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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Technology
Edward Helmore

Elon Musk will not receive highest-level government security clearance – reports

three men smile and talk
Donald Trump, Elon Musk and JD Vance attend a college football game between the army and navy in Landover, Maryland, on 14 December 2024. Photograph: Stephanie Scarbrough/AP

The space entrepreneur Elon Musk is unlikely to receive government security clearances if he so applied, even as his SpaceX launch company blasts military and spy agency payloads into orbit, according to a report on Monday.

The billionaire, a close ally of Donald Trump, who is set to join the incoming administration as an efficiency expert and recently became the first person to exceed $400bn in self-made personal wealth, is reported by the Wall Street Journal to have been advised by SpaceX lawyers not to seek highest-level security clearances owing to personal drug use and contacts with foreign nationals.

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