Latest news with #MAGA2.0
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Elon Musk Rages at Trump's ‘Ingratitude' and Crows: I Won—Not Him
Elon Musk is now claiming he is the reason President Donald Trump won the 2024 election. Musk, who had a falling out with the president in recent weeks that recently erupted into an all-out civil war, raged Thursday about Trump's 'ingratitude' for the $288 million he spent to propel him back into the Oval Office. 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election,' Musk wrote. 'Dems would control the House, and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.' He added in a follow-up post, 'Such ingratitude.' Musk's posts came in response to Trump saying he 'would have won Pennsylvania regardless of Elon' and that he was 'very disappointed with Elon' over his opposition to his 'Big Beautiful Bill.' Musk, 53, was Trump's right-hand man in the early days of MAGA 2.0. He was a frequent presence at the Oval Office, held joint press conferences with Trump along with his toddler son X, and took on a starring role at Cabinet meetings. It appears their relationship started to falter in May, around the time Musk said he was stepping back from his work at the Department of Government Efficiency and that he would not spend in such abundance on politics moving forward. There has been endless speculation about what led to the high-stakes divorce, but White House insiders told Axios that Musk was 'b--thurt' that Trump's beloved mega bill slashed, among other things, the government's electric vehicle tax credit. Trump alluded to that being one reason on Thursday. 'Elon is upset because we took the EV mandate,' Trump said Thursday. 'I know that disturbed him.' Musk responded on X shortly after, claiming he never saw the bill in advance. 'Whatever,' Musk wrote. 'Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.' Musk has steadily grown more critical in his posts of Trump and his MAGA allies this week, beginning Tuesday, when he called Trump's Big Beautiful Bill 'outrageous,' 'pork-filled,' and a 'disgusting abomination.' On Thursday afternoon, he reshared a clip from their joint Tesla stunt in March, where Trump told reporters that Musk was a 'great patriot' who 'has never asked me for a thing.' 'Remember this?' Musk wrote, tagging Trump's account. He then took things a step further, writing of Trump's old remarks in favor of balancing the budget, 'Where is the man who wrote these words? Was he replaced by a body double!?' Musk initially refrained from criticizing Trump directly. However, he took the gloves off Thursday and began quote-tweeting old posts by the president in which he had called for balancing the federal budget—something Musk said his 'Big Beautiful Bill' fails to do. Trump confirmed Thursday that his close relationship with Musk is likely over. 'Look, Elon and I had a great relationship,' Trump said. 'I don't know if we will anymore.' Trump's first White House tenure was marked by high turnover, which saw close allies become foes overnight (just ask former Vice President Mike Pence). The president addressed that turnover again on Thursday, suggesting that Musk is just the latest to be upset that he was pushed out by his administration. 'People leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point… some of them actually become hostile,' Trump said. 'I don't know what it is. It's sort of Trump derangement syndrome, I guess they call it.' He continued, 'They leave it, and the glamour is gone, and the whole world is different, and they become hostile. I don't know what it is.'
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's Handpicked IRS Chief Lasts Just 72 Hours
The acting commissioner of the IRS, who was installed by Elon Musk's DOGE and is best known for blowing the whistle on Hunter Biden, has been forced out of his role before he even had time to get started. Gary Shapley will be replaced as the interim head of the service after just 72 hours on the job, sources told The New York Times on Friday. The deputy secretary of the Treasury, Michael Faulkender, is expected take over at the IRS in an interim role. The leadership swap is the latest to roil the IRS, which has had a conveyor belt of temporary leaders in MAGA 2.0. The change comes just three days after taxes were due for the majority of Americans. Shapley, 47, was pushed out by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Times reported. Sources said Bessent 'complained' to President Donald Trump that Shapley was 'installed without his knowledge' and 'at the behest of billionaire Elon Musk.' A peeved Bessent, 63, claimed Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency acolytes had 'done an end run around him' to convince the White House to hire Shapley—despite Bessent being the boss of whoever runs the tax collection service. Shapley, a longtime IRS agent, appears to have gotten the boot simply because he was hired without Bessent's 'blessing.' The Times does not list any specific actions that led to him getting sacked, and he was spotted in the IRS commissioner's office as recently as Friday morning. A source told The Wall Street Journal he will remain at the IRS as a senior official in its criminal investigation division. Shapley was the third acting IRS executive of Trump's presidency. In the role before him was Melanie Krause, who resigned this month in opposition to migrants' tax info being shared with ICE. She had replaced longtime IRS official Douglas O'Donnell, who CNN reports retired 'after weathering weeks of chaos and cutbacks at the agency.' Shapley became a MAGA darling in 2022 and 2023 when he and an IRS colleague derided the Department of Justice and a Delaware district attorney for allegedly slow-walking its probe into the finances of President Joe Biden's son Hunter. He testified to Congress that federal prosecutors in Delaware were shielding the then-president from scrutiny in the case and had gone as far as tipping off his family ahead of a storage unit search in Northern Virginia tied to their probe. Among the alleged obstruction, Shapley claimed, was prosecutors refusing to grant access to files from Hunter's abandoned laptop, blocking them from speaking to some in the first family, and vetoing a request to search a Biden guest house. Hunter Biden, 55, was eventually indicted on accusations he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. He pleaded guilty to all federal charges in the case in September, but was pardoned by his dad before his sentencing hearing.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Calls in Fox News Host and TV P.I. to Help ICE Barbie
President Donald Trump has added two more of his Fox News favorites to a role in his administration. He announced Thursday the current network host Mark Levin and former commentator Bo Dietl, who recently grabbed headlines as a central figure in a Real Housewives of New Jersey scandal, had been appointed to a Homeland Security Advisory Council. Also added to the 'revamped' council is the Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and the MAGA Florida lawmaker Joseph Gruters. Trump wrote that the quartet are 'experts in their field, who are highly respected by their peers.' They will serve on the council in addition to their existing roles, and it is unclear how much they will be compensated—if at all—for their advisory work. 'Under Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem's leadership, HSAC will work hard on developing new Policies and Strategies that will help us secure our Border, deport Illegal Criminal Thugs, stop the flow of Fentanyl and other illegal drugs that are killing our Citizens, and MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN,' Trump added. Levin, 67, is the host of Fox News' Life, Liberty & Levin, and has been supportive of Trump's immigration crackdown. He even had Noem on his show in February to talk about flying alleged criminal migrants to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Levin has at times been critical of MAGA 2.0, criticizing the Trump administration for cozying up to Russia's Vladimir Putin and for negotiating with 'Hamas Nazis.' That appears to be water under the bridge now, however. Levin posted to X after the announcement: 'What an honor! Thank you, Mr. President!' Dietl, 74, was banished from Fox News in 2016 after he was accused of accepting a private detective gig to discredit sexual harassment allegations against the network's then-CEO Roger Ailes. Before his ouster, he was Fox's 'tough cop' commentator who once called for the execution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on air. Notably, given his new spot on Noem's team, Dietl told the network in 2017—amid his failed NYC mayoral bid—that the U.S. should not seek to deport immigrants who are 'working hard' or are 'peaceful' with U.S. citizen kids. 'Someone with three kids who are illegally here,' he said, 'what are we going to do? Get rid of the breadwinner? If he's a peaceful, loving person? We have to identify them. We got to give path to citizenship. We have to identify who they are. That's where I'm at. I'm not for deporting the family of three—with three kids, because who's going to pay for them? We're going to.' Dietl is a former New York Police Department detective who was the head of security for Jordan Belfort, of Wolf of Wall Street fame, in the 1990s. He starred as himself in the 2013 blockbuster, which also featured Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Jonah Hill, and Matthew McConaughey. Dietl has also featured in other Martin Scorsese crime flicks, like Goodfellas and The Irishman, and was at one point an Arby's pitchman in the fast-food chain's attempts to cut into Subway's customer base. He most recently has worked as a private investigator and was accused in a lawsuit last year of hacking a computer to dig up dirt on Real Housewives of New Jersey stars. He has denied being involved. He also sold a 50 per cent stake in his private security company to a Chinese firm in 2015, which boasted about the deal being part of the Chinese Communist Party's 'belt and road initiative,' The New York Post reported. The Queens native thanked Trump for appointing him Thursday by writing a statement that was similar to what the president posted himself on Truth Social. 'I am incredibly honored to share that President Trump has appointed me to serve on the newly revamped Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC)!' he wrote. 'It is a true privilege to join this important mission alongside South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, Mark Levin, and Joseph Gruters, under the leadership of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. 'Our focus will be on securing our borders, removing violent criminal offenders, stopping the deadly flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs, and helping to MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN. With decades of experience in law enforcement and security, I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work for the American people. Thank you, President Trump, for this incredible opportunity. Let's get it done!' Previously the advisory group had included the former CIA director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, former New York, Boston and Los Angeles police commissioner Bill Bratton, and William Webster, who had led both the FBI and CIA.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Donald Trump Threatens to DOUBLE His Market-Crashing Tariffs on China
President Donald Trump's response to a tanking stock market Monday was to threaten China with a 50 percent tariff increase. Trump said he will impose the additional duty if Beijing does not withdraw its own retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. by a Tuesday deadline. The president also threatened that 'all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated' if the retaliatory tariffs are not removed. Imports from the country will be taxed at a rate of 104 percent if the new tariffs are put in place, as China already had among the steepest tariff rates put in place by the Trump administration. Trump said the latest round of tariffs, if implemented, will go into effect Wednesday. The White House has been heavily scrutinized over its tariffs, which are blamed as the reason the S&P 500 suffered its largest three-day drop since 'Black Monday' in 1987. Even Elon Musk, arguably the biggest figure of MAGA 2.0 behind Trump, has expressed opposition to a baseline 10 percent tariff on most of the world. Perhaps driving the Tesla CEO to speak out is that his company, which is reliant on importing vehicle parts for manufacturing, has seen its stock price nosedive in the last week. Trump revealed in his China announcement he would 'immediately' begin negotiations with other countries regarding their tariffs, but he offered no further details. Trump and his acolytes have had mixed messaging on the goal of tariffs. The White House—and Trump himself—have at times described the duties as being a longterm solution to keep the U.S. from being ripped off by allies and adversaries alike. Republicans in Congress, however, have said the tariffs are a bargaining chip for their 'Art of the Deal' leader to negotiate more U.S.-friendly trade agreements. Regardless of the duties' end goal, millions of Americans are feeling the fallout in their retirement accounts. The Trump administration has claimed that those nearing retirement aren't concerned with the latest downturn, however. 'I think they don't look at the day-to-day fluctuations,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday. Trump struck a similar tone on Monday, calling on his MAGA allies—like the billionaire Bill Ackman—to stop panicking. 'The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO,' he posted Monday morning. 'Don't be Weak! Don't be Stupid! Don't be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!'
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Polymarket Thinks Elon Musk's Time in the White House Is Nearly Up
Elon Musk will not be working for the Trump administration come July, according to Polymarket investors who have gambled on the political future of MAGA's new No. 2. The prediction market, which famously favored a Donald Trump election win last fall while political polls still had the race as neck and neck, gave Musk just an 18 percent chance of still having a White House job by July 1. That is a massive swing from a week ago. Polymarket's line on March 26 gave the 53-year-old Tesla CEO an 82 percent of still having a job in the Trump administration by the summer date. First signs of an 'investor' flip-flop on Polymarket began over the weekend as Musk campaigned hard—and spent big—to boost a conservative candidate for Wisconsin's Supreme Court. That effort fell well short on Tuesday and has been celebrated as a referendum on Musk's influence by Democrats. Musk briefly saw his chances of keeping a White House gig through July 1 dip to 69 percent on Sunday in the eyes of Polymarket investors, who anonymously make predictions using cryptocurrency and profit when they end up right. The real swing came on Wednesday, however, the morning after Musk's Wisconsin effort fell short by 10 points. A Politico report revealed that same morning there had been chatter within the Trump administration about having Musk leave his DOGE role in late May or early June, when his special government employee status expires. Musk's unpredictability with DOGE—like his accidental cut to an ebola prevention program and government-wide 'what'd you do this week?' email—had reportedly stressed out big names in the White House as some of his news-making decisions were not first brought to the attention of Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Trump and Musk's relationship has not been tarnished, the report claimed, but both men have dropped hints—or outright said, as Trump reportedly did at a March cabinet meeting—that Musk's time in government is coming to a close. The president told reporters Monday that 'at some point Elon's going to want to go back to his company.' Trump added that he wanted Musk to stay working in the administration, but said it was the world's richest man who wished to step away soon. Such comments in addition to Politico's report apparently has Polymarket investors thinking the White House will not try to find a way to keep Musk on board once his special government employee status expires, as was previously rumored. Special government employees have a 130-day time limit by law, but Team Trump has not shied away from bending some rules in MAGA 2.0. Having special government status is a must for Musk, however, as it allows him to keep his private industry gigs while working for Trump. It also prevents him from needing any sort of Congressional confirmation, which would surely turn into a national spectacle given how politically charged Musk has become in Trump's second term.
