Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla and of SpaceX, gestures during a joint news conference with T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert at the SpaceX Starbase, in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., August 25, 2022. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo
WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) – Reports that the United States was discussing launching a national security review of some of Elon Musk’s ventures were “not true,” said the White House on Monday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the Biden administration’s relationship with Musk or his business dealings with other countries.
Asked about a Bloomberg News report last week that said Biden administration officials were discussing whether some of Musk’s ventures should face national security reviews, Jean-Pierre said, “Those reportings are not true. … The national security review – that is not true.”
Bloomberg on Thursday reported that U.S. officials were weighing what tools, if any, were available to allow the U.S. government to subject some of Musk’s ventures, including SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network and his $44 billion deal for Twitter Inc (TWTR.N), to national security reviews.
The presence of foreign investors in Musk’s Twitter deal could trigger a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Bloomberg reported at the time.
Reporting by Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Franklin Paul and Aurora Ellis
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