that Musk had been in common contact with Putin since late 2022. The report prompted two Democratic senators to ask for a federal investigation into Musk’s involvement in SpaceX’s contracts.
“If the federal investigations demonstrate deep connections to China and Russia, the federal government should consider revoking Mr. Musk’s security clearance,” Honoré added. “It should already be thinking about using alternatives to SpaceX’s launch services.”
