Donald Trump Advisor Elon Musk May Pose 'National Security Risks' Due to Business Ties With China, Retired General Claims

Elon Musk has swiftly risen through the ranks from campaign supporter to advisor to President-elect Donald Trump as the 78-year-old prepares to return to the White House, but according to retired Lt. General Russel L. Honoré, the tech mogul could pose "national security risks" due to his business ties with China.

After winning the 2024 presidential election, Trump announced Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency together for the next two years. However, in a new op-ed penned by Honoré, he pointed out that Ramaswamy previously implied he had concerns Musk could be "in China's pocket."

"In May 2023, Mr. Ramaswamy went so far as to publicly state, 'I have no reason to think Elon won’t jump like a circus monkey when Xi Jinping calls in the hour of need,' a reference to China’s leader," Honoré wrote. "Mr. Ramaswamy has since walked back his numerous public criticisms of Mr. Musk, but he was right to raise concerns."

The former general then cited reports that said Musk and SpaceX "face federal reviews from the Air Force" and others for "failing to provide details" of his recent meetings with foreign leaders which could potentially violate national-security rules.

"Mr. Musk’s business ventures are heavily reliant on China," the op-ed continued. "He borrowed at least $1.4 billion from banks controlled by the Chinese government to help build Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory, which was responsible for more than half of Tesla’s global deliveries in the third quarter of 2024."

"China does not tend to give things away," Honoré explained. "The country’s laws stipulate that the Communist Party can demand intelligence from any company doing business in China, in exchange for participating in the country’s markets."

"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 said.

"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. There is too much at stake to ignore what’s right in front of them."

This comes amid concerns from Democrats that the South African-born billionaire may have too much influence over the White House.

As OK! previously reported, The View moderator Whoopi Goldberg claimed some of Musk's recent comments and actions have prompted people to ask "who is in charge?"

Co-host Joy Behar replied, "You’ve been calling him vice president."

"I don’t know what J.D. [Vance] Is doing. I hardly ever — I don’t remember the last time we even talked about J.D.," the Sister Act star said at the time. "But it kind of seems like maybe he [Musk] is the president, because he got a promotion of some sort that none of us knew about."

The New York Times published Honoré's op-ed.