The U.S. Department of Defense announced on the 21st that U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth met with American entrepreneur Elon Musk at the Pentagon that day. After winning the election last year, U.S. President Trump appointed Musk to lead the "Government Efficiency Department" and promoted a large-scale government layoff plan after taking office. The Pentagon said that the meeting between the two had nothing to do with Musk's work in the "Government Efficiency Department", but was a personal invitation from Hegseth to visit the Pentagon. In the Pentagon's press release, Musk's title was "industrialist, presidential adviser." The press release revealed that Hegseth's "private meeting" with Musk was held in the minister's office and lasted about an hour. During the meeting, the two discussed innovation, efficiency and smarter ways of working, and how to apply these concepts to the U.S. Department of Defense. The Pentagon said that Musk's last visit to the Pentagon was in 2016, when he met with then-Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.