Latest news with #Trump-backing
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Newsmax Host Defuses Elon Musk's Trump 'Bomb' With This Big Question
Newsmax's Carl Higbie ripped ex-White House adviser Elon Musk's 'low blow' at President Donald Trump on Thursday after the billionaire claimed the administration isn't releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files due to the president being named in them. 'Elon, if you knew he was on the Epstein client list, why did you let him board Marine One with your son? Just asking!' questioned Higbie as a clip played of Trump boarding the helicopter with Musk's 5-year-old son, X, in March. Musk — amid his explosive breakup with Trump — took to his social media platform X to accuse the president of being in a trove of documents tied to Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Earlier this year, the White House shared files tied to the case with Trump-backing social media influencers but the hyped-up drop was ultimately a letdown to many, as much of the information in the documents had already been released. Trump — who once described Epstein as a 'great guy' and was seen with him on a number of occasions — has since claimed that he was never on the financier's plane, despite flight logs released by the president's own attorney general showing otherwise. Moments earlier on Newsmax, Higbie noted that he still admires both Trump and Musk before underscoring the 'really crappy scenario' they find themselves in and turning his attention to the billionaire's Epstein post — which led with the words, 'Time to drop the really big bomb.' The right-wing host argued that Musk's claim can't be 'immediately verified' and, considering the legal battles Trump has faced in recent years, the Biden administration would've 'thrown' an Epstein-related case at him. He went on to downplay Trump's ties to Epstein, claiming that the financier was at Trump's club 'once' (he wasspotted there on more than one occasion) and he was eventually kicked out due to 'bad behavior' (for reportedly hitting on the teenage daughter of a member at Mar-a-Lago). 'But the best thing for Trump to do now is to release the list, something, also, our FBI and [Attorney General] Pam Bondi have promised us!' Higbie said. Some social media users praised Higbie over his 'fair' question while others noted that Musk didn't worry about his son with Trump as Epstein's charges were tied to allegations he paid girls, some as young as 14, for sex. Elon Musk Says Donald Trump Is In The Jeffrey Epstein Files Trump And Musk's Messy Public Breakup Only Goes So Far Donald Trump Says He's 'Very Disappointed' In Elon Musk As Rift Grows
New York Post
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- New York Post
Tesla shares could rally 40% on 'golden age' of robotaxis, says Wedbush analyst Dan Ives
Tesla's rollout of its robotaxi will usher in a 'golden age of autonomous' and could send the EV maker's beaten-down soaring by 40%, WedBush analyst Dan Ives predicted Friday. 'We believe the golden age of autonomous is now on the doorstep for Tesla with the Austin launch next month kicking off this key next chapter of growth for Musk & Co. and we are raising our price target from $350 to $500 reflecting this massive stage of valuation creation ahead,' Ives wrote in a note. He estimated that autonomous driving is a $1 trillion opportunity for Tesla and could push the EV maker's market cap to $2 trillion by the end of 2026. 3 Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President Trump speak ahead of a state dinner hosted by Qatar in May. REUTERS Uber and Waymo will also benefit largely from autonomous driving opportunities, Ives added. Backlash over Musk's role as DOGE cost-cutter have weighed on Tesla stock, with shares down about 10% far this year. The President Trump-backing mogul announced he is stepping back from his White House involvement this week and committed to leading the company for five more years. Musk earlier this week confirmed that Tesla plans to have autonomous robotaxis driving on the streets of Austin, Texas, by the end of June, with future plans for rollouts in Los Angeles and San Francisco. If the launch goes smoothly, Tesla will rapidly expand the number of robotaxis in service in Austin, the world's richest person said. It's a long time coming, as Musk has been telling Tesla investors that self-driving taxis are just a year away since 2016. While Tesla currently sells vehicles with self-driving capabilities, they require human supervision. The robotaxi would mark the automaker's first fully autonomous car. Ives said his optimism on Tesla is also linked to Musk's reduced role in the White House. 3 Musk and Trump stand near a Tesla vehicle on display in the White House driveway in March. REUTERS Most recently, the billionaire tech founder said he will drop in on the White House 'for a couple days every few weeks,' a major pullback from his current proximity to the president. His role in the government agency 'created brand damage and a black cloud' over Tesla, Ives said. Protests have broken out at Tesla dealerships across the nation as demonstrators decry his intense government cuts, like slashing federal jobs and spending at the Department of Education, US Agency for International Development and National Institutes of Health. There have been arson attacks at Tesla showrooms, with Molotov cocktails tossed at cars. Investors have also grown frustrated with Musk's involvement in DOGE, viewing it as a time-suck away from his attention on Tesla. Musk also owns several other companies, including The Boring Company, SpaceX and social media platform X. 3 Demonstrators protest Musk's proximity to the White House during a 'Tesla Takedown' event in March. AFP via Getty Images While the robotaxi launch is promising, Tesla still faces several challenges, including a slump in overseas sales. Chinese rival BYD sold more electric vehicles in Europe than Tesla for the first time ever last month. Tesla reported yet another monthly drop in Europe sales, with volumes plunging 49% in April from the year before, according to a report from JATO Dynamics.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
White House Tells MAGA Justice Department Staff to STFU Online
It appears the Justice Department is taking steps to hush up a recently hired cadre of MAGA supporters who have spent a good deal of their time in new roles dissing Democrats online. Officials with the department set new limits on what officials can post on their social media accounts Monday. The directive was sent via email and prohibited DOJ staff from posting as usual on their government accounts, just as a slew of new appointees began publicly slamming critics of the president. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was the driving force behind the new policy, and Reuters reported that he was fed up with Trump-backing political appointees dissing their rivals on social media. Employees now cannot use any social platforms 'in a way that damages the efficiency of the department,' tightening the restrictions that protect the department's privacy and impartiality. Before the new order, the DOJ prohibited employees from discussing non-public investigations or making politically charged statements that could put the department's impartiality in question. Monday's order has a much broader reach. Some civil rights advocates have expressed concern for the social media crackdown, suggesting that it could suffocate free speech. The clampdown comes as new Trump appointees spend inordinate amounts of time roasting their Democratic adversaries. The policy forbids employees from 'injecting their political views into the work they perform' or making comments 'in reckless disregard for the truth' about judges or any other person the DOJ engages with. DOJ staff are also banned from posting anything that might sway a proceeding or 'heighten the condemnation of an accused.' There are several new DOJ employees that have not been shy about their MAGA loyalty. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted a false claim on X on March 29, telling her followers that law enforcement arrested a 'top MS-13 national leader' when in reality investigators had only found some signs of MS-13 association. The department has since moved to drop the charges and deport the 24-year-old suspect. She frequently calls out 'activist' judges, targeting the federal jurists who oppose Trump's policies. Leo Terrell, a senior counsel in the Civil Rights Division and leader of the DOJ's antisemitism task force, reposted remarks from a white nationalist that said Trump could 'revoke someone's Jew card.' Terrell posts almost daily on X about his support of Trump, including a repeated post that reads: 'President Trump: 77 million voters and I continue to support you! #GodBlessAmerica #GodBlessPresidentTrump." He posted the same message again early Wednesday. He also regularly reposts Democrat-slamming videos from far-right commentator Charlie Kirk. On Monday Terrell wrote: 'Democrats are jealous of President Trump! Moreover, they are extremely jealous of Trump's popularity with the American people!' Aaron Reitz, the DOJ's head of the Office of Legal Policy, on April 8 accused 'Dem-appointed judges' of siding with gangs to interfere with Trump's 'authority to conduct foreign policy.' Reitz also regularly posts White House 'memes' that depict border patrol officers deporting individuals. 'Illegal alien and MS-13 monster from El Salvador burrows into American soil. He rightfully gets deported. Delusional Dems clutch pearls, saying *ackchyually* he's Dad of the Year, and media gins up sympathy campaign,' he wrote on April 6, adding: 'Americans are happy to see AG Bondi clean out deep-state lawyers and bring discipline to the ranks of DOJ.' Civil rights advocates like former DOJ lawyer Stacey Young are worried about the new orders. She told Reuters: 'The new policy represents another unwarranted attack on DOJ employees - one that stifles their free speech in their private lives and creates new ways for the administration to oust career public servants who don't toe the party line.' The Daily Beast has reached out to the Trump administration for comment.
The Guardian
08-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on the US immigration crackdown: what began with foreign nationals won't end there
While running for president, Donald Trump promised voters 'the largest deportation operation in American history'. Now he wants to deliver. Thousands of undocumented migrants have been rounded up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials since he returned to the White House. On Monday, the US supreme court lifted a judge's ban on deporting alleged gang members to Venezuela under an 18th-century law, though it said deportees had a right to judicial review. Even the Trump-backing podcaster Joe Rogan has described as 'horrific' the removal of an asylum seeker – identified as a criminal because he had tattoos – under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. What's truly new is that the administration is also targeting those who arrived and remained in the US with official approval, such as the Palestinian activist and student Mahmoud Khalil. Normally, green card holders would be stripped of their status if convicted of a crime; he has not even been accused of one. But Mr Trump had pledged to deport international students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests that his administration has deemed antisemitic, and Mr Khalil was a leading figure in the movement at Columbia University. The president crowed that his arrest last month was 'the first of many'. Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish student at Tufts, was detained by masked agents in the street, reportedly for an opinion piece she co-wrote with other students. Unrelated to the protests, dozens if not hundreds more students have had visas revoked, often for minor or non-criminal offences. This crackdown is exploiting legislation in ways that were never intended. The Alien Enemies Act was previously invoked only in wartime – but Mr Trump casts mass migration as an 'invasion'. Mr Khalil and others are targeted under a rarely used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows deportations when the secretary of state determines that a foreign national's presence 'would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States'. And while this campaign is indiscriminate in many regards, Mr Trump's offer of asylum to white Afrikaners facing 'unjust racial discrimination' in South Africa speaks volumes about who is and is not wanted in his America. The current fear among migrants, with all its social costs, is not a byproduct of this drive, but the desired result. The Trump administration is trying to push undocumented individuals into 'self-deporting', which is cheaper and easier than using agents to hunt people down. It reportedly plans to levy fines of up to $998 a day if those under deportation orders do not leave – applying the penalties retroactively for up to five years. Fairness, never mind mercy, is not relevant. The administration admits an 'administrative error' led to the expulsion to El Salvador of Kilmar Abrego Garcia – who is married to a US citizen and was working legally in the US – but fights against righting that wrong. This crackdown should frighten US nationals too, both for what it says about their nation's character and for what it may mean for their own rights. The Trump administration wants to remove birthright citizenship and is ramping up denaturalisation efforts. 'I love it,' said Mr Trump, when asked about El Salvador's offer to jail US citizens in its infamous mega-prisons – though at least he conceded that he might have to check the law first. The chilling effect of Mr Khalil's arrest on dissent is already being felt by US nationals too: the first amendment's protection of free speech is not exclusive to citizens. 'The friendless alien has indeed been selected as the safest subject of a first experiment; but the citizen will soon follow,' Thomas Jefferson wrote when the alien and sedition laws were passed. That warning now looks more prescient than ever.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump urged Steve Bannon to quash beef with Elon Musk and sit down privately with DOGE leader
Donald Trump reached out to Steve Bannon last month and urged his former chief strategist to stop attacking Elon Musk and arrange a private sitdown with the president's 'first buddy,' according to The New York Times. The request came as Bannon, who uses the War Room podcast to promote his far-right populist agenda, has pushed for a 'MAGA civil war' against Musk — especially now that the DOGE leader's slash-and-burn approach to cutting government spending has become increasingly unpopular. 'Mr. Trump has made clear he wants to keep both men and their allies within his movement, but Mr. Bannon's vocal disdain for Mr. Musk has been noticed by the president,' the Times reported. 'In mid-February, the president told Mr. Bannon that he wanted him to lay off the attacks on Mr. Musk and for the two men to sit down privately, according to two people familiar with the comments.' According to the Times, Bannon has yet to meet with Musk and it isn't clear if the meeting will happen at all. Meanwhile, the White House didn't appear to deny that Trump made the entreaty to Bannon in its statement. 'We do not comment on private conversations that may or may not have occurred. President Trump is thrilled with DOGE's historic work under Elon Musk, and he will continue to cut the waste, fraud, and abuse in our federal government on behalf of the American people,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. 'We do not comment on private conversations that may or may not have occurred. President Trump is thrilled with DOGE's historic work under Elon Musk, and he will continue to cut the waste, fraud, and abuse in our federal government on behalf of the American people.' Bannon has long expressed skepticism towards Musk, particularly when it comes to the Tesla CEO's friendly relationship with the Chinese government and his previous criticism of Trump before fully backing the president's campaign last year. The former Breitbart chief's disdain for Musk, whom he views as an interloper within the MAGA movement, built up additional steam following Trump's victory. Bannon tore into Musk and other Trump-backing 'tech bros' late last year over their support of H-1B visas, which allow highly skilled immigrants to work in the United States. Since then, he's warned his listeners that Musk and other Silicon Valley moguls — many of whom supported Democrats for years before jumping aboard the Trump train — cannot be trusted as they'll eventually dump MAGA. Ramping up his anti-Musk rhetoric in recent months, Bannon has labeled the SpaceX founder a 'parasitic illegal immigrant' and 'truly evil,' all while vowing to rip his 'face off' and boot Musk from Trump world. Bannon's relentless broadsides against Musk have also gained him some unexpected admirers — such as the women on The View. Bannon also reacted to last week's reports that some of Trump's cabinet members challenged Musk's authority as he took a 'chainsaw' to their departments. 'I don't want to say an anchor or lodestone,' he said of Musk on Friday's broadcast of War Room. 'It's not that yet, but it's trending — that is starting to affect everybody.' Bannon, who acrimoniously split with the president in 2017 before returning to Trump's good graces by backing his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, continues to be an extremely influential voice among Trump supporters. Musk has also built up a loyal MAGA following in recent years with his increasingly anti-woke stance and purchase of Twitter (now X), which he has been reshaped into his own personal right-wing megaphone. 'Musk is the volume button,' former Trump strategist Barry Bennett told the Times. 'You can say things now on Twitter and you can reach millions and millions of people where 10 years ago you would reach tens of thousands. He has made that available to us. There are a lot of people who are in the right of center movement who are very reliant on the medium to distribute their content. They are very grateful to him for allowing that to happen.' Bennett, who worked with Bannon on Trump's first campaign, also noted that 'Bannon has been a dyed-in-the-wool conservative for his entire life' and is 'naturally suspicious of people who pop up and don't have the pedigree that he has.' It would also seem that besides fighting for what he views as 'the soul of the MAGA movement,' Bannon could be positioning himself for a political run of his own. 'Steve is looking down the pipe,' longtime Bannon ally Raheem Kassam said, following the ex-Breitbart head's second-place finish in CPAC's 2028 GOP primary straw poll last month. 'He's looking into the future, and he's saying, 'Oh no, there's an atheistic, amoral, C.C.P.-aligned, unaccountable foreigner that's going to be the head of the MAGA movement at some point' …and I think he's right to express the concerns in the way he's doing it.' Meanwhile, Bannon spoke directly after Musk at the conservative confab, which featured the sunglass-wearing billionaire brandishing a chainsaw and 'Dark MAGA' cap while defending DOGE's actions. Notably, despite his pointed criticisms of Musk, Bannon shied away from taking any shots at the world's richest man. He did, however, seemingly mimic Musk's notorious salute — which prompted at least one scheduled speaker to back out of the event and neo-Nazis to claim the gesture was even getting a 'little excessive' for them.
