Why Musk is vulnerable in conflict with Trump
In the days after the 2024 election, Elon Musk seemed unstoppable.
After plowing at least $288 million into helping elect President Donald Trump and other Republicans, the payoff for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was immediate. Tesla's stock soared, making the world's richest man even richer. His influence in Washington was incomparable, and government support for his ambitions — whether launching spaceships to Mars or autonomous cars across America — seemed more plausible than ever.
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Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mark Cuban says left-leaning Bluesky's ‘lack of diversity of thought' driving users back to Elon Musk's X
Mark Cuban says Bluesky has 'grown ruder and more hateful' and warned that a 'lack of diversity of thought' on the platform is pushing users back to Elon Musk's X, the social network formerly known as Twitter. The billionaire entrepreneur and longtime tech enthusiast had been one of Bluesky's most visible champions, but now says the platform's predominantly left-leaning user base has created a hostile echo chamber where dissenting or even mildly nuanced opinions are met with outrage. 'The lack of diversity of thought here is really hurting usage,' Cuban wrote this week in a series of critical posts. 'There used to be great give and take discussions on politics and news. Not so much any more. Doesn't have to be this way.' Cuban, the tech billionaire who once owned the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and who recently concluded a lengthy stint as one of the investor 'sharks' on the hit reality show 'Shark Tank,' posted a link to a Washington Post opinion piece titled: 'The Bluesky bubble hurts liberals and their causes. In the piece, columnist Megan McArdle argued that the platform's left-leaning user base fosters a political silo. Cuban agreed with the piece's assessment. 'The moderation and block tools on here are so advanced, if you see someone you don't want to see on here, just block them. Don't attack them,' he added. He supported Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election but didn't donate to her campaign, joined Bluesky in late 2024 and has posted nearly 2,000 times since. His first post — 'Hello Less Hateful World' — set a hopeful tone. But that optimism has since faded. 'Engagement went from great convos on many topics, to agree with me or you are a nazi fascist,' Cuban wrote. 'We are forcing posts to X.' He said even small disagreements are met with outsized hostility. 'Even if you agree with 95% of what a person is saying on a topic, if there is one point that you might call out as being more of a grey area, they will call you a fascist etc.,' Cuban wrote. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Cuban's net worth stands at approximately $8.35 billion. Some users didn't take kindly to Cuban's critiques — and they made their feelings known in blunt, often profane language. In response to his concerns, one user wrote, 'Go wipe your crocodile tears with a wad of hundreds you tw-t. People are over the idea of 'cool' billionaires.' Another told him, 'Man if I were as rich as you I'd probably be less of a p—y,' while a third simply said, 'F–kin leave then, p—y.' Yet another post, which Cuban also reposted, read: 'It's like you, as a billionaire, are a despicable bastard and we want you to stop pushing AI and big business here and just Go Away.' Bluesky launched as a decentralized social media alternative and saw explosive growth in the aftermath of Elon Musk's full-throated endorsement of Donald Trump's reelection campaign in late 2024. Musk's backing of Trump triggered an exodus from X, driving millions of liberal-leaning users to Bluesky in search of a quieter, more ideologically aligned environment. Between November 2024 and May 2025, Bluesky's user base tripled — from roughly 10 million to over 30 million — according to Pew Research Center. That analysis also found that many of the platform's most prominent news influencers lean left politically. Bluesky CEO Jay Graber acknowledged the politically driven migration in a June 4 podcast interview with Vox's Peter Kafka. 'It's people wanting to just try something new. It's people finding their community here,' she said. 'I think in general it's both people looking for something and people looking to get away from something.' But for Cuban, that community appears to have turned inward. He now worries the platform is discouraging debate and becoming a digital echo chamber. The Post has sought comment from Bluesky.
CNN
37 minutes ago
- CNN
Democratic governors slam Trump's military deployment in California as ‘flagrant abuse of power'
Democratic governors on Thursday slammed President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard and Marines to California amid protests over the administration's immigration enforcement policies. 'As we speak, an American city has been militarized over the objections of their governor,' New York Gov. Kathy Hochul began her testimony at a hearing on Capitol Hill. 'At the outset I just want to say that this is a flagrant abuse of power and nothing short of an assault on our American values.' The hearing is playing out against the backdrop of protests in Los Angeles and cities across the country against the Trump administration's immigration enforcement actions. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has clashed with Trump over his decision to deploy National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles despite opposition from the state and city's Democratic leaders. Thursday's proceedings on Capitol Hill gave a high-profile platform to some of the Democratic Party's potential 2028 contenders to craft their response to the Trump administration's controversial immigration tactics, as the party seeks to calibrate its messaging on issues of crime and public safety. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called it wrong 'to deploy the National Guard and active duty Marines into an American city, over the objection of local law enforcement' and 'to tear children away from their homes and their mothers and fathers.' The Illinois governor condemned any violence, but he also delivered a warning to the Trump administration over potential plans to broaden the scope of the immigration crackdown, including the deployment of the National Guard in other states. 'We will not participate in abuses of power. We will not violate court orders. We will not ignore the Constitution. We will not defy the Supreme Court. We will not take away people's rights to peacefully protest,' Pritzker said. Hochul, Pritzker and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are testifying at a hearing focused on 'sanctuary state' policies. 'Sanctuary' jurisdictions is a broad term referring to jurisdictions with policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement actions, but the term is nebulously defined. Walz, who noted his state does not have so-called sanctuary legislation guiding enforcement policies, blasted the Trump administration's 'cruel and misguided policies.' 'We have a broken immigration system in this country. I think everyone in this room agrees with that. But nothing Minnesota has done to serve its own people stands in the way of the federal government managing border security and policies,' Walz said. And each governor laid the blame at Congress' feet for failing to adequately tackle comprehensive immigration reform. House Oversight Chair James Comer, meanwhile, criticized the Democratic governors' approach to immigration enforcement, saying in his opening remarks that 'Democrat-run sanctuary cities and states are siding with illegal aliens.' 'For today's Democrat Party, it seems unlimited illegal immigration isn't a failure of policy – it is the policy. And that agenda is being pushed at every level of government,' he continued. The Democratic governors explained the way their states cooperate with ICE on criminal enforcement, but Republicans have pushed for state and local officials to cooperate in all immigration enforcement matters. Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik clashed sharply with Hochul during the hearing, providing a potential preview of next year's gubernatorial race in the Empire State with the congresswoman eyed as a top possible GOP contender. New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, whose name is also in the mix as a potential GOP gubernatorial candidate, also briefly appeared at the hearing even though he does not sit on the committee. Stefanik also does not sit on the panel. The clash came as Stefanik questioned Hochul over New York's sanctuary policies for undocumented immigrants, pressing her repeatedly to recall details of what the congresswoman claimed were violent crimes committed by migrants in New York City during the governor's administration. 'Do you know who Sebastian Zapeta-Calil is?' Stefanik asked Hochul at one point. 'I'm sure you'll tell me,' Hochul said, when Stefanik cut in again. 'These are high-profile cases, New Yorkers know about them and you don't – so let's talk about Sebastian Zapeta-Calil. Do you know who that is?' she asked, referencing a high-profile case of subway violence from late last year in which an undocumented migrant was accused of setting fire to a woman who was asleep while riding a New York City train. 'I don't have the specific details at my disposal, no,' Hochul answered. After describing the case, Stefanik said, 'This is in Kathy Hochul's New York.' 'These crimes are horrific, I condemn them, and I would say – in all of these cases we would work with ICE to remove them,' Hochul said. CNN reported in January that Zapeta-Calil, 33, an undocumented migrant from Guatemala, pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the death of Debrina Kawam, 57. Zapeta-Calil repeatedly told detectives he had no memory of the attack. Then, investigators played surveillance video that allegedly caught him igniting the flames. 'Oh, damn, that's me,' Zapeta-Calil said during questioning with police that was transcribed and translated, according to court documents. 'I am very sorry. I didn't mean to. But I really don't know. I don't know what happened, but I'm very sorry for that woman,' Zapeta-Calil told police. Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost asked each of the governors how they would handle potential arrests by the federal government, as he decried Trump having endorsed the idea of arresting California Gov. Gavin Newsom. 'If Tom Homan comes to Albany to arrest me, I'll say go for it. You can't intimidate a governor,' Hochul said, referring to the White House border czar. 'We're here on the frontlines every day, fighting to defend our rights, our values, and the public safety of our residents. And so, anything threatening our responsibility is an assault on our democracy, nothing short of that.' 'If Tom Homan were to come to try to arrest us, me, rather, I could say first of all that he can try,' Pritzker said. 'I can also tell you that I will stand in the way of Tom Homan going after people who don't deserve to be frightened in their communities, who don't deserve to be threatened, terrorized – I would rather that he came and arrested me than do that to the people of my state.' 'I didn't realize how much animosity there is here – we have a responsibility to the American public to work together. And I think threatening arrests on elected officials, congressman, it doesn't help any of us,' said Walz. 'And Gov. Pritzker is right – our citizens are scared and angry and it's not necessary. We can fix this with a bipartisan border bill, help us out.'
38 minutes ago
Trump signs measure blocking California's ban on new sales of gas-powered cars
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump signed a resolution on Thursday that blocks California's first-in-the-nation rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. The state quickly announced it was challenging the move in court, with California's attorney general holding a news conference to discuss the lawsuit before Trump's signing ceremony ended at the White House. The resolution was approved by Congress last month and aims to quash the country's most aggressive attempt to phase out gas-powered cars. Trump also signed measures to overturn state policies curbing tailpipe emissions in certain vehicles and smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks. Trump called California's regulations 'crazy' at a White House ceremony where he signed the resolutions. 'It's been a disaster for this country,' he said. It comes as the Republican president is mired in a clash with California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, over Trump's move to deploy troops to Los Angeles in response to immigration protests. It's the latest in an ongoing battle between the Trump administration and heavily Democratic California over issues including tariffs, the rights of LGBTQ+ youth and funding for electric vehicle chargers. The state is already involved in more than two-dozen lawsuits challenging Trump administration actions, and the state's Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the latest one at a news conference in California. Ten other states, all with Democratic attorneys general, joined the lawsuit filed Thursday. 'The federal government's actions are not only unlawful; they're irrational and wildly partisan,' Bonta said. 'They come at the direct expense of the health and the well-being of our people.' The three resolutions Trump signed will block California's rule phasing out gas-powered cars and end the sale of new ones by 2035. They will also kill rules that phase out the sale of medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles and cut tailpipe emissions from trucks. In his remarks at the White House, Trump expressed doubts about the performance and reliability of electric vehicles, though he had some notably positive comments about the company owned by Elon Musk, despite their fractured relationship. 'I like Tesla,' Trump said. In remarks that often meandered away from the subject at hand, Trump used the East Room ceremony to also muse on windmills, which he claimed 'are killing our country,' the prospect of getting electrocuted by an electric-powered boat if it sank and whether he'd risk a shark attack by jumping as the boat went down. 'I'll take electrocution every single day," the president said. When it comes to cars, Trump said he likes combustion engines but for those that prefer otherwise, 'If you want to buy electric, you can buy electric.' 'What this does is it gives us freedom,' said Bill Kent, the owner of Kent Kwik convenience stores. Kent, speaking at the White House, said that the California rules would have forced him to install 'infrastructure that frankly, is extremely expensive and doesn't give you any return.' The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents major car makers, applauded Trump's action. 'Everyone agreed these EV sales mandates were never achievable and wildly unrealistic,' John Bozzella, the group's president and CEO, said in a statement. Newsom, who is considered a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, and California officials contend that what the federal government is doing is illegal and said the state plans to sue. Newsom said Trump's action was a continuation of his 'all-out assault' on California. 'And this time he's destroying our clean air and America's global competitiveness in the process,' Newsom said in a statement. 'We are suing to stop this latest illegal action by a President who is a wholly-owned subsidiary of big polluters.' The signings come as Trump has pledged to revive American auto manufacturing and boost oil and gas drilling. The move follows other steps the Trump administration has taken to roll back rules that aim to protect air and water and reduce emissions that cause climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed repealing rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas. Dan Becker with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the signing of the resolutions was 'Trump's latest betrayal of democracy.' 'Signing this bill is a flagrant abuse of the law to reward Big Oil and Big Auto corporations at the expense of everyday people's health and their wallets,' Becker said in a statement. California, which has some of the nation's worst air pollution, has been able to seek waivers for decades from the EPA, allowing it to adopt stricter emissions standards than the federal government. In his first term, Trump revoked California's ability to enforce its standards, but Democratic President Joe Biden reinstated it in 2022. Trump has not yet sought to revoke it again. Republicans have long criticized those waivers and earlier this year opted to use the Congressional Review Act, a law aimed at improving congressional oversight of actions by federal agencies, to try to block the rules. That's despite a finding from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, that California's standards cannot legally be blocked using the Congressional Review Act. The Senate parliamentarian agreed with that finding. California, which makes up roughly 11% of the U.S. car market, has significant power to sway trends in the auto industry. About a dozen states signed on to adopt California's rule phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars.
