How Trump is fueling a new gun buying boom with a surprising demographic
A growing number of women are buying guns for the first time, with many crediting Donald Trump 's policies for emboldening them to exercise their Second Amendment rights as others noted their growing fear of the political climate in the U.S.
Since the start of 2020, more than 20 million Americans have become first-time gun owners, with women - especially from minority backgrounds - making up a significant share of the spike.
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Telegraph
17 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Reform's non-stop psychodrama threatens to drive voters away
Nigel Farage was given just 10 minutes' warning before Zia Yusuf unleashed an earthquake that could shatter Reform UK's electoral fortunes. The party leader said that after a telephone conversation on Wednesday morning, he thought Mr Yusuf had 'had enough' of politics. But it was on Thursday evening that Reform's chairman resigned in the latest in a series of internal disputes that has begun to distract from the party's electoral success. As voters were trickling out of polling booths in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election in Scotland, where Reform's position looks strong, Mr Yusuf announced he no longer thought working for the party was a 'good use of his time'. The barely veiled implication was that he does not believe Mr Farage should be prime minister – a stunning admission from a man who has made putting Reform in Downing Street his single goal since the days after last year's general election. Mr Yusuf, a successful entrepreneur and millionaire, was hired to professionalise the party's candidate selection, fundraising and day-to-day operations. Under his leadership, Reform has moved into a plush new Westminster headquarters, won a parliamentary by-election and majorities on 10 English councils, and placed itself in the crosshairs of Sir Keir Starmer. There was also an almighty row with Rupert Lowe, one of the five MPs Reform voted in at the 2024 election, who fell out with Mr Yusuf and was reported to the parliamentary authorities and police for bullying, which he denies. Mr Farage backed his chairman and suspended the whip from Mr Lowe in March, and both sides have since sued each other. It proved a bitter row, but one that Mr Yusuf survived. As recently as Monday, Mr Farage told The Telegraph that while the 38-year-old businessman was 'new to the game', he would 'be around for many, many years to come', and would play a 'significant role in shaping the future of the country'. The fact that he resigned four days later is a testament to the work Reform still needs to do to become a general election-winning machine. Reform sources say there has been a dispute in the party for some time over what exactly Mr Yusuf should do in his role as chairman. As a recent graduate of Britain's business world, he was the obvious choice to lead 'UK Doge', Reform's Elon Musk-inspired efficiency drive in the councils it now runs. But that shift, from running Reform to the 'Doge' role, has led to the rise of another figure, 24-year-old Aaron Lobo, who served as Mr Farage's producer at GB News and has recently become Reform's operations manager. The divide between the party's political team and Mr Yusuf's more managerial role was laid bare on Wednesday at Prime Minister's Questions, when Sarah Pochin, the newest Reform MP, asked Sir Keir whether he would ban the burka. Mr Yusuf, who is a Muslim, said he only learnt about the question when he saw it online. He later added he thought it was 'dumb' for a party to ask the Government to endorse policies it did not support. But it later emerged that other party figures were more open to banning the burka than he expected. Lee Anderson, the chief whip, said he agreed they should be outlawed, adding: 'No one should be allowed to hide their identity in public.' Mr Farage said the public 'do deserve a debate' about banning religious face coverings. He added, in an interview with GB News, that he had known about the question in advance. The row was remarkable not just for its contents – which led to accusations of racism from Labour – but because it played out in public. If Mr Yusuf was in charge of his party, why did he not know what was going on? And why would he respond to his colleagues online, rather than in the office? Sources close to the party say that Mr Yusuf has become increasingly uncomfortable with the level of scrutiny his dispute with Mr Lowe brought, and had complained that every time he went on a national broadcast channel, he received a deluge of racist abuse online. On Thursday night, Mr Farage blamed 'alt-Right' abuse of Mr Yusuf online and claimed criticism of him on X had begun to upset him in recent weeks. The Telegraph understands he also found it difficult to bridge the gap between the party's more aggressive wing, once led by Mr Lowe, and attempts to become more moderate to attract disaffected Conservative voters. Unfortunately for Mr Farage, the incident is only the latest in a series of high-profile rows between the party leader and his senior colleagues. In his remarkable and lengthy political career, the veteran Brexiteer has fallen out with Ukip colleagues Mark Reckless, Douglas Carswell, Godfrey Bloom and Suzanne Evans, and the Reform deputy leader Ben Habib. Reform already has an uphill battle in convincing voters that it is a credible political force before the next general election. Mr Farage has done an impressive job in building a party with five MPs into a project with a seven-point poll lead over Labour that has all but killed off the Conservatives. The fact there are now Reform-run councils across the country is a boon. However, turning Reform's momentum in opposition into the sense it is a party of government will be much harder, and endless rows and resignations will not give voters any confidence on that front. Plus, if the row over the burka ban is genuinely the reason for Mr Yusuf's resignation, there are also policy questions to be asked. Chiefly, how much does Mr Farage want to rely on migration and race issues for votes? Will he tolerate his party's MPs criticising core beliefs of Muslims in the Commons chamber? Mr Farage, aided by Mr Yusuf, has come to think about his party as more of a political business than a party in the traditional Westminster mould. In the early-stage startup world, rows between executives over the direction of their projects are not uncommon – as Mr Yusuf has no doubt experienced. But stopping the in-fighting and resignations is now a business-critical issue. Reform's psychodrama risks driving voters back to Labour and the Conservatives, at a time when it must maintain its position in the polls or fizzle out.
Telegraph
17 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Live Donald Trump is named in Epstein files, claims Musk
Elon Musk has dropped a bombshell accusation, claiming his former close friend Donald Trump appears in the Epstein files. The claim was part of a spectacular war of words between the world's most powerful men, with the president claiming the Tesla boss has 'Trump derangement syndrome', and Mr Musk insisting Mr Trump only won the election because of him. Mr Musk said in a post on X: Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT! — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025 Earlier in the day Mr Trump told reporters during a sit-down with Friedrich Merz, Germany's new chancellor: 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore.' In February, Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, pledged to release all of the information the government holds on Epstein, which have come to be colloquially known as the 'Epstein files'. She invited a select group of pro-Maga influencers to the White House where they were handed binders containing what she said was 'Phase One' of the full document release. However, the 200-page document contained only phone-book contacts and flight logs, most of which have been available since 2015, and no date has been set for releasing the remaining files.
Daily Mail
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Murder suspect shoots himself live on video call during police interview
A suspect in a 14-year-old cold case murder suddenly shot himself dead during a video interview with police. Michael Wayne Thomas, 54, has been a person of interest since Julie Mitchell was beaten to death in her home, aged 34, on November 2, 2010. Julie was found stuffed in the closet of the master bedroom in her house in Oklahoma City with $30,000 missing from the nearby safe. Her one-year-old daughter was sitting next to her body when police arrived. Thomas was an associate of Julie's husband Teddy Mitchell, who was on a plane to California at the time of the murder. He was interviewed by police and the FBI five or six times, denying any involvement in the murder despite his company checkbook being found in her house. Oklahoma City Police, for reasons they refused to explain, negotiated setting up another interview with Thomas on Saturday. After initially agreeing, he changed his mind and negotiated a virtual interview with his lawyer Ed Blau also on the video call. 'Beggars can't always be choosers, and this is somebody we wanted to talk to, we needed to talk to. There were questions we needed to have answered by him,' Master Sergeant Gary Knight said. 'He chose to pull out a pistol and shoot himself, ending his life.' From the moment the call started at 10am, Thomas wouldn't let the police get a word in, constantly rambling about nothing helpful. 'He didn't give me an opportunity to ask him any questions. He controlled the conversation from start to finish,' Detective Bryn Carter told KWTV-9. 'At about 40 minutes through the interview, he produced a firearm and took his own life. 'In 31 years on the police department doing hundreds of hundreds of interviews, I've never had anyone commit suicide in front of me.' The shocked detectives and lawyer watched Thomas shoot himself, then collapse and his phone clatter to the ground. 'The phone landed right by his head so we got to hear him die, hear the death rattle. It was as shocking and horrific as you can imagine,' Blau told The Oklahoman. Blau said Thomas told them 'I'm just worried about my daughter's safety' just before he shot himself, and 'I really hope you solve the case'. Police refused to release any part of the interview, or any officer's reports pertaining to it or why Thomas was being interviewed yet again. Thomas' body was found in woods outside the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, near Witchita, Kansas, where Blau didn't know he was until after his death. Thomas, then an insurance salesman, was intimately involved in Mitchell's life due to their mutual interest in gambling. Julie's murder exposed the illegal underground high-stakes poker games Mitchell was running out of their home, along with unlawful sport betting. Thomas told the FBI in 2011 he played in Mitchell's games and placed bets with him, racking up debts so big he let Mitchell become a partner in his insurance business as a means of settling them. He also provided the insurance to Mitchell's properties and vehicles. 'Him taking his own life without answering the questions that I needed answered to eliminate him as a person interest,' Carter said. 'It speaks volumes that maybe he couldn't answer those questions.' Thomas is still considered a suspect in the case after his death. Mitchell was never publicly accused of involvement in his wife's murder, but he was jailed for 27 months in 2014 for federal conspiracy to commit money laundering, and forced to turn over $1 million in property to the government.
