Latest news with #DonaldTrumpJr
New York Times
16 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Nate Morris, Wealthy Business Executive, Enters Senate Race in Kentucky
A wealthy Kentucky business executive on Thursday entered the race to succeed Mitch McConnell in the United States Senate, casting himself as the only political outsider in the field and an unwaveringly loyal supporter of President Trump. The executive, Nate Morris, announced his candidacy on a podcast hosted by the president's son Donald Trump Jr. The race is expected to be among the biggest and most expensive Republican primary battles of 2026. While he is not as well known as two other Republican candidates — Representative Andy Barr of Kentucky, and Daniel Cameron, a former state attorney general — Mr. Morris can use the wealth he accumulated as a founder of a successful waste and recycling company to quickly introduce himself to voters. 'You've got two McConnellites that owe everything to Mitch McConnell versus the outside business guy that's running as the MAGA candidate,' Mr. Morris said in an episode of 'Triggered,' the podcast hosted by the president's son, that was released on Thursday. 'I think that contrast is going to be very, very striking to Kentuckians all over the state because they've had enough. They've had enough of Mitch.' Mr. Morris, Mr. Barr and Mr. Cameron are competing for support among Republican primary voters who have soured on Mr. McConnell, 83, a political titan in Kentucky who announced this year that he would not seek re-election after serving for more than 40 years in the Senate. They are also jockeying for the president's coveted endorsement in a state that Mr. Trump won by 30 percentage points in 2024. On the Democratic side, State Representative Pamela Stevenson, an Air Force veteran and the minority leader of the Kentucky House, is also running for Mr. McConnell's seat. She is expected to be a major underdog in the deep-red state. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Kalshi, Polymarket Crack $1B Valuations, Ride Political Wave
A day after futures trading platform Polymarket closed in on a funding round that would value it at more than $1 billion, rival prediction market company Kalshi on Wednesday said it had completed a round valuing it at $2 billion. The firms surged in popularity last fall by offering election-related contracts, when many Republicans embraced prediction markets for providing alternative data points to traditional political polls. More from Tribes Dispute Kalshi Claims of 'Productive' Talks on Futures Don't Be So Quick to Blame the House Case for College Sports Cuts Senate Budget Suggests Sports Has Chance to Evade New Taxes While Kalshi and Polymarket have turned to sports betting markets to generate the bulk of their trading volume this year, their outlook continues to be brightened by political allies. U.S. conservatives largely favor reduced regulation of futures trading and cryptocurrency. With Republicans controlling the House, Senate and presidency, it is unlikely the financial technology upstarts will face imminent pushback at the federal level. Kalshi counts Donald Trump Jr., son of President Donald Trump, as an advisor. It also has ties to Brian Quintenz, the nominee to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal regulatory agency that currently oversees prediction markets. Kalshi has argued in several ongoing court cases that the CFTC should have exclusive oversight of its platform, not the state gaming regulators who say the company offers what amounts to sports betting masked as a financial asset class. Tribal groups have also strongly opposed the rise of sports prediction markets, while traditional sportsbook operators like DraftKings and FanDuel are keeping a close eye on developments. Under President Joe Biden, the CFTC fought Kalshi in court over the right to offer election contracts and opposed the sports offerings introduced weeks ahead of Trump's inauguration. Amid a series of resignations and retirements, none of the commissioners at the CFTC before Jan. 20 are expected to still be there when Quintenz is confirmed. Quintenz has said he will let Trump decide whether to fill the four open commissioner roles. 'I don't tell the president what to do,' Quintenz said to U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) in a committee hearing earlier this month. Polymarket, despite being headquartered in New York City, does not yet offer its markets in the U.S. But it has tried to build relationships with Americans, recently striking a partnership with social media giant X that makes it the 'official prediction market partner' of Elon Musk's company. That deal includes data integrations with Grok, X's AI service. Polymarket's still-to-be-closed funding round of $200 million at a valuation above $1 billion, first reported by The Information, is being led by Founders Fund—an organization operated by conservative venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Kalshi's $185 million round at a valuation of $2 billion is being led by Paradigm. Multicoin Capital, Sequoia, Neo, and Peng Zhao, the CEO of Citadel Securities, participated in the round, according to a statement announcing the deal. 'This round brings in some of the leading investors in blockchain and crypto to accelerate the adoption of emergent asset classes,' Kalshi said in its announcement. 'The investment marks just the third time that Paradigm has invested in a company outside of the crypto industry, with the other two being finance giant Citadel and payments giant Stripe.' Polymarket declined to comment. Best of Most Expensive Sports Memorabilia and Collectibles in History The 100 Most Valuable Sports Teams in the World NFL Private Equity Ownership Rules: PE Can Now Own Stakes in Teams Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Kalshi Joins Polymarket in Unicorn Club With Latest Fundraise: Report
Prediction market Kalshi, a federally regulated competitor to Polymarket, has raised $185 million at a valuation of $2 billion, according to a press release. This round brings the company's total funding to date to $415 million, the release says. Kalshi said it plans to use the funding to scale the engineering team, launch new market structures, and collaborate with new partners. This comes less than a day after reports emerged that Polymarket was raising $200 million at a valuation of $1 billion, led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund. Publicly available data from Kalshi's API curated by Polymarket Analytics (not affiliated with Polymarket) shows that Kalshi has around $113 million in current active trading volume across all open markets, while Polymarket has just under $600 million. Kalshi now hosts more active markets than Polymarket, but remains behind in open interest, a key metric that reflects liquidity and trader conviction in prediction markets. A Dune dashboard shows that Polymarket has around 186,000 active traders. Paradigm led Kalshi's latest round. The crypto-focused VC recently led the Series A round for GTE, a decentralized exchange (DEX) that looks to rival HyperLiquid in speed. In January, Donald Trump Jr. announced he was joining Kalshi as a senior advisor. UPDATE (June 25, 2025, 20:00 UTC): Updates with figures based on a release sent by Kalshi versus Bloomberg reporting. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump staffers, supporters target Zohran Mamdani with barrage of Islamophobic hate
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump's right-wing supporters have hit Zohran Mamdani with a barrage of Islamophobic hate since he stunned the political world Tuesday night by winning the Democratic primary for New York City mayor. MAGA loyalists have claimed that Mamdani might impose religious Shariah law in the Big Apple or even spark terrorism like the Sept. 11 attacks if he becomes the city's first-ever Muslim mayor. 'NYC is about to see 9/11 2.0,' right-wing media figure Laura Loomer tweeted, adding in another post: 'There will be another 9/11 in NYC and (Zohran Mamdani) will be to blame.' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, posted a fake photo-shopped image of the Statue of Liberty draped in a burqa, the covering worn by some observant Muslim women. 'This hits hard,' Green tweeted. Presidential son Donald Trump Jr. reposted a tweet claiming 'New Yorkers (voted) for 9/11' adding: 'New York has fallen.' Stephen Miller, the hardline deputy White House chief of staff, blamed Mamdani's win on unchecked immigration. 'NYC is the clearest warning yet of what happens to a society when it fails to control migration,' he tweeted after Mamdani's win. Mamdani, 33, has spoken openly about being the subject of Islamophobic hate speech before and during the breakthrough primary campaign that catapulted him into the national spotlight. He said in one of his first national interviews after his victory that he hopes his campaign can help Muslim New Yorkers worship as they choose and wear their faith as a badge of honor in the most diverse city in the world. 'I've spoken to many Muslims across this city who have shared their fear of having to be essentially branded a terrorist just by living in public life is one that keeps them preferring life in the shadows,' he said in an interview on MSNBC. 'This is not the way that we can have our city be. It's not the way that we can have our country be.' Trump himself has trashed Mamdani as 'a 100% communist lunatic' but so far has refrained from attacking him for his faith. 'We've had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous,' Trump wrote on his social media site. 'He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he's not very smart.' Trump has not yet endorsed anyone in the November general election. He has spoken highly of Mayor Eric Adams, who is running against Mamdani as an independent. His Justice Department dropped the corruption case against Adams in an effort to force Hizzoner to join his crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Some conservatives and big-money donors had rallied behind ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani's main opponent in the primary. But Cuomo appears to be unlikely to mount an independent run in the fall after being clobbered by Mamdani this week. Republican Curtis Sliwa is another obvious choice for Trump fans to rally behind in the November vote, although he performed poorly in the 2021 general election, winning just 27% in a one-sided matchup with Adams.
Android Authority
3 days ago
- Business
- Android Authority
Report highlights uncomfortable truths about Tump Mobile and its T1 Phone
Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR A new report from The Financial Times has revealed some concerning truths about Trump Mobile and its 'Made in America' T1 Phone. The company behind Trump Mobile's network operations is registered to a luxury apartment and has a shaky public presence. A Trump Mobile spokesperson told the publication that the T1 Phone is manufactured in Alabama, California, and Florida, but experts doubt these claims. Trump Mobile came out of left field with a mobile network that promises telehealth and roadside perks and a 'Proudly Made in America' smartphone. With bold claims of an Android device made entirely in the US and no clarity on who is really behind the venture, Trump Mobile raised eyebrows at launch, leading to more questions than answers. Now, a report from The Financial Times has attempted to answer some of those questions, adding more skepticism to the story, not just over whether Trump Mobile can deliver an American-made device, but over the credibility of the partner it has chosen to help do it. Trump Mobile has hitched its wagon to Liberty Mobile Wireless, a network operator registered to a luxury apartment. Trump Mobile, led by the US President's sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, has hitched its wagon to Liberty Mobile Wireless, a tiny, little-known network operator registered to a luxury apartment in Trump Tower Miami. The company was founded in 2018 and lists fewer than 50 employees. As The Financial Times points out, its FAQ page is filled with placeholder text ('What is Lorem Ipsum?'). Public records link the founder of Liberty Mobile Wireless, Matt Lopatin, to multiple other dissolved ventures. Financial Times' attempts to reach the company for comment went unanswered. Although Liberty is only seven years old and not very well-established, it forms the backbone of Trump Mobile's phone plans. The Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) essentially buys network access from major networks like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. While celebrity-backed MVNOs, like Ryan Reynolds' Mint Mobile (now sold to T-Mobile), have seen some success, Liberty's shaky public presence raises questions about its ability to shoulder another mobile network. The T1 Phone's online order form crashed shortly after going live on Monday. Meanwhile, if Trump Mobile employees are to be believed, the launch of the T1 Phone has been quite successful. The report notes that the phone's online order form crashed shortly after going live on Monday, and a company employee attributed the crash to overwhelming demand for the device. We checked and the order form for the T1 Phone is now back online, allowing customers to pre-order the handset by authorizing a $100 payment up front and pre-authorizing a payment of $399 plus taxes when the device is shipped. The 'Made in America' reality Trump Mobile A Trump Mobile spokesperson told The Financial Times that the T1 Phone is being manufactured in 'Alabama, California, and Florida.' However, they didn't offer any specifics on production partners, components sourced from the US, or the exact location of the manufacturing facilities. The lack of transparency and conflicting statements are concerning. Eric Trump previously admitted the phones would be made in the US only 'eventually.' Todd Weaver, CEO of US electronics company Purism, said he doesn't think devices with the specs that the T1 Phone promises can be made in America. Purism makes privacy-focused phones in the US. Its Librem 5 is touted to be the only phone truly made in America, with all electronics produced in the United States. Of course, with its focus on US manufacturing, Purism can't compete with big industry players when it comes to specs or software. Moreover, to carry a 'Made in the USA' label under Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, Trump Mobile's T1 will have to have 'all or virtually all' components made domestically. That means the phone's foreign content should be negligible. Counterpoint Research's Director of Research, Jeff Fieldhack, believes it's a 'tall order' and that he's yet to see anything come close. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
