President Donald Trump said Friday that war plans should not be shared with his adviser Elon Musk because of his business interests, a rare suggestion that the billionaire entrepreneur's expansive role in the administration will face limits. Trump made the comments during an Oval Office meeting on developing a new fighter jet, and he rejected reports that Musk would be briefed on how the United States would fight a hypothetical war with China. “Elon has businesses in China,” the Republican president said. “And he would be susceptible, perhaps, to that.” Trump praised Musk as a patriot. However, the reference to his businesses — which include Tesla, an electric vehicle manufacturer trying to expand sales and production in China — is an unusual acknowledgement of concerns about Musk balancing his corporate and government responsibilities. Trump had previously brushed off questions about Musk's potential conflicts of interest, simply saying that he would steer clear when necessary. The president said that Musk visited the Pentagon on Friday morning to discuss reducing costs, which he's been working on through the Department of Government Efficiency. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Musk was there "to talk about efficiencies, to talk about innovations.” Musk said while leaving the Pentagon that he was ready to do “anything that could be helpful," according to a CNN video. He also refused to answer questions as to whether he received a classified briefing on China as part of the visit. Musk has played an integral role in the Trump administration’s push to dramatically reduce the size of the government. He's faced intense blowback from some lawmakers and voters for his chainsaw-wielding approach to laying off workers and slashing programs, although Trump's supporters have hailed it. A senior defense official told reporters on Tuesday that roughly 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs will be cut in the Defense Department. Reporter: "You guys are denying that New York Times report that Elon Musk is going to be shown a 20 to 30 page presentation about a theoretical war plan against China. Why not just show it to Elon?" Donald Trump, U.S. President: "I don't want to show it to anybody. You know, you're talking about a potential war with China. Now, I deal with these people all the time, and I'm dealing with (Defense Secretary) Pete (Hegseth). I'm dealing with these gentlemen on numerous different airplane purchases, and I think they're all going to be great. But I don't want other people seeing - anybody - seeing potential war with China. We don't want to have a potential war with China. But I can tell you if we did, we're very well equipped to handle it. But I don't want to show that anybody. But certainly you wouldn't show it to a businessman who is helping us so much. He's a great patriot. He's taken, it's paying a big price for helping us cut costs. And he's doing a great job. He's finding tremendous waste, fraud and abuse. But I certainly wouldn't want you know, Elon has businesses in China and he would be susceptible perhaps to that." Donald Trump, U.S. President: "Nobody believed it that the Pentagon was giving him a briefing on what war with China would look like. And he has business there. No, they made that up because it's a good story to make up. And I just wanted to make sure. I called up chief of staff and I called up Pete and I said, is there any truth to that? Absolutely not. He's there for DOGE, not there for China. And if you ever mention China, I think he'd walk out of the room. He wouldn't he wouldn't take it anyway."