Page 38 - Elon Musk

'Back to plastic': Trump to sign exec order to reinstate plastic straws

Once the executive order is signed next week, the federal ban on single-use plastic straws in the US will be lifted, allowing businesses to reintroduce them in beverages

Musk's DOGE team moves into US watchdog CFPB as Trump defends billionaire

In November, Musk called for elimination of the CFPB, which polices and regulates consumer financial products, in a post on his social media platform X

Musk to bring back DOGE staffer who resigned after report of racist posting

Elon Musk said on Friday he is re-hiring a staff member at the Department of Government Efficiency who resigned a day earlier after he was linked to social media posts that espoused racism. Musk, in a post on his social media network X, said he would bring back Marko Elez after Vice President JD Vance called for him to be rehired. President Donald Trump later endorsed his vice president's view. Marko Elez resigned Thursday after The Wall Street Journal linked the 25-year-old DOGE staffer to a deleted social media account on X that posted last year, I was racist before it was cool and You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity, among other posts. The account in September included a post that said, Normalize Indian hate." The vice president's wife, Usha Vance, is the daughter of Indian immigrants. Vance, in a post on Musk-owned X, said Elez should be brought back and blamed journalists who try to destroy people. I obviously disagree with some of Elez's posts, but I don't

US Attorney probe threats against govt employees following Musk's referral

Martin reaffirmed his commitment to investigating any unethical actions, emphasised the importance of holding accountable those who abuse American taxpayer dollars

Judge halts Trump order of USAID workers' leave giving them 30 day deadline

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from placing 2,200 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development on paid leave. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, sided with two federal employee associations in agreeing to a pause in plans to put the employees on paid leave as of midnight Friday. The workers associations argue that Trump lacks the authority for his swift dismantling of a six-decade-old aid agency enshrined in congressional legislation. CLOSE IT DOWN, Trump said Friday on social media of USAID. Crews used duct tape to block out the agency's name on a sign outside its Washington headquarters Friday, and a flag was taken down. Someone placed a bouquet of flowers outside the door. A group of a half-dozen USAID officials speaking to reporters Friday strongly disputed assertions from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the most essential life-saving programs abroad were getting waivers to ..

Forced leaves start for thousands at USAID under Trump's plan to gut agency

Forced leaves pulling all but a small fraction of staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development off the job around the world began Friday, while employees turned to federal courts to try to roll back the Trump administration's swift dismantling of the six-decade-old aid agency and its programs worldwide. A judge was holding a hearing Friday afternoon in the lawsuit from federal workers associations, who argue that President Donald Trump lacks the authority to shut down an agency enshrined in congressional legislation. CLOSE IT DOWN, Trump said Friday on social media of USAID. Crews used duct tape to block out the agency's name on a sign outside its Washington headquarters Friday, and a flag was taken down. Someone placed a bouquet of flowers outside the door. A group of a half-dozen USAID officials speaking to reporters Friday strongly disputed assertions from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the most essential life-saving programs abroad were getting waivers to ...

Donald Trump sued by Democrat states over Musk's access to treasury data

Trump and Bessent violated federal law by allowing Musk's newly established efficiency team access to Treasury Department information

Musk warns AI and drones will dominate future wars. Here's why it matters

Musk also emphasised the need for the US to accelerate domestic drone production, warning that countries often prepare for past wars rather than future ones

Trump orders USAID staff cut from 10,000 to 300, global aid in limbo

Trump's USAID overhaul slashes staff from 10,000 to 300, risking global aid as critics warn mass layoffs will disrupt life-saving programs worldwide

Democratic AGs challenge Musk's staff access to Americans' personal data

Democratic attorneys general in several states vowed Thursday to file a lawsuit to stop Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency's from accessing federal payment systems containing Americans' sensitive personal information. A dozen attorneys general, including New York's Letitia James, said in a statement that they were taking action in defense of our Constitution, our right to privacy, and the essential funding that individuals and communities nationwide are counting on." As the richest man in the world, Elon Musk is not used to being told no,' but in our country, no one is above the law," the statement said. "The President does not have the power to give away our private information to anyone he chooses, and he cannot cut federal payments approved by Congress. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon. Government officials and labor unions have been among those raising concerns about DOGE's involvement with the payment system f

S African President Ramaphosa alludes to Trump's threat in speech to nation

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appeared to respond to threats from US counterpart Donald Trump by saying in his annual speech to the nation Thursday that his country would not be bullied." The comment by Ramaphosa was seen as a reaction to Trump's pledge to cut all funding to South Africa over a new land expropriation law although Ramaphosa did not mention Trump by name. We are witnessing the rise of nationalism and protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests and the decline of common cause, Ramaphosa said at Parliament in Cape Town. "This is the world that we, as a developing economy, must now navigate. "But we are not daunted. We will not be deterred. We are a resilient people. We will not be bullied. We will stand together as a united nation and we will speak with one voice in defence of our national interests, our sovereignty and our constitutional democracy." That part of the speech was met with applause and cheers by members of Parliament and others attending Sou

'Stop attack on democracy': Protesters rally against Trump, Musk across US

US protests: Protests erupted across the US as demonstrators voiced opposition to President Trump's policies, Elon Musk's influence, and Project 2025

Democrats protest Trump's alleged move giving Musk's team classified info

Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee are demanding answers after they say President Donald Trump gave billionaire Elon Musk and his staff access to sensitive data and classified secrets as part of their work to overhaul the federal government. The lawmakers on Wednesday wrote to Susie Wiles, Trump's chief of staff, and asked what security precautions had been taken to prevent unauthorized leaks of information by staff at the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. Trump tapped Musk to run the taskforce, which has quickly gotten to work dismantling whole agencies of the federal government. As part of that effort, Musk and his staff have gained access to computer systems that the senators say contain potentially sensitive medical and financial information about millions of Americans as well as federal payroll information, classified documents, information from foreign intelligence partners and the identities of undercover agents and intelligence sources. In the .

Protests erupt across cities against Trump's policies, Project 2025, Musk

Demonstrators gathered in cities across the US on Wednesday to protest the Trump administration's early actions, decrying everything from the president's immigration crackdown to his rollback of transgender rights and a proposal to forcibly transfer Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Protesters in Philadelphia and at state capitols in California, Minnesota, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana and beyond waved signs denouncing President Donald Trump; billionaire Elon Musk, the leader of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency; and Project 2025, a hard-right playbook for American government and society. I'm appalled by democracy's changes in the last, well, specifically two weeks but it started a long time ago, Margaret Wilmeth said at a protest outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. So I'm just trying to put a presence into resistance. The protests were a result of a movement that has organized online under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 .

Elon Musk tightens grip on federal govt as Democrats raise alarms

Elon Musk is rapidly consolidating control over large swaths of the federal government with President Donald Trump's blessing, sidelining career officials, gaining access to sensitive databases and dismantling a leading source of humanitarian assistance. The speed and scope of his work has been nothing short of stunning. In a little more than two weeks since Trump took office, the world's richest man has created an alternative power structure inside the federal government for the purpose of cutting spending and pushing out employees. None of this is happening with congressional approval, inviting a constitutional clash over the limits of presidential authority. Trump says Musk is doing his bidding Musk has been named as a special government employee, which subjects him to less stringent rules on ethics and financial disclosures than other workers. Trump has given Musk office space in the White House complex where he oversees a team of people at the so-called Department of Governmen

Trump, Musk demand termination of federal office leases through GSA

One of the next moves in President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's sweeping effort to fire government employees and curtail operations is using the agency that manages thousands of federal employee worksites around the country to cut down on office space. Last week, regional managers for the General Services Administration, or GSA, received a message from the agency's Washington headquarters to begin terminating leases on all of the roughly 7,500 federal offices nationwide, according to an email shared with The Associated Press by a GSA employee. The order seems to contradict Trump's own return-to-office mandate for federal employees, adding confusion to what was already a scramble by the GSA to find workspace, internet connections and office building security credentials for employees who had been working remotely for years. But it may reflect the Trump administration's belief that it won't need as many offices due to its efforts to fire employees or encourage them to resign. Here's

Elon Musk's 'buyout' offer accepted by more than 20,000 US federal workers

But those numbers are increasing every day, according to an official familiar with the data, and the Trump administration expects a spike in resignations

Elon Musk faces long court battle over feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

The injunction Musk asked for would freeze OpenAI's transformation to a more conventional, public benefit for-profit company, just as it's in talks to raise as much as $40 billion in a funding round

Investors bet on Musk, Tesla to make fortune under Trump as threats mount

For Elon Musk fans, it's the half a trillion-dollar bet. That is how much the stock market value of Tesla has rocketed since the presidential election, a vertiginous climb uninterrupted in recent days despite a disappointing financial report that would have sunk the stock of nearly any other company. Investors are wagering that President Donald Trump will help Musk's company more than hurt it with his plans to take an axe to reams of Washington regulations and wield tariffs to get his way with key trading partners. Less regulation? Fantastic. Trade war? No biggie. It's going to be a golden age for Tesla and Musk, said Wedbush Securities financial analyst Dan Ives, adding after an investor conference call Wednesday, This is the most bullish I've ever heard Musk. Investing in Tesla has long been a gamble. Odds were against Musk creating a successful electric car company, never mind growing it to become the world's most valuable automaker and in the process making himself the world'

Here's all you need to know about USAID and why Trump, Musk want to end it

Dozens of senior officials put on leave. Thousands of contractors laid off. A freeze put on billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance to other countries. Over the last two weeks, President Donald Trump's administration has made significant changes to the US agency charged with delivering humanitarian assistance overseas that has left aid organisations agonising over whether they can continue with programmes such as nutritional assistance for malnourished infants and children. Then-President John F Kennedy established the US Agency for International Development, known as USAID, during the Cold War. In the decades since, Republicans and Democrats have fought over the agency and its funding. Here's a look at USAID, its history and the changes made since Trump took office. What is USAID? Kennedy created USAID at the height of the United States' Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union. He wanted a more efficient way to counter Soviet influence abroad through foreign assistance and