Donald Trump demands Reuters return $9 MILLION payment from the Pentagon for ‘social deception’ study
Donald Trump is demanding that Elon Musk recover millions the federal government paid to Reuters for a mysterious ‘social engineering defense’ program.
The years-old contract was discovered by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and reveals that the Pentagon awarded a contract worth $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 also 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 Trump over the multi-million-dollar contract.
In a post to his Truth Social account on Thursday, 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!’
Thomas Reuters Special Services, LLC. is government relations services company that falls under the same parent company as the news agency Reuters
Elon Musk revealed this week that the government relations company received a $9 million contract from the Defense Department for a ‘social deception’ program – and now President Donald Trump wants the money back
But 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 US government for ‘large scale social deception.’ That is literally what it says on the purchase order!’
‘They’re a total scam,’ he added of the company. ‘Just wow.’
ASED aims to develop defenses against internet attacks such as phishing, in which scammers gain access to systems or information.
The goal of the ASED programs is to enhance U.S. cybersecurity by creating systems that detect, analyze and mitigate threats that exploit human psychology.
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.
The description of the multi-million-dollar contract that ran from Sept. 2018 through Nov. 2022 is listed as ‘Active Social Engineering Defense (ASED) Large Scale Social Deception (LSD)’
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 a clawback order for $5.9 million.
DOGE found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued payment last week to luxury New York City hotels to house illegal migrants against direct orders signed by Trump.
Four top finance officers at FEMA were fired for carrying out the $5.9 million payment.
But some Americans are outraged that while DOGE cuts contracts – including nearly $1 billion at the Education Department and millions more at the National Institutes of Health – he is receiving government funds to his own companies.
SpaceX, one of Musk’s companies, was awarded a more than $38 million contract on Monday from NASA.
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.
More notably is Politico, which received $8 million payments form the now-defunct U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for it’s employees to receive its Politico Pro subscription service.
Politico Pro, though under the news company Politico, is a policy intelligence platform that provides tracking and analysis of policy, legislation and executive actions that impact different facets of government agencies and private industry.
Still, the news outlet faced the wrath of Trump and his anti-press allies who claim it’s proof legacy media is increasingly ‘far left’ and involved in promoting ‘anti-Trump’ bias.
DOGE’s government website previewed it plans to publish by Friday, February 14 ‘receipts’ to show how much the group has saved the federal government so far – with less than one month operating.
