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Elon Musk connects with indie Andrew Yang on billionaire former Trump ally’s third party push

Elon Musk connects with indie Andrew Yang on billionaire former Trump ally’s third party push

As Elon Musk moves forward with forming a third party in hopes of rocking the nation’s longstanding two-party system, the world’s richest person is reaching out to a one-time presidential candidate who has started his own independent party. Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who spent the first four months of President Donald Trump’s second administration as a special White House advisor steering the recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spoke with Andrew Yang, Fox News has confirmed. A source familiar with the conversation said that the two discussed Musk’s push to create the “America Party,” which Musk aims to field some candidates in next year’s midterm elections. TRUMP DISMISSED MUSK’S MOVE TO FORM THIRD PARTY  “I’m excited for anyone who wants to move on from the duopoly,” Yang said in a statement to Fox News. “And I’m happy to help give someone a sense of what the path looks like.” News of the conversation was first reported by Politico. Yang grabbed national attention in the 2020 election cycle, as the entrepreneur went from an extreme longshot to briefly being a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination.  But Yang soured on the two-party system after an unsuccessful 2021 run for New York City mayor. He then formed the independent Forward Party, which has been recognized in a handful of states and aims to eventually gain ballot access from coast to coast. ELON MUSK LAUNCHES ‘AMERICA PARTY’ AFTER TRUMP SIGNS HISTORIC SPENDING BILL: ‘WASTE & GRAFT’ Yang and Musk are far from strangers. Musk in 2019 supported Yang’s unsuccessful presidential bid.  Musk became the top donor of the 2024 election cycle, dishing out nearly $300 million in support of Trump’s bid through America PAC, a mostly Musk-funded super PAC aligned with Trump. Trump named Musk to steer DOGE soon after the November election, and the president repeatedly praised Musk during his headline-making and controversial tenure at the cost-cutting effort. But a feud between Musk and Trump broke out days after Musk left the White House in late May, as Musk dubbed the administration’s massive landmark spending bill – which Trump called his “big, beautiful bill” – a “disgusting abomination,” which he said would sink the nation into unsustainable debt. POLL POSITION: MUSK’S FAVORABILTY AMONG REPUBILCANS PLUNGES AFTER FEUD WITH TRUMP Musk also argued that Trump would not have won last year’s presidential election without all of his support.  Musk announced the launch of the “America Party” on his social media platform X on Saturday, a day after Trump signed the sweeping domestic policy package into law. The measure narrowly passed the Senate and House last week along near party-line votes in the Republican-controlled chambers. Trump on Sunday ridiculed Musk’s move. “I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party,” Trump told reporters. “It’s always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The president added that “third parties have never worked. So, he can have fun with it, but I think it’s ridiculous.” Starting an independent or third party, and gaining ballot access in states across the country, is extremely difficult.

Israeli prime minister answers whether he is worried about being jailed in NYC by Zohran Mamdani

Israeli prime minister answers whether he is worried about being jailed in NYC by Zohran Mamdani

After Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s leading mayoral candidate, pledged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city, Netanyahu responded to questions about whether he’s worried.  In December, Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist and is the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor, said, “as mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu.” “This is a city that our values are in line with international law. It’s time that our actions are also,” Mamdani said, referring to the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu as well as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.  Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday evening to discuss a range of topics, including Iran and Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas.   NETANYAHU SURPRISES TRUMP WITH FORMAL NOBEL PEACE PRIZE NOMINATION DURING HISTORIC WHITE HOUSE MEETING When asked whether he was worried about the possibility of facing arrest in America’s largest city, Netanyahu said, “I’m not concerned about that.” The prime minister added, “I’m going to come there with the President Trump and we’ll see.”  He went on to say that Mamdani’s threat is “silly in many ways, because it’s just not serious.” Trump also chimed in, saying, “We don’t know who the mayor is going to be yet, but this is a communist. He’s not a socialist. He’s a communist, and he’s said some really bad things about Jewish people.” TOP IRANIAN CLERIC CALLS FOR TRUMP’S EXECUTION “He might make it,” Trump said. “But, you know, it all comes through the White House. He needs the money through the White House. He needs a lot. “He’s going to behave. He’ll behave. He better behave. Otherwise, he’s going to have big problems.”  Hearkening back to an earlier question asked by reporters, Netanyahu said, “what is serious” is whether there can be a two-state solution in Gaza that does not pose an existential threat to the Israeli people.  “Look, there’s enough craziness in the world, but I guess it never ends,” he said. “After October 7th, people said the Palestinians had a state, Hamas state in Gaza, and look what they did with it. They didn’t build it up. They built down two bunkers into terror tunnels, after which they massacred our people, raped our women, beheaded our men, invaded our cities and our towns and our kibbutzim and did horrendous, horrendous massacres, the kind of which we didn’t see since World War two and the Nazis, the Holocaust.” ISRAEL HAMMERS HOUTHIS WITH AIRSTRIKES, REBELS RESPOND AMID RED SEA FLARE-UP “So people aren’t likely to say, let’s just give them another state. It’ll be a platform to destroy Israel,” he added. “We’ll work up a peace with our Palestinian neighbors, those who don’t want to destroy us, and we’ll work out a peace in which our security, the sovereign power of security, always remains in our hands.” “Now, people will say it’s not a complete state. It’s not a state, it’s not that, we don’t care,” he said. “You know, we vowed, ‘never again.’ Never again is now, it’s not going to happen again.”

Federal judge pauses Trump administration’s Planned Parenthood defunding measure

Federal judge pauses Trump administration’s Planned Parenthood defunding measure

A federal judge on Monday prevented the Trump administration from enforcing part of a massive tax and spending bill that would block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood health centers. The temporary restraining order by Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts blocks the “big, beautiful bill’s” provision to defund the family planning provider.  At issue is the provision in the new tax and spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4 that eliminates one year of Medicaid payments from Planned Parenthood health centers because the organization also provides abortions. SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN OKS BAN ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERAL FUNDING IN TRUMP MEGABILL A White House official told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration is committed to ending the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortions. The official noted that the administration’s stance is a commonsense position that the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with. On Monday, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah filed a lawsuit in federal court. “The prohibition specifically targets Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its member health care providers in order to punish them for lawful activity, namely advocating for and providing legal abortion access wholly outside the Medicaid program and without using any federal funds,” the lawsuit states.  SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN MEDICAID FUNDING DISPUTE If allowed to stand, Planned Parenthood said the provision would have “devastating consequences” for the more than 1 million patients who use Medicaid as their insurance at Planned Parenthood health centers across the country to get birth control and cancer screenings, among other services.  Dominique Lee, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said the organization has a long history of fighting for sexual and reproductive freedom. “The Trump administration’s hell-bent ambitions to close our clinics and abandon our patients won’t stop us. Let me be crystal clear: We are not intimidated. We were built for this moment,” she said. “Here in Massachusetts, we fight back, and we will never be bullied into turning our backs on health care or human rights.”