WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk

held a meeting for more than an hour at the Pentagon on Friday

morning as the close ally of President Donald Trump called for

the prosecutions of any Pentagon officials leaking false

information about his visit.

Musk, who is making sweeping cuts to the U.S. federal

government, had been expected to get an overview of a number of

sensitive topics. The New York Times reported he would be

briefed on secret war plans for China, something Musk, Trump and

others denied.

Musk arrived in a motorcade and quickly moved upstairs

to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It was unclear

whether U.S. generals joined that meeting virtually.

Hegseth said on X the Musk meeting would focus on

"innovation, efficiencies & smarter production."

The visit, which began shortly before 9 a.m., lasted about

80 minutes. As he departed, Musk was seen joking with Hegseth,

and said the meeting went well.

Earlier on Friday, before arriving at the Pentagon, Musk

lashed out at the New York Times, calling it "pure propaganda."

"I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon

who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will

be found," he wrote on X.

Trump also denied the story.

"China will not even be mentioned or discussed," Trump said

in a post on Truth Social on Thursday about the meeting.

Access to a closely guarded military plan would mark a sharp

expansion of Musk's role as a Trump adviser who has spearheaded

efforts to cut U.S. government spending.

It would also fuel questions about conflicts of interest for

Musk, who as the head of Tesla and SpaceX has business

interests in China and with the Pentagon.

The White House has previously said Musk will recuse

himself if any conflicts of interest arise between his business

dealings and his role in cutting federal government spending.

Last week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi

Gabbard said she had ordered an investigation into leaks from

inside the intelligence community and is also probing internal

chat rooms for any misconduct by employees.

During Trump's first term, his administration referred

more media leaks for criminal investigation each year than in

any of the previous 15 years, according to records released in

2021 by the Justice Department to the independent watchdog

group, Project on Government Oversight, in response to a Freedom

of Information Act lawsuit.