X | @thedailybeast
Elon Musk’s notepad scribble went insanely viral.
People noticed something pretty weird written on his notepad
Musk was at this cabinet meeting, and the whole thing was being aired live. And there he was, just casually sitting there with his notepad wide open…
Now, considering everyone’s still talking about the whole Signal group chat mess and all the national security talk lately, this was a big deal.
The secret chat that was leaked had already caused headlines
Back in March, things already got messy when Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, got accidentally dropped into this super confidential chat. They were literally talking war plans on Signal, the encrypted app.
Big names were in that chat, top officials and all
We’re talking VP JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and even Tulsi Gabbard from intel. Mike Waltz, the security adviser, straight-up admitted he was the one who put the group together, saying it was his job to “make sure everything’s coordinated.”
In the cabinet meeting, Musk didn’t really hide his notepad message
What’s wild is—he didn’t even try to cover it up, leaving it wide open for people to see.
Turns out the message wasn’t actually so serious
Ironically, the whole thing turned out to be nothing. On the notepad, Musk had written only two words: “Top Secret”
The New York Times had published a wild theory
Apparently, the business tycoon was just messing around, trolling the wild stuff people have been saying about him lately. Last month, the New York Times dropped this piece that basically hinted he might get briefed on secret military plans if things ever went south between the US and China. And it mentioned DOGE, too.
Pretty much everyone shut the whole thing down
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that it’s not true. Trump called it a “fake story,” saying it was just meant to mess with whatever relationship Musk has with the Pentagon. And Musk denied it too!
Some people loved the stunt
Elon’s fans thought the whole thing was hilarious. They were totally here for it, calling him the king of trolling the media.
One person on X posted, “Elon is such a troll and I love him for it.”
And someone else added, “Elon knows exactly how the media works, so he just played with them—wrote ‘top secret’ on his notepad knowing they’d be zooming in on everything.”
But others thought it was a childish move
A lot of people weren’t having it. They thought Musk’s move was just lame and kind of childish, especially for someone who’s a senior advisor to the President.