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Trump Doesn't Rule Out Deporting Elon Musk Following Spat Over 'Big, Beautiful Bill': 'We'll Have to Take a Look'

Trump Doesn't Rule Out Deporting Elon Musk Following Spat Over 'Big, Beautiful Bill': 'We'll Have to Take a Look'

"He gets a lot of subsidies, but Elon is very upset that the EV mandate is going to be terminated, and you know what, when you look at it, not everybody wants an electric car. I don't want an electric car, I want to have maybe gasoline, maybe electric, maybe a hybrid, maybe someday hydrogen," the President continued.
President Donald Trump has given credence to the idea of deporting billionaire Tesla CEO and former ally Elon Musk after the two have been embroiled in a feud since the beginning of June.
Trump spoke to reporters on the lawn at the White House on Tuesday morning, during which he was asked about his relationship with the SpaceX CEO and how it has deteriorated over the past few weeks.
"We'll have to take a look" -- Trump doesn't close the door on the idea of deporting Elon Musk for committing the infraction of criticizing him pic.twitter.com/h2cMZugCZS — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 1, 2025
One reporter asked him if he had any intentions of deporting Musk.
"I don't know, I mean, we'll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon, you know? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon, wouldn't that be terrible," Trump began.
"He gets a lot of subsidies, but Elon is very upset that the EV mandate is going to be terminated, and you know what, when you look at it, not everybody wants an electric car. I don't want an electric car, I want to have maybe gasoline, maybe electric, maybe a hybrid, maybe someday hydrogen," the President continued.
Social media users took to online platforms to express their frustrations with the Trump administration's harsh deportation agenda.
"You can't just deport everyone who says something you don't like," said one user.
You can't just deport everyone who says something you don't like. — Nico Perrino (@NicoPerrino) July 1, 2025
"After championing Musk for almost an entire year MAGA will now cheer on his illegal deportation..." added another.
After championing Musk for almost an entire year MAGA will now cheer on his illegal deportation… — Lib Dunk (@libdunkmedia) July 1, 2025
"That fits his immigration 'policy'. I'll bet Stephen Miller never liked Elon," added a third.
That fits his immigration "policy".
I'll bet Stephen Miller never liked Elon. — Challenge Your Beliefs (@ChallengeBelief) July 1, 2025
The feud, which seemingly took a brief pause during the immigration riots in Los Angeles, when Musk spoke out in support of the 47th President, resumed with the developments regarding the Trump-backed "one big, beautiful" tax and spending bill last week.
"If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE," Musk wrote on Monday.
If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day.
Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2025
Originally published on Latin Times Donald trump Elon musk Tesla
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Elon Musk's dream of a third party could disrupt US politics – DW – 07/01/2025
Elon Musk's dream of a third party could disrupt US politics – DW – 07/01/2025

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time3 hours ago

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Elon Musk's dream of a third party could disrupt US politics – DW – 07/01/2025

Elon Musk wants to shake up the two-party system in the US after clashing with Donald Trump — but history hasn't been kind to third parties. It appears the world's wealthiest person has set his mind to a new startup: his own political party. As the ongoing public fracturing of the relationship between the US President Donald Trump and his top election financier continues to play out in public, Elon Musk has again vented his opposition to the so-called "Big Beautiful Bill," a tax and spending bill, which he believes undoes the efficiency mantra he sought to instill in Washington. Musk has gone as far to warn Republican lawmakers who pass the bill that he'll run candidates against them in next year's primaries. And he also threatened the broader US two-party system with the promise he'll form a faction of his own. "If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day," he wrote on X. "Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE." A genuinely competitive third party would upend more than a century of Democrats-Republicans dominance at all levels of government. Yet few have come close, despite dozens of minor parties operating across the US for decades. The Libertarian Party, established in 1971, is the third biggest in America. Campaigning for free markets, small government and personal freedoms, it had its best presidential election performance in 2016 with candidate Gary Johnson, who won 3.27% of the nationwide vote. But that's a long way from the tens of millions of votes needed to win the White House, a governorship or even a state legislature seat. The Green Party is another long-running party that has run candidates in state and federal races. Like the Libertarians, it too holds no seats in government. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The very nature of the American political system is the "winner takes all" principle through the widespread use of a "first past the post" voting system. This delivers victory to candidates with the most votes — almost always a Republican or Democrat. There are other factors hampering success, according to Bernard Tamas, a political scientist at Valdosta State University, US, who has written extensively on the subject. Tamas said it's fundamental for a third party to tap into popular unrest — a large number of people who are dissatisfied with the current political options — and build a groundswell grassroots movement. "One of the biggest problems with the parties that have emerged is that they're not really tapping into that anger," Tamas said. Upstart parties instead "tend to be more wishy-washy and [are] not really focusing in on that strong urge for change." If tapping into grassroots is essential, so is money. Parties spend billions of dollars to get their candidates elected. According to donations watchdog OpenSecrets, nearly $16 billion (about €13.58 billion) was spent across the 2024 presidential and congressional races. Musk himself was the biggest donor in the 2023-24 election cycle. He gave more than $291 million to Republicans across all races. Massive campaign war chests help parties "get out the vote" — buying the advertising and campaigning materials that expose candidates to the public and earn their vote. It doesn't guarantee a win — the Democrats spent more than the Republicans in 2024 — but it certainly helps. "You need money for things like ballot access and a number of other things, but no third party would ever have enough money to compete against the Republicans and Democrats on their own terms," said Tamas. Could a genuine third party supplant the Democrats or Republicans? It's unlikely in Tamas's view. Instead of winning seats and building long-term success, Tamas said they instead "sting like a bee." "They emerge very quickly, they run a bunch of candidates all over the country and then they cause one or both major parties major pain," Tamas said. "They basically are pulling away votes." This is called the "spoiler effect", where protest candidates leech votes away from an often ideologically similar mainstream candidate. In some cases, they could pull away enough votes that a frontrunner loses the lead and falls to second place. It's the fear of a third party groundswell that causes the major parties to alter their policies to appease these voters. Once the change is achieved, like a bee that's stung its victim,"it dies." "The most successful third parties in America last about a decade. Once they become too much of a threat, the major parties start stealing their rhetoric, their ideology," said Tamas. Not all Americans are happy with their options. Donald Trump's net approval rating is in negative territory and YouGov's latest polls found almost 3 in 5 Americans view the Democratic Party unfavorably. In 2022, a Pew Research analysis found overall support for more parties in the political system. But it doesn't mean a new party would succeed. A study by two US political scientists in May 2024 found "disaffected partisans" — Republicans and Democrats unsatisfied with their own parties — were less likely to vote for a third, more centrist alternative. Tapping into popular anger and frustration with the status quo, Tamas said, is the fastest pathway to success. For a person like Musk, he might do well to look towards the "Fight Oligarchy" movement of left-wing opponents like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders currently touring America, or the original MAGA movement, if he wants to start a party. "These are very good examples to follow… the tapping into people's grievances is really it," Tamas said. "They force the [major] parties to respond by threatening their careers and their livelihood."

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Asian Markets Mixed As Trade Deal Cut-off Looms
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Int'l Business Times

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