Latest news with #AC360
The Hill
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Haberman: Trump officials ‘happy' about Musk's departure
CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman said some White House officials are excited to see Elon Musk exit his role as a special government employee. The tech giant led the Department of Government Efficiency for 130 days with an objective to downsize federal spending by trillions. Haberman, also a New York Times journalist, said news coverage about cuts were politically 'problematic' for Trump and the reputation of his administration. 'They are happy…to have him go because, look, there are things [Musk] did that some of them are happy with. A bunch of them in Trump's world came around to Musk. Many others, however, were not so happy,' Haberman said during a Friday appearance on CNN's 'AC360.' The journalist said Musk's unsupported claims that dead people were receiving social security benefits and other unsubstantiated statements served as a 'source of tension' for the White House. Haberman added that the billionaire's social media presence granted him the power to 'intimidate' many of his colleagues in the government. Trump directly addressed Musk's role as an adviser during a Friday presser, commending the Tesla CEO for his government work. 'There's nobody like him, and he had to go through the slings and the arrows, which is a shame, because he's an incredible patriot,' the president told reporters in the Oval. Both Trump and Musk have said DOGE's work will continue even as the CEO retreats from the spotlight in Washington. 'This is not the end of DOGE, but really the beginning,' Musk said. 'The DOGE team will only grow stronger over time. The DOGE influence will only go stronger,' Musk added. 'It is permeating throughout the government, and I am confident that, over time, we will see a trillion dollars of savings and a reduction in — a trillion dollars of waste and fraud reduction.' Musk said he would help the agency chuck $36 trillion off the standing national debt.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Qatar jet ‘obviously' Emoluments Clause violation: Former White House ethics lawyer
President Trump's plans to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane from the Qatari government is 'obviously' a violation of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, according to a former White House ethics lawyer. 'Everybody gets a $400 million plane from the government of Qatar. They give them out like the M&M's acts. And I and Alyssa [Farah Griffin] used to enjoy in the White House mess. I mean, it's so obviously, a violation of the emoluments clause,' Norm Eisen, the executive director of the legal advocacy group State Democracy Defenders Fund, said Monday on CNN's 'AC360.' 'I litigated these issues in multiple courts that found Trump had implicated emoluments rules the first time around. It's unconstitutional,' Eisen, a vocal critic of the president, told host Anderson Cooper. 'And even his own party is calling him out on it.' The president confirmed recent news reports that his administration plans to accept a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family. The plane would temporarily replace the three-decades-old Air Force One and later be transferred to Trump's presidential library when he departs from the White House. The jet would be received by the Defense Department, according to the president. Trump told reporters on Monday that it would be 'stupid' for him not to accept the gift, calling it a 'great gesture' from Qatar. 'They said, 'We would like to do something,' and if we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use during a couple of years while they're building the other ones, I think that was a very nice gesture,' he added. The move has sparked controversy. Even some of Trump's staunch allies, such as conservative commentator Laura Loomer, have said the gift could be a 'stain' on his legacy. Democrats in Congress have also strongly rebuked the president over the jet. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) called for an ethics review in response to the reports about the jet, while in the Senate, four lawmakers are attempting to force a vote on a measure 'to reiterate a basic principle: no one should use public service for personal gain through foreign gifts.' Some Senate Republicans signaled on Monday that they have multiple concerns with the president potentially accepting the plane as a gift from the Qatari government. 'I'm not flying on a Qatari plane. They support Hamas,' Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said. 'I don't know how you make it safe.' Others seemed to brush off the concerns. 'I wish somebody would offer me a $400 million plane to get back and forth on,' Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Monday. 'I'm all for it. If they offer him a plane — the ones we got, it costs a fortune to keep going. They're 40-years-old,' the Alabama senator added. 'Boeing — at least they made [the Qatari] one.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Qatar jet ‘obviously' Emoluments Clause violation: Former White House ethics lawyer
President Trump's plans to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane from the Qatari government is 'obviously' a violation of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, according to a former White House ethics lawyer. 'Everybody gets a $400 million plane from the government of Qatar. They give them out like the M&M's acts. And I and Alyssa [Farah Griffin] used to enjoy in the White House mess. I mean, it's so obviously, a violation of the emoluments clause,' Norm Eisen, the executive director of the legal advocacy group State Democracy Defenders Fund, said Monday on CNN's 'AC360.' 'I litigated these issues in multiple courts that found Trump had implicated emoluments rules the first time around. It's unconstitutional,' Eisen, a vocal critic of the president, told host Anderson Cooper. 'And even his own party is calling him out on it.' The president confirmed recent news reports that his administration plans to accept a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family. The plane would temporarily replace the three-decades-old Air Force One and later be transferred to Trump's presidential library when he departs from the White House. The jet would be received by the Defense Department, according to the president. Trump told reporters on Monday that it would be 'stupid' for him not to accept the gift, calling it a 'great gesture' from Qatar. 'They said, 'We would like to do something,' and if we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use during a couple of years while they're building the other ones, I think that was a very nice gesture,' he added. The move has sparked controversy. Even some of Trump's staunch allies, such as conservative commentator Laura Loomer, have said the gift could be a 'stain' on his legacy. Democrats in Congress have also strongly rebuked the president over the jet. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) called for an ethics review in response to the reports about the jet, while in the Senate, four lawmakers are attempting to force a vote on a measure 'to reiterate a basic principle: no one should use public service for personal gain through foreign gifts.' Some Senate Republicans signaled on Monday that they have multiple concerns with the president potentially accepting the plane as a gift from the Qatari government. 'I'm not flying on a Qatari plane. They support Hamas,' Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said. 'I don't know how you make it safe.' Others seemed to brush off the concerns. 'I wish somebody would offer me a $400 million plane to get back and forth on,' Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Monday. 'I'm all for it. If they offer him a plane — the ones we got, it costs a fortune to keep going. They're 40-years-old,' the Alabama senator added. 'Boeing — at least they made [the Qatari] one.'
The Hill
10-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Toobin: Suspending habeas corpus would be ‘such a wild step'
Former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin weighed in on the White House considering suspending habeas corpus, or the right to challenge the legality of detention, amid President Trump's crackdown on immigration. In an appearance on CNN Friday evening, Toobin said pausing the legal principle would be 'such a wild step,' despite significant losses the Trump administration has faced in court over its efforts to speed up deportations of illegal immigrants. 'Talking about suspending habeas corpus is such a wild step. The only time a president has done it unilaterally without the authorization of Congress was Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, when Congress wasn't even in session and couldn't ratify what he was doing,' Toobin said on CNN's 'AC360.' He was reacting to remarks by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller earlier Friday, when Trump's chief immigration policy architect told reporters that the White House is 'actively looking at' suspending the principle. 'Well, the Constitution is clear — and that of course is the supreme law of the land — that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,' Miller said at the time. 'So, it's an option we're actively looking at. Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.' Toobin said on Friday that habeas corpus 'goes back to the Magna Carta in the 13th century. The idea that someone in custody has the right to go to court to challenge their incarceration, that is so basic to Anglo-American law.' 'And that's one reason why suspending habeas corpus is considered such an extreme, extreme step,' he told host Anderson Cooper the interview, first highlighted by Mediaite. 'This is an example of how losses in court is causing this administration to escalate its rhetoric. And we'll see where it goes.' The Constitution says the legal principle may not be suspended 'unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.' The principle allows those who are in custody to challenge the legality of being held in custody — helping prevent indefinite and unlawful imprisonment. Habeas corpus has allowed migrants to challenge their forthcoming deportations that the administration has instituted under the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century wartime law. The writ of habeas corpus has been suspended four times: during the Civil War, in eleven South Carolina counties overrun by the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction, in two Philippines provinces during a 1905 insurrection and in Hawaii following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, according to the National Constitution Center.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ken Burns Calls PBS ‘the Declaration of Independence Applied to Broadcasting' After Trump Slashes Funding
PBS is the 'Declaration of Independence applied to broadcasting,' documentarian Ken Burns told Anderson Cooper on 'AC360' Friday night. Burns joined Cooper to explain the necessity and function of public broadcasting the day after Donald Trump signed an executive order slashing funding for both PBS and NPR. Burns launched into an impassioned defense of using taxpayer dollars to fund programming on PBS. 'I think it's important that we do things together as a country,' he explained. PBS has enriched the 'collective lives' of Americans, Burns explained, something he also said is 'indisputable.' Public broadcasting is 'the Declaration of Independence applied to broadcasting. I couldn't have made, Anderson, any of the films I've made, nearly 40 films over the course of the last 45 years, at any other place than PBS.' That isn't because he couldn't raise the necessary funds, but because other networks 'wouldn't have given me the time to be able to explore these subjects.' The filmmaker spent nine years working on 'The American Revolution,' a six-part series. 'You don't get that kind of space anywhere else,' Burns said. Trump's executive order blasts both PBS and NPR as 'radical woke propaganda disguised as 'news'' who benefit from 'millions from taxpayers.' NPR and PBS receive approximately half a billion dollars in public funding, a small fraction of funding available to media outlets. For example, the largest source of funding for NPR– 36% — comes from corporate sponsorships. The second largest source — 30% — is via fees that local public stations pay for access to NPR programming. Funds from taxpayers add up to 1% of the money NPR receives from the U.S. government, and funding for both PBS and NPR is set by Congress. Watch the segment from 'AC360' in the video above. The post Ken Burns Calls PBS 'the Declaration of Independence Applied to Broadcasting' After Trump Slashes Funding | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
