EXCLUSIVE MAGA splinters into Team Trump vs Team Musk, as key figures pick their side... including one senior Republican who Musk is now GHOSTING
It didn't take long for Elon Musk and Donald Trump to turn on each other in spectacular fashion.
After months of bromance and buddying-up, their relationship exploded in a bitter war of words on Thursday that has now left GOP faithfuls torn between the world's richest man and the president.
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The Herald Scotland
22 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Musk turns on Trump, and GOP spending can't hide behind DOGE
Musk seems frustrated that Republicans used him in their charade to balance the federal budget, frustrated that Trump used him for his own end. But he really should be frustrated that he was so gullible - because he should have seen all of this coming. Opinion: Musk erupts, claims Trump is in the Epstein files. Who could've seen this coming? I'm frustrated that this is the only thing receiving attention, considering the amount of work that needs to be done with the budget. Republicans used Elon Musk as a political smokescreen Whether Musk genuinely believed himself when he promised to cut $2 trillion (before quickly tempering that estimate) is up for debate. If he did believe it, he was entirely naive about both the current state of the Republican Party and our federal government. Republicans thought they could use Musk as a political win and distraction, allowing him to claw back government spending through the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, while congressional Republicans authorized massive deficit increases. Even after accounting for the economic growth that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would stimulate, it's projected to add $2.4 trillion (yes, with a T) to the federal deficit over the next decade. This figure stands as a mountain next to the small pile of $2 billion (yes, with a B) worth of verifiable budget cuts from DOGE. All the while, Republicans and Trump sang Musk's praises, knowing that they would turn around and spend money that we don't have. But Musk should have realized it was all a show. Trump skyrocketed the deficit in his first presidency, and every promise he's ever given for a balanced budget has been a lie. As much as MAGA likes to claim otherwise, Trump's GOP is no different than the swamp creatures they like to criticize. Opinion: Elon Musk is frustrated with Republicans wasting DOGE's effort to cut. So am I. Those who are actually interested in cutting government spending, which I think Musk at least somewhat seems to be, should not attach the idea to political parties because they will inevitably disappoint. There hasn't been a genuine effort to produce a balanced budget since the late 1990s, and there isn't likely to be from either Republicans or Democrats anytime soon. Trump and Musk have too big personalities to work together I'm not the least bit surprised that these two narcissists' relationship flamed out so quickly. There was never enough room in Trump's White House for both his and Musk's personalities. Trump has never maintained an extended relationship with somebody who is willing to disagree with him publicly. During his first term, Trump had extremely high personnel turnover rates, both among his Cabinet and his aides. Trump's "you're fired" catchphrase really says a lot about his approach to relationships. He is quick to turn on people who disagree with him or even just publicly embarrass him. Musk has been loudly advocating against Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" for its impact on the deficit. After a week of Musk criticizing the deficit spending in Trump's bill, the president has clearly had enough. He cannot tolerate a dissenting voice from within his ranks. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. Trump and the GOP are now likely to kick a powerful ally to the curb, all because Trump is so vain that he cannot handle differing opinions. This is why the Republican Party is now made up of yes-men, because they have allowed Trump to push all the spine that he can out of the party. Now that the sideshow of Musk is gone, Republicans have one less thing to hide behind. I'm not sure that makes it any more likely they'll act responsibly, but at least it's more transparent to Americans now. Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.
Telegraph
33 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘I'm the world's youngest self-made female billionaire'
A 30-year-old US tech entrepreneur born to immigrant parents has unseated Taylor Swift as the world's youngest self-made female billionaire. Lucy Guo, who is worth an estimated $1.3bn (£1bn) according to Forbes, told The Telegraph that her new title 'doesn't really feel like much'. 'I think that maybe reality hasn't hit yet, right? Because most of my money is still on paper,' she said. Ms Guo's wealth stems from her 5pc stake in Scale AI, a company she co-founded in 2016. The artificial intelligence (AI) business is currently raising money in a deal likely to value it at $25bn. That valuation – and the billionaire status it has bestowed upon Ms Guo – underlines the current AI boom, which has reinvigorated Silicon Valley and is now reshaping the world. Everyone from Mark Zuckerberg to Sir Keir Starmer have praised the potential of the technology, which is forecast to save billions but may also destroy scores of jobs. The AI craze has caused the founders and chief executives of companies in the space to climb the world's rich list as they cash in on soaring valuations and increasing demand for their companies' technologies. Ms Guo is also an exemplar of the American dream. Born to Chinese immigrant parents, she dropped out of Carnegie Mellon University to find her fortune. Like Mr Zuckerberg before her, the decision to ditch traditional education in favour of entrepreneurship has now paid off handsomely. Still, it was not a decision her parents approved of at the time. 'They stopped talking to me for a while – which is fine,' she said. 'I get it, because, you know, the immigrant mentality was like, 'we sacrificed everything, we came to a new country, left all our relatives behind, to try to give our kids a better future'. 'I think they viewed it as a sign of disrespect. They're like, 'wow, you don't appreciate all the sacrifices we did for you, and you don't love us'. So they were extremely hurt.' They have since reconciled. In her first year of college, Ms Guo took part in hackathons and coding competitions, helping her to realise that 'you can just create a startup out of like, nothing'. She was awarded a Thiel Fellowship, which provides recipients with $200,000 over two years to support them to drop out of university and pursue other work, such as launching a startup. The fellowship is funded by Peter Thiel, the former PayPal chief executive. Mr Thiel, who donated $1.25m to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, has been an enthusiastic supporter of entrepreneurship, and also co-founded Palantir, the data analytics and AI software firm now worth billions. Ms Guo initially tried to found a company based around people selling their home cooking to others. While the business did well financially, it faced food safety problems and ultimately failed. After stints at Quora, the question-and-answer website, and Snapchat, Ms Guo launched Scale AI with co-founder Alexandr Wang in 2016. The company labels the data used to develop applications for AI. The timing was perfect: OpenAI had been founded a year earlier and uses Scale AI's technology to help train ChatGPT, the generative AI chatbot. OpenAI is one of the leading lights of the new AI boom and has a valuation of $300bn. Like Ms Guo, its founder and boss Sam Altman is now a billionaire. Ms Guo left Scale AI only two years after helping to found it – 'ultimately there was a lot of friction between me and my co-founder' – but retained her stake, a decision that helped propel her into the ranks of the world's top 1pc. 'It's not like I'm flying PJs [private jets] everywhere. Just occasionally, just when other people pay for them. I'm kidding – sometimes I pay for them,' Ms Guo said, laughing. After leaving Scale AI, Ms Guo went on to set up her own venture capital fund, Backend Capital, which has so far invested in more than 100 startups. She has also run HF0, an AI business accelerator. Ms Guo is particularly passionate about supporting female entrepreneurs: 'If you take two people that are exactly the same, male and female, they come out of MIT as engineers, I think that subconsciously every investor thinks the male is going to do better, which sucks.' However, she is demanding of companies she backs. 'If you care about work-life balance, go work at Google, you'll get paid a high salary and you'll have that work-life balance,' she said. 'If you're someone that wants to build a startup, I think it's pretty unrealistic to build a venture-funded startup with work-life balance.' 'Number one party girl' Ms Guo's work-life balance has itself been the subject of tabloid attention. After leaving Scale AI she was dubbed 'Miami's number one party girl' by the New York Post for raucous celebrations held at her multimillion-dollar flat in the city's One Thousand Museum tower, which counts David Beckham among its residents. One 2022 party involved a lemur and snake rented from the Zoological Wildlife Foundation, and led to the building's homeowners' association sending a warning letter. While she still owns her residence in Miami, Ms Guo lives in Los Angeles. Alongside investing, Ms Guo has started a new business, Passes, which lets users sell access to themselves online through paid direct messages, livestreaming and subscriptions. Creators on the platform include TikTok influencer Emma Norton, actor Bella Thorne and the music producer Kygo. It is pitched as a competitor to Patreon, a platform that lets musicians and artists sell products and services directly to fans. However, the business also occupies the same space as OnlyFans, the platform known for hosting adult videos and images, and Passes has faced claims that it knowingly distributed sexually explicit material featuring minors. A legal complaint filed by OnlyFans model Alice Rosenblum claimed the platform produced, possessed and sold sexually explicit content featuring her when she was underage. The claims are strongly denied by the company. A spokesman for Passes said: 'This lawsuit is part of an orchestrated attempt to defame Passes and Ms Guo, and these claims have no basis in reality. As explained in the motion to dismiss filed on April 28, Ms Guo and Passes categorically reject the baseless allegations made against them in the lawsuit.' Scrutiny of Passes and Ms Guo herself is only likely to intensify following her crowning by Forbes. However, she is sceptical that she will hold on to the title of youngest self-made female billionaire for long. 'I have almost no doubt this title can be taken in three to six months,' she said, adding: 'Every single time it was taken, it's like, OK, there's more innovation happening – women are crushing it. 'I think I'm personally excited for someone else to take that title, because that's a sign entrepreneurship is growing.'
Daily Mirror
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
'Donald Trump's attack dog Marjorie Taylor Greene is furious - with herself'
Moronic Marjorie Taylor Greene is furious - with herself. After voting for her idol Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' spending bill, she took to X in a blaze of indignation… because, oops, she didn't read it. 'Full transparency, I did not know about this section on pages 278-279,' she wrote, as if a 400-page bill was supposed to come with footnotes, emojis, and a TikTok explainer. According to Greene, the part she missed - you know, the one that blocks states from regulating AI for 10 years - is a total dealbreaker. It's the political version of signing a mortgage without noticing your house is underwater. A wild video out of Vancouver, Washington, showed a drunken DoorDash delivery driver throwing hands with a grandfather - all because he allegedly didn't get a tip. Customer Anthony Volino says the man showed up at his home, banged on the door, and demanded money for a grocery order delivered the night before. To add to the insanity, the now ex-DoorDash employee had a gun. In a groundbreaking and honestly eye-watering procedure, surgeons in Maryland removed a spinal tumour through a 19-year-old's eye socket. Karla Flores thought her double vision was a learner-driver problem. Instead, there was a rare jelly-like bump behind her left eye. The successful surgery, a medical first, opens doors for complex tumour removal. Officials near the Canadian border were left swatting for their lives after honeybees made a break for it when a truck flipped over in Washington state. The cargo? Roughly 70,000 pounds of the insects and their hives. Locals were advised to avoid the area unless they were wearing a beekeeper suit or had a death wish involving pollen. Chaos took flight aboard a Delta flight from Minnesota to Wisconsin after not one, but two pigeons started flying around the cabin like it was their personal loft. Passengers preparing for takeoff suddenly found themselves in a live-action remake of The Birds. One flier, Tom Caw, said the first pigeon made its move before the wheels even left the ground. No word yet on whether the pigeons reached their destination or just wanted the free snacks. Police in Independence, Ohio, say a man accidentally shot himself in the leg while trying to show off a handgun to his brother-in-law, whom he was attempting to sell it to. Both men were legally allowed to own firearms, but apparently not legally required to think things through. The man was taken to the hospital and later cited for illegally discharging a weapon. It's safe to say that the sale did not go through, and his street cred and leg took a direct hit.
