Elon Musk leaves everyone baffled with 'top secret' message on notepad

A handwritten message on a notepad spotted in front of Elon Musk during a televised Trump administration Cabinet meeting has left people baffled. Images posted on social media show the Tesla co-founder sitting around a table with senior members of US President Donald Trump's Cabinet with the cryptic scribbling "top secret" in full view before him and the cameras.

It could be seen as a public riposte from the tech billionaire after a New York Times report published in March claimed Mr Musk was going to be briefed on "top secret" military plans drawn up in the event of a war between the US and China. According to the publication's report, the briefing was to include 20 to 30 slides explaining how the US would fight a war with China. The Times cited two US officials it didn't identify. Mr Trump dismissed the report. It raised conflict of interest questions, as Mr Musk has interests in China and with the Pentagon through some of his businesses.

The White House has said before that Mr Musk would recuse himself if any conflicts of interest were to arise because of his business interests and role in spearheading efforts to cut US federal government spending.

Alternatively, the "top secret" note may have been in reference to the announcement Mr Musk made during the Cabinet meeting.

He claimed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had anticipated government savings of $150billion (£115.5bn) in the next fiscal year after clamping down on "waste" and "fraud".

Mr Musk claimed some of the savings would come from "absurd" things such as people who hadn't even been born receiving unemployment insurance.

In a message to US citizens, he said: "We’re going to be spending their tax dollars in a way that is fair and sensible and good."

But the amount is much lower than his previous target of cutting $1trillion (£770.6bn) — a figure he used last month during a Fox News interview.