Latest news with #Trumpworld
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
The MSNBC host described how pro-Trump AI bots are 'malfunctioning' over what to say about the Epstein files.
A network of MAGA bots has no idea what it's supposed to say about Jeffrey Epstein, much to the amusement of Rachel Maddow. The MSNBC host on Tuesday unpacked new reporting from NBC News about hundreds of X accounts that use artificial intelligence to send automated replies showing support for right-wing messaging. With Trumpworld deeply divided on the so-called 'Epstein files,' the bots, which are supposed to mimic MAGA talking points, have been glitching out. Some would post contradictory messages from the same account, calling for the release of the documents while also calling for the matter to be put to bed.
Straits Times
16-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Kevin Hassett grabs pole position in race to be Trump's new Fed Chair
Mr Kevin Hassett, one of US President Donald Trump's longest-serving economic aides, is the early frontrunner to replace Mr Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chief next year, according to people familiar with the process. Mr Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, and Mr Kevin Warsh are the top two contenders in an Apprentice-like contest run by Mr Trump out of the White House. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is advising on selection – but could get the job himself if others fail to impress – while Fed governor Christopher Waller remains the dark horse, said people familiar with the deliberations. Mr Trump has raised the succession stakes by routinely blasting Mr Powell for keeping interest rates too high, and saying he will pick a Fed chair who wants to cut them. It has left investors worried that the central bank's autonomy from political pressure – key to its ability to fight inflation and support the dollar – is in growing danger. Mr Hassett has echoed Mr Trump's Fed critique. In a Fox Business interview this month, he noted that the central bank is an independent agency. But he said that by cutting rates before last year's presidential election – and then keeping them on hold more recently, citing inflation risk from tariffs – it deserved the president's barbs. 'I think that that raises the spectre that they're not being non-partisan, they're not being independent,' he said. 'There to serve' Once seen as a measured right-leaning economist, aligned with politicians like Mr Mitt Romney, Mr Hassett has been in the Trump orbit for close to a decade now. He has approached the National Economic Council job very differently from predecessors like Mr Gary Cohn, who sought to damp down the president's impulses on tariffs – and did not last long. Mr Hassett has gone full Maga instead – amplifying Mr Trump's instincts on trade, taxes, inflation or the Fed, in myriad TV appearances. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business US tariffs may last well after Trump; crucial for countries to deepen trade ties: SM Lee World Trump says Indonesia to face 19% tariff under trade deal Singapore 'Kpods broke our marriage, shattered our children': Woman on husband's vape addiction Singapore Las Vegas Sands' new development part of S'pore's broader, more ambitious transformation: PM Wong Multimedia Telling the Singapore story for 180 years Life Walking for exercise? Here are tips on how to do it properly Singapore CDL's long-time director Philip Yeo to depart after boardroom feud Singapore 'Nobody deserves to be alone': Why Mummy and Acha have fostered over 20 children in the past 22 years That is what it takes in Trumpworld, according to Mr Stephen Myrow, who runs Beacon Policy Advisers, a Washington research firm. 'Anyone who has survived this long under Trump, they're not coming in with an ideology that they want to advance,' Mr Myrow said. 'They're not there to serve a school of monetary thought. They're there to serve Trump.' What remains to be seen is how that service ethos applies to the next Fed chair – a job that is supposed to be walled off from administration priorities. It is a multi-trillion-dollar question. Economists say autonomous central banks are better at taming inflation, so a Fed chief seen as acquiescent to the White House could trigger a slump in Treasury markets. Mr Trump's threats to fire Mr Powell have added to financial jitters set off by his trade war. The president has taken the opposite tack, arguing that excessive Fed rates add hundreds of billions a year to America's debt service costs. 'Most qualified individuals' The process of choosing Mr Powell is officially under way, Mr Bessent told Bloomberg TV on July 15. Along with the Treasury chief, the narrow circle of aides involved include White House chief-of-staff Susie Wiles – who has advised on Mr Trump's key hiring decisions, and is steeped in the politics of trying to ensure the US economy is thriving by next year's mid-term elections. Trump allies say the president is deeply engaged in the choice. One adviser predicted the interview process would move quickly, since the president tends to act once he gets an idea in his head. Mr Hassett has been telling people both inside and outside the administration that he very much wants the job – though he plays it coy when asked on TV. He did not respond to requests for comment. Mr Trump, asked by reporters on July 15 if Mr Bessent is the No. 1 contender to lead the Fed, said that he is 'an option' and complimented the Treasury secretary for 'the job he's doing'. 'With Joe Biden's inflation crisis firmly past us, President Trump has been clear about the need for the Federal Reserve's monetary policy to complement the administration's pro-growth agenda,' said White House spokesman Kush Desai. 'He will continue to nominate the most qualified individuals who can best serve the American people.' As NEC chief, Mr Hassett benefits from daily proximity to the president, with an office in the West Wing. Mr Warsh by contrast, spends much of his time shuttling between the Hoover Institution in California and New York City. Mr Trump interviewed Mr Warsh – a former Fed governor – for the chair role in 2017, but opted for Mr Powell instead because he thought Mr Warsh's views were too hawkish and he looked too young for the job. Mr Hassett served as the head of the Council of Economic Advisers during Mr Trump's first term. His earlier career includes stints as a Fed economist and at the American Enterprise Institute, where he was director of research. He is known as an expert on tax, and has written widely on the topic. But perhaps his most notorious book was Dow 36,000, predicting a surge in the US stock market, which was published shortly before the dotcom bubble burst. The Dow eventually hit the level predicted in his title more than two decades later. 'Very confusing' During Mr Trump's years in exile in Florida between his first and second terms, Mr Hassett – who was doing some work for Mr Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's investment fund Affinity Partners at the time – also frequently got together with Mr Trump to talk through economic ideas. Both men share a similar approach to the world and a tendency to store up grievances based on perceived slights, said one longtime friend of Mr Hassett. Mr Trump has been voicing grievances with Mr Powell almost ever since naming him to the top Fed job. Complaints have escalated into open anger during Mr Trump's second term, when he nicknamed Mr Powell 'Too Late' and often resorted to harsher insults . Mr Powell's Fed has kept interest rates unchanged this year, after lowering them by a percentage point over the last few months of 2024. US central bankers say there is no rush to cut further, pointing to solid growth and a healthy job market, and arguing that they need time to see whether tariffs will boost inflation, like most economists expect. So far, consumer prices have not seen much of a tariff jump – though there were signs in the June numbers, published on July 15, that companies are beginning to pass on trade-related costs. That has reinforced expectations that the Fed will stand pat again at its next rates meeting on July 29-30. Markets still expect a couple of cuts by year-end. Echoing Mr Trump's 'too late' jibe, Mr Hassett accused the Fed in his Fox interview of 'falling behind the curve' compared to what other central banks are doing. He has also joined other Trump aides and Republican lawmakers in voicing alarm about the rising costs of the Fed's headquarter renovations – which has become the president's latest stick to beat Mr Powell with. One goal may be to pressure Mr Powell to leave the Fed board when his tenure as chair ends in May next year – rather than staying on in the role of governor, where his term extends into 2028. The administration's argument is essentially that Mr Trump's Fed pick – whether it's Mr Hassett or someone else – needs a clear run at the job. 'Traditionally, the Fed chair also steps down as a governor,' Mr Bessent told Bloomberg TV on July 15. 'There's been a lot of talk of a shadow Fed chair causing confusion in advance of his or her nomination. And I can tell you, I think it'd be very confusing for the market for a former Fed chair to stay on also.' BLOOMBERG
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Elon Musk Drags Steve Bannon Into His Epstein Report Freak-Out
The world's richest man is not happy with how the Trump administration is handling the Epstein files. Elon Musk has gone scorched earth on his ex-allies in the wake of a Department of Justice memo refuting prior claims from Trump officials that there had been a 'client list' maintained by the pedophilic sex trafficker. Last month, Musk accused Donald Trump of being mentioned by name in the Epstein files, claiming that Trump's alleged attachment to the glitterati socialite was the real reason why the details of the case had not yet been made public. But by Tuesday afternoon, Musk had thrown another Trumpworld figurehead into the mix. 'Bannon is in the Epstein files,' Musk wrote on X, referring to Trump's 2016 chief strategist Steve Bannon. The billionaire did not elaborate on how Bannon could be attached to the notorious sex abuse ring, but his ravings against the administration's botched handling did not end there. 'How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won't release the Epstein files?' Musk wrote in another post. In yet another post, Musk accused the government of mishandling its priorities, comparing the recent seizure and euthanization of a famous pet squirrel, Peanut, to the absence of arrests within Epstein's expansive social network. 'Government is deeply broken,' Musk wrote. Musk—who in May wrapped up his work slicing and dicing the federal government—also reshared a post accusing the administration of 'protecting pedophiles.' 'If the entire government is protecting pedophiles, it has officially become the government against the people,' the Musk-elevated post read. But for all of his clamoring, it's still not clear how involved Musk himself was with the late New York financier. On Monday, an answer from X's AI chatbot Grok answered a question regarding Musk's connection to Epstein that was suspiciously written in the first person. 'Yes, limited evidence exists: I visited Epstein's NYC home once briefly (~30 mins) with my ex-wife in the early 2010s out of curiosity; saw nothing inappropriate and declined island invites,' Grok wrote in a since-deleted post. 'No advisory role or deeper ties. A 2023 subpoena sought docs in a JP Morgan lawsuit, but I've never been accused of any wrongdoing. Deny knowing Ghislaine Maxwell beyond a photobomb.' The hubbub is thanks to a string of apparent mistakes by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has suggested since January—against the expertise of individuals who had worked on the case for decades—that Epstein had maintained a 'client list,' supercharging ideas and theories about which high-powered individuals could have been involved in Epstein's crimes. The administration then seemed to abruptly change its tune on Monday, when the DOJ posted a memo confirming that no such 'incriminating client list' existed, undercutting Bondi's language. Far-right influencers who had absorbed themselves into the details of the case refused to believe that Bondi had made a misstep—instead, they interpreted the sudden reversal as an administration cover-up, throwing Trump and his allies into the deep end with some of his most fanatical supporters. The 79-year-old billionaire has achieved messiah-like status within the QAnon conspiracy circle for years thanks to the group's principal belief that, despite his being named and photographed as an associate of Epstein's and being a reputed fraudster, and despite being found liable by a jury for sexually abusing Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll, Trump will rid the world of Satan-worshiping, liberal-minded pedophiles who run the government and media.
The Guardian
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘They have promised retribution and retaliation': the Washington lawyer Trump is targeting
Mark Zaid knew he would be targeted if Donald Trump won re-election. The lawyer, who specializes in national security cases, has long been on the US president's bad side. He represented a whistleblower with knowledge of Trump's plot to extort Ukraine during Trump's first impeachment. He frequently talks to the media to critique Trump. His clients include a host of people who are suing the government. He has received a barrage of threats for being publicly anti-Trump. After Trump railed against him at a rally, a man emailed Zaid a death threat and was prosecuted for it, sentenced to a year in prison. Zaid's social media pages still include calls for him to be tried for treason. It's safe to say, he's drawn the ire of Trumpworld. Still, seeing his name in a presidential memo in March alongside high-profile elected and appointed Republicans and Democratic officials, including a former president, surprised him. They seemed like way bigger fish. The memo revoked the security clearances of Joe Biden and his entire family, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Adam Kinzinger, Liz Cheney and a handful of others. The memo doesn't detail why these clearances were revoked, simply saying that it was 'no longer in the national interest' for these people to have any access to classified information. 'I have no idea why I'm on that list,' Zaid told the Guardian. 'The action against me, I get … It's perfectly consistent with what I expected from him and his administration, but to have me included on that list and the order of our names, why? Why am I fourth, ahead of the president and vice-president?' Trump frequently promised retribution on the 2024 campaign trail. Once he was elected, he and his allies moved quickly to enact a revenge agenda, going after law firms, people who have criticized him, prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases, students who participated in protests, universities, and others who worked to undermine his agenda. The list is long and growing. Zaid had publicly said he was advising a 'small number' of his clients to consider leaving the country around the time of Trump's inauguration, in case they could be arrested, like those who have served as whistleblowers. 'I'm taking him and his inner circle at their word. They have promised retribution and retaliation,' he told Politico last November. Now that he's personally been targeted, he is fighting back. He sued the Trump administration over the revocation, arguing the order was unconstitutionally vague, that his and his clients' rights to due process were violated and that it impedes first amendment rights to free speech and association and the right to petition the government for grievances. A judge heard oral arguments in the case on 27 June. The White House said the courts don't have a role in deciding this issue. 'The decision to grant any individual access to this nation's secrets is a sensitive judgment call entrusted to the President,' White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement to the Guardian. 'Weighing these factors and implementing such decisions are core executive powers, and reviewing the President's clearance decisions falls well outside the judiciary's authority.' Zaid said he filed the lawsuit to ensure due process and the rule of law are followed and to emphasize that the president is not a king. He wants his security clearance back, but he said he knows he'll get it back at some point, whether through the courts or in a subsequent presidential administration. 'I didn't do anything. I'm caught up in this political, vindictive battle, so my hope is the lawsuit certainly will reinstate my clearance, but will also hold this administration accountable to the rule of law,' he said. Zaid makes his living in part on having access to sensitive materials. His clients – which include 'current and former federal employees, military service members, and government contractors' – seek him out because of his expertise and sensitivity in cases where they need to share classified information with a trusted attorney. His clients and potential clients have lost their ability to use his services. His ongoing cases have been affected, too: after the memo was released, he received a letter from the Central Intelligence Agency's general counsel that said not only could he not access any classified information going forward, but he also couldn't 'make use of classified information' in his current cases that involve the agency. That would prevent him from working on his Anomalous Health Incidents, or Havana Syndrome, cases. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion In one case referenced in his lawsuit, he was denied access to an already-filed classified complaint for one of his clients. One of the lawyers representing Zaid, Norm Eisen, also had his security clearance revoked in the same memo. Zaid's lawsuit is 'a landmark case that will establish that, whatever the permissible grounds may be of taking away security clearances, it's illegal to do them as an act of revenge, which is what happened here', Eisen said. Eisen said his own inclusion on the list and the broader retaliation agenda have solidified his resolve – more of a 'defrosting effect' than the chilling effect others have described after Trump's attacks. 'One thing that autocratic bullies everywhere start off with is attacking and threatening their enemies,' Eisen said. 'So if you're an American who loves your freedom, and we all do, you should understand these threats as part of a larger pattern. There's no place for that in the United States. This kind of behavior is un-American.' In his lawsuit, Zaid has drawn attention to the political and personal nature of the Trump administration's comments about him. Trump, during the 2019 impeachment, called Zaid a 'sleazeball' and said he should be sued and maybe tried for treason, alluding to the a 2017 tweet in which Zaid said the '#coup has started' after officials tried to prevent some of Trump's actions. The director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who tweeted before the memo that Trump had directed her to revoke the clearance, told rightwing commentator Megyn Kelly that revoking clearances including Zaid's was 'fun'. Gabbard also issued a press release that described those who lost their clearances as people who 'abused public trust for political purposes'. Zaid said he's concerned about the chilling effect on the legal field after Trump's repeated attacks on lawyers and firms. 'I know a number of lawyers who I've tried to get involved with certain things where they just don't want to run afoul of this administration because they know how vindictive they are,' he said.
Washington Post
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Thom Tillis cared about the poor. It was enough to end his career.
'Another one bites the dust,' goes the popular Queen song, which might have been written for this week's news in Trumpworld. I refer to Sen. Thom Tillis, the Republican senator from North Carolina, who, in the wake of a virtual assault by Donald Trump, announced that he won't seek reelection next year. Thus, Tillis joins a lengthening line of dropouts or, as the presiding party prefers, RINOs — Republicans in Name Only — who have left public office during the years since Trump first became president rather than be forced to breathe the sulfurous vapors emanating from Pennsylvania Avenue and seeping into congressional offices. Among other considerations for Tillis was Trump's promise to seek revenge through a primary challenger as recompense for Tillis's 'betrayal' in withholding his vote for Trump's massive tax and immigration bill, which the House of Representatives passed on Thursday afternoon. You've probably heard of it. Tillis didn't like parts of the bill that cut Medicaid over the next decade. Tillis and Trump spoke about their differences and, Tillis said, reached a meeting of the minds. But it wasn't long after that Trump stood in the doorway of his Truth Social platform and began firing insults at Tillis, saying he was 'a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER!' Not the machine-gun fire of Queen's song, but effective enough in getting rid of Tillis, though the senator claims he had been mulling a departure before Trump's sniping. In a statement to reporters, Tillis said: 'In Washington over the last few years, it's become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species.' That's a polite way of saying America is doomed. So much for the balance of power. It's hard to miss the irony, if you're in the mood, of the chainsaw-wielding, empathy-deficient Elon Musk, richest man in the world, slashing government programs while a man such as Tillis, who moved out of his family's trailer at 16 to get a job, is run out of town for caring about his state's poor. Such are Trump's priorities, in a nutshell. 'Screw the poor' is the leitmotif running through this 'moral abomination,' as Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) recently described the proposed legislation. Thanks to tax cuts that benefit the wealthy — and notwithstanding the firing of thousands of federal employees when Musk and Trump were still bromancing — an estimated 17 million people could lose health insurance under the megabill. In plain terms, this legislation translates to a loss of health care — and food subsidies — for tens of thousands if not millions of children. And to think that evangelical America claims God chose Trump to lead the country and, presumably, the world. By now, surely, we should stop saying America is a Christian nation. Jesus Christ and the religion he inspired are all about helping the poor, the meek, the hungry, the homeless. If Republicans are representing themselves as Christians while cutting essential aid to the neediest among us, then we might infer that they're all going to hell. Trump is no more Christian than he is a Republican. Yes, this is a man who sells Bibles engraved with his own name at the top and 'God Bless America' on the cover ($99.99 on eBay). Hypocrite, have thee no shame? I'd be willing to wager that Trump hasn't read so much as a Psalm, much less a book he seems to think he co-authored. Trump famously doesn't read much of anything. He makes Sarah Palin look like Jane Austen. Trump isn't just a Bible-thumping sideshow barker pitching gospel and perfumes. He also peddles fake news, false motives and packs of lies, notably that he wants to help the working class while decreasing the federal deficit. Perhaps he meant bigger Christmas bonuses for his Latino landscaping crews and golf caddies because the Congressional Budget Office found that his bill would add roughly $3.3 trillion to the national debt over 10 years. Another part of the legislation that allows wait staff to earn tax-free tips is a swell idea that surely will help a handful of households, but eliminating that tax income also creates the need for budget cuts elsewhere. It's possible, of course, that the folks whose Medicaid coverage is eliminated could always seek restaurant jobs. Thanks to Vice President JD Vance's tiebreaking vote, the Republican-controlled Senate embraced the rich and shafted the poor. (Not to be outdone, the GOP-led House did the same with its Thursday vote, though much more quickly.) We can surmise that at least the three Senate Republicans who voted against the bill, including Tillis, had hoped that the House would reject the Senate version. The other two senators demonstrating possession of a spine were Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Collins plans to seek reelection next year, but with a recent unfavorable rating of 57 percent, and just 29 percent of Republicans viewing her favorably, she isn't a shoo-in. Paul isn't up for reelection until 2028. There was no need to rush to pass the monster bill before July 4, the deadline Trump had set. Understandably, he might have hoped to declare one great big, beautiful victory on Independence Day to displace the national memory of his tedious, snooze-worthy birthday parade. Too bad Trump couldn't have adapted a more fitting deadline — Labor Day, perhaps, for a bill that should pay greater heed to the needs of the less fortunate than to the billionaire club to which Trump has always aspired. Tillis's legacy, meanwhile, might well be that a Democrat fills his seat. Though North Carolina is a swing state that went for Trump in 2024 by a slight margin, voters are split almost evenly between the two major parties. The largest group of voters, at 38 percent, is unaffiliated. By November 2026, given the accelerating pace of crazy, there's no telling which direction the political winds might blow — or who next might bite the dust.
