Elon Musk returns to Trump administration to co-lead Pentagon war study

By Andreas Rogal with AFP Published on 01/10/2026 - 18:57 GMT+2 Share Comments Add Euronews on Google Share Facebook Twitter Flipboard Send Reddit Linkedin Messenger Telegram VK Bluesky Threads Whatsapp Musk, who in 2024 threw his support behind Trump and helped his return to the White House, served as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he spearheaded sweeping job cuts across the US federal government. Tech billionaire Elon Musk will make a return to officially advising US President Donald Trump's government by co-leading what the Pentagon called a study on the future of war. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Musk served as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he oversaw sweeping job cuts across the US federal government, before departing in May 2025. In a speech Wednesday at the Quantico military base, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said "Project Meridian" will be "an effort led by America's best minds to study the future of warfare." "We are leveraging a unique source of American advantage, one our adversaries do not have: our innovators, our senior leaders and our technologists", he added. Musk will be a co-leader of Project Meridian alongside Palmer Luckey, the 34-year-old co founder of defence technology company Anduril Industries, and Newt Gingrich, the 83-year old Republican former House speaker. No stranger to the Pentagon Musk's companies are already major Pentagon contractors, including SpaceX building satellite networks for Trump's planned "Golden Dome" missile defence shield. His artificial intelligence firm xAI this year signed a deal allowing the military to use its Grok chatbot on classified systems. In 2024, Musk threw his support behind Trump and helped his return to the White House, but the men later had a high-profile blow-up over the president's spending legislation. The two have since reconciled, and Musk has again become a frequent presence at the White House, though less visibly than during his previous stint, when he often visited the Oval Office, most memorably with his young son on his shoulders. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. Evan Vucci/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved On Tuesday he was seated next to Trump at a lunch with artificial intelligence executives, where he joined other tech leaders in signing a voluntary AI safety accord that the president described as "morally binding." Last week, Musk attended the state dinner Trump hosted for Chinese President Xi Jinping, and in May he flew to Beijing on Air Force One as part of the business delegation accompanying Trump on his state visit to China. Back among the big donors He also resumed giving to Republican causes, including multimillion-dollar donations to individual candidates and conservative political groups. Musk, who spent more than $250 million backing Trump and other Republicans in the 2024 election, has given at least $90 million toward November's midterm elections, according to tallies of Federal Election Commission filings. Hegseth said the project's purpose is to "creatively look to the future and identify the domains that we must conquer and capabilities we must master." Project members will include hand-picked private sector leaders and subject matter experts from across the innovation, academic and policy ecosystems. Hegseth said he has directed Project Meridian's findings to be completed and submitted within 120 days. Go to accessibility shortcuts Share Comments Add Euronews on Google Read more Unlike the EU, Trump's new AI pact lets tech companies police themselves Zelenskyy awards Elon Musk Ukraine’s ‘Order of Freedom’ despite years of criticism 'Marine Le Pen is France's last hope', says Musk amid interference claims Pete Hegseth Pentagon Elon Musk Comments