Musk-Trump fallout may jolt space; Meta hunts AI startup
Mōrena and welcome to another bitterly cold winter morning. Settle in with a cuppa and catch up on your daily dose of international business and political news.
First, US President Donald Trump warned that Elon Musk could face "serious consequences" if the billionaire businessman backed Democrats
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RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Trump's border czar defends decision to deploy hundreds of Marines to quell LA protests
By Donald Judd , CNN White House border czar Tom Homan. Photo: AFP/ANDREW HARNIK President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan argued on Monday that it was necessary to deploy hundreds of Marines to Los Angeles to quell immigration protests that are happening in the city - despite local officials saying it's unclear why they are there or what they are doing. "Yes, it all depends on the activities of these protesters - I mean, they make the decisions. I keep hearing reports that they're rioting because President Trump sent National Guard here, it's just ridiculous," Homan told CNN's Kaitlan Collins. "We don't know what's going to happen tonight - it seems like at night, the crowds get bigger, the violence peaks. So, we want to be ahead of the game. We'll be well prepared for the military here to protect government property and protect officers' lives," he said. Homan declined to say what standard the Trump administration was using to decide if mobilising the Marines would be necessary. "They're not reinforcing immigration law - we're doing that, we're immigration officers," Homan said. "Their job is protection of property and protection of our agents and their lives and their wellbeing, along with the public's wellbeing." Over the weekend, Trump became the first president in decades to call in the National Guard without a request from a governor - doing so without invoking the Insurrection Act, the 1807 law that allows the president to deploy American soldiers to police US streets in extreme circumstances. Trump ordered the Department of Defence to deploy an additional 2,000 California National Guard members to the Los Angeles area on Monday evening, according to the Pentagon. Protesters kneel in the street facing a row of police in riot gear during a protest in response to federal immigration operations in the Little Tokyo neighbourhood of downtown Los Angeles, on June 9, 2025. Photo: AFP/FREDERIC J. BROWN On Monday, the administration mobilised more than 700 Marines based out of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Centre in California to respond to the protests in Los Angeles. Homan said there were conversations "every day" within the administration about deploying military domestically, but he said he had not been personally involved in conversations about invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow for the use active-duty military to quell protests. "No - again, I'm here running a Title 8 immigration operation, I was - I'm not involved in discussions, but I do know every day a conversation happens with the leadership of DOJ, DHS and DOD on a decision going forward," he said. "I think decisions on deployment of the National Guard and any other deployment of DOD is a decision being made by the White House, along with the Department of Justice, DOD - I know those calls are happening every day." But pressed if Americans should expect to see military deployed to other US cities where protests against ICE operations pop up, the border czar said, "I hope not." "I hope it's not the new normal - I hope people go out there and protest peacefully, but to attack law enforcement officers who are simply enforcing the laws that Congress enacted," he said. "So, if you want to hate, you want to protest, go to Congress and protest them. ICE is just doing their job." Homan also acknowledged that Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom has not done anything to warrant arrest after Trump said if he were Homan, he would have him arrested. "Governor Newsom has not done anything to warrant an arrest in your view right now, correct?" Collins asked. "Not at this time - absolutely not," he said. Homan told CNN that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would continue operations in Los Angeles - and across the country - to enforce immigration law. "They'll continue every day, not only in California, Los Angeles, they're gonna continue every city across the country - we have teams throughout the country that are out there looking for those in the country," Homan said. "We're in every city and country, and ICE is going to be out every single day and will continue to be there regardless what's happening in LA." - CNN
NZ Herald
4 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Trump touts $1700 investment accounts for US-born children
As the Republicans' tax and spending cut bill makes its way through the Senate, President Donald Trump today touted a provision that would provide every child born in the United States with a US$1000 ($1700) investment account. Dubbed 'Trump accounts', the tax-deferred investment accounts would be set up for children
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
What we know about the tactics used in the Los Angeles protests
By Josh Campbell, CNN LAPD officers on horseback clash with protesters during protests after a series of immigration raids in Los Angeles. Photo: AFP / SPENCER PLATT A relative state of calm in Los Angeles began to crumble early Sunday afternoon as demonstrators confronted federal authorities guarding a downtown detention facility where chaos erupted as National Guard soldiers deployed tear gas on an increasingly agitated crowd. An already tense situation began to escalate as a line of troops sent in by President Donald Trump the previous night - against the will of state officials -started forming what's called a "skirmish line" around 1pm. The troops used riot shields to push the crowd back to make way for a convoy of approaching law enforcement vehicles. The soldiers were heavily armed, carrying standard-use M4 military rifles affixed with magazines, suggesting they were loaded with ammunition. Such weaponry in the hands of military personnel on the streets of an American city is rare, as is the use of the armed forces to conduct crowd control. In an apparent response to a member of the crowd lobbing an object at authorities, the National Guard and US Homeland Security agents fired less lethal projectiles and deployed tear gas on the group. LAPD officers shoot rubber bullets at protesters in front of the City Hall in Los Angeles, California. Photo: AFP / APU GOMES A large number of Los Angeles Police Department officers in riot gear arrived as the crowd continued to build and began dispersing people, moving them away from the federal jail. Unlike much of the US military, LAPD officers receive extensive training in crowd control techniques - tactics officers were called upon to use during social unrest in the city following George Floyd's death in 2020. The effort, however, became a new flashpoint as certain hostile demonstrators threw bottles and other items at officers, who responded by swinging their batons and striking some members of the crowd. The protests had begun Friday night in response to federal immigration raids in the Los Angeles area, which come amid Trump's larger crackdown involving raids and deportations across the country. The LAPD announced dispersal orders and issued a citywide "tactical alert," putting the entire police department on standby for possible deployment. During a tactical alert, officers currently on duty must remain on shift until relieved by their commanders, and certain calls for service from the public may not be addressed until the alert is lifted. In one shocking moment, a motorcyclist plowed into a line of LAPD officers, injuring at least two of them, authorities said. The rider was quickly swarmed by a half dozen cops and arrested. It ranked among the most extreme incidents of violence witnessed Sunday. A demonstrator holding flowers walks past police officers as protesters clash with law enforcement in the streets surrounding the federal building during a protest following federal immigration operations in Los Angeles. Photo: AFP / RINGO CHIU While teams of officers continued to push back crowds around the downtown area, there were additional clashes - including some violent agitators firing what the city's police chief described as "commercial-grade fireworks" at authorities. As a group of mounted patrol officers surrounded a protester on the ground, a barrage of fireworks appeared to suddenly startle one of the horses, seen on video trampling the man. Another horse-mounted officer then struck the man with a stick. The video appears to show officers in a chaotic situation employing contradictory police tactics on the same person, which can often lead to confusion or dangerous outcomes. While one officer appeared to order the man to stand up and leave, the man was quickly tackled by another officer after standing. It is unclear from the video what happened before the incident, the reason officers initially surrounded him and whether he was ultimately arrested. Experts say the use of horses to patrol protests does come with numerous benefits to officers. The height of the animal provides a mounted officer with a vantage point to look over and into large crowds. The imposing size of a horse can also have a psychological effect in dissuading potential violence. Photo: AFP / SPENCER PLATT Beyond the demonstrators protesting the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, vandals struck the downtown area as the afternoon continued. Building and vehicle windows were shattered and graffiti was sprayed. Multiple self-driving Waymo cars were also vandalized and set ablaze. Around 4 pm, groups of demonstrators moved from the city streets to the lanes of the busy 101 Freeway, bringing traffic to a halt. Several dozen officers from the California Highway Patrol responded to clear people from the freeway, while some violent demonstrators on an overpass hurled objects such as scooters and rocks at CHP officers, smashing the windows and damaging several police cruisers. At one point, a man on an overpass dropped a lit object onto the hood of one of the CHP vehicles, attempting to set it on fire. Officers taking refuge under the bridge responded with fire extinguishers to douse the flames. Los Angeles mounted police advance on a makeshift barricade in a cloud of tear gas as clashes erupt with demonstrators next to City Hall. Photo: AFP / ETIENNE LAURENT The 101 Freeway incident showed instances of law enforcement trying to deescalate a chaotic situation rather than ratcheting up tensions with overwhelming force. For example, rather than bringing in teams of officers to surround and confront the demonstrators destroying property from atop the bridge, authorities appeared to wait them out. Officials have warned police will continue to review video taken at the scene in order to bring charges against those allegedly responsible for assault and damage. Additionally, officers clearing the freeway of demonstrators appeared to try to slow down the situation and remove people in groups, even as some isolated skirmishes occurred. A tactic known as an "L-formation," in which officers align themselves in the shape of the letter, created a natural path of movement for the demonstrators police were trying to direct off the highway. Shortly after 9 pm, LAPD declared the entirety of downtown Los Angeles an unlawful assembly, and worked for several hours to disperse crowds ignoring the order. Authorities said dozens of people were arrested in Los Angeles as part of Sunday's unrest. - CNN
