Musk Met This Week With General Who Leads N.S.A. and Cyber Command, an N.S.

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Musk Met This Week With General Who Leads N.S.A. and Cyber Command, an N.S.A. Spokesman Says

The talks suggest that the effort to shrink the size of the federal work force could soon turn to a critical arm of the intelligence community.

Gen. Timothy Haugh testifying on worldwide security threats on Capitol Hill last year. He leads both the National Security Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command. Credit...Kent Nishimura for The New York Times

By Julian E. Barnes

Reporting on U.S. intelligence agencies

• March 13, 2025

Elon Musk met with the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command this week, an N.S.A. spokesman said on Thursday, a sign that the effort to shrink the size of the federal work force could soon turn to a critical arm of the intelligence community.

Mr. Musk, who is leading efforts to reorganize the federal government, traveled to the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Md., on Wednesday, his first visit there as a special adviser to Mr. Trump, according to the N.S.A. spokesman, who said Mr. Musk had met with General Timothy Haugh, who leads both the N.S.A. and Cyber Command.

The spokesman, who did not allow his name to be used, also said that General Haugh was holding meetings with key White House advisers to ensure the N.S.A. and Cyber Command were “aligned” with the priorities of Mr. Trump, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence.

Mr. Musk’s visit was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.

The N.S.A. is one of the most bureaucratic of the U.S. spy agencies but collects some of the most valuable intelligence, scooping up telephone and computer communications around the world.

Cyber Command, while a separate organization, is also headquartered at Fort Meade.

While Mr. Musk has criticized the federal government’s computer systems, the N.S.A. has some of the most expert cryptologists and computer network experts in the world.

Mr. Musk this week complained about a disruption of service attack on X that caused service outages. On Monday, he said on Fox News that the cyberattack originated from “IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area.” However, an activist hacking group, Dark Storm, claimed responsibility, and experts have cast doubt that the attack actually originated from Ukraine.

Julian E. Barnes covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades. More about Julian E. Barnes