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Reuters
22 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump loyalist Katie Miller crosses battle lines to continue work for Elon Musk
WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - In recent days, Republican circles in Washington have buzzed with speculation that former Trump administration official Katie Miller, an aide to Elon Musk and wife of one of the president's closest advisers, and Musk have had a falling out. Their social media activity fueled rumors that she was distancing herself from Musk since his explosive break-up with U.S. President Donald Trump. But in an interview with Reuters, Miller denied that was the case. She said she still works for Musk, though she declined to describe her role or whether she serves as a spokesperson for him or his companies. "My paycheck still comes from him," she said. Late on Wednesday, after she spoke with Reuters, Miller issued a Musk-related press statement, apparently for the first time in around two weeks based on media reports of the statements and a statement received by Reuters. The statement, on behalf of xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence startup, denounced an environmental group's actions against the company in Tennessee. Miller is married to influential Trump official Stephen Miller, the chief architect of the administration's controversial immigration policies and other initiatives. Both worked in Trump's first administration, which ran from 2017 to 2021. Katie Miller was appointed by Trump as an adviser to the bureaucracy-slashing Department of Government Efficiency led by Musk, whose companies include SpaceX and Tesla, until around the time he left that role at the end of May. Musk's feud with Trump, over the administration's spending plans, swiftly followed. She left the government to work for Musk over a month ago and appeared to work for Musk's companies as a communications adviser. Her exact role was never made public. Miller recently revamped her X profile, which once featured a banner photo of a SpaceX rocket, to highlight her life as a mother and wife. She posted photos of her workouts and beach excursions with her children. In a move that often signals a personal or professional break, Musk in recent days unfollowed her account on X, his social media platform. Weeks before, he had unfollowed Stephen Miller, though he has re-followed him. With Musk recently parting ways with several top executives at his companies and the apparent split on X, three Republican sources told Reuters they suspected that Katie Miller had also split with Musk. Katie Miller did not respond to questions about why she had changed her X profile and why Musk had unfollowed her. Musk and X did not respond to requests for comment. Musk has been close to the Millers and spent time at their Washington-area home while working on DOGE, according to people familiar with the matter. But Katie Miller's continued alliance with Musk raised eyebrows among Republican operatives. People who have worked with her describe her as a Trump loyalist and said they were surprised that she had continued to work for the billionaire as he attempted to torpedo Trump policies that her husband worked closely on, like the Big Beautiful Bill.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Only a quarter of Americans say Trump's policies have helped them, new poll finds
Only about a quarter of Americans believe President Donald Trump 's policies have helped them, according to a new poll. A majority of Americans believe Trump has fallen short on key issues such as the economy and immigration. These are issues he campaigned on and led former Vice President Kamala Harris on in polls during the 2024 election cycle. A poll released by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research Thursday found 49 percent of Americans feel Trump's policies have done more harm than good, while only a quarter believe his policies have helped and another quarter think they have not been impacted by them. 'As it sits today, I don't know his policies have made much of a difference in my day-to-day life,' Landon Lindemer, a 29-year-old from Atlanta who voted for Trump three times, told the AP. Most Americans, 58 percent, disapprove of how Trump is handling his job as president, while 40 percent approve. Trump has been carrying out his campaign promises of the mass deportation of immigrants and in securing the U.S.- Mexico border. There have been zero Customs and Border Protection encounters at the southern border so far this month, according to government data. NBC News reports, citing government data, 56,397 migrants are currently in ICE detention, and tens of thousands of deportations have occurred since February. According to the new poll, 55 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump's immigration policies, while 43 percent approve. An even bigger chunk of Americans, 60 percent, disapprove of Trump's economic polices, while just 38 percent approve. Inflation rose slightly last month as Trump's sweeping global tariffs started to slowly affect the economy. The consumer price index ticked up by 0.3 percent in June. This put the 12-month inflation rate at 2.7 percent, according to government data. The Federal Reserve, which manages the country's monetary policy, has an inflation rate target of 2 percent. But job growth was better-than-expected in June. Most Americans also disapprove of Trump's handling of natural disaster relief, 55 percent. On the administrations other policies Americans disapprove of: the situation in the Middle East, 55 percent, taxes, 56 percent, government spending, 61 percent, trade negotiations with other countries, 61 percent, and health care, 62 percent. The poll was conducted between July 10 and 14, after Trump signed his 'big, beautiful bill' that extended his 2017 tax cuts and increased border security spending while cutting welfare programs such as Medicaid and SNAP. The U.S. bombed three of Iran's nuclear sites last month, which the Trump administration touted as a victory in an effort to keep Tehran's hands off nuclear weapons. But Trump has struggled to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Gaza war, which started after Hamas' deadly October 7, 2023, attack. The poll also came after Trump and first lady Melania Trump traveled to central Texas to survey the destruction and meet with community members and local officials in the aftermath of the deadly July 4 flash floods along the Guadalupe River. Reports found the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent a fraction of the personnel to the flood site that the state had deployed, and federal workers ran into red tape while trying to assemble resources due to new guidelines implemented by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern discuss merger to create transcontinental railroad, AP source says
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are in merger talks to create the largest railroad in North America that would connect the East and West Coasts. The merger discussions began during the first quarter of this year, according to a person familiar with the talks who isn't authorized to discuss them publicly. It would combine the largest and smallest of the country's six major freight railroads. Both railroads declined to comment. Within the industry there is widespread debate over whether such a merger would be approved by the Surface Transportation Board even though those regulators approved the deal that created CPKC railroad two years ago with the Canadian Pacific's $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad. That merger combined the two smallest major railroads in North America and left only six major freight railroads. But it was the first major rail merger approved in more than two decades. The bar for railroad mergers in the U.S. was raised substantially at the start of the century after a disastrous combination of Union Pacific and Southern Pacific in 1996 that snarled rail traffic for an extended period, followed by the 1999 split of Conrail between Norfolk Southern and CSX, which created backups in the East. Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena talked earlier this year about the potential benefits of such a merger because it would streamline deliveries all across the country by eliminating the delays that come along with one railroad handing shipments over to another. Plus it would simplify shipping for the companies that rely on railroads to deliver their raw materials and finished products. But in the past, shippers have raised concerns about the consequences of being left with even fewer options to ship their goods because the major railroads are already so powerful. Some investors have long argued that the industry should eventually consolidate down to two East-West railroads crossing the United States and one railroad in Canada. But regulators have been skeptical and taken a cautious approach. Any proposed deal would face a lengthy STB review. That board is currently evenly split between two Republicans and two Democrats with one seat open. Citi Research analyst Ariel Rosa said in a research note that a major transcontinental railroad merger 'would likely prove costly and time consuming, risking a years-long distraction to management, while facing significant pushback from regulators, politicians, employee unions, competitors, customers, and other stakeholders.' Union Pacific, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, generated $24.3 billion revenue last year as its more than 30.000 employees delivered freight all across the western United States. Norfolk Southern reported $12.1 billion revenue and has roughly 20,000 employees and its headquarters is in Atlanta.
