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Elon Musk and Donald Trump 'back together' as Tesla CEO extends olive branch

Elon Musk and Donald Trump 'back together' as Tesla CEO extends olive branch

Daily Mirror10 hours ago

Elon Musk and Donald Trump had a spectacular falling out which had been building as the tech billionaire attacked the US president's "big beautiful bill" for several days
Elon Musk appeared to extend an olive branch to Donald Trump in a social media post over the LA protests fuelling speculation that they could be soon 'back together'.
The tech billionaire's 'bromance' with Donald Trump came to a fiery end last week in an ugly online spat between the pair on Thursday after several days where Musk had been criticising the US government over the president's "big beautiful bill". Trump threatened to cut Musk's government contracts and the tech billionaire claimed that US government hasn't released all the records related to sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein because Trump is mentioned in them. There is no suggestion Trump knew of any crimes or participated in any criminal behaviour.


But several days later it seems as though tempers have cooled and Trump shared on X a photo of Trump's Truth Social post calling out California Governor Gavin Newsom over his handling of the current trouble in Los Angeles.
The post by Trump demands that Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass should "apologize to the people of Los Angeles for the absolutely horrible job that they have done, and this now includes the ongoing L.A. riots." He added: "These are not protesters, they are troublemakers and insurrectionists. Remember, NO MASKS!"
In addition to Trump, the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency also shared a post by Vice President JD Vance, who said: "This moment calls for decisive leadership. The president will not tolerate rioting and violence." Musk added with his post two American flags.
It has left many wondering whether this could mean an end to the war between the pair. "So are y'all besties again or...," one person wrote on social media. "You're doing the Seinfeld episode where George pretends he didn't rage quit his job. I'm for it," a second person stated.
"Elon and Trump will be back together by the end of the week," a third person said. "Aren't you guys still fighting? " a fourth person laughed.

The messy blow-up between the president of the United States and the world 's richest man played out on their respective social media platforms after Trump was asked during a White House meeting with Germany's new leader about Musk's criticism of his spending bill.
Trump had largely remained silent as Musk stewed over the last few days on his social media platform X, condemning the president's so-called 'big beautiful bill.' But Trump clapped back Thursday in the Oval Office, saying he was 'very disappointed in Musk.'
Musk responded on social media in real time. Trump, who was supposed to be spending Thursday discussing an end to the Russia-Ukraine war with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, ratcheted up the stakes when he turned to his own social media network, Truth Social, and threatened to use the US government to hurt Musk's bottom line by going after contracts held by his internet company Starlink and rocket company SpaceX.
'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' Trump wrote on his social media network. 'Go ahead, make my day,' Musk quickly replied on X.
Hours later, Musk announced SpaceX would begin decommissioning the spacecraft it used to carry astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. He later stepped back from making this call and his apparent move to make up with Trump comes as Tesla stocks have crashed.

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Trump insists riots would have ‘completely obliterated' LA without National Guard and demands Dems say ‘THANK YOU'
Trump insists riots would have ‘completely obliterated' LA without National Guard and demands Dems say ‘THANK YOU'

Scottish Sun

time25 minutes ago

  • Scottish Sun

Trump insists riots would have ‘completely obliterated' LA without National Guard and demands Dems say ‘THANK YOU'

A lawmaker warned the chaos is the 'tip of the iceberg' LA DESTRUCTION Trump insists riots would have 'completely obliterated' LA without National Guard and demands Dems say 'THANK YOU' DONALD Trump has doubled down on his decision to send the National Guard to Los Angeles after days of unrest in the city. The president said California Governor Gavin Newsom should be thanking him for deploying the troops to protests downtown against federal immigration raids. 8 A protester jumps over a burning car with his bike in Los Angeles on Sunday Credit: The Mega Agency 8 Masked rioters wave a Mexican flag while standing on top of a burning self-driving car in Los Angeles Credit: Getty 8 LAPD officers shoot rubber bullets at protesters as they march through the streets on horseback Credit: Getty 8 A burning Waymo taxi near the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles Credit: Getty However, Newsom was furious with Trump's decision to send federal service members without his permission and slammed the move as "illegal" and "immoral," as he plans to bring a lawsuit against the Trump administration over it. Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, insist that the peaceful protests turned into riots on Sunday night only in response to the National Guard showing up. But Trump said on Monday the city would be "completely obliterated" if he hadn't mobilized the Guard. "We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California. If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated," he wrote on Truth Social. "The very incompetent 'Governor,' Gavin Newscum, and 'Mayor,' Karen Bass, should be saying, 'THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, SIR.'" He continued, "Instead, they choose to lie to the People of California and America by saying that we weren't needed, and that these are 'peaceful protests.'" Rioters looted shops, set self-driving Waymo cars on fire, and blocked off the 101 Freeway on Sunday night after the National Guard was deployed. Cops used tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls to push back the protesters, even shooting a TV reporter with rubber bullets live on air at the terrifying scene. Newsom has asked Trump to withdraw the troops and threatened to sue the Trump administration after the president authorized 2,000 troops to storm the city. This is the first time in decades that a state's National Guard has been activated without the governor's permission, which Newsom called a "serious breach of state sovereignty." On Truth Social, Trump called for anyone hiding their identities behind masks to be arrested immediately. He added, "Order will be restored, the Illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free." Now, 500 Marines are waiting in a "prepared to deploy" status at a base that sits about 142 miles east of Los Angeles. The city is bracing for more violent clashes on Monday as Trump's new travel ban comes into effect, furthering his crackdown on immigration. More than 100 people were arrested in ICE raids last week as agents targeted the city of Paramount, which has a predominantly Latino population in Los Angeles. LAPD chiefs have now voiced concerns over the use of deadly weapons by the rioters. Trump vowed to support law enforcement in the protests and said he will make sure his administration "sends whatever we need to make sure there's law and order." 8 LAPD Metropolitan Division officers clash with demonstrators Credit: Getty 8 Dozens of self-driving cars were set on fire by rioters Credit: Getty 8 Police officers take cover under an overpass on Highway 101 in downtown Los Angeles as activists lob rocks and fireworks at their vehicles Credit: Getty 8 Read our Los Angeles protests blog for the latest updates...

Trump travel ban hits immigrant family coming to U.S. amid bloody civil war in Myanmar
Trump travel ban hits immigrant family coming to U.S. amid bloody civil war in Myanmar

NBC News

time28 minutes ago

  • NBC News

Trump travel ban hits immigrant family coming to U.S. amid bloody civil war in Myanmar

A Burmese American woman was eager to bring her siblings over to the U.S. from Myanmar amid a more than 15-year wait for visas. She'd been hoping to reunite with them since the 1990s, during military rule in her home country, so her brother's family could start a life in the U.S. But a day after she bought the plane tickets, President Donald Trump ordered a travel ban that included Myanmar. The woman, 51, and her husband, who were granted anonymity due to fear of retaliation, had sponsored her brother and sister-in-law to immigrate to the U.S. The siblings were then were hoping to bring their own adult kids, too, so that they wouldn't have to fulfill mandatory military service in the country's active civil war. With the travel ban in effect Monday, they said the policy has a heightened impact on people from war-torn countries like Myanmar who had hopes of finding sanctuary in the U.S. 'It's really frustrating because we were on the cusp of securing their safety to leave that situation,' said her husband, 57, adding he felt like a 'rug got pulled out from under us in an instant.' White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said Trump's policy is in the 'best interest of the American people and their safety.' 'His commonsense, country-specific travel restrictions include places that lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information,' Jackson said. 'The restrictions fulfill the President's day one promise to protect American citizens from dangerous foreign actors who may come to the United States and cause us harm.' The travel restrictions, announced on Wednesday, completely bar entry to the U.S. for people from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, in addition to those from Afghanistan, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Other countries, including Cuba, Laos and Venezuela, are under partial travel restrictions. According to Trump's proclamation, several of the countries on the list had declined to accept the repatriation of their nationals while others had visa overstay rates that the administration deemed 'unacceptable.' A few countries lacked 'the competence of the central authority' for issuing passports, the proclamation said. Jackson also pointed out a section in the proclamation that allows for applications for refugee status. 'Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to limit the ability of an individual to seek asylum, refugee status, withholding of removal, or protection under the [international Convention Against Torture], consistent with the laws of the United States,' the proclamation said. However, after he took office, Trump limited refugee admissions for almost all countries including Myanmar. And in May, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to revoke the temporary legal status of more than 500,000 immigrants that was granted by the Biden administration. Those immigrants came from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela and are now subject to deportation. Myanmar was among the nine countries in the latest proclamation that Trump also targeted during his first term. In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. issued 13,284 visas to the country, with business and tourism permits making up the most common types of visas. Myanmar recorded 1,384 overstays that fiscal year, equating to an overstay rate of almost 30%. The new travel ban comes as Myanmar's violent military regime fights to hold on to power after it seized control from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a 2021 coup. Since then, violence has escalated across the region as the military clashes with ethnic minority rebel groups and pro-democracy militias. 'Junta forces have slaughtered thousands of civilians, bombed and burned villages, and displaced millions of people,' Tom Andrews, United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, said in a press release earlier this year. 'More than 20,000 political prisoners remain behind bars. The economy and public services have collapsed. Famine and starvation loom over large parts of the population.' Under the new travel ban, anyone who obtained a visa prior to the policy is still able to come to the U.S. But there's confusion over how the restrictions will be implemented and enforced. The Burmese American woman and her husband are among those with concerns, particularly as there have been several cases of lawful permanent residents and citizens being swept up in the dragnet of Trump's immigration policies. 'It's terrifying to think that they could be randomly picked up because somebody had a bad day at the office, or somebody didn't do their job or didn't believe that their visa was true,' the woman's husband said. 'It's quite frankly terrifying.' For the woman, reunification with her brother has been a long time coming. She became a citizen in the late 1990s and began the process to help bring her sibling over a few years later. At the time, Myanmar had been under the control of a strict military junta that held power from the 1960s until 2011, and for decades had kept the country in a state of extreme isolation and deprivation. She said her brother, whose children were just a few years old then, hoped to come over and root his family in more stability. 'Their circumstances in Myanmar at that time were very, very bad. That was the system that I grew up in. There was no future for them, no prosperity,' the woman said. 'My brother was concerned for his children's future and education.' Amid moves and address changes, the couple said they never received the standard letter notifying them that the woman's brother had been able to progress in his visa process. They assumed the wait was a product of notorious immigration backlogs. It wasn't until the situation in Myanmar intensified again in recent years that the couple found out that the brother was close to finally being able to immigrate. But by then, the woman said, her brother's kids had aged out of the system. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, those who turn 21 before being approved for legal permanent resident status are no longer considered a child for immigration purposes and need to file an entirely new application, prolonging the green card process. At this point, the woman said, her brother and sister-in-law said they were willing to risk possible detention to come to the U.S., particularly if it meant easier access to the American immigration system that would enable them to fight to get their children to come over as well. However, with Myanmar's military draft in effect, the family is particularly concerned for their safety now that the travel ban adds another barrier to leaving. 'The reason they wanted to come here was for their kids,' the woman said of her brother and sister-in-law. 'Now, it's really hard to bring my nephews here to save their lives.' Quyen Dinh, executive director of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, said the bans are ultimately another part of 'the engine of Trump's mass deportation machine.' 'It's focused on demonizing immigrant families and communities by denying them family reunification, that we all rightfully deserve to be whole — especially now, when the world is more dangerous than ever,' Dinh said. Rather than protecting individuals' safety, Dinh said, she believes Trump's policy punishes those who need an escape from dangerous conditions. 'It perpetuates the violence that is happening across the world, as opposed to creating conditions for peace or humanitarian relief, and for these families who've been separated,' Dinh said. She also said she views the ban as evidence that the U.S. is misunderstanding its role as a humanitarian leader. 'We've got people who are legitimately trying to escape a civil war,' the woman's husband said. 'Now, because of some arbitrary decision by the Trump administration to pick a certain number of countries … without consideration of the actual cases, without an exception policy, it hurts them. They've done nothing wrong.'

Canadian PM vows to boost defence spending and reduce dependency on US
Canadian PM vows to boost defence spending and reduce dependency on US

The Guardian

time28 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Canadian PM vows to boost defence spending and reduce dependency on US

Mark Carney has promised to boost defence spending to its highest level in decades warning that in a 'dangerous and divided world', Canada must reduce its dependence on the US for defence. Speaking at the University of Toronto on Monday, Carney said Canada would reach Nato's 2% military expenditure target this fiscal year – five years ahead of his previously announced schedule. For years, Canada has been viewed as a defence loafer and successive prime ministers have failed to bring the country's commitments in line with allies. A recent Nato report found that Canada spent an estimated 1.45% of its GDP on defence last year. The prime minister pledged to divert billions in spending to domestic manufacturers, warning his country had become 'too reliant on the United States' for its defence capabilities. 'The long-held view that Canada's geographic location will protect us is becoming increasingly archaic. Threats which felt far away and remote are now immediate and acute,' said Carney, pointing to 'Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine' and threats to Canada's sovereignty not only from Moscow but also from 'an increasingly assertive China'. The announcements, staggered throughout Monday, come as Canada prepares to host the G7 summit next week in Kananaskis, Alberta. Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, defence spending will be a focus at the Nato summit in The Hague at the end of June. The secretary general, Mark Rutte, has already indicated he wants an increase to 3.5% for core defence spending and 1.5% in defence-related investments such as infrastructure. In recent months, Canadian military officials and politicians have shifted focus to the Arctic, warning of Canada's deep vulnerabilities in a rapidly changing – and highly coveted – region of the planet. But the renewed focus has also revealed the limits of Canada's ageing fleets. 'Only one of our four submarines is seaworthy,' said Carney 'Less than half of our maritime fleet and land vehicles are operational.' In the past, Canada turned to the United States to source its military hardware. But in his speech the prime minister acknowledged that while the US had become Canada's closest ally and dominant trading partner, Donald Trump's protectionist tariffs and threats to Canadian sovereignty had cast a shadow over the future of that relationship. 'Now the United States is beginning to monetize its hegemony: charging for access to its markets and reducing its relative contributions to our collective security,' he said. Ahead of Canada's spring federal election, there was spirited debate in the country over whether to cancel a multibillion-dollar order for the US-built F-35 stealth fighter. Canada has committed to buy 16 of the jets from Lockheed Martin at a cost of nearly US$85m each. But revelations that the US would control all F-35 software updates and own all of the spare parts has once again revived arguments for diversifying procurement to more reliable allies. 'We will ensure every dollar is invested wisely, including by prioritizing made-in-Canada manufacturing and supply chains,' said Carney. 'We should no longer send three-quarters of our defence capital spending to America.' In recent weeks, Carney and Trump have held private, high-level talks as Canada looks to end a trade war instigated by the US. Timothy Sayle, a professor of history at the University of Toronto, says Carney will have a 'very difficult needle to thread' in balancing the rhetoric of Canada being able to act independently and the realities of its longstanding defence partnerships with the United States. 'The world is an increasingly dangerous place. And Canada's been under pressure from Nato and the European allies to do more. But how much of this announcement is a result of pressure coming from the United States?' said Sayle. 'I suspect that the importance of the relationship with the president played a role in this being a larger and quicker announcement than we might have thought.' Carney's announcement, which requires billions in new spending, shows 'political will matters', said Sayle – although he warned that previous governments have made similar announcements. 'We know that Canada has struggled with defence procurement in the past. Where is the money [for the investment[ going to come from? What does this mean for taxes? But there's also been broader feeling in Canada that it was necessary to do something – and to do something quickly.'

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