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Trump claims he employs many people on ‘great’ H-1B visas as MAGA civil war over program grows: Live

Trump sides with Elon Musk as top lieutenant clashes with anti-immigration MAGA supporters over H-1B visa program for skilled workers

Alex Woodward,Oliver O'Connell,Gustaf Kilander
Sunday 29 December 2024 01:10 GMT
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Musk Vs MAGA War: Trump Camp In Bitter Fight Over Immigration, Foreign Worker Visas

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Donald Trump has hailed the H-1B visa program for skilled workers as “great” claiming to have always been in favor of them.

Speaking to The New York Post, the president-elect sided with two of his top lieutenants, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, after they both defended the need for hiring workers from overseas in tech, engineering, and other sectors.

Ramaswamy, who will lead the outside commission known as the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Musk, blamed 1990s sitcoms for emphasizing the wrong values in U.S. workers.

“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” he wrote in a post on X.

“There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” Musk wrote on Wednesday on X. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.”

The “number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” he later added.

Their statements triggered pushback from “America First” hardliners, including Steve Bannon. They want strict immigration control and a furious war of words erupted on social media.

Online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump’s political coalition

An online spat between factions of Donald Trump‘s supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House.

The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump’s movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump’s Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies.

Read on...

An online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump's political coalition

An online spat between factions of Donald Trump’s supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in the president-elect’s political movement into public display

AP29 December 2024 01:10

Supply chain ‘freak out’ over Trump tariff threats

President-elect Donald Trump’s continuing threats of massive tariffs are sparking global supply chain concerns as both American and European companies are frontloading orders and considering raising prices while Chinese factories look for buyers outside of the U.S.

Businesses across the world are pushing out orders ahead of Trump’s inauguration January 20, choosing not to wait to see which products or countries will be on the list of targets in Trump’s expected trade war.

The president-elect’s threat of universal tariffs has set off a scramble to get orders out that’s creating bottlenecks and higher costs.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Trump tariff threats trigger supply chain ‘freak out’

President-elect’s threat of universal tariffs has set off a scramble to get orders out that’s creating bottlenecks and higher costs

Oliver O'Connell29 December 2024 00:40

Trump asks Supreme Court to block TikTok ban

Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to block a federal law’s imminent ban on TikTok in the United States if the popular app’s Chinese parent company doesn’t sell it by next month’s deadline.

The nation’s highest court will hear arguments in the case on January 10.

Alex Woodward has the details.

Trump asks Supreme Court to block TikTok ban as he considers ‘political resolution’

The nation’s highest court will hear arguments over challenges to an imminent ban on January 10

Oliver O'Connell28 December 2024 23:40

What’s in store for Trump and Putin in 2025? Here’s what Peruvian shamans believe...

In case you were wondering.

Peruvian shamans share bizarre Trump-Putin predictions for 2025

Peruvian shamans have predicted a bizarre alliance in 2025 between US President-elect Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin which would exclude China and potentially trigger a third World War. In an annual ritual on Friday, 27 December, the group also predicted natural disasters in Canada and Japan and advised wearing gold to prevent betrayals in the upcoming Year of the Snake. The shamans blew smoke and waved flowers on images of world leaders such as Mr Trump, Mr Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during cleansing rituals atop San Cristobal Hill in Lima.

Oliver O'Connell28 December 2024 23:10

Musk says ‘hateful unrepentant racists’ must be removed from GOP

Elon Musk has declared that “hateful, unrepentant racists” should be removed from the Republican Party “root and stem” as the in-party feud over H-1B visas intensifies.

Conversations around H-1B visas have divided Donald Trump’s party, with his Department of Government Efficiency heads Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy on one side and other allies like Laura Loomer on the other. The Space X founder escalated the feud on Friday night when he called for some “contemptible fools” in the GOP to be removed.

Musk made the statement in response to a post on X by Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s director of the U.S. Domestic Policy Council.

Kelly Rissman reports.

Musk says ‘hateful unrepentant racists’ must be removed from GOP as visa feud deepens

‘They will absolutely be the downfall of the Republican Party if they are not removed,’ Tesla and SpaceX tycoon warns

Oliver O'Connell28 December 2024 22:40

Man accused of attacking TV reporter and yelling ‘This is Trump’s America now’

A Colorado man is facing possible bias-motivated charges for allegedly attacking a television news reporter after demanding to know whether he was a citizen, saying “This is Trump’s America now,” according to court documents.

Patrick Thomas Egan, 39, was arrested Dec. 18 in Grand Junction, Colorado, after police say he followed KKCO/KJCT reporter Ja’Ronn Alex’s vehicle for around 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the Delta area. Alex told police that he believed he had been followed and attacked because he is a Pacific Islander.

Continue reading...

Man accused of attacking TV reporter and yelling ‘This is Trump’s America now’

Patrick Egan then tackled the reporter then put him in a headlock and “began to strangle him” according to an affidavit

AP28 December 2024 22:10

Trump deportation plans: Mexico tests app for migrants in U.S. to warn family if they’re detained

Mexico is developing a cellphone app that will allow migrants to warn relatives and local consulates if they think they are about to be detained by the U.S. immigration department, a senior official said Friday.

The move is in response to President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to carry out mass deportations after he takes office on Jan. 20.

The app has been rolled out for small-scale testing and “appears to be working very well,” said Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico’s secretary of foreign affairs.

Continue reading...

Mexico tests app for migrants in U.S. to warn family if they’re detained

Mexico is developing a cellphone app that will allow migrants to warn relatives and consulates if they think they are about to be detained by U.S. immigration officials

Oliver O'Connell28 December 2024 21:55

Trump shares bizarre Truth Social post claiming Bill Gates asked to come to Mar-a-Lago

As tensions flare between Elon Musk and Trump’s MAGA allies, President-elect Donald Trump posted what appeared to be a personal message to Musk on Truth Social, claiming that fellow billionaire Bill Gates asked to come to Mar-a-Lago.

In an early morning post on Friday, Trump suggested the Microsoft co-founder had asked to come to Mar-a-Lago. The 78-year-old Republican encouraged him to visit.

Kelly Rissman has the story.

Trump claims Bill Gates asked to come to Mar-a-Lago in bizarre Truth Social post

President-elect’s cryptic message comes amid his ‘first buddy’ Elon Musk’s feud with other MAGA allies over H-1B visas

Oliver O'Connell28 December 2024 21:40

‘Something great’ about Trump wanting to make Canada the 51st state, says Shark Tank star

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary praised President-elect Donald Trump’s continued fascination with annexing Canada as an American state, saying there was “something great” about it because it would form “the most powerful country on earth.”

Justin Barangoa has the story.

Shark Tank star says there’s ‘something great’ about making Canada the 51st state

“Because if you figured out a way to put these two countries together, it would be the most powerful country on earth,” Kevin O’Leary declared on Fox News.

Oliver O'Connell28 December 2024 21:25

Full story: Trump sides with Elon Musk in MAGA immigration feud over H-1B visas

Donald Trump has sided with Elon Musk in the feud over H-1B skilled worker visas that has split the American political right over the past few days.

Speaking by phone with The New York Post on Saturday, the president-elect said: “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them.”

Read on...

Trump sides with Elon Musk in MAGA immigration feud over visas for skilled workers

President-elect says he has always liked H-1B visas, despite moving to restrict them in first term in office, as ‘America First’ rages against immigration

Oliver O'Connell28 December 2024 21:05

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