Trump mocks Elon Musk's plan to launch a third party
Musk, in retaliation for Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' officially filed a Statement of Organization on Sunday with the Federal Election Commission for his 'America Party' political party. Trump, asked about it, went off on his former 'first buddy.' Musk, the world's richest man, spent millions helping Trump win a second term in the White House.
'I think it's ridiculous to start a third party,' Trump told reporters in New Jersey on his way back to the White House after a weekend at his Bedminster golf club. 'We have a tremendous success with the Republican Party. The Democrats have lost their way, but it's always been a two party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion. It really seems to have been developed for two parties. Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it, but I think it's ridiculous.'
Musk vowed vengeance after Congress passed Trump's signature legislation to fund the government. The Tesla founder was angry it contained no federal subsidies for electronic vehicles. Musk was furious the legislation added to the country's debt. During his time at the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk worked to cut the size and scope of the federal government.
But Trump said Musk knew all along he wouldn't get subsidies. 'When Elon gave me his total and unquestioned Endorsement, I asked him whether or not he knew that I was going to terminate the EV Mandate – It was in every speech I made, and in every conversation I had. He said he had no problems with that – I was very surprised!,' he wrote in his Truth post.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
6 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Indirect talks over Gaza ceasefire continue as Netanyahu arrives in Washington
Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza continued for a second day on Monday, hours before a meeting in Washington between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump. Avi Dichter, an Israeli minister and member of Netanyahu's security cabinet, said he expected Trump's meeting with the Israeli prime minister would go beyond Gaza to include the possibility of normalising ties with Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia – an ambitious project that is central to the US president's policy in the Middle East. 'I think it will first of all be focused on a term we have often used but now has real meaning; a new Middle East,' Dichter told Israel's public broadcaster Kan on Monday. Trump has increased pressure for a deal in Gaza in recent weeks and raised the possibility that a ceasefire could be declared in a matter of hours or days. Before departing for Washington on Sunday evening, Netanyahu said he was confident a deal could be achieved and that Israeli negotiators had been given clear instructions to achieve a ceasefire – but only with conditions that Israel has already agreed. Sources in the prime minister's entourage described the talks in Doha as positive, according to Israel's military radio station and an Israeli official quoted by Reuters. Palestinian officials were more downbeat and said initial meetings on Sunday had ended inconclusively. The current proposal envisages a phased release of about 28 hostages held by Hamas during an initial 60-day ceasefire, as well as the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza, a surge of humanitarian aid and discussions on a definitive end to the 21-month conflict. In March, a previous ceasefire collapsed when Israel reneged on a promise to engage in negotiations that would have led to a second scheduled phase of the existing truce and possibly a permanent cessation of hostilities. Hamas officials have now demanded strong guarantees that Israel will not launch a new offensive after the 60 days is over. The militant Islamist organisation also wants the UN and other international organisations to control deliveries of humanitarian aid in Gaza, and bar the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive US and Israel-backed private organisation that started distributing aid in Gaza in May and has been mired in controversy. A further point of dispute is Hamas's demand for Israel's military to pull back much further than proposed in negotiations. The Israeli military now holds about two-thirds of Gaza, including key strategic corridors as well as a swath of the southern part of the territory that has been razed flat and which Israel is reluctant to give up. 'Hamas are eager for a ceasefire, there is no doubt at all … but they have their red lines too. Here in Israel, we have had an experiment with the idea that more and more pressure on Hamas means they will [eventually] give up. Well, how much more pressure can you imagine?,' said Michael Milstein, a Hamas expert and the head of the Palestinian studies forum at Tel Aviv University. But Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, is under immense pressure, having suffered significant casualties in the conflict and the loss of much of its authority in the devastated territory. The organisation has also been undermined by the recent military success of Israel against Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based militia and political movement that was a key ally, and against Iran, a major supporter overseas, in a short war in June that was brought to an end when the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities and then imposed a ceasefire. 'Hamas know they badly need a pause to regroup and take a breath … but they want to survive in the long run. That's the only real goal … so they are not going to give up everything,' said one source close to Hamas familiar with the current negotiations. This is why Hamas is refusing two key demands of Israel that are not included in the draft ceasefire proposal, giving up its weapons and sending its Gaza-based leadership into exile, the source said. Hamas's losses are contested. Israel has said it has killed more than 20,000 militants in Gaza, but offered no evidence to support the claim. There is little doubt that most of the senior leaders of the group in the territory at the beginning of the war are now dead. Gaza's ministry of health has counted more than 57,000 killed by the Israeli offensive there, mostly civilians. The UN and western governments consider the tally to be reliable. The offensive has plunged Gaza into an acute humanitarian crisis, with much of the 2.3 million population threatened by famine, and reduced much of the territory to rubble. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 12 people on Monday, including six in a clinic housing displaced Palestinians. 'We were surprised by missiles and explosions inside the building,' Salman Qudum, a witness, told AFP. In the south of the territory, Mahmoud Bassal, a civil defence spokesperson, said two people were killed and 20 others injured by Israeli forces' gunfire near a distribution site run by the GHF. Hundreds have been killed in recent weeks seeking food from the organisation's distribution points, from UN convoys and from looted aid trucks. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reports of casualties. In a separate statement, it said it had struck 'dozens of terrorists, weapons depots, observation posts, military buildings and other terror infrastructures' over the past 24 hours. The war was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023 in which militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 250. Of the hostages, 50 remain in Gaza, of whom less than half are thought to be alive. Some of Netanyahu's hardline coalition partners oppose any end to the fighting. But, with Israelis having become increasingly weary of the war and the military supporting a ceasefire so that remaining hostages can be returned, his government is expected to back a ceasefire.
Reuters
7 minutes ago
- Reuters
LVMH veteran Michael Burke to head US and other operations
PARIS, July 7 (Reuters) - Luxury goods group LVMH ( opens new tab has named longtime executive Michael Burke, one of CEO Bernard Arnault's most trusted advisers, as head of LVMH Americas, the company's unit for North and South America, Arnault said in a memo to staff on Monday. Burke, 68, has held top management positions at Dior, Fendi, Bulgari and Louis Vuitton in over 40 years working with Arnault. His appointment comes as the luxury industry faces a deep downturn, with economic pressures and price fatigue weighing on appetite for high-end goods in China and the United States. Hopes for a U.S. -led turnaround at the start of the year were dashed by weakening demand there, with trade tensions further clouding the outlook. Arnault, who attended the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump in January and has met with Trump since then, has said that the European Union must soften its stance toward U.S. trade demands and negotiate a deal to avoid tariffs and protect European jobs. Burke will report to LVMH Managing Director Stephane Bianchi, and the executives in charge of U.S. and Latin America operations will report to Burke.
South Wales Argus
7 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Another cargo ship comes under attack in Red Sea
The assault followed the Houthis saying the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas sank on Monday after being attacked with drones, missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire on Sunday, forcing its crew of 22 to abandon the vessel. The two attacks and a round of Israeli air strikes early on Monday targeting the rebels raised fears of a renewed Houthi campaign against shipping that could again draw in US and Western forces to the area, particularly after President Donald Trump's administration targeted the rebels in a major air strike campaign. The attacks comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance, and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear programme following American airs trikes targeting its most sensitive atomic sites during an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also travelled to Washington to meet Mr Trump. Houthi rebels claimed the attack on a ship (Osamah Abdulrahman/AP) The private security firm Ambrey reported the latest attack on Monday night in the Red Sea, offering the details on the hurt and missing security guards. It said the vessel had been heading north toward the Suez Canal when it came under fire by men in small boats and by bomb-carrying drones. The security guards on board had opened fire in response. 'The vessel's engines had reportedly been disabled and Ambrey observed that the vessel had started to drift,' the firm said. Military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the Houthis attacked the Magic Seas as the ship belonged to a company which it said continued to do port calls in Israel. Following the attack, the Israeli military said that it struck Houthi-held ports at Hodeida, Ras Isa and Salif, as well as the Ras Kanatib power plant. It released footage showing an F-16 launching from Israel for the strike, which came after the Israeli military issued a warning for the area. 'These ports are used by the Houthi terrorist regime to transfer weapons from the Iranian regime, which are employed to carry out terrorist operations against the state of Israel and its allies,' the Israeli military spokesman said. He also said the military struck the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle-carrying vessel that the Houthis seized back in November 2023 when they began their attacks in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war. 'Houthi forces installed a radar system on the ship and have been using it to track vessels in the international maritime arena to facilitate further terrorist activities,' the spokesman said. The Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader was affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said that no Israelis were on board. The ship had been operated by a Japanese firm, NYK Line. The Houthis acknowledged the strikes but offered no damage assessment from the attack. Mr Saree claimed its air defence forces 'effectively confronted' the Israelis. Israel has repeatedly attacked Houthi areas in Yemen, including a naval strike in June. Both Israel and the United States have struck ports in the area in the past — including an American attack that killed 74 people in April — but Israel is now acting alone in attacking the rebels as they continue to fire missiles at Israel. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz threatened to launch further strikes. 'What's true for Iran is true for Yemen,' Mr Katz said in a statement. 'Anyone who raises a hand against Israel will have it cut off. The Houthis will continue to pay a heavy price for their actions.' The Houthis then responded with an apparent missile attack on Israel. The Israeli military said that it attempted to intercept the two missiles launched by the Houthis but they appeared to make impact, though no injuries have been reported. Sirens sounded in the West Bank and along the Dead Sea. The attack on the Magic Seas, a bulk carrier heading north to Egypt's Suez Canal, happened about 60 miles south west of Hodeida, which is held by the Houthis. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre first said that an armed security team on the vessel had returned fire against an initial attack of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades, though the vessel later was struck by projectiles. Ambrey, a private maritime security firm, said that the Magic Seas also had been attacked by bomb-carrying drone boats.
