GOP strategist on IRS acting chief's departure: ‘Trump chose his cabinet members over Elon Musk'
Republican strategist Melik Abdul and Coleman Hughes weigh in on acting IRS commissioner Gary Shapley being replaced. Sources told CNN that Shapley, President Trump's pick for the top IRS job, will be replaced by Michael Faulkender, the deputy secretary of the Treasury.
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Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republicans urge Donald Trump and Elon Musk to end their feud
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Republican Party braces for aftershocks from President Donald Trump's spectacular clash with Elon Musk, lawmakers and conservative figures are urging détente, fearful of the potential consequences from a prolonged feud. At a minimum, the explosion of animosity between the two powerful men could complicate the path forward for Republicans' massive tax and border spending legislation that has been promoted by Trump but assailed by Musk. 'I hope it doesn't distract us from getting the job done that we need to,' said Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican from Washington state. "I think that it will boil over and they'll mend fences.' As of Friday afternoon, Musk was holding his fire, posting about his various companies on social media rather than torching the president. Trump departed the White House for his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, without stopping to talk to reporters who shouted questions about his battle with Musk. 'I hope that both of them come back together because when the two of them are working together, we'll get a lot more done for America than when they're at cross purposes,' Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night. Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, sounded almost pained on social media as Trump and Musk volleyed insults at each other, sharing a photo composite of the two men and writing, "But … I really like both of them.' 'Who else really wants @elonmusk and @realDonaldTrump to reconcile?' Lee posted, later adding: 'Repost if you agree that the world is a better place with the Trump-Musk bromance fully intact.' So far, the feud between Trump and Musk is probably best described as a moving target, with plenty of opportunities for escalation or detente. One person familiar with the president's thinking said Musk wants to speak with Trump, but that the president doesn't want to do it – or at least do it on Friday. The person requested anonymity to disclose private matters. In a series of conversations with television anchors Friday morning, Trump showed no interest in burying the hatchet. Asked on ABC News about reports of a potential call between him and Musk, the president responded: 'You mean the man who has lost his mind?' Trump added in the ABC interview that he was 'not particularly' interested in talking to Musk at the moment. Still, others remained hopeful that it all would blow over. 'I grew up playing hockey and there wasn't a single day that we played hockey or basketball or football or baseball, whatever we were playing, where we didn't fight. And then we'd fight, then we'd become friends again,' Hannity said on his show Thursday night. Acknowledging that it 'got personal very quick,' Hannity nonetheless added that the rift was 'just a major policy difference.' House Speaker Mike Johnson projected confidence that the dispute would not affect prospects for the tax and border bill. 'Members are not shaken at all,' the Louisiana Republican said. 'We're going to pass this legislation on our deadline.' He added that he hopes Musk and Trump reconcile, saying 'I believe in redemption' and 'it's good for the party and the country if all that's worked out.' But he also had something of a warning for the billionaire entrepreneur. 'I'll tell you what, do not doubt and do not second-guess and don't ever challenge the president of the United States, Donald Trump,' Johnson said. "He is the leader of the party. He's the most consequential political figure of this generation and probably the modern era.' — Associated Press writers Leah Askarinam and Kevin Freking contributed to this report. Seung Min Kim And Chris Megerian, The Associated Press
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump Calls Anyone Who'll Listen to Prove He's Not Thinking About Elon
The White House frantically worked to move forward from this week's blowup between President Donald Trump and his former first buddy Elon Musk. But the frenzied level at which the president insisted everything is all good suggested the opposite. The president did what amounted to a weekday version of a 'Full Ginsburg' Friday morning when he spoke with reporters from across the major television networks and got his thoughts off his chest. It's hard to believe everything is fine when the president was going full-court press with those he has blasted as 'fake' at one point or another. In one brief call, the president spoke to CNN's Dana Bash. 'I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem. The poor guy's got a problem,' Trump said. But the president's media blitz did not stop there. When ABC News' Jonathan Karl called shortly before 7 a.m., the president picked up the phone. During that conversation, Trump called Musk the 'man who has lost his mind.' He also said he was 'not particularly' interested in talking with the world's richest man right now, despite early reports of plans for a call between the two being in the works. Then there was the call with CBS News Friday morning. The president told the network's Robert Costa he was 'totally' focused on domestic and foreign policy. 'That's all I focus on,' Trump said. 'I don't focus on anything else.' Also Friday morning, there was a call with Fox News, where the president told Bret Baier he was not interested in discussing Musk but got in that 'Elon's totally lost it.' The president's early chats with reporters did not just stop with television networks. He also spoke with one of his favorite papers, the New York Post. During that brief phone call, the president reportedly played it cool and insisted 'nothing catches me by surprise. Nothing,' when asked about the personal attacks on him from his one-time close ally. He also had a brief chat with Politico, a favorite target of criticism of the Trump administration, on Thursday. Of the breakup, Trump said 'Oh, it's okay' and claimed 'it's going very well, never done better.' Perhaps the president really does want to just get past the not-so-beautiful breakup. He also spoke of his polling numbers, inflation, and gas prices on his Friday morning calls. But it was unusual for the president to do such a widespread round robin like the one the world saw Friday morning, insisting Musk isn't top of mind. By Friday afternoon, Trump made another somewhat out-of-character move: he remained quiet. The president did not take questions as he departed the White House on Friday afternoon. It was not the first time he made an exit without seeking out the press. But after fielding calls across the board hours before, it was notable to reject giving more oxygen to their relationship.
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
Trump's trade talk delegation is set to face off with China's negotiators in London. Here is what's at stake.
Three top Trump administration economic officials will face off against Chinese negotiators in a renewed effort to break the US-China trade deadlock. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will be meeting China's delegation in London on Monday. "The meeting should go very well," President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post announcing the talks. This coming meeting will be the first official talk between the two countries since they mutually lowered tariffs in a temporary truce on May 12, after talks in Geneva. The renewed talks follow a 90-minute phone call between Trump and China's leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, a rare direct conversation that Trump later described as "very good." According to Trump, the two leaders also agreed to visit each other in person, without providing more details in terms of a timeline. The Chinese Embassy of Washington did not respond to a request for who would be attending this negotiation from its side. The team they sent to Geneva consisted of Vice Premier He Lifeng, Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang, and Vice Finance Minister Liao Min. Notably, Li has a Master of Laws from the University of Hamburg in Germany and has been part of China's delegation to the World Trade Organization since 2021. International trade experts previously told Business Insider that much is at stake for both China and the US to strike a deal, or at the very least, continue the truce beyond August 12 when the 90-day tariff pause will expire. "The Trump administration made their job harder because the tariff policies they've implemented are costly to Americans and American companies, and therefore, the market doesn't like it," said Philip Luck, director of the CSIS Economics Program. "They are under a lot of pressure to do things fast." Meanwhile, a lawsuit that threatens to undo all of Trump's tariffs enacted under the IEEPA also looms over negotiations with China. Drew DeLong, lead in geopolitical dynamics practice at Kearney, a global strategy and management consulting firm, told BI that if the court strikes down tariffs before trade deals could come to pass, other routes of imposing tariffs could be more complicated and time-consuming. The White House did not provide Business Insider with any additional comment beyond Trump's Truth Social post.
