Trump vs Musk: Caught in the middle are two top US govt advisors, married to each other. What next?
As the feud between US President Donald Trump and his former top advisor, also the world's richest man, Elon Musk ensues, a Trump loyalist couple faces a conundrum like no other.
Stephen Miller and his wife Katie Miller are now on the opposite sides of the Donald Trump-Elon Musk break up. How? Because one is the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and the other had until recently been serving as an advisor and a spokeswoman for Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
According to a New York Times report, last week, as Musk was leaving Washington behind, there were news reports that Katie was also leaving DOGE to work for Musk full time, a development that led to speculation about her relationship with the administration – and her husband.
By Thursday, speculations intensified after Donald Trump and Elon Musk engaged in an ugly spat with Musk suggesting the president was ungrateful for the $250 million he spent on getting him elected and Trump saying he could cancel the tech billionaire's many government contracts.
Musk then reportedly stopped following Stephen Miller, and several other conservative leaders, on X, the social media platform he owns.
A day later, Trump said that Musk had "lost his mind" but insisted he wanted to move on from the fiery split with his billionaire former ally.
Trump had scrapped the idea of a call with Musk and was even thinking of ditching the red Tesla he bought at the height of their bromance, White House officials told AFP.
"You mean the man who has lost his mind?" Trump said in a call with ABC when asked about Musk, adding that he was "not particularly" interested in talking to the tycoon.
Trump later told Fox News that Musk had "lost it."
Just a week ago Trump gave Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the DOGE after four months working there.
Attempts to reach the Millers for comment were unsuccessful, the NYT report added.
'Let's take the richest guy in the world and put him in a room with the most powerful person in the world: Did anybody ever think this was ever going work out?' said James Carville, the veteran Democratic strategist. 'You couldn't be a casual observer of human nature and be remotely surprised by this," the NYT quoted him as saying.
Carville was also caught in the middle, just like the Millers are. Back in the 1900s, while working as the chief strategist in the Clinton White House, he made headlines for his relationship with his wife, Mary Matalin, a Republican political consultant who helped manage the 1992 Bush campaign. The couple survived the Clinton administration, and remains married today, the report added.
According to the report, Trump has caused a deeper rift between another married couple: Kellyanne Conway, a former campaign manager for the president, and her now ex-husband, George Conway, a conservative lawyer, who announced their divorce in 2023, after years of differing opinions on the president. (She approved, he decidedly did not.)
(With inputs from agencies)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
11 minutes ago
- Time of India
Musk-Miller feud: Katie Miller used to give instructions on Elon's behalf, White House sent a mail to bar her
Katie Miller and Stephen Miller are once again working for two sparring bosses. Earlier, it was Mike Pence and Donald Trump. Before Elon Musk and Donald Trump publicly fought and reached a point of no return, there was another 'breakup' that took place between Musk and the Millers -- Stephen Miller and Katie Miller. Stephen Miller is the deputy chief of staff in the White House where Katie Miller used to work as Elon Musk's spokesperson. But when Elon Musk stepped down from DOGE, Katie Miller chose to work full-time with Elon Musk. The disagreement between Donald Trump and Elon Musk was not a secret when Elon Musk walked out of the White House, but after their public fallout, the Millers are the most affected individuals. Elon Musk unfollowed Stephen Miller while Katie Miller is not issuing any public statements. Musk vs Millers: Here are the inside details A Wall Street Journal report claimed that Karie Miller overreached her role and started giving instructions on Elon's behalf. Special government employees like Katie Miller did not have any walk-in privileges in the West Wing unless they were working with the president, like Elon Musk. But Karie Miller was always flouting the rule -- walking in and out of offices as she worked in the first Trump administration as well. An email was sent pout to the staff reminding them that they can't walk into any office they want. The target was Katie Miller, and the mail was sent out from her husband's department. As Elon Musk-Trump's public slamming took an ugly turn, the Millers maintained silence but the WSJ report said that Katie Miller privately asked others to speak on her behalf. And the statement is that the Millers were "trying to cool the temperaute between Musk and Trump" Friday. Katie Miller is known to be a strong taskmaster who doesn't think twice to blur ethical lines. People who worked with her told Journal that she used to exhaust people, and so they gave her what she wanted. And many people do not like that kind of intensity. One of her former colleagues told Journal that Katie Miller is a person who could tell from her memory the status of every project better than those who are running the projects. This is not the first time that Millers are torn between two bosses. Katie Miller continued working for Mike Pence and Stephen with Donald Trump when they had a split. But this time, the rumors were that Katie Miller was leaving Stephen Miller for Elon Musk. White House was not happy with Katie Miller's role in DOGE, the WSJ report said as they feel that she did not do enough to persuade Musk to work with the agencies and the White House. While working as DOGE spokesperson, Katie continues working P2 Public Affairs, a Republican consulting firm and secured many clients meetings at the White House. After this got repored, she left P2.
Time of India
13 minutes ago
- Time of India
US lawmaker under fire for protesting Sikh prayer in Congress
The TOI correspondent from Washington: A racist Republican lawmaker known for making inflammatory statements is under fire after misidentifying a Sikh religious leader as Muslim and declaring he should never have been allowed to deliver the morning prayer in Congress in a country she falsely claimed was "founded as a Christian nation. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now " 'It's deeply troubling that a Muslim was allowed to lead prayer in the House of Representatives this morning. This should never have been allowed to happen. America was founded as a Christian nation, and I believe our government should reflect that truth, not drift further…' Illinois lawmaker Mary Miller said in a now-deleted post, after she had corrected the religious identity. The remark embarrassed the Republican Party beyond its racist MAGA base, particularly since it was a GOP Congressman who had invited New Jersey granthi Giani Singh to deliver the prayer. "I was proud to invite a Sikh chaplain to open the House with prayer this morning. The Sikh community is peaceful, generous, and deeply rooted in family and service, values we should all appreciate, no matter our religion," New Jersey Congressman Jeff van Drew said, adding, "as a Catholic, I take my faith seriously and I also believe part of being American is respecting other people's faiths too." Miller was also castigated by the Democratic Party, which is more representative of America's changing demographics. 'It's deeply troubling that such an ignorant and hateful extremist is serving in the United States Congress,' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on X. 'That would be you, Mary.' Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and public intellectuals also called out Miller for falsely claiming the US was founded as a Christian nation, a more recent fiction promoted by racist MAGA hardliners. The US was not founded as an explicitly Christian nation, and the First Amendment to the Constitution protects freedom of religion. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In fact, the first Sikhs came to America around 1900, long before the forebears of many MAGA extremists. Early Sikhs settled down on the Pacific coast, and many of their descendants are now prosperous and politically influential farmers and business owners in California, a fact recognised by local lawmakers. 'I'm troubled by my colleague's remarks about this morning's Sikh prayer, which have since been deleted,' California Congressman David Valadao, a Republican, wrote on X. 'Throughout the country—and in the Central Valley— Sikh-Americans are valued and respected members of our communities, yet they continue to face harassment and discrimination. There are more than 500,000 Sikhs in the US, according to Sikh Advocacy groups, although the 2020 US census reported only 70,697 respondents identifying as Sikh. Many of them are in California's Central Valley, where some towns have had Sikh mayors and Punjabi is commonly spoken. The GOP also has at least two prominent Sikhs in leadership positions: Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former Trump campaign legal advisor and US assistant attorney general for the civil rights division Harmeet Dhillon. Dhillon in fact delivered the closing invocation (antim ardas) at the Republican National Convention last year, triggering a backlash from MAGA fundamentalists, one of whom posted this on X: "ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!! I have nothing but respect for Harmeet Dhillon but fire whoever invited her to pray to a foreign god, there is only one true God we pray to and his name is not whatever she said. His name is YAHWEH and his only begotten Son is Jesus Christ. "
Time of India
15 minutes ago
- Time of India
Jewish groups in US line up to oppose Trump anti-Semitism strategy
US Jewish groups are unified over the need to fight mounting anti-Semitic incidents across the country, but many are bitterly opposed to how President Donald Trump is seeking to counter the scourge. A string of incidents has targeted Jews in the United States in recent weeks. Two Israeli embassy workers were murdered in Washington, Molotov cocktails were thrown at an event in Colorado, and tensions persist on university campuses. The conservative Heritage Foundation think-tank, behind the "Project 2025" roadmap for radically overhauling and shrinking the government, published in October " Project Esther " -- a blueprint on combatting anti-Semitism. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now Undo The project seeks to "dismantle" so-called "anti-Israel," "anti-Zionist," or "pro-Palestinian" organizations allegedly part of a "Hamas support network" that has "infiltrated" universities including Columbia and Harvard. The text advocates the dismissal of professors, barring some foreign students from campuses, expelling others outright, and withholding public funding from universities. Live Events Robert Greenway, a Project Esther co-author, recently told The New York Times it was "no coincidence that we called for a series of actions to take place privately and publicly, and they are now happening." The Heritage Foundation refused an interview request. Stefanie Fox, director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), said "Project Esther sets out a blueprint for the Trump administration to sharpen the legal regimes that will best advance (his) 'Make America Great Again' goals." The JVP, a Jewish organization that leads demonstrations against "genocide" in Gaza, is named in Project Esther as a member of the so-called Hamas support network. "These assumptions are baseless, paranoid, laughable," said Fox, whose group is on the left. 'Weaponizing' anti-Semitism? Although 89 percent of the 7.2 million US Jews say they are concerned about anti-Semitism, 64 percent disapprove of Trump's efforts to combat it, according to a recent Jewish Voters Resource Center poll. "There is anti-Semitism on those campuses... But to give the broad claim that the thrust to fight anti-Semitism is to go after higher education is just absolutely ridiculous," said Kevin Rachlin. He is a prominent figure in the Nexus Project formed in opposition to Project Esther that seeks to counter anti-Semitism without impairing freedom of speech. Trump's strategy "doesn't keep Jews safe." Rather, it seeks to separate the Jewish minority from others in the country and ignores right-wing anti-Semitism, Rachlin argues. "We as Jews are safer when we're in coalition with other groups and other minorities," he said, adding that combatting anti-Semitism through education was more viable than targeting universities. Traditional Jewish groups have aligned more with Trump's Republicans and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, unlike the "majority" of American Jews, claims author Eric Alterman. "What's happened in Gaza has been very hard for most American Jews -- particularly young American Jews -- to stomach. Young American Jews are now roughly evenly divided between supporting Israel and supporting the Palestinians," he told AFP. Alterman added most US Jews are not anti-Zionist -- but don't like the war in Gaza or Israel's West Bank strategy. "They're kind of caught in the middle." Some Jewish groups warn that when Trump targets higher education purportedly combatting anti-Semitism, he is actually "weaponizing" the sensitive issue to stifle freedom of expression. In recent weeks, ten major Jewish organizations criticized the Trump administration in a letter, saying they reject the "false choice" between "Jewish safety" and "democracy." "There should be no doubt that anti-Semitism is rising" but access to "higher education, and strong democratic norms... have allowed American Jewry to thrive for hundreds of years," the letter states. One of the signatories, rabbi and former ambassador for religious freedom David Saperstein, said there was "appreciation" for Trump prioritizing anti-Semitic violence and rhetoric -- but opposed the clampdown on universities, media and judges. He added: "Ironically, they are targeting democratic institutions that have given the Jewry in America more rights, more freedom, more opportunities than we have ever known in our 2,600 years of diasporic history."
