Latest news with #Space-X
Irish Independent
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
The Irish Independent's View: As Trump and Musk scrap, US voters could be hit by the fallout
Sceptics had long believed this union was more probably made in the darkest reaches of the nether world and would be happy to see it returned to its hottest corner. By their logic, no single universe could possibly contain two such colossal egos. Perhaps it is a back-handed compliment to Mr Musk that the ending of his 'First Buddy' status was celebrated with equal glee by the MAGA faithful and Democratic die-hards alike. What is clear is that when the planet's richest man falls out with its most powerful, there will be consequences. If Mr Musk thought the hundreds of millions he had given the president would spare him from his master's whims, he could not have been more wrong. In Trumpworld there can be only one emperor. The South African-born billionaire may have been cast into the void, but as owner of X — and Tesla, Space-X, Starlink and more — he makes for a dangerous adversary. The fallout from putting his nose out of joint could literally have been out of this world. 'In light of the president's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,' Mr Musk said. Told that such a move would 'both end the International Space Station and simultaneously provide no way to safely de-orbit it', he rowed back. Mr Musk's conjuring up of the spectre of Jeffrey Epstein and the president's friendship with the convicted paedophile may yet be explosive Clearly, when two stars of the ultra-wealthy firmament collide, mere mortals need to be wary. The dispute could be destabilising, with far-reaching political and economic implications. Mr Musk's conjuring up of the spectre of Jeffrey Epstein and the president's friendship with the convicted paedophile may yet be explosive. US author Mark Twain understood the power of the press when he warned: 'Never quarrel with a man who buys ink by the barrel.' The advice is even more pertinent when it comes to tramping on the toes of a tech giant who also owns the planet's most influential media platform. Of course, the real concern is for the interests of voters who could be caught up in the havoc wreaked by such a titanic clash. ADVERTISEMENT The little guy rarely does well when the irresistible force meets the immoveable object; it did not take long for the mutual congratulations after the so-called 'Dogefather' stepped down to turn caustic. Mr Musk has told Republicans that Mr Trump will be gone in the next few years, while he will be strutting his stuff for the 'next 40'. The celebrity divorce has already reduced Mr Musk's estimated $388bn (€340bn) fortune by $36.6bn. It was his dismissal of Mr Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' as an 'abomination' that caused the lightning storm. With US national debt at $36.22tn, someone needed to say something. The two billionaires will recover from their respective sweet sorrows: the hope is that the parting will not prove too bitter for American taxpayers.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk calls Jimmy Kimmel an 'unfunny jerk' after he appears to make light of Tesla attacks
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel appeared to mock the vandalism of Tesla property and was met with cheers from his audience on Tuesday after he mentioned Tesla's "disastrous" stock price drop. "Our co-president Elon Musk sent a Space-X vehicle to bring the astronauts back, and when they landed, he fired them immediately upon landing," Kimmel joked in his monologue. "Tesla stock is way down, almost disastrously so," he said, as the audience briefly cut off his soliloquy, erupting into cheers of celebration at the mention of Tesla's stock crash. San Jose Man Arrested After Viral Video Shows Suspect Keying Tesla In Costco Parking Lot The Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) government spending cuts and layoffs have sparked outrage, which appears to have led to vandalizing Tesla dealerships and cars in protest. "People have been vandalizing Tesla vehicles, new Tesla vehicles. Please, don't vandalize, don't ever vandalize Tesla vehicles," Kimmel said, looking at the camera and pausing to seemingly emphasize his sarcasm. Read On The Fox News App Musk responded to clips of Kimmel's jokes on X, saying, "He's such an unfunny jerk." The Tesla CEO has spoken out about the brutality targeting his company. "It's really come as quite a shock to me that there is this level of real hatred and violence from the left," Musk said during an exclusive interview Tuesday on "Hannity." "I thought the left, you know, Democrats, were supposed to be the party of empathy, the party of caring. And yet they're burning down cars. They're firebombing dealerships. They're firing bullets into dealerships. They're just smashing up Teslas," he continued, although no evidence has confirmed the political affiliation of the alleged suspects involved. Tesla Attack In Las Vegas 'Certainly Has Some Of The Hallmarks' Of Terrorism, Fbi Official Says Attorney General Pam Bondi released a statement Tuesday evening saying, "The swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property is nothing short of domestic terrorism. The Department of Justice has already charged several perpetrators with that in mind, including in cases that involve charges with five-year mandatory minimum sentences." Elon Is Trump's 'Heat Shield' Against Government Cuts, Democratic Strategist Says The attorney general added, "We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes." Fox News Digital reached out to Kimmel for article source: Elon Musk calls Jimmy Kimmel an 'unfunny jerk' after he appears to make light of Tesla attacks
Fox News
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Elon Musk calls Jimmy Kimmel an 'unfunny jerk' after he appears to make light of Tesla attacks
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel appeared to mock the vandalism of Tesla property and was met with cheers from his audience on Tuesday after he mentioned Tesla's "disastrous" stock price drop. "Our co-president Elon Musk sent a Space-X vehicle to bring the astronauts back, and when they landed, he fired them immediately upon landing," Kimmel joked in his monologue. "Tesla stock is way down, almost disastrously so," he said, as the audience briefly cut off his soliloquy, erupting into cheers of celebration at the mention of Tesla's stock crash. The Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) government spending cuts and layoffs have sparked outrage, which appears to have led to vandalizing Tesla dealerships and cars in protest. "People have been vandalizing Tesla vehicles, new Tesla vehicles. Please, don't vandalize, don't ever vandalize Tesla vehicles," Kimmel said, looking at the camera and pausing to seemingly emphasize his sarcasm. Musk responded to clips of Kimmel's jokes on X, saying, "He's such an unfunny jerk." The Tesla CEO has spoken out about the brutality targeting his company. "It's really come as quite a shock to me that there is this level of real hatred and violence from the left," Musk said during an exclusive interview on "Hannity" Tuesday. "I thought the left, you know, Democrats, were supposed to be the party of empathy, the party of caring. And yet they're burning down cars. They're firebombing dealerships. They're firing bullets into dealerships. They're just smashing up Teslas," he continued, although no evidence has confirmed the political affiliation of the alleged suspects involved. Attorney General Pam Bondi released a statement Tuesday evening saying, "The swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property is nothing short of domestic terrorism. The Department of Justice has already charged several perpetrators with that in mind, including in cases that involve charges with five-year mandatory minimum sentences." The attorney general added, "We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes." Fox News Digital reached out to Kimmel for comment.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Astronauts back on Earth
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are finally back on Earth. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finished a nine-month mission to the International Space Station on a test flight that was only supposed to last eight days. Thruster problems plagued their test flight of a Boeing Starliner space capsule. NASA decided the pair would return on a Space-X Dragon capsule. NASA insisted the astronauts were not stuck or stranded in space however, their extended stay got drawn into the political conversation. 'Biden left them up there. I have asked Elon, can you get them out? He said yes. He is preparing to go up. I think in two weeks,' said President Donald Trump. President Donald Trump says he asked NASA and Elon Musk's Space-X to move the launch of the relief crew up by a few weeks. When asked about the president's comments, Wilmore avoided the fray. 'All of us have the utmost respect for Mr. Musk, and obviously, respect and admiration for our President of the United States, Donald Trump,' said Wilmore. Williams talked about the difficulty of her prolonged stay. 'I think the hardest part is having the folks on the ground have to not know exactly when we're coming back,' said Williams. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Washington Post
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump takes credit for astronauts' planned return. He had little to do with it.
As astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams prepared to make their way back to Earth for a planned Tuesday evening splashdown off the coast of Tallahassee, President Donald Trump praised the efforts to bring them home — and his own role in doing so. 'This began when I asked Elon Musk to go up and get the abandoned Astronauts, because the Biden Administration was incapable of doing so,' Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday, as a Musk-owned Space-X ship waited at the International Space Station to load its human cargo and head home. 'They shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them — Another thing I inherited from that failed group of incompetents.' There was a rocket-sized hole in Trump's story, however: NASA had announced plans for the astronauts' return via SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft last August — five months before Trump returned to office. If Williams and Wilmore make it back to Earth without mishap, it will be a moment of collective relief — for observers around the world who have followed the astronauts' uncertain plight, for NASA administrators who made the controversial decision to delay their return in the name of safety, and for Musk and his SpaceX, the company that will have successfully ferried them home. But the astronauts' return also makes for some awkward politics: a president insistent on taking credit, and a government agency that could be facing an existential threat from the man whose company just brought its astronauts back safely. Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX, the company carrying the astronauts home. He's also leading the U.S. DOGE Service, an entity that has already made some cuts at NASA and is feared to be considering more. Those tensions could serve as backdrop if Wilmore and Williams — perhaps two of the country's highest-profile federal workers — travel to the White House for an event celebrating their return. The White House has not yet announced a date, but Trump has said he plans to make it happen. 'Under President Donald Trump's leadership, no American is left behind — promises made, promises kept!' White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said in a statement Monday. Trump has described Wilmore and Williams, both veteran astronauts and retired U.S. Navy test pilots, as 'left up there' on the International Space Station. But that's not true. Back in June, the two pilots flew the first manned test flight of Boeing's new Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station, with the expectation that they would return eight days later. As they approached the space station, some of the vehicle's thrusters malfunctioned. Boeing tried to identify the cause of the problem and insisted that their Starliner was safe to fly back to Earth. But by August, after more than two months of troubleshooting and deliberations, NASA officials were still not convinced the Starliner was reliable. The Boeing spacecraft returned to Earth without its crew, and NASA announced that Wilmore and Williams would instead hitch a ride on a scheduled return flight — a SpaceX Dragon capsule due to fly in early 2025. 'Space flight is risky, even at its safest and even at its most routine,' NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at the time. 'The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home [unmanned] is a result of a commitment to safety.' That's not how Trump has described the decisions that led to the astronauts' return. In his telling, they were abandoned by President Joe Biden. 'We're coming up to get you, and you shouldn't have been up there so long,' Trump said in the Oval Office two weeks ago, when asked by a reporter about his message to the astronauts. 'The most incompetent president in our history has allowed that to happen to you, but this president won't let happen. We're going to get them out.' Trump went on to suggest that there had been no plan to bring the astronauts home until he decided to intervene. 'I've authorized Elon. I said, 'Can you get them out? … You gotta get them out,' ' he recounted this month. 'So I authorized Elon a week ago. I said, 'You know, we have two people up there that Biden and Kamala left up there.' And he knows it very well. I said, 'Are you equipped to get them?' And he said, 'Yeah.' He's got a Starship. And they're preparing it right now. And so Elon is going to go up and get them.' Charles F. Bolden, a former astronaut and NASA administrator, said Trump's comments reflect either willful ignorance or that he was misled by Elon Musk. 'If the chief technologist of SpaceX wasn't aware of the plan that was put in place last August, and he advised the president to say that he was getting ready to do a rescue mission, then that speaks loads about the CEO of SpaceX,' Bolden said. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the discrepancy between Trump's recounting of events and the announcement made by NASA last August. NASA also did not comment on Trump's comments — or on his accusation that the astronauts had been abandoned by the previous president. Trump has long been fascinated by space, seeing its exploration as a key symbol of the grand ambitions of his presidency — and using it, like so many other issues, to denigrate his political opponents. In the summer of 2020, Trump took down a campaign video trumpeting NASA's return to human spaceflight after criticism that his ad had politicized a major NASA event and violated the agency's advertising rules. At the time, a former astronaut featured in the video spoke out against it, saying she found it 'disturbing' that footage of her and her family were used 'in political propaganda without my knowledge or consent. That is wrong.' Now, more than four years later, NASA is facing a delicate moment in its relationship with the president. In response to mandates from DOGE, NASA recently laid off 23 employees and shut down three of its departments: the Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy, the Office of the Chief Scientist, and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility branch. More significant NASA cuts may lie ahead. And if Wilmore and Williams are invited to the White House, those who oppose further cuts will be watching to see whether, and how, the astronauts will raise those concerns with the president and with Elon Musk. Tactfully advocating for NASA is part of the job of being an astronaut, said John Logsdon, a professor emeritus at George Washington University and founder of the university's Space Policy Institute. 'The selection process for astronauts emphasizes their technical qualifications, but includes their ability to deal with various public situations — including the political support for the space program.' Logsdon said. 'So they are NASA's best, if you wish, lobbyists in Washington.' What might the astronauts say to Trump? 'Well, I think they will emphasize how important the space program is to making America great again, that it is a symbol of American achievement, and the idea that large cuts to the NASA workforce and the NASA missions is not a good idea,' Logsdon said. For some historians, Trump's intense interest in the plight of the astronauts calls to mind another incident: the Apollo 13 mission in 1970, when the explosion of an oxygen tank forced an aborted lunar landing. For four harrowing days, the nation watched raptly as a three-man crew survived in a lunar module, uncertain whether they would return safely to Earth. President Richard M. Nixon was deeply invested in the outcome, Logsdon said, viewing the astronauts 'almost like sons that he had never had.' And he knew the outcome of the mission would reflect on his presidency. When the astronauts made it home safely, Nixon traveled to Houston to honor the members of Mission Control before flying to Hawaii to greet the astronauts in person. Presidents look presidential when they're next to astronauts, said Luke Nichter, a professor of history at Chapman University in California. 'Upon the return of the astronauts, these were the greatest celebrities, not just in the country, but in the whole world,' Nichter said. 'The chance for any public figure to be seen with them at a time when not just many Americans were watching, but many people around the world — I think it's natural for someone in public life to want to be associated with their success.' Matt Viser contributed to this report.
