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Elon Musk's latest Trump spat could end the Maga saga for good

Elon Musk's latest Trump spat could end the Maga saga for good

Independent19 hours ago
If the relationship between the world's richest man and the world's most powerful man is what is called a 'bromance', then they, and by necessity the rest of us, are going through the 'jilted-partner-flirts-with-someone-else-to-spire-them' phase.
Elon Musk, slamming the door on the way out, called Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill', of which the president is so proud, 'this massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.'
Trump, opening the window and shouting down the street, yells back that his close friend has 'gone CRAZY!' Musk retreats, mumbling something about the Epstein files.
Now, a little later, our love story has moved on, and Musk has found a new way to hurt Trump – a new political party that could break Trump's uncertain hold on Congress in the midterm elections next year and paralyse his presidency. The America Party, backed by practically unlimited funds, will be controlled by Musk and its efforts will be targeted a relatively few Republican/Maga-held Senate seats and Congressional districts that could tip the balance of power in the legislature away from the the president's profligate – Musk says suicidal – fiscal policies and turn the party back to the lost cause of fiscal conservatism.
Musk claims that the Democrats and Republicans are basically the same, which will come as news to the Dems Trump has threatened with jail, and that only the America Party can save the United States. Trump blusters back that 'I think it's ridiculous to start a third party', adding: 'Starting a third party just adds to the confusion'; 'I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,' essentially becoming a train wreck over the past five weeks." It's possible Musk will bankroll a presidential candidate in 2028, and end the Maga saga for good.
At which all one can say is 'it must be love'.
What happened, we must ask Elon, happened to your promise to leave politics behind and concentrate on your businesses, especially Tesla, where the toxic association with Trump has hammered sales of what have been dubbed 'Swasticars', particularly in Europe. But no, even throwing himself into his work hasn't helped Musk cope with the pain of the break-up.
Like the overgrown spoiled adolescents these two men actually are, it appears obsessional revenge motivates their every action. They will never escape from their relationship, even if Trump deports Musk and Musk cuts off the US government's access to his satellites and the SpaceX Dragon capsule upon which International Space Station missiles depend.
It's like watching a couple destroy each other's most treasured possessions, to see who can hurt the other the most, pretending all the while they're not bothered. When Trump cancels the Electric Vehicle mandate that has done so much to boost Tesla, Musk says he doesn't care, he just wants the pork out of the porcine Big Beautiful Bill. Trump says he doesn't need Musk's help to win elections, even after he piled lavish praise on his help in the past. None of this, as lovers tend to know, is rational.
What will happen? It's impossible to say with this pair. They've both sometimes walked back from the brink when the threats got too heated, and hinted at reconciliation, only to then renew hostilities. You'd think they'd grow up, until you realise they don't want to, and no one can make them. Not even one another.
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'This is a good strategy to squelch union organizing as well as farm worker advocacy, but it is horrifying to us that some of the people who make the lowest salaries in our country are being deported even as they provide the necessary workforce to keep our country fed,' said Julie Taylor, executive director of the National Farm Worker Ministry, a faith-based organization which supports farm worker organizing. Juarez Zeferino was arrested on the grounds of a 2018 deportation order. It stemmed from a 2015 traffic stop by Bellingham, Washington, police officers who then turned him over to Ice. After the stop, Juarez Zeferino – then a minor – was detained for less than 24 hours. He later sued Bellingham and its police department saying that his arrest was the result of racial profiling; the city settled for $100,000. The farm worker activist's friends and legal counsel said he was unaware of the deportation order, which was mailed to an address Juarez Zeferino provided but then bounced back to the government. 'He wasn't in hiding,' said Franks. 'He was out in the open, doing media and serving on city commissions.' His lawyer VanDerhoef successfully had the order reopened in April this year – just one day before Juarez Zeferino was due to be placed on a deportation flight. But in May, an immigration court judge ruled that she had no jurisdiction to grant bond to Juarez Zeferino – a decision VanDerhoef quickly appealed. VanDerhoef said the judge's ruling was based on an unusual legal interpretation by Tacoma judges, who routinely argue that they lack jurisdiction to issue bonds to immigrants who entered the country without a visa. He signed his client on to a class-action lawsuit focused on the issue. He also filed a motion to terminate the case against his client. In June, a court denied the motion, so the next step will probably be to apply for asylum in the US. 'We're basically weighing what other options he has, what he can apply for,' VanDerhoef said. Aaron Korthuis, an attorney at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, who is representing Juarez Zeferino in the class-action lawsuit, said he did not doubt the activist was a political target. 'A lot of what this administration is doing is attempting to send a message through its arrests [and] through its removals,' he said. 'It shouldn't shock anyone that who they are targeting for arrest is part and parcel of the larger effort to intimidate, exact retribution, and send a message.' VanDerhoef declined to comment on whether or not his client's arrest was politically motivated, but said it was unsurprising that it had sparked concern about Trump's immigration policies among other farm workers. 'The last thing I want to do is cause any more fear or panic that is already high among immigrant communities,' he said. 'But I do think this administration has shown that nothing is off the table when it comes to who they will target and also the tactics they use.' Experts say the Trump administration has violated court norms and ignored court orders in its attacks on immigrants. The president has also made life harder for immigration attorneys, including in a memorandum claiming they engage in 'unscrupulous behavior'. And the sheer number of Ice raids conducted under his administration also makes it harder for such lawyers to do their jobs, said VanDerhoef. In the north-east US, Ice arrests have increased so much that officials are 'running into space issues', said VanDerhoef. The immigration prison where Juarez Zeferino is being held has so far exceeded its capacity that some people have been transferred without warning to facilities in Los Angeles and Alaska. The overcrowding also creates challenges when it comes to representation, VanDerhoef said. These days, visitation rooms are often so overbooked that he and other attorneys are facing 'half a day waits' to meet with their clients. He worries that attorneys cannot keep up with the increase in Ice arrests. 'There are not significantly more lawyers doing this work even though there are significantly more people being detained,' he said. Guillen, the veteran farm worker organizer, first met Juarez Zeferino in 2013, when he he was a 13-year-old who had recently arrived in the US from Mexico. He was so small that he looked more like he was 11, she said, but he was 'a hard worker' and 'fierce'. That year, Juarez Zeferino and about 200 workers on a Washington berry farm walked off the job demanding better working conditions and pay. Over the next four years, they organized work stoppages and boycotts, with Juarez Zeferino – who speaks English, Spanish and his native Mixteco – often serving as a spokesperson. In 2017, the workers were granted a union election, resulting in the formation of Familias Unidas por la Justicia, an independent farm worker union representing hundreds of Indigenous farm workers. It's a 'nightmare' organization for Trump, who doesn't want to see immigrant laborers organized, said Guillen. 'These are communities that normally are marginalized, fighting for their rights and winning,' she said. The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each. Since Juarez Zeferino's arrest, calls for his freedom have met with an outpouring of support, Guillen said. 'All the legislators know him, and there was immediate support for him in letters and calls,' she said. But she wishes Democrats would do more to fight for workers like him, including by trying to stop Ice arrests within Washington. 'Democrats need to be bolder,' she said. Franks agreed, and said workers like Juarez Zeferino should obtain amnesty from Ice. 'Just a couple years ago we were essential workers and the heroes but now we're the terrorists and the criminals,' he said. Asked if she had visited Juarez Zeferino, Guillen said, 'I can't do it.' She worries about his health and wellbeing in the facility. Franks, too, said he was concerned that the 'already skinny' Juarez Zeferino will become malnourished while in detention. But when he has visited the young activist, he said he was 'trying to keep his spirits up'. 'He's still messing around and joking around,' he said. 'And he's like, 'when I get out, we're going to do this, we're going to do that.'' Asked what is on that to-do list, Franks said Juarez Zeferino wants to be reunited with his family. 'And he wants to get back to the struggle,' he said.

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