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
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Your support makes all the difference.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.
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Trump congratulates Florida lawmaker on decision to defect to Republican Party
Donald Trump has offered his congratulations to Florida lawmaker Hillary Cassel, the second Democratic state representative to switch party affiliation from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.
A second Florida Democratic lawmaker has switched parties this month, further swelling the legislative Republican supermajority.
Rep. Hillary Cassel of Dania Beach, first elected to the state House in 2022, made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon.
"The decision was not made lightly but comes from a deep sense of responsibility to my constituents and my commitment to the values that guide my service," Cassel said in a social media post, less than two months after winning a reelection in which she ran unopposed.
In a move that drew blowback from Democrats, Tampa state Rep. Susan Valdés shared the same news earlier this month. Valdés said she'd felt "ignored" by her party.
The president-elect wrote on Truth Social today:
Congratulations to Hillary Cassel for becoming the second State Representative from the Great State of Florida to switch her Party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, once more expanding the GOP Supermajority in the State House! I would further like to invite other Disillusioned Democrats to switch Parties, and join us on this noble quest to Save our Country and, Make America Great Again - GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. THANK YOU HILLARY!
Ramaswamy blames 90s sitcoms for tech companies hiring smarter immigrant workers
Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the leaders of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, blamed a series of 1990s TV sitcoms for what he saw as a decline in U.S. dynamism in science and technology, leading tech companies to hire more qualified foreign-born and first-generation workers over their mentally lazy American counterparts.
“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.
Josh Marcus reports.
Vivek Ramaswamy blames 90s sitcoms for tech companies hiring immigrant workers
Trump coalition’s hardline anti-immigrant stance is clashing with concurrent embrace of tech world, often highly diverse
Toy stores fear Trump’s proposed trade tariffs
The price of toys may soar if Donald Trump carries through on his vow to impose exorbitant international tariffs, leading to the closure of many independent retailers.
According to industry group The Toy Association, nearly 80 percent of U.S. toys are manufactured in China, one of the countries the President-elect has threatened to target with immediate charges on exports.
Mike Bedigan has the details.
Toy stores could go bust under Trump’s proposed international tariffs
Nearly 80 percent of U.S. toys are manufactured in China, one of the countries the president-elect has threatened to target with immediate charges on imports
Steve Bannon mocks ‘toddler’ Elon Musk after he tells X user to ‘f*** yourself’ over visa bust-up
Steve Bannon joined the MAGA immigration civil war with gusto on Friday, calling Elon Musk a “toddler,” and telling the owner of X to “bring it.”
As Musk doubled down on his support for H1-B work visas and criticism of American workers, Bannon posted on the social media platform Gettr: “Someone please notify ‘Child Protective Services’— need to do a ‘wellness check’ on this toddler.”
The former Trump adviser and War Room podcast host made the post in reaction to Musk telling a critic of his stance on immigration to “f*** yourself in the face.”
Read on...
Steve Bannon mocks ‘toddler’ Elon Musk after he tells as MAGA visa war escalates
Deepening schism over immigration and visas splits MAGA, pitting ‘America First’ cohort against Silicon Valley Trump supporters
Yellen warns Congress ‘extraordinary measures’ will be needed to stop US hitting debt limit
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said her agency will need to start taking “extraordinary measures,” or special accounting maneuvers intended to prevent the nation from hitting the debt ceiling, as early as January 14, in a letter sent to congressional leaders Friday afternoon.
“Treasury expects to hit the statutory debt ceiling between January 14 and January 23,” Yellen wrote in a letter addressed to House and Senate leadership, at which point extraordinary measures would be used to prevent the government from breaching the nation’s debt ceiling — which has been suspended until Jan. 1, 2025.
The department has in the past deployed what are known as “extraordinary measures” or accounting maneuvers to keep the government operating. But once those measures run out the government risks defaulting on its debt unless lawmakers and the president agree to lift the limit on the U.S. government’s ability to borrow.
“I respectfully urge Congress to act to protect the full faith and credit of the United States,” she said.
Continue reading...
Janet Yellen issues warning to Congress as US nears debt limit
Yellen said the treasure will need to take ‘extrodinary measures’ to prevent the nation from hitting the debt ceiling early next year
Trump claims victory over border wall ruling
Donald Trump is claiming victory after a judge ruled that the Biden administration must turn over purchasing records accounting for $1.4 billion Congress allocated to build a wall on the Mexico border, a federal judge in Texas said Friday.
The records will help track materials that Texas alleges the federal government auctioned off in violation of a court order, Bloomberg Law reports.
Judge Drew Tipton of the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas, a Trump appointee, demanded the records at the end of a virtual hearing that Texas requested to determine if the federal government had unlawfully gotten rid of wall materials in anticipation of Trump’s reelection.
The president-elect wrote on Truth Social:
BREAKING: In a major, crucial WIN for America, and our National Security, a Federal Judge in Texas, based on papers we filed just a few days ago, has PROHIBITED the Biden Administration from selling any materials designated for the Border Wall, that has been wrecked by Biden and his cronies, and which I am going to rebuild in order to protect our Country from violent migrant crime, fentanyl smuggling, sex trafficking, terror attacks, and other heinous, Nation ending disasters. The Judge has also ordered an investigation into the illegal selling of the materials, which will expose just how corrupt and anti-American Radical Democrats are. I am honored to be joined in this vital case by the Great States of Texas and Missouri, and applaud Judge Drew Tipton for doing the right thing for our Country. We have to protect our Borders, and Save America. MAGA!
ICYMI: Laura Loomer lays into Elon Musk and loses her blue check on X
Another volley has been fired in the ongoing MAGA civil war that’s been playing out online between hardcore “America First” acolytes and Trump-backing Silicon Valley oligarchs over an immigrant worker visa program — and now Elon Musk is being accused of personally punishing his critics.
Laura Loomer and other far-right activists who have railed against the X (formerly Twitter) owner and his DOGE co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy for supporting H-1B visas and criticizing American work culture allege that Musk removed their X verification badges and ability to monetize their accounts in an act of retribution.
Justin Barangoa reports.
MAGA civil war ramps up as Laura Loomer lays into Musk — and loses her blue check
“[Musk] has removed my blue check mark on X because I dared to question his support for H1B visas, the replacement of American tech workers by Indian immigrants,” Laura Loomer tweeted Thursday.
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
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
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
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