The New York Times reported on March 27, 2026, citing two U.S. officials, that Elon Musk joined a March 24 phone call between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz. The Times said it was “unclear why Mr. Musk was on the call or whether he spoke,” and called it “notable because it is rare for a private citizen to be on a call between two heads of state during a wartime crisis.” Neither the White House nor the Indian government had disclosed Musk's presence; the White House declined to comment on his inclusion. It was the first phone conversation between the two leaders since the U.S. and Israel struck Iran on February 28.
India's Ministry of External Affairs denied the report. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen the story. The telephone conversation on 24 March was between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump only.” The Independent noted that the statement stopped short of denying that Musk was physically present while the two leaders spoke, and people familiar with the matter told the Hindustan Times that the U.S. side would have to confirm whether Musk was present. India's opposition Congress party asked, “Why was a businessman present when two national leaders were discussing a global crisis?”
Musk holds no government role; he left the administration and fell out with Trump last summer, and the two appear to have since reconciled. His business interests touch both sides of the call. According to The New Republic, Saudi Arabia's intelligence company invested $3 million in his xAI in February, xAI has also received funding from Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and Starlink has signed deals with two of India's biggest telecom companies. The Times reported that Starlink is still awaiting final clearances to operate in India, that Tesla has long sought to sell in India, and that a SpaceX public offering could be thrown into turmoil if global economic conditions worsen.
The New Republic wrote, “There is literally no rational justification for including the world's richest man on a call between two national leaders during a global crisis.”
Correction (October 14, 2026): An earlier version said Musk lacked a security clearance for the topic, described the call as roughly 40 minutes long, and said Modi had just told India's Parliament that interference in the Strait of Hormuz was “unacceptable.” None of these claims could be traced to a source and they have been removed, and the title has been rewritten. The entry also now notes that India's denial did not address whether Musk was physically present, replacing an earlier line that framed the dispute as India lying or the Times being wrong.