Elon Musk reportedly has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022.
They have discussed personal topics, business, and geopolitical tensions, The Wall Street Journal reported.
News of the Musk-Putin conversations undoubtedly will be a topic in political circles, as Musk, social platform X owner and Tesla and SpaceX CEO, has announced he's supporting former President Donald Trump against Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The report suggested that Musk's contact with Putin could signal reengagement with the Russian leader, and support Trump's expressed desire to cut a deal over the war in Ukraine.
A spokeswoman for Trump's campaign told the Journal that Musk is "a once-in-a-generation industry leader" and said "our broken federal bureaucracy could certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency."
"As for Putin," the spokeswoman said, "there's only one candidate in the race that he did not invade another country under, and it's President Trump. President Trump has long said that he will reestablish his peace through strength foreign policy to deter Russia's aggression and end the war in Ukraine."
The Biden administration faces a dilemma, a source told the Journal, because Musk's technologies are vital to government operations.
"They don't love it," the person told the outlet about the Musk-Putin contact.
SpaceX is involved in U.S. space efforts, such as national security satellites and transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Thus, Musk has knowledge regarding some of most sensitive U.S. space programs.
"We do not comment on any individual's security clearance, review or status, or about personnel security policy matters in the context of reports about any individual's actions," a Pentagon spokesman told the Journal.
Musk has downplayed his knowledge of government plans.
"I do have a top-secret clearance, but, I'd have to say, like most of the stuff that I'm aware of … the reason they keep it top secret is because it's so boring," he said in Pennsylvania last week.
Last year, Putin hailed Musk as an "outstanding person" and businessman. The public praise came days after Musk said he refused a Ukrainian request to activate his Starlink satellite network in Crimea's port city of Sevastopol to aid an attack on Russia's fleet there, saying he feared complicity in a "major" act of war.
The Journal report said Putin asked Musk to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Musk, though, has said accusations he's an apologist for Putin are "absurd," and has said his companies "have done more to undermine Russia than anything."
Reuters contributed to this story.