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President attacks New York Times over reporting as backlash over billonaire’s role in administration grows
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Donald Trump has angrily denied claims in a New York Times report that Elon Musk is scheduled to receive a Pentagon briefing on Friday about the U.S. military’s top-secret plans for combating aggression from China.
“The Fake News is at it again, this time the Failing New York Times. They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China,’” he said.
“‘How ridiculous?’ China will not even be mentioned or discussed. How disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies. Anyway, the story is completely untrue!!!”
On Thursday, the president signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “begin eliminating” the Department of Education in favor of leaving decision-making up to individual states.
Some programs, such as special needs and student loans, will be preserved and eventually rehomed in other departments.
The policy, which was recommended in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 manifesto that Trump once distanced himself from, sees McMahon, a former wrestling boss, instructed to undertake “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure… and return education authority to the states.”
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, attacked The New York Times for its “garbage” report claiming that billionaire Elon Musk would be briefed Friday about the US military’s top-secret plans for a possible war with China.
“That is completely fake,” Parnell said on Fox & Friends Friday morning.
“This is egregious. This is fake. The New York Times should retract this story,” he continued.
“This type of garbage from The New York Times … undermines our mission,” he said, adding that Musk is “just coming over here for a visit again.”
Here’s Musk arriving for that “visit.”
Progressive Democrats Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez staged a rally in Tempe, Arizona, on Thursday, attacking the new “oligarchy” running the government but also marking a significant break with their own party at a time when Chuck Schumer’s leadership is under fire.
Here’s Richard Hall on the Democratic Party’s “Tea Party moment”.
The Trump administration and a Democrat-affiliated law firm have reached an agreement for the White House to drop an executive order targeting the firm in exchange for the company doing tens of millions of dollars in free legal work to support administration initiatives.
The unusual development marks a new chapter in the White House’s retribution campaign against law firms it deems to have opposed its agenda or unfairly targeted Donald Trump.
Under the agreement, Trump will drop his executive order last week aimed at the firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. The order suspended the firm’s security clearances, barred it from federal buildings and threatened government contractors that did business with the firm.
In exchange for dropping the order, Paul, Weiss agreed to represent clients from “the full spectrum of political viewpoints,” commit to not using diversity hiring, and offer $40 million in pro bono legal services to support administration initiatives in areas like aiding veterans, promoting fairness in the justice system and combating antisemitism.
The president announced the deal on social media last night and singled out Mark Pomerantz, a former Paul, Weiss partner who later helped the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office build a criminal case against Trump.
Josh Marcus reports.
The late night host has fired back at the world’s richest man after the latter branded the comic an “unfunny jerk“ for jokes he made about Tesla.
Earlier this week, Kimmel poked fun at Musk and Tesla as protests and arson attacks against the electric car company continue in the United States.
Musk responded to the protesters by calling them “deranged” during a Fox News interview but Kimmel had little sympathy for the tech entrepreneur.
“Well, let me see if I can explain it for you: When you pull out a chainsaw to celebrate firing thousands of people, they get mad,” he joked.
“My god. I mean, this poor guy. You do one, maybe two Nazi salutes, everybody gets all bent out of shape!”
Here’s Greg Evans on the latest round.
Members of the lower chamber’s Oversight Committee are demanding a probe into Howard Lutnick after he implored views of the conservative cable news network to buy up shares in Elon Musk’s electric vehicle brand, writing to the Department of Commerce’s acting general counsel John K Guenther on what congressman Gerry Connolly said was “just the latest example of the Trump administration “using taxpayer resources to enrich the president’s inner circle.”
The president’s first posts of the day find him picking up exactly where he left off last night: attacking the New York Times and Maggie Haberman (or “Maggot Hagerman”), threatening to send Tesla vandals to prison, perhaps in El Salvador, and rebuking judges for thwarting his agenda.
He’s also continuing to push April 2, when his reciprocal tariffs come into effect, as “Liberation Day”.
Here’s Alex Woodward on Trump previously talking up the prospect of deporting American citizens to Central America.
Fox News host Harris Faulkner invented a bizarre situation in order to ask White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt if those who vandalize Teslas could receive the death penalty.
In Faulkner’s wild hypothetical, she brought up a possibility “that no one’s talking about.”
Ariana Baio has the story.
While Elon Musk is the face and public figure leading DOGE, its de-facto leader is actually the man who has been the tech mogul’s right-hand man for decades, according to a report.
Steve Davis, a 45-year-old engineer, has taken the lead in several of DOGE’s controversial cost-cutting moves, according to The New York Times.
Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, D.C.
Here’s James Liddell on how the embattled tech boss responded to the NYT’s reporting on his attendance at a top Pentagon meeting.
Here’s Richard Hall’s take on yesterday’s surreal spectacle..
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