Fentanyl trafficking from Mexico to US has dropped 40%, Mexico's Sheinbaum says
MEXICO CITY, June 6 (Reuters) - Fentanyl trafficking from Mexico to the United States has fallen around 40% since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday.
Trump has cited fentanyl trafficking as a factor in his decision to put tariffs on Mexico, though many shipments are not affected, as they enter the country under a trilateral trade agreement.
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The Independent
40 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump-Musk feud live updates: Elon deletes tweet claiming the president is in the Epstein files amid public break-up
Elon Musk has deleted his tweet in which he claimed that Donald Trump is in 'the Epstein Files.' Musk initially shared the post on Thursday as the spat between him and the president exploded over a disagreement over Trump's congressional spending bill. The billionaire also suggested that Trump should be impeached. 'The Epstein Files' is a phrase used to describe information that U.S. authorities hold on the disgraced financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019. By Saturday morning, Musk's post alleging Trump is in the files had been removed. This comes as Trump and Musk don't appear to be speaking, despite earlier rumors that a phone call might occur following their disagreement. The president shrugged off the feud in calls with multiple TV networks on Friday morning, dismissing Musk as a 'man who has lost his mind,' saying he was 'not particularly' interested in reconciliation, and 'the poor guy's got a problem.' Mass deportations from Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill could quietly cost U.S. over $1.4 trillion Mass deportations enabled by the Trump administration's Big, Beautiful Bill spending and tax package could cost the U.S. over $1 trillion in the coming years, as the administration is already reportedly struggling to fund its rapidly expanding immigration crackdown. The package, which the House of Representatives passed last month, directs $168 billion towards immigration and border law enforcement agencies. That spending, combined with the economic impact of removing scores of immigrants and more granular changes, like a potential decline in revenues thanks to the possible deterrent effect of new fees on migrants, could cost the U.S. over $1.4 trillion over the next decade, according to an analysis from the libertarian Cato Institute. Mass deportations from Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill could cost U.S. over $1.4 trillion White House has been fending off attacks from Elon Musk that bill adds too much to deficit Graig Graziosi7 June 2025 14:30 Trump says he's still considering cutting Musk's government subsidies, but "only if its fair" Reporters asked President Donald Trump if he was still considering cutting Elon Musk's government contracts and subsidies after he threatened to do so on Thursday. Trump said that Musk 'gets a lot of subsidy,' and that he was going to 'look at' what he's getting and consider cutting them, but 'only if it's fair for him and for the country.' On Thursday, Trump and Musk were embroiled in a public spat that saw the Tesla CEO agree with a call for the president's impeachment and insinuate that he was on notorious rapist and child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein's client list. Trump responded by threatening to end Musk's government contracts and subsidies, ostensibly as a way to save the American public money, and questioned why former President Joe Biden hadn't done so during his time in office. Graig Graziosi7 June 2025 14:00 Trump-Musk friendship goes from meteoric rise to epic meltdown in under a year Musk was once Trump's critic and became his friend as the Tesla head pushed further right in his political leanings. It hit its apex after the assassination attempt on Trump in July. Musk then joined Trump on the campaign and quickly dubbed himself 'first buddy.' That led to Musk becoming the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, which was tasked with slashing the federal budget. The relationship turned sour as the two disagreed over Trump's spending bill. Musk left the White House and the two remained friendly, at least in public. That changed as Musk posted criticism of the bill online and culminating with the meltdown on social media between the two. Read more here about their history together: A timeline of Donald Trump and Elon Musk's tumultuous relationship Though the tech billionaire quickly rose to the (self-titled) position of 'first buddy,' it ended in a flash, writes Mike Bedigan and Isabel Keane Rebecca Whittaker7 June 2025 13:40 Trumps Tesla spotted parked outside the WhiteHouse President Donald Trump is thinking of getting rid of the red Tesla that he bought from Elon Musk earlier this year. He is considering either selling theModel S electric vehicle, priced at around $80,000, or giving it away, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior White House official. The car was pictured Friday parked outside the West Wing between the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It comes after Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, lost $34 billion in net worth on Thursday after his company's stock plummeted in response to the online fight. Rebecca Whittaker7 June 2025 13:20 Kash Patel has live mid-interview 'WTF' moment on Joe Rogan as he learns of Trump vs. Musk FBI Director Kash Patel first learned that the world's richest man had just accused his boss of being in the so-called 'Epstein Files' while taping an episode of Joe Rogan's podcast on Thursday. Patel, who has come under fire from MAGA supporters in recent weeks for backing away from conspiracy theories about disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein now that he leads the FBI, appeared taken aback by Elon Musk's wild tweets about Donald Trump's lengthy past relationship with Epstein. 'That's way outside my lane,' Patel demurred while Rogan wondered 'what the f*ck' was going on between the president and his former 'first buddy.' Justin Baragona reports. Kash Patel has 'WTF' moment on Joe Rogan as he learns of Trump vs. Musk mid-interview 'I'm not participating in any of that conversation between Elon and Trump,' Kash Patel insisted during the interview. Graig Graziosi7 June 2025 13:00 'The Trump and Musk spat is turning them both into billion-dollar losers in every way' The boys are going at it. Like two heavies in the playground, the once richest man on Earth and on who thinks he is the most powerful are locked in a scrap, writes Chris Blackhurst. He added the fallout hit them both. Trump says that Musk and his companies receive 'billions of dollars' in government subsidies and contracts. He could cut them. 'I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social Platform. Read more by Chris Blackhurst here: The Trump and Musk spat is turning them both into billion-dollar losers in every way As the 'first buddy' turns first enemy, Chris Blackhurst looks at the feud between the president and tech billionaire and how much it could cost them in real terms Rebecca Whittaker7 June 2025 12:40 Recap: How the Musk and Trump war of words exploded on social media Rebecca Whittaker7 June 2025 12:22 Trump administration scrambling to rehire workers cut by DOGE Departments and agencies across the federal government are scrambling to fill crucial roles left vacant over the Department of Government Efficiency's mass firings and deferred resignation offers. For months, DOGE has demanded departments and agencies dramatically downsize as part of efforts to cut government spending. Some employees have been incentivized to leave with early retirement offers or buyouts. Others, such as probationary employees, have been dismissed. But now, those same departments and agencies have been left understaffed and are struggling to get workers back. Ariana Baio has the story. Trump team scrambles to rehire workers cut by DOGE to fill critical government roles Rescinding reduction-in-force notices, asking for volunteers, and offering jobs to fired federal workers are some of the ways departments are trying to bulk up staff. Graig Graziosi7 June 2025 12:00 LGBTQ+ people march following rollback of queer rights In a bid show defiance to President Donald Trump's rollback of queer rights, LGBTQ+ people from around the world will march through the streets of Washington on Saturday. It comes after transgender people were banned from serving in the armed forces. While proponents of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) consider it necessary to correct historic inequities, the White House has described it as a form of discrimination based on race or gender, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. The parade route will come within one block of the White House grounds in one of the final main events of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration. On Sunday a more political event, dubbed a rally and march, will convene at the Lincoln Memorial, a revered space in the US civil rights movement as the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. Rebecca Whittaker7 June 2025 11:45 Voters opinions on the Trump-Musk feud Voters were confident the feud would 'blow over', the BBC reported. Melanie in Georgia told the broadcaster: That the "two very strong, intelligent, brilliant men" approach things from different perspectives and believes it will all "blow over". Emana in New York said it's "very serious" for Musk to be making allegations about the president, but that she is "cautiously optimistic" it will be resolved. While Duke Machado from Texas, said he supports Trump's "big, beautiful bill" because it represents "common sense American priorities... cutting taxes puts money back in the pockets of hard-working families".
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Musk was Trump's tweeter-in-chief. Now he's using X against him
Elon Musk's X profile is like a window into his psyche: an inescapable stream of consciousness where impulsive tweets reveal his unfiltered thoughts and shifting moods. Musk harnessed his social media platform to propel Donald Trump to the White House, feeding anti-Democrat content and election conspiracy theories to his followers. Now Musk is turning that same platform – home to nearly 600 million monthly users – against him. After posting earlier in the week that Trump's signature budget policy was a 'disgusting abomination' that will 'drive America into debt slavery', the billionaire is openly taunting Trump on X, even calling for his impeachment. An analysis of Musk's tweets by The Independent shows that Musk has undergone a dramatic shift in both the tone and volume of his posts since his initial support of Trump in mid-2024 to when he began distancing himself from his governmental duties earlier this year – weeks before the White House announced his Washington tenure had finished. And now the platform has chronicled the rise and fall of the world's most powerful bromance. Musk began tweeting incessantly after he publicly endorsed Trump in July last year following the first attempt on the president's life in Butler, Pennsylvania. Then, once Musk was tapped in November to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, he emerged as Trump's tweeter-in-chief. Despite his new White House commitments, not to mention running six companies – including SpaceX, Tesla, and X itself – Musk appeared more glued to his keyboard than ever, using the platform as his primary news source, and place to share his views and stir up controversy. The first 50 days of the Trump administration arguably marked Musk's most fervent display of support for the president, both in terms of tweet content and frequency. On February 7, he mused that, 'I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.' Take President's Day, February 17, his most prolific 24-hour posting spell to date. Musk posted 262 times, according to The Independent 's analysis, with messages ranging from single emojis to lengthy missives attacking Democrats. All told, the posting spree equated to one message every five-and-a-half minutes, with no breaks. Musk had a busy Q1 — between January 20 and March 10, he posted 6,778 times – averaging more than 135 X posts per day. And he stayed on message, tweeting about his government-slashing force DOGE more than any other topic in that period, quickly followed by 'Trump' and 'president.' Social media analytics firms like Social Blade were forced to stop tracking tweets after X said these businesses had to pay for an Enterprise subscription, at $42,000 to $210,000 a month. The resulting gap has made transparency on X murkier than ever; and is also why The Independent could only analyze Musk's posts until mid-March. In early spring, Musk's public pledges of MAGA allegiance and trollish squibs began to slow down, and the subjects of his posts moved from Trump administration duties to his own commercial interests. Buyers of his electric vehicles protested against his shift to right-wing politics and efforts to dismantle federal departments, with Tesla's stock price plummeting, and a Rome dealership set ablaze. In April, Musk announced plans to significantly reduce his involvement with DOGE, opting to work remotely and allocate more time to Tesla. A month later, Musk's X daily posts at points reached single figures. In hindsight, it might be considered the calm before the storm. By the end of May, Musk came off the platform to deliver a gut punch to the Trump administration. He told NBC News that Trump's showpiece tax bill 'undermines' the work done by DOGE, without directly mentioning the president. Musk landed a heavy blow on Tuesday, blasting the president's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' as an 'outrageous, pork-filled, disgusting abomination.' But it was after a press conference with the German Chancellor where Trump said he was 'disappointed' with Musk's comments, that Musk went on his most destructive X rampage yet — calling Trump ungrateful, calling for his impeachment and saying he's linked to Jeffrey Epstein. And these claims get read and spread by a wide audience: his Thursday post declaring 'Trump would have lost the election' if it weren't for his support garnered nearly 15 million views in a single day. This is more than just a playground spat between the two rich powerful men, because Musk's ownership of X allows him to reach a vast audience, some of whom are skeptical of mainstream media, and control a narrative — and his posts have been known to set off market reactions, media cycles, and political waves. Those who have stuck with X, whether they are one of Musk's 220 million followers or not, have been inundated with his musings and attacks morning, noon, and night. Musk is believed to selectively issue suspensions and use algorithms to throttle foes that are critical of both him and his ventures. According to the tech news site Platformer, the self-styled 'free speech absolutist' directed a team of 80 engineers to amplify his own tweets over others, ensuring they reach vast audiences (he allegedly did the same for Trump in November). Musk has subsequently blurred the line between platform owner, political provocateur and propagandist. How will he next use X to punish the social media-reliant, legacy media-averse president?
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
A US territory's colonial history emerges in state disputes over voting and citizenship
Squeezed between glacier-packed mountains and Alaska's Prince William Sound, the cruise-ship stop of Whittier is isolated enough that it's reachable by just a single road, through a long, one-lane tunnel that vehicles share with trains. It's so small that nearly all its 260 residents live in the same 14-story condo building. But Whittier also is the unlikely crossroads of two major currents in American politics: fighting over what it means to be born on U.S. soil and false claims by President Donald Trump and others that noncitizen voter fraud is widespread. In what experts describe as an unprecedented case, Alaska prosecutors are pursuing felony charges against 11 residents of Whittier, most of them related to one another, saying they falsely claimed U.S. citizenship when registering or trying to vote. The defendants were all born in American Samoa, an island cluster in the South Pacific roughly halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. It's the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by virtue of having been born on American soil, as the Constitution dictates. Instead, by a quirk of geopolitical history, they are considered 'U.S. nationals' — a distinction that gives them certain rights and obligations while denying them others. American Samoans are entitled to U.S. passports and can serve in the military. Men must register for the Selective Service. They can vote in local elections in American Samoa but cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections. Those who wish to become citizens can do so, but the process costs hundreds of dollars and can be cumbersome. 'To me, I'm an American. I was born an American on U.S. soil,' said firefighter Michael Pese, one of those charged in Whittier. 'American Samoa has been U.S. soil, U.S. jurisdiction, for 125 years. According to the supreme law of the land, that's my birthright.' Confusion over voting is not just an Alaska problem The status has created confusion in other states, as well. In Oregon, officials inadvertently registered nearly 200 American Samoan residents to vote when they got their driver's licenses under the state's motor-voter law. Of those, 10 cast ballots in an election, according to the Oregon Secretary of State's office. Officials there determined the residents had not intended to break the law and no crime was committed. In Hawaii, one resident who was born in American Samoa, Sai Timoteo, ran for the state Legislature in 2018 before learning she wasn't allowed to hold public office or vote. She had always considered it her civic duty to vote, and the form on the voting materials had one box to check: 'U.S. Citizen/U.S. National.' 'I checked that box my entire life,' she said. She also avoided charges, and Hawaii subsequently changed its form to make it more clear. Is U.S. citizenship a birthright? Amid the storm of executive orders issued by Trump in the early days of his second term was one that sought to redefine birthright citizenship by barring it for children of parents who are in the U.S. unlawfully. Another would overhaul how federal elections are run, among other changes requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship. Courts so far have blocked both orders. The Constitution says that 'all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.' It also leaves the administration of elections to the states. The case in Whittier began with Pese's wife, Tupe Smith. After the couple moved to Whittier in 2018, Smith began volunteering at the Whittier Community School, where nearly half of the 55 students were American Samoan — many of them her nieces and nephews. She would help the kids with their English, tutor them in reading and cook them Samoan dishes. In 2023, a seat on the regional school board came open and she ran for it. She was the only candidate and won with about 95% of the vote. One morning a few weeks later, as she was making her two children breakfast, state troopers came knocking. They asked about her voting history. She explained that she knew she wasn't allowed to vote in U.S. presidential elections, but thought she could vote in local or state races. She said she checked a box affirming that she was a U.S. citizen at the instruction of elections workers because there was no option to identify herself as a U.S. national, court records say. The troopers arrested her and drove her to a women's prison near Anchorage. She was released that day after her husband paid bail. 'When they put me in cuffs, my son started crying," Smith told The Associated Press. "He told their dad that he don't want the cops to take me or to lock me up.' A question of intent About 10 months later, troopers returned to Whittier and issued court summonses to Pese, eight other relatives and one man who was not related but came from the same American Samoa village as Pese. One of Smith's attorneys, Neil Weare, grew up in another U.S. territory, Guam, and is the co-founder of the Washington-based Right to Democracy Project, whose mission is 'confronting and dismantling the undemocratic colonial framework governing people in U.S. territories.' He suggested the prosecutions are aimed at 'low-hanging fruit' in the absence of evidence that illegal immigrants frequently cast ballots in U.S. elections. Even state-level investigations have found voting by noncitizens to be exceptionally rare. 'There is no question that Ms. Smith lacked an intent to mislead or deceive a public official in order to vote unlawfully when she checked 'U.S. citizen' on voter registration materials,' he wrote in a brief to the Alaska Court of Appeals last week, after a lower court judge declined to dismiss the charges. Prosecutors say her false claim of citizenship was intentional, and her claim to the contrary was undercut by the clear language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022. The forms said that if the applicant did not answer yes to being over 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, 'do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.' A dispute entangled with a colonial past The unique situation of American Samoans dates to the 19th century, when the U.S. and European powers were seeking to expand their colonial and economic interests in the South Pacific. The U.S. Navy secured the use of Pago Pago Harbor in eastern Samoa as a coal-refueling station for military and commercial vessels, while Germany sought to protect its coconut plantations in western Samoa. Eventually the archipelago was divided, with the western islands becoming the independent nation of Samoa and the eastern ones becoming American Samoa, overseen by the Navy. The leaders of American Samoa spent much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries arguing that its people should be U.S. citizens. Birthright citizenship was eventually afforded to residents of other U.S. territories — Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Congress considered it for American Samoa in the 1930s, but declined. Some lawmakers cited financial concerns during the Great Depression while others expressed patently racist objections, according to a 2020 article in the American Journal of Legal History. Supporters of automatic citizenship say it would particularly benefit the estimated 150,000 to 160,000 nationals who live in the states, many of them in California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Utah and Alaska. 'We pay taxes, we do exactly the same as everybody else that are U.S. citizens,' Smith said. 'It would be nice for us to have the same rights as everybody here in the states.' Legal questions over status to be tested anew But many in American Samoa eventually soured on the idea, fearing that extending birthright citizenship would jeopardize its customs — including the territory's communal land laws. Island residents could be dispossessed by land privatization, not unlike what happened in Hawaii, said Siniva Bennett, board chair of the Samoa Pacific Development Corporation, a Portland, Oregon-based nonprofit. 'We've been able to maintain our culture, and we haven't been divested from our land like a lot of other indigenous people in the U.S.,' Bennett said. In 2021, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to extend automatic citizenship to those born in American Samoa, saying it would be wrong to force citizenship on those who don't want it. The Supreme Court declined to review the decision. Several jurisdictions across the country, including San Francisco and the District of Columbia, allow people who are not citizens to vote in certain local elections. Tafilisaunoa Toleafoa, with the Pacific Community of Alaska, said the situation has been so confusing that her organization reached out to the Alaska Division of Elections in 2021 and 2022 to ask whether American Samoans could vote in state and local elections. Neither time did it receive a direct answer, she said. 'People were telling our community that they can vote as long as you have your voter registration card and it was issued by the state,' she said. Finally, last year, Carol Beecher, the head of the state Division of Elections, sent Toleafoa's group a letter saying American Samoans are not eligible to vote in Alaska elections. But by then, the voting forms had been signed. 'It is my hope that this is a lesson learned, that the state of Alaska agrees that this could be something that we can administratively correct,' Toleafoa said. 'I would say that the state could have done that instead of prosecuting community members.' ___ Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska, and Johnson from Seattle. Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu contributed to this report.
