Trump team weighs shutting out Musk's SpaceX from ‘Golden Dome' project as fallout from feud lingers
Musk's company appeared to be the frontrunner to begin work on the ambitious project to create a missile shield over America, a project that would have pocketed Musk billions.
But after last week's explosive breakup, which Musk has since attempted some damage control, the project is in jeopardy, three people familiar with plans told Reuters.
'Because of the blowup, the Pentagon has been given the space to look at other alternatives,' one of the people told the news agency.
The White House said in a statement that any decision on the project would be made 'prioritizing the best deal for America and leveraging the most advanced and innovative technology.' A spokesperson added that the administration 'is committed to a rigorous review process for all bids and contracts.'
A senior Defense Department official told Reuters that the Pentagon 'has no announcements regarding future contracts associated with the Golden Dome effort.'
If SpaceX misses out on the project, it would signal the significance of the president's personal relationships when it comes to his leadership, aerospace and defense experts said.
'That people guiding the program or building it are approved based on their political affiliation signals a real concern that the project itself is very politicized and not being conducted on the technical merits,' Laura Grego, a missile defense expert and research director at the non-profit Union of Concerned Scientists, told Reuters.
Insiders also told the outlet that there is a lot of uncertainty looming over the project and a 'scramble' among contractors and industry experts.
'There isn't a coordinated effort with a true vision,' an insider told the outlet. 'All of these companies are just grabbing at this pot of money.'
The independent Congressional Budget Office has estimated the project could take 20 years to complete and cost $524 billion.
After last week's blowup between Trump and Musk, the tech mogul issued a groveling climbdown in the early hours of Wednesday, expressing regret over the public fallout between him and Trump last week.
'I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far,' the world's richest man wrote on X.
Trump also hinted that reconciliation between the pair was possible. 'Look, I have no hard feelings,' Trump said in the interview recorded on Monday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Treasury Secretary quashes hopes that Americans will get rebate checks from tariffs
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just gave Americans a reason to doubt whether they'll ever see the 'rebates' that some MAGAworld figures have called for as funds roll in from Trump's tariff plans. Bessent was on CNBC's 'Squawk Box' explaining that the projected total of $300 billion in tariff revenue (the administration's own figure) would be first applied to driving down America's national debt. 'We're going to bring down the deficit-to-GDP [ratio]. We'll start paying down the debt, and then at that point that can be used as an offset to the American people,' Bessent told CNBC Tuesday. He added that 'I think, at a point, we're going to be able to do it,' but stressed that for now, ' President [Donald] Trump and I are laser-focused on paying down the debt.' His comments come as new reports show that the U.S. has taken in $100 billion in tariff revenue since April, the onset of Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs. That figure is expected to rise at an accelerated rate for the remainder of the year after enforcement of Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs began in early August. Bessent's comments betray one uncomfortable fact for both the Trump administration and House Republicans, however. The deficit-to-GDP ratio remains higher than 6 percent after 2024 and is likely to rise in the coming months, not fall. Real GDP growth is expected to be negatively affected by the president's tariff agenda, while the Republican budget reconciliation package that extended the 2017 tax cuts and poured billions into ICE enforcement measures was not deficit-neutral and is projected to add $3.4 trillion to the federal budget deficit over the next decade. All of that is to say: the president may end up having to choose between offsetting his own policy platform's effects on the national debt or a politically expedient move to cut Americans a check. The president pursued that latter option once before, during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the help of Democrats in Congress; it didn't help his re-election prospects that year. Bessent and others in the Trump administration are hoping that tariff revenues will continue to rise, and the Trump team has generally dismissed fears from economists around the effects tariffs will have on economic growth. Those fears are a central part of the dispute between the president and his Federal Reserve chief, Jerome Powell. For months, Trump has heaped political pressure and scorn on Powell over the Fed chair's refusal to lower interest rates — something the president sees as the main impediment to GDP growth. Powell, meanwhile, has cited concerns about persistent inflation in his repeated decisions to hold rates steady. The feud stems from a larger dynamic playing out within the Trump administration: the president's persistent fury in response to federal officials, almost exclusively career officials with nonpartisan backgrounds, refusing to play along with the White House's rose-colored view of the U.S. economy under Trump, including the effects of inflation, unemployment and wage growth. Powell has taken abuse from the president for months, and earlier in August Trump went a step further and fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after a jobs report that generated unsatisfactory headlines. Trump accused the agency of juicing the numbers to help Democrats in the 2024 election. This week Trump escalated his feud with the Fed and called for the first Black member of the Fed's board of governors to resign. The president accused the woman, Lisa Cook, of mortgage fraud and demanded that the Justice Department investigate her after one of his political appointees at another agency made accusations that she 'falsified bank records.' Cook replied that the accusations were 'based on a mortgage application from four years ago, before I joined the Federal Reserve' and that she had 'no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.' 'I do intend to take any questions about my financial history seriously as a member of the Federal Reserve and so I am gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts,' she added.
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Why are people smuggling ants into the US?
The smuggling of ants and other insects in the US is reportedly on the rise following recent cuts to the USDA. These cuts, implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency, led to layoffs and buyouts within the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which regulates invertebrate smuggling. Industry sources suggest that these reductions have emboldened ant smugglers, while the process for legal ant sales has become more difficult, contributing to an increase in illicit trade. Invasive ant species, such as tawny crazy ants and Asian needle ants, pose significant environmental and public health risks, damaging ecosystems, homes, and causing severe stings. Experts express concern over the reduced infrastructure for detecting and preventing invasive species, although the USDA maintains that its enforcement capabilities have not diminished.
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Fatal Florida crash fuels immigration fight between DeSantis and Newsom
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis dispatched his top deputy to California to oversee the handover of a truck driver accused of making an illegal U-turn that killed three people in Florida last week. Sending his newly appointed lieutenant governor, Jay Collins, underscores Republicans' push to crack down on illegal immigration. It also revs up a political rivalry between DeSantis and California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, both of whom aspire to higher office. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Monday that truck driver Harjinder Singh, a native of India, was in the country illegally. 'Three lives lost because of Gavin Newsom. Because of California's failed policies," Collins said Thursday at a press conference near an airport in Stockton, California. "We're done with that," Collins added, using an expletive. A spokesperson for Newsom described Collins' trip to California as a 'photo op' and criticized Florida officials for letting a 'murder suspect walk.' Collins did not elaborate on why Singh was able to fly to California after the Aug. 12 crash on Florida's Turnpike. U.S. Marshals arrested him Saturday in Stockton. Singh made the illegal turn on the highway about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. A minivan in the neighboring lane was unable to avoid the truck's trailer and slammed into it, killing the minivan's driver and two passengers. Singh and a passenger in his truck were not injured. Florida authorities said Singh entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2018. According to Homeland Security, Singh obtained a commercial driver's license in California, which is one of 19 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that issue licenses regardless of immigration status, according to the National Immigration Law Center. Collins said Thursday that Singh never should have been issued a driver's license, calling the move 'unacceptable.' Collins said Singh lacks basic English proficiency and did not know the road signs. Newsom's press office responded on the X platform that Singh obtained a work permit while Donald Trump was president. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin disputed that, saying the federal government denied him a permit during Trump's first term in September 2020 and granted him one in June 2021, under President Joe Biden. Singh is charged with three state counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations. The federal government has asked that he be transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after his criminal case is complete. A public defender assigned to Singh's case did not respond to a request for comment. ___
