Oligarchs like Elon Musk are tightening their grip on the Pentagon

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has put former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey in charge of Project Meridian, a Pentagon effort to map out the capabilities needed for technological dominance in future warfare. MS NOW contributor Nicholas Grossman argues the arrangement hands defense planning to people with a direct financial stake in its outcome.

Within a week of the announcement, Luckey's company Anduril won two Pentagon awards: $2.9 billion for submarine components and $1.9 billion to expand command and control software. Baltimore was the setting for an appearance by President Donald Trump promoting the submarine award. Musk's firms, which sell launch, satellite internet and artificial intelligence services, have collected billions more from the current administration, and Musk spent $288 million backing Republicans in 2024. Neither the Pentagon nor the companies have addressed conflict-of-interest concerns.

Grossman says Meridian stands in for the Office of Net Assessment, the Pentagon's in-house think tank, which Hegseth shut down in 2025. Musk and Luckey, he adds, have no military service or national security record; he cites Luckey's call to be the world's "gun store" as an example of questionable judgment.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →