Musk returns to US govt for Pentagon war study

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.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (top) looks on as US President Donald Trump speaks to the press after a meeting with technology executives about artificial intelligence at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 29, 2026. (Photo: AFP)

Musk served as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) before departing in May 2025, having publicly fallen out with Trump.

In a speech 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," Hegseth said.

Musk will be a co-leader of Project Meridian alongside Palmer Luckey, the 34-year-old co-founder of defense technology company Anduril Industries, and Newt Gingrich, the 83-year-old Republican former House speaker.

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.

He later resumed giving to Republican causes, including multimillion-dollar donations to individual candidates and conservative political groups.

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.