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Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
MAGA hits limits in its global ambitions
When top figures in President Donald Trump's orbit descended on a small town in southeastern Poland this week to rally support for the right-wing candidate in that country's presidential election on Sunday, they put MAGA's ambitions abroad on full display. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Karol Nawrocki 'just as strong a leader' as Trump, declaring 'he needs to to be the next president of Poland.' Matt Schlapp, chair of the pro-Trump Conservative Political Action Conference, which hosted the gathering, said electing candidates like Nawrocki is 'so important to the freedom of people everywhere,' while John Eastman, who aided Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election, said Poland under Nawrocki would play 'a critical role in defeating [the] threat to Western civilization.' But if the conservative confab ahead of Poland's vote was an indication of how hard Trump's allies have been working to expand the MAGA brand across the globe, the results of recent elections, including in Romania, Poland and Canada, suggest Trump's influence in some cases may not be helping. 'Just like domestically, you see one step forward, two steps back sometimes,' said Matthew Bartlett, a GOP strategist and State Department appointee in Trump's first administration. 'The thought of Trump and MAGA is sometimes more powerful than the reality.' He said, 'His thumbprint can help push in certain regions and countries, but there can also be some pushback.' Trump's election to a second term in November emboldened far-right movements abroad. It gave Trump's allies hopes of putting like-minded leaders into positions of power, boosting parties that share his priorities and spreading his populist, hard-right politics beyond the U.S. Meanwhile, conservative politicians in other countries yoked themselves directly or stylistically to his brand. In the months since, far-right parties have performed strongly in European elections, including in Poland, Romania and Portugal, overperforming expectations and elevating their vote shares with electorates shifting to the right on issues like immigration. The hard-right in Europe, by most accounts, is surging. But they're not vaulting into government like some Trump allies had predicted. 'I wouldn't say the right has ascended, I'd say it's a mixed package,' said Kurt Volker, who served as Trump's envoy for Ukraine during his first administration and ambassador to NATO under George W. Bush. 'There is a movement effect where the far-right movements seem to draw energy from each other and do well. But there's also this anti-Trump effect, where Trump has challenged a country or a leader and that has only backfired and helped them.' In Romania, hard-right presidential candidate George Simion, who spoke at this year's CPAC in Washington and appeared on Trump ally Steve Bannon's podcast just days before the country's election this month, lost to a centrist challenger after dominating the first round of voting. In Albania, conservatives hired former Trump co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita to boost their fortunes, only to see their candidate get trounced anyway. And the movement is bracing for a close election on Sunday in Poland, where Nawrocki — who visited the White House earlier this month — is locked in a tight race with centrist candidate Rafal Trzaskowski after finishing behind him in the first round. 'We have a lot of political leaders here in the U.S. who are camping out in Poland to try to tilt it,' said Randy Evans, who was ambassador to Luxembourg during Trump's first term. 'Whether or not that's enough or not … I don't know. I think it's going to be very close.' Trump's allies have been working since his first term to expand MAGA's influence abroad. Bannon, who had managed Trump's 2016 campaign, began traveling across Europe pitching himself as the mastermind behind a new global far-right alliance called 'The Movement.' He even announced he would set up an academy to train future right-wing political leaders at a former monastery outside Rome. Those efforts largely fizzled at the time: Bannon's planned academy got caught up in yearslong legal battles, and support for far-right parties across the continent tanked in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. But rising inflation and growing concerns over immigration helped far-right parties gain back support as the pandemic faded. By the time Trump won the election last November, many of those parties were resurging — and his victory emboldened them further, with far-right allies quickly seeking to tie themselves to the incoming U.S. president and his orbit. When Vice President JD Vance chastised European leaders for 'running in fear of [their] own voters' at the Munich Security Conference in February, he billed the Trump administration as an alternative model — the vanguard of a hard-right movement not only in the United States, but across the West. 'Make Europe Great Again! MEGA, MEGA, MEGA,' Elon Musk, Donald Trump's billionaire ally, posted on X earlier this year. In the months since the vice president's appearance in Germany, hardline conservatives have had some success. In Portugal, the far-right Chega party surged. And Reform UK, the party led by pro-Brexit leader Nigel Farage, made big gains in the country's local elections earlier this month. CPAC, which has been holding international conferences since 2017 — including in Japan, Australia, Brazil and Argentina — gathered supporters in Hungary following the Poland meeting this week. Schlapp did not respond to a request for comment. But he told NPR, 'The one thing that's undeniable is that everybody wants to know where Donald Trump is on the issues that matter to their country' and said, 'They're really rooting for Donald Trump to succeed.' But elsewhere abroad, MAGA-style politics not only has failed to spread — it has been a liability. In both Canada and Australia, Trump's combative and unpredictable trade policy led to an anti-Trump wave that helped tank right-wing candidates who sought to emulate his rhetoric. Canada's Pierre Poilievre ran on a 'Canada First' slogan and Australia's Peter Dutton proposed DOGE-style cuts to government. But Trump's tariffs were deeply unpopular with voters in both countries, and even though Poilievre and Dutton distanced themselves from Trump in the final days of the campaign, voters punished them anyway. Vance's speech in February 'gave the impression that this is becoming a transatlantic right-wing alliance,' said Liana Fix, a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. 'Since then, the reality is … not as drastic as those worst-case scenarios. And that's not because they're not trying. You see how the White House is trying.' Trump's allies went all-in on the May 18 election in Romania, which was the re-run of a November vote annulled over concerns that a Russian influence campaign on TikTok had affected the outcome. Trump allies had criticized the decision to cancel the original results and bar the winning candidate, ultranationalist Călin Georgescu, from running in the new election. MAGA loyalists spent months touting Simion, the hard-right candidate who promised to 'Make Romania Great Again.' Less than two weeks before Election Day, Simion hosted CPAC's Schlapp at a business roundtable in Bucharest, and two days before Romanian voters cast their ballots, Bannon hosted Simion on his 'War Room' podcast. 'George, you've got the entire MAGA movement here in the United States pulling for you,' Bannon said, predicting victory for the Trump-aligned candidate. But when the votes were counted, it wasn't even close. Simion lost the election by 7 points to Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan, a centrist candidate who promised closer ties with the European Union and NATO. In Albania's May 11 parliamentary elections, where the conservative candidate, Sali Berisha, hired LaCivita to help his party make a political comeback, the party in interviews heralded Trump and Berisha's 'remarkably similar profiles' of being 'persecuted by establishments' and 'targeted by their countries' justice systems.' Berisha's supporters touted LaCivita's involvement as proof Berisha was anointed by the MAGA movement. But on Election Day, Berisha's party lost badly, handing incumbent Edi Rama and his Socialist Party another term in office. Rama wasted no time in gloating: Hiring Trump's campaign strategist and thinking you can become Trump 'is like hiring a Hollywood hairdresser and thinking you'll become Brad Pitt,' he told POLITICO after the vote. LaCivita told POLITICO on Friday that the connection between MAGA in the U.S. and conservative movements abroad stems from a common concern about an 'alignment of issues — governments using their judicial systems to prosecute political opponents, the rising cost of living, reduced opportunities and individual liberties.' 'This alignment was defeated with President Trump's win in 2024, and while that success may not always be repeated worldwide — once again America is being looked at to provide leadership in securing freedom,' he said in a text message. 'Not through the barrel of a gun — but politics.' Trump spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement that Trump's 'message of restoring common sense, halting illegal immigration, and delivering peace resonates with not just Americans, but people around the world, which is why conservatives have been winning elections in all corners of the globe. He is simultaneously restoring America's strength on the world stage, as evidenced by the 15 foreign leaders who have visited the White House this term.' Meanwhile, Trump's allies have largely dismissed defeats abroad, with explanations ranging from blaming the 'deep state' to arguing that losing politicians were not sufficiently Trumpian to win. "MAGA's populist, nationalist, sovereignist right continues to rise despite the full force of the deep state being thrown against it,' Bannon told POLITICO in response to the spate of recent elections. 'These people aren't Donald Trump. They're facsimiles,' Raheem Kassam, a former Farage adviser and ex-Breitbart London editor, said of Simion and Nawrocki, noting that their parties are both part of a faction on the European level that has its roots more in traditional conservatism than the MAGA-style populism of far-right parties in Germany, Austria, France and others. 'They're cheap copies that have been run through a copy machine 40 times,' he added. 'It doesn't work. It's faded. It's counterfeit Trumpism.' Poland, where leaders of the right-wing Law and Justice Party have long cultivated ties to Trump and MAGA loyalists, will offer the next test of whether an affiliation with Trump can help put like-minded candidates over the finish line. Nawrocki, the Law and Justice Party-backed candidate for president, has gone all-in on his efforts to tie himself to Trump — including flying to Washington in early May for a photo op at the White House. 'President Trump said, 'you will win,'" Nawrocki told the Polish broadcaster TV Republika. 'I read it as a kind of wish for my success in the upcoming elections, and also awareness of it, and after this whole day I can say that the American administration is aware of what is happening in Poland.' But public opinion polling shows Poles, who have long been among the U.S.' biggest fans in Europe, are souring on both the country and its current leader amid tariffs and Trump's close ties to Russia — a tricky issue in a country where many people still view Russia as a threat. Asked by a Polish public polling agency in April whether the U.S. has a positive impact on the world, just 20 percent said yes — the lowest figure since the poll was first conducted in 1987, and down from 55 percent a year ago. And 60 percent of Poles said they were 'concerned' about Trump's presidency, compared with just 15 percent who were 'hopeful.' 'Trump is the most unpopular U.S. president in Europe,' said Milan Nic, an expert on Central and Eastern Europe at the German Council on Foreign Relations. 'This means that to some supporters of Nawrocki, the photo from White House with Trump is no longer as powerful as it used to be.' Volker, the former Ukraine envoy, said right-wing parties need to walk a tightrope of embracing some of the MAGA zeal — but without linking themselves too closely to the polarizing U.S. president. 'You have to think of Trump as like fire: You can't be too close, but you can't be too far away,' said Volker. 'If you get too close to Trump you get burned, and if you're too far away you're not relevant.'
Politico
an hour ago
- Politics
- Politico
MAGA-branded candidates confront their limits abroad, even as far-right surges
When top figures in President Donald Trump's orbit descended on a small town in southeastern Poland this week to rally support for the right-wing candidate in that country's presidential election on Sunday, they put MAGA's ambitions abroad on full display. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Karol Nawrocki 'just as strong a leader' as Trump, declaring 'he needs to to be the next president of Poland.' Matt Schlapp, chair of the pro-Trump Conservative Political Action Conference, which hosted the gathering, said electing candidates like Nawrocki is 'so important to the freedom of people everywhere,' while John Eastman, who aided Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election, said Poland under Nawrocki would play 'a critical role in defeating [the] threat to Western civilization.' But if the conservative confab ahead of Poland's vote was an indication of how hard Trump's allies have been working to expand the MAGA brand across the globe, the results of recent elections, including in Romania, Poland and Canada, suggest Trump's influence in some cases may not be helping. 'Just like domestically, you see one step forward, two steps back sometimes,' said Matthew Bartlett, a GOP strategist and State Department appointee in Trump's first administration. 'The thought of Trump and MAGA is sometimes more powerful than the reality.' He said, 'His thumbprint can help push in certain regions and countries, but there can also be some pushback.' Trump's election to a second term in November emboldened far-right movements abroad. It gave Trump's allies hopes of putting like-minded leaders into positions of power, boosting parties that share his priorities and spreading his populist, hard-right politics beyond the U.S. Meanwhile, conservative politicians in other countries yoked themselves directly or stylistically to his brand. In the months since, far-right parties have performed strongly in European elections, including in Poland, Romania and Portugal, overperforming expectations and elevating their vote shares with electorates shifting to the right on issues like immigration. The hard-right in Europe, by most accounts, is surging. But they're not vaulting into government like some Trump allies had predicted. 'I wouldn't say the right has ascended, I'd say it's a mixed package,' said Kurt Volker, who served as Trump's envoy for Ukraine during his first administration and ambassador to NATO under George W. Bush. 'There is a movement effect where the far-right movements seem to draw energy from each other and do well. But there's also this anti-Trump effect, where Trump has challenged a country or a leader and that has only backfired and helped them.' In Romania, hard-right presidential candidate George Simion, who spoke at this year's CPAC in Washington and appeared on Trump ally Steve Bannon's podcast just days before the country's election this month, lost to a centrist challenger after dominating the first round of voting. In Albania, conservatives hired former Trump co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita to boost their fortunes, only to see their candidate get trounced anyway. And the movement is bracing for a close election on Sunday in Poland, where Nawrocki — who visited the White House earlier this month — is locked in a tight race with centrist candidate Rafal Trzaskowski after finishing behind him in the first round. 'We have a lot of political leaders here in the U.S. who are camping out in Poland to try to tilt it,' said Randy Evans, who was ambassador to Luxembourg during Trump's first term. 'Whether or not that's enough or not … I don't know. I think it's going to be very close.' Trump's allies have been working since his first term to expand MAGA's influence abroad. Bannon, who had managed Trump's 2016 campaign, began traveling across Europe pitching himself as the mastermind behind a new global far-right alliance called 'The Movement.' He even announced he would set up an academy to train future right-wing political leaders at a former monastery outside Rome. Those efforts largely fizzled at the time: Bannon's planned academy got caught up in yearslong legal battles, and support for far-right parties across the continent tanked in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. But rising inflation and growing concerns over immigration helped far-right parties gain back support as the pandemic faded. By the time Trump won the election last November, many of those parties were resurging — and his victory emboldened them further, with far-right allies quickly seeking to tie themselves to the incoming U.S. president and his orbit. When Vice President JD Vance chastised European leaders for 'running in fear of [their] own voters' at the Munich Security Conference in February, he billed the Trump administration as an alternative model — the vanguard of a hard-right movement not only in the United States, but across the West. 'Make Europe Great Again! MEGA, MEGA, MEGA,' Elon Musk, Donald Trump's billionaire ally, posted on X earlier this year. In the months since the vice president's appearance in Germany, hardline conservatives have had some success. In Portugal, the far-right Chega party surged. And Reform UK, the party led by pro-Brexit leader Nigel Farage, made big gains in the country's local elections earlier this month. CPAC, which has been holding international conferences since 2017 — including in Japan, Australia, Brazil and Argentina — gathered supporters in Hungary following the Poland meeting this week. Schlapp did not respond to a request for comment. But he told NPR, 'The one thing that's undeniable is that everybody wants to know where Donald Trump is on the issues that matter to their country' and said, 'They're really rooting for Donald Trump to succeed.' But elsewhere abroad, MAGA-style politics not only has failed to spread — it has been a liability. In both Canada and Australia, Trump's combative and unpredictable trade policy led to an anti-Trump wave that helped tank right-wing candidates who sought to emulate his rhetoric. Canada's Pierre Poilievre ran on a 'Canada First' slogan and Australia's Peter Dutton proposed DOGE-style cuts to government. But Trump's tariffs were deeply unpopular with voters in both countries, and even though Poilievre and Dutton distanced themselves from Trump in the final days of the campaign, voters punished them anyway. Vance's speech in February 'gave the impression that this is becoming a transatlantic right-wing alliance,' said Liana Fix, a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. 'Since then, the reality is … not as drastic as those worst-case scenarios. And that's not because they're not trying. You see how the White House is trying.' Trump's allies went all-in on the May 18 election in Romania, which was the re-run of a November vote annulled over concerns that a Russian influence campaign on TikTok had affected the outcome. Trump allies had criticized the decision to cancel the original results and bar the winning candidate, ultranationalist Călin Georgescu, from running in the new election. MAGA loyalists spent months touting Simion, the hard-right candidate who promised to 'Make Romania Great Again.' Less than two weeks before Election Day, Simion hosted CPAC's Schlapp at a business roundtable in Bucharest, and two days before Romanian voters cast their ballots, Bannon hosted Simion on his 'War Room' podcast. 'George, you've got the entire MAGA movement here in the United States pulling for you,' Bannon said, predicting victory for the Trump-aligned candidate. But when the votes were counted, it wasn't even close. Simion lost the election by 7 points to Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan, a centrist candidate who promised closer ties with the European Union and NATO. In Albania's May 11 parliamentary elections, where the conservative candidate, Sali Berisha, hired LaCivita to help his party make a political comeback, the party in interviews heralded Trump and Berisha's 'remarkably similar profiles' of being 'persecuted by establishments' and 'targeted by their countries' justice systems.' Berisha's supporters touted LaCivita's involvement as proof Berisha was anointed by the MAGA movement. But on Election Day, Berisha's party lost badly, handing incumbent Edi Rama and his Socialist Party another term in office. Rama wasted no time in gloating: Hiring Trump's campaign strategist and thinking you can become Trump 'is like hiring a Hollywood hairdresser and thinking you'll become Brad Pitt,' he told POLITICO after the vote. LaCivita told POLITICO on Friday that the connection between MAGA in the U.S. and conservative movements abroad stems from a common concern about an 'alignment of issues — governments using their judicial systems to prosecute political opponents, the rising cost of living, reduced opportunities and individual liberties.' 'This alignment was defeated with President Trump's win in 2024, and while that success may not always be repeated worldwide — once again America is being looked at to provide leadership in securing freedom,' he said in a text message. 'Not through the barrel of a gun — but politics.' Trump spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement that Trump's 'message of restoring common sense, halting illegal immigration, and delivering peace resonates with not just Americans, but people around the world, which is why conservatives have been winning elections in all corners of the globe. He is simultaneously restoring America's strength on the world stage, as evidenced by the 15 foreign leaders who have visited the White House this term.' Meanwhile, Trump's allies have largely dismissed defeats abroad, with explanations ranging from blaming the 'deep state' to arguing that losing politicians were not sufficiently Trumpian to win. 'MAGA's populist, nationalist, sovereignist right continues to rise despite the full force of the deep state being thrown against it,' Bannon told POLITICO in response to the spate of recent elections. 'These people aren't Donald Trump. They're facsimiles,' Raheem Kassam, a former Farage adviser and ex-Breitbart London editor, said of Simion and Nawrocki, noting that their parties are both part of a faction on the European level that has its roots more in traditional conservatism than the MAGA-style populism of far-right parties in Germany, Austria, France and others. 'They're cheap copies that have been run through a copy machine 40 times,' he added. 'It doesn't work. It's faded. It's counterfeit Trumpism.' Poland, where leaders of the right-wing Law and Justice Party have long cultivated ties to Trump and MAGA loyalists, will offer the next test of whether an affiliation with Trump can help put like-minded candidates over the finish line. Nawrocki, the Law and Justice Party-backed candidate for president, has gone all-in on his efforts to tie himself to Trump — including flying to Washington in early May for a photo op at the White House. 'President Trump said, 'you will win,'' Nawrocki told the Polish broadcaster TV Republika. 'I read it as a kind of wish for my success in the upcoming elections, and also awareness of it, and after this whole day I can say that the American administration is aware of what is happening in Poland.' But public opinion polling shows Poles, who have long been among the U.S.' biggest fans in Europe, are souring on both the country and its current leader amid tariffs and Trump's close ties to Russia — a tricky issue in a country where many people still view Russia as a threat. Asked by a Polish public polling agency in April whether the U.S. has a positive impact on the world, just 20 percent said yes — the lowest figure since the poll was first conducted in 1987, and down from 55 percent a year ago. And 60 percent of Poles said they were 'concerned' about Trump's presidency, compared with just 15 percent who were 'hopeful.' 'Trump is the most unpopular U.S. president in Europe,' said Milan Nic, an expert on Central and Eastern Europe at the German Council on Foreign Relations. 'This means that to some supporters of Nawrocki, the photo from White House with Trump is no longer as powerful as it used to be.' Volker, the former Ukraine envoy, said right-wing parties need to walk a tightrope of embracing some of the MAGA zeal — but without linking themselves too closely to the polarizing U.S. president. 'You have to think of Trump as like fire: You can't be too close, but you can't be too far away,' said Volker. 'If you get too close to Trump you get burned, and if you're too far away you're not relevant.'
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
MAGA outlet's Pentagon correspondent criticized Hegseth. And then she was fired, she says
Gabrielle Cuccia criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's crackdown on press access at the Pentagon. And then, she said, she was fired. Cuccia was briefly the chief Pentagon correspondent for the small and staunchly pro-Trump TV channel One America News, OAN for short. A self-proclaimed 'MAGA girl,' Cuccia positioned herself as a proudly conservative voice among the normally nonpartisan Pentagon press corps. But she grew perturbed by Hegseth's actions against the press. In a post on her personal Substack account on Tuesday, she wrote that the Defense Department's recent move to make vast parts of the Pentagon off-limits to journalists was a 'troubling shift.' She heaped doubt on the Defense Department's rationale for the restrictions. And she questioned why Hegseth hasn't held any formal press briefings since being sworn in. 'This article isn't to serve as a tearing down' of Hegseth, she wrote. 'This is me wanting to keep MAGA alive.' Evidently, someone disagreed. On Thursday, 'I was asked to turn in my Pentagon badge to my bureau chief,' Cuccia said in response to CNN's inquiry about her status there. On Friday, she said, she was fired. Cuccia declined to answer followup questions. OAN president Charles Herring did not respond to CNN's request for comment, including about whether any Pentagon officials complained to OAN about Cuccia's Substack post. Cuccia served in the Trump White House in 2017 and 2018 and later reported from the White House for OAN, then spent several years as a contractor, according to her LinkedIn page. One of her right-wing TV appearances went viral last year when she repeated Trump's claims of 2020 election fraud on Newsmax. The anchor cut her off, most likely due to allegations being made during the segment. Whether through fiery TV segments or Instagram posts posing with firearms, Cuccia was public about her MAGA bonafides. So she was a natural fit to return to OAN earlier this year. In February, the Defense Department took away NBC's longtime workspace at the Pentagon and gave the office to OAN — part of a broader push by the Pentagon to seek out pro-Trump coverage and sideline traditional news outlets. OAN suddenly needed to staff the Pentagon, so Cuccia was brought aboard as chief Pentagon correspondent. She personally renovated the office space into what she called a 'Liberty Lounge' and chronicled the process on social media. According to her Substack post, she soon grew skeptical of the Defense Department's dealings with the press corps. Echoing the concerns of the Pentagon Press Association — which Cuccia said she is not officially a part of, since 'again hello I am MAGA' — she pointed out that the Pentagon's top spokesman has only held one briefing since January. 'This Administration, to my surprise, also locked the doors to the Pentagon Briefing room, a protocol that was never in place in prior Administrations, and a door that is never locked for press at the White House,' she wrote. 'The Commander-in-Chief welcomes the hard questions… and yes, even the dumb ones. Why won't the Secretary of Defense do the same?' Her nuanced assessment of the Pentagon's press crackdown totaled 3,000 words. It aligned with the slogan that she printed on tank tops and sold on Etsy last year: 'Love your country, not your government.' The primary trigger for her post seemed to be the Defense Department's May 23 memo restricting journalists from key parts of the Pentagon without an official escort. 'For decades — across both Republican and Democratic administrations — reporters have operated in these spaces responsibly, including in the wake of 9/11, without raising red flags from leadership over operational security,' she wrote. The memo indicated that further restrictions are likely in the coming weeks, including a pledge to protect military secrets and tougher scrutiny of press credentialing. 'Without press, we by default have to assume that our government relaying information to us, is true,' Cuccia wrote, calling that attitude 'the antithesis of what we believe in.' On Friday she changed her X bio to 'former chief Pentagon correspondent.'
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
'Make Elon Musk work 40-plus hours and....': Tesla's 12 biggest shareholders send letter to Tesla board with list of 'Dos and Don'ts'
Elon Musk is returning to Tesla, and the company's biggest share holders have some 'do's and don't' for the CEO and company Tesla's major shareholders controlling 7.9 million shares have sent an urgent letter to board chair Robyn Denholm, demanding immediate action to address what they call a "crisis" at the electric vehicle maker. The coalition, including pension funds, the American Federation of Teachers, and state treasurers from New York, Oregon, and Illinois, issued four specific demands to refocus CEO Elon Musk's attention on Tesla amid declining sales and plummeting brand reputation. The shareholders blame Tesla's troubles on Musk's divided attention between the company and outside ventures, particularly his recently concluded role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration. Mandate minimum 40-hour work week commitment for Elon Musk The investors want Tesla's board to require Musk to work at least 40 hours per week at the company as a condition of any new compensation package. This demand comes as Tesla's stock has fallen 12% this year while the Nasdaq declined only 1%. The shareholders noted that Tesla's European sales plunged nearly 50% in April compared to the previous year, and global EV sales declined in the first quarter. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like เริ่มแล้ว! ตลาด USDJPY อยู่ในช่วงขาขึ้นกว่าเดิม IC Markets สมัคร Undo Establish clear CEO succession planning The letter demands a formal succession plan identifying emergency replacements for Musk should he become unavailable or lose interest in Tesla. "We believe the company's current disclosure regarding the CEO succession plan does not assure investors that the Board is adequately prepared," the shareholders wrote, emphasizing the need for qualified leadership continuity. Limit directors' external business commitments Shareholders called for stringent policies restricting Tesla board members' involvement in other companies. They propose limiting executive directors to one additional board position and one executive role at another company, arguing this would ensure adequate time dedication to Tesla's oversight and management. Appoint truly independent board members The coalition demanded at least one "truly independent" director with no personal ties to existing board members. They criticized the recent appointment of former Chipotle CFO Jack Hartung, noting his son-in-law works at Tesla and his previous association with Kimbal Musk, Elon's brother who serves on Tesla's board. The shareholders attributed Tesla's reputation crisis partly to Musk's political activities, including nearly $300 million in pro-Trump donations and endorsement of Germany's far-right AfD party. Tesla has dropped from 8th to 95th place in the Axios Harris Poll of America's most admired brands. Musk announced earlier this week that his DOGE tenure had ended and pledged to focus more intensively on his businesses, including Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI. However, investors remain skeptical, with Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs questioning whether Musk has learned from his mistakes or will continue prioritizing other ventures over Tesla's urgent needs. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Indian Express
14 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Elon Musk faces scrutiny over drug use amid departure from Trump administration role
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is facing renewed scrutiny following reports of extensive drug use during his 130-day stint as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Trump administration. A New York Times investigation cited sources claimed that Musk used ketamine often during the 2024 campaign and into his Washington tenure, resulting in bladder damage. The report also cited alleged use of ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms, and a daily regimen of approximately 20 pills, including Adderall. Though Musk has previously acknowledged using ketamine under medical supervision, he insisted in a 2024 interview, 'I really don't like doing illegal drugs,' adding that he took only 'a small amount once every other week' to manage depression. Those close to him, however, claim the actual intake was far heavier. Musk's exit was marked by a White House event where he deflected a Fox News reporter's question about the NYT report, dismissing it as fake news. President Donald Trump, standing beside Musk, expressed support calling him 'fantastic' and an 'incredible patriot.' He said the billionaire is 'one of the greatest business leaders the world has ever produced.' Musk's government role was marred by reports of erratic conduct. Multiple insiders described slurred speech, insults to cabinet colleagues, and inappropriate gestures at campaign events. These incidents intensified concerns over his suitability for a position with major influence over federal operations. In his personal life, Musk faced controversies involving overlapping relationships and family legal disputes, further complicating his public image. Tasked with slashing federal bureaucracy, Musk claimed DOGE saved $105 billion. However, later audits found that while approximately $175 billion in cuts were achieved, the initial figures had been inflated. His aggressive cost-cutting led to thousands of job losses, cancelled contracts, and the closure of government programs, causing significant disruption. Musk's drive to centralize federal data also drew criticism, particularly when the data was reportedly used in immigration crackdowns. His influence extended into key appointments at NASA and the Air Force—agencies with direct ties to his business empire. Despite stepping down from DOGE after hitting the legal time limit for such appointments, Musk signalled he's not exiting the political stage. He's pledged $100 million toward pro-Trump causes ahead of the 2026 midterms. (With inputs from The New York Times, USA Today, CNBC)
