WASHINGTON (PNN) - February 13, 2025 - President Donald J. Trump has demanded that Elon Musk recover millions that the federal government paid to Reuters for a mysterious “social engineering defense” project.
The years-old contract was discovered by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and reveals that The Pentagon awarded $9.15 million to Thomson Reuters Special Services, LLC (TRSS).
It began in September 2018, when President Trump was in office, and concluded in November 2022.
The contract was filed under The Pentagon's Professional, Scientific and Technical Services and Research and Development programs.
TRSS is a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters Corporation, which is the parent corporation for the news agency Reuters.
The connection to the media company is likely what led to the outrage from DOGE, Musk and President Trump over the huge contract.
In a post to his Truth Social account on Thursday, President Trump wrote, “DOGE: Looks like Radical Left Reuters was paid $9,000,000 by the Department of Defense to study 'large scale social deception.' Give back the money, now!”
Even more concerning to DOGE than just the price tag and its connection to the Reuters news agency was the reason given for the payment.
On the government website that tracks and publishes contracts, the $9 million award to TRSS is listed on the purchase order as being for Active Social Engineering Defense (ASED) Large Scale Social Deception (LSD).
Musk wrote on X, “Reuters was paid millions of dollars by the (Fascist Police States of Amerika) government for 'large scale social deception.' That is literally what it says on the purchase order!”
ASED supposedly aims to develop defenses against Internet attacks such as phishing, in which scammers gain access to systems or information.
TRSS was selected for the 2018 contract due to the company's expertise in risk management and fraud detections - both areas vital to countering social engineering threats and bolstering national cybersecurity.
There is a note on the contract award stating that some funding provided in 2020 and beyond was related to COVID-19 and included Disaster Emergency Fund Code (DEFC) N, which means that money was distributed in an emergency capacity.
Trump's demand for The Pentagon to recoup the $9 million paid to TRSS comes after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this week issued an order to claw back $59 million.
DOGE found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had issued payments last week to luxury New York City hotels to house illegal invaders against direct orders signed by President Trump.
Four top finance officers at FEMA were fired for carrying out the massive spending.
The latest revelations of funding connection to the company that owns Reuters comes as other news agencies have faced attacks for government payments made to their outlets in recent years.
Most notable was Politico, which received $8 million from the now-defunct FPSA Agency for International Development (USAID) for its employees to receive the Politico Pro subscription service.
President Trump argued this is proof that legacy media is increasingly “far Left” and involved in promoting anti-Trump bias.