Germany parties agree plan for spending boost, debt brake overhaul
The plan calls for a $545bn fund for infrastructure spending. Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has announced a deal to drastically overhaul the country’s debt rules to allow a boom in defence and security spending as well as 500 billion euros ($545bn) in infrastructure investment in the next 12 years. Merz’s conservatives and their prospective Social Democratic coalition partners reached an agreement with the Greens party on Friday to exempt spending above 1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence and security – including civil protection, intelligence and “aid to countries under illegal attack” – from the nation’s constitutionally enshrined debt brake. “Germany is back,” Merz said, adding that the agreement signalled to partners and adversaries Berlin’s willingness to defend itself. The debt brake has been the hallmark of Berlin’s fiscal policy since it was introduced by former Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2009 and limited new borrowing to 0.35 percent of GDP. Economists and investors have long urged Germany to reform its debt brake to free up investment and support an economy that has contracted for the past two years. Advertisement Friday’s deal was reached as US President Donald Trump pivots away from supporting Ukraine in its fight to repel Russia’s invasion amid strains in ties between Washington and the European Union. Concerns over the future direction of US foreign policy have fuelled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly ramp up its military funding amid signs of increasing Russian aggression. “Any further delay” in boosting [defence] spending “would be irresponsible”, Merz said during a parliamentary debate on Thursday. “In view of the alarming security situation in Europe in every respect and the growing economic challenges in our country, far-reaching decisions … cannot be postponed any longer,” he told lawmakers. But Friday’s deal follows several days of often acrimonious debate, during which members of the Greens had threatened to withhold their support, citing insufficient action on the environment in the plan. Their votes were necessary to achieve the two-thirds majority in the German parliament needed to modify the debt brake. Merz – whose conservatives finished first in February elections – said that after talks with the Greens, it had been agreed that 100 billion euros ($108bn) of the infrastructure fund would be dedicated to climate protection measures. His incoming government is eager to get the spending plans approved before the newly elected parliament convenes at the end of March. In the new chamber, the far-right Alternative for Germany and the far-left Left party, which oppose the plans, would have the numbers to block the measures. Advertisement Both parties have filed legal challenges against the spending plans at the Federal Constitutional Court, arguing there will be insufficient time for consultations. Adblock test (Why?)
Columbia expels, suspends students after government threats: What we know
Columbia University has expelled, suspended or revoked degrees of students who occupied a campus hall during pro-Palestinian demonstrations in April 2024, the university said on Thursday. Students were issued with punishments based on the “severity of behaviour at these events” and past infractions, if any, a statement from Columbia read. The move is the university’s response to a crackdown on student activists in the United States who led pro-Palestine demonstrations last year amid Israel’s war on Gaza, and called for their schools to cut financial ties with Israel. It also comes after the government cut $400m in federal funding for Columbia on March 7. The university was one of 60 institutions threatened with further cuts in a letter from US authorities this week. Here’s what we know about the threat to Columbia and how it has responded: What does the US government’s letter to Columbia and other universities say? On March 10, the US Department of Education sent letters to 60 institutions, informing them they were under investigation for “antisemitic harassment and discrimination” and warning them of potential law enforcement actions if they don’t “protect Jewish students”. Advertisement Prominent institutions such as Columbia, Harvard and Princeton were among the schools which received the notice. All 60 schools benefit from US federal funding. The letter cited Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which the education department said mandates universities to “protect Jewish students on campus, including (by providing) uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities”. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon was quoted as saying in the missive: “The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite US campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better.” SHALOM COLUMBIA: The Trump Admin, led by @USEDgov and the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism (@TheJusticeDept, @HHSGov, & @USGSA), has canceled ~$400M in federal grants to @Columbia over its failure to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment. pic.twitter.com/CavoXbhhvx — The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 7, 2025 Earlier, on March 7, the Department of Education announced a $400m funding cut to Columbia specifically, citing a “failure to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment”. The school was a major hub during a wave of campus protests that swept the US last year as Israel’s war on Gaza escalated. On April 30, a group of students, staff and alumni occupied Hamilton Hall, an academic building on campus, before being forcibly cleared by New York police on request of the university’s leadership. Advertisement How has Columbia responded? What action has it taken against students? Columbia has not publicly responded to the letter from the education department. However, in a statement to staff and students on March 10, Columbia’s interim president Katrina Armstrong said funding cuts would impact “research and critical functions of the University”, and would affect staff and students. About a quarter of the university’s more than $6bn yearly operation costs are met by federal grants. Then, on Thursday, Columbia announced that students involved in last year’s Hamilton Hall protest have received multiple-year suspensions or outright expulsions following the university’s investigations. The months-long process was carried out by the school’s University Judicial Board, and included hearings for each student involved. “Columbia is committed to enforcing the University’s Rules and Policies and improving our disciplinary processes,” the university said. March 13, 2025 University Statement Regarding UJB Determinations: https://t.co/C8Hn518ZId pic.twitter.com/dgr71AzMeX — Columbia University (@Columbia) March 13, 2025 Others who have since graduated will have their degrees revoked, it added. The names and precise number of students sanctioned by the judicial board were not revealed. According to The Associated Press news agency, several other students have been notified by university officials that they are also under investigation for sharing social media posts in support of Palestinian people or joining “unauthorised” protests. Advertisement ‘Dangerous times’: How have students and others reacted? In an opinion published in the university’s publication Columbia Daily Spectator in February, a body of student workers accused the university’s leadership of not taking a stand. “The Student Workers of Columbia sent you a letter asking for assurance that Columbia would protect noncitizen students, faculty and staff. In response we received a vague reply from your office, which seemed to reference a completely different topic. Rather than standing up for the Columbia community, the University’s leadership has stood by or, worse, accelerated and enabled these threats,” the body wrote. Columbia University authorities this week warned students at the institution’s journalism school about posting on social media, according to reporting by The New York Times. Non-US citizens were especially warned to avoid publishing about Gaza or Ukraine. “If you have a social media page, make sure it is not filled with commentary on the Middle East,” the journalism school’s dean, Jelani Cobb told students. “Nobody can protect you … these are dangerous times,” he added. “History shows that a university that does not advocate for the academic freedom of its own members is opening itself to further attacks on academic freedom in the future,” said historian Eraldo Souza dos Santos, who is currently affiliated with Cornell University. “Columbia seemingly not only ignored Khalil’s calls for protection, but also has been willing to collaborate with the current administration in its efforts to criminalise dissent on campus. Advertisement “It should, instead, be trying, within its own capacities, to offer legal and public-facing support to a generation of students who belong to the same long struggle against segregation and apartheid that took shape between the 1960s and 1980s,” he told Al Jazeera. Demonstrators hold placards as they protest on the day of a hearing on the detention of Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, in New York City on March 12, 2025 [Jeenah Moon/Reuters] What happened in the lead-up to all this? Authorities have also cracked down directly on students involved in pro-Palestine demonstrations. Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia student who acted as student negotiator with university authorities
Residents near Ukraine’s frontline sceptical of ceasefire deal
[unable to retrieve full-text content] People in a town near the frontline in Ukraine’s Sumy region have told Al Jazeera they are mistrustful of US peace deal.
Pentagon calls Mark Milley ‘corpulent’ as it kicks off review of physical fitness and grooming standards
Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot lobbed a shot at the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Mark Milley, as he explained Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s new review of physical fitness and grooming standards. “Unfortunately, the U.S. military’s high standards on body composition and other metrics eroded in recent years, particularly during the tenure of former Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, who set a bad example from the top through his own personal corpulence. Secretary Hegseth is committed to restoring high standards, and this review is the first step in doing so,” Ullyot said in a statement to Fox News Digital. The Pentagon revoked Milley’s security detail and clearance in late January. The review comes after the secretary has voiced concerns that fitness standards have eroded, and questioned whether mismatched standards for men and women are affecting readiness. SECRETARY HEGSETH SAYS THE DOD DOES NOT DO ‘CLIMATE CHANGE CRAP’ The memo specifically calls out protocols for beards. It directs the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness to look at “existing standards set by the Military Departments pertaining to physical fitness, body composition, and grooming, which includes but is not limited to beards.” The memo directs the review to examine how standards have changed since 2015. “Our troops will be fit – not fat. Our troops will look sharp – not sloppy. We seek only quality – not quotas,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X late on Wednesday. HEGSETH ORDERS REVIEW OF MILITARY FITNESS AND GROOMING: ‘OUR ADVERSARIES ARE NOT GROWING WEAKER’ “That will be part of one of the first things we do at the Pentagon – is reviewing that in a gender-neutral way – the standards ensuring readiness and meritocracy is front and center,” Hegseth promised in January. In December 2015, the military opened up all combat roles to women. In a podcast interview shortly before he was tapped as secretary, Hegseth said the U.S. “should not have women in combat roles.” But during his confirmation hearing, he clarified that in ground combat roles, women should have to meet the same standards as men. DOGE INITIAL FINDINGS ON DEFENSE DEPARTMENT DEI SPENDING COULD SAVE $80M, AGENCY SAYS “Whether it is a man or woman, they have to meet the same high standards,” he said. “In any place where those things have been eroded, or courses or criteria have been changed to meet quotas . . . that’s the kind of review I’m talking about. Not whether women should have access to ground combat.” The review could possibly lead to changes to the Army Combat Fitness Test, which is currently scored under age- and gender-specific requirements. That became the Army’s standard fitness test in 2023, after decades of a physical fitness test that imposed the same standards on men and women. The current test requires men ages 17-21 to run two miles in 22 minutes, and women of the same age to do it in 23 minutes and 22 seconds. The service branches began making accommodations for recruits who don’t meet physical fitness standards in recent years as a way to address the recruiting crisis. The Army and Navy offered pre-boot camp training for those who did not meet physical fitness or testing scores. But those recruits had to meet the same standards in order to graduate from training courses and serve. “When I was in the Army, we kicked out good soldiers for having naked women tattooed on their arms, and today we are relaxing the standards on shaving, dreadlocks, man buns, and straight-up obesity,” Hegseth wrote in his book ‘The War on Warriors.’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Piece by piece, the standards had to go … because of equity,” he added. The service branches have begun allowing troops to sport different hairstyles, in large part due to female service members who argued that the constant tight, low bun was leading to hair loss. In recent years, the Army has begun allowing cornrows and twists after female service members argued that the hairstyles were cheaper and easier to maintain.
Anna Paulina Luna escalates DOJ standoff over Epstein docs, unveils SHRED Act
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., wants federal agents caught destroying or concealing government documents to be eligible for a life sentence in prison. Luna, who is leading a task force on the declassification of government records, is introducing a new bill called the Stopping High-level Record Elimination and Destruction (SHRED) Act of 2025. It would levy a mandatory sentence of 20 years to life for any government official or employee of the Department of Justice (DOJ) found to have concealed, removed, or mutilated federal records, according to bill text previewed by Fox News Digital. Federal law currently dictates that anyone found knowingly destroying, falsifying, or obstructing government records “with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States” is eligible for a fine or up to 20 years in prison. ‘TIPPING THE SCALES’: HOUSE GOP LEADERS RIP ACTBLUE AFTER DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT HIT WITH SUBPOENA Any custodian of public records found to be destroying or concealing those records could be fined up to $2,000 or face up to three years in prison, or both. Luna’s push for increased penalties comes amid her continued standoff with the Trump administration over the declassification of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy Jr., among others. Trump officials like Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have repeatedly vowed to lead with transparency, including on the subjects of Epstein and Kennedy. However, Luna told Fox News Digital earlier this week that she had not had significant communications with the DOJ about her task force matters. “The DOJ has not been really responsive,” she said Tuesday. “Even if they are, you know, conducting a criminal investigation, you should probably pick up the phone and call us, and not talk about it on the news.” GOPERS PRESS FOR THE RELEASE OF JFK, EPSTEIN FILES: HERE’S WHY THEY’RE NOT OUT Conservative influencer Benny Johnson reported on whistleblower allegations within the last month that rank-and-file agents within the FBI were destroying documents in a bid to block Patel’s work Meanwhile, there has been a tidal wave of pressure from the right for Bondi and Patel to declassify documents about Epstein. An initial round of information, first released to conservative influencers at the White House, was blasted for containing no meaningful evidence implicating anyone in the deceased pedophile’s crimes. Bondi told Fox News host Mark Levin earlier this month that she was misled on the Epstein documents, and that she was alerted after that initial release to the Southern District of New York “sitting on thousands of pages of documents” that she was not in possession of. She said Americans would see “the full Epstein files,” adding, “We will have it in our possession. We will redact it, of course, to protect grand jury information and confidential witnesses, but American people have a right to know.” The DOJ was not able to immediately return a request for comment by Fox News Digital.
Dancing transgender hecklers shut down parents’ event at blue state’s capitol: ‘Sad and unfortunate’
Several provocatively dressed, dancing transgender activists broke into an informational parents’ meeting at the Vermont State House on Wednesday, disrupting the event and forcing the parents to seek another space for their event. The activists played loud music and shouted as event organizers attempted to speak. The Vermont State House Sergeant of Arms refused to remove the trans activists, claiming they had a right to be there, according to the Vermont Daily Chronicle. The parents’ group – the Vermont Family Alliance – was holding an event for ‘Detrans Awareness Day’ and was meant to highlight resources available for formerly transgender-identifying people who have been physically, mentally and emotionally harmed by sex-change treatments. DOGE PROTESTERS RALLY OUTSIDE KEY DEPARTMENT AFTER EMPLOYEES ARE TOLD NOT TO REPORT TO WORK WEDNESDAY Video taken of the incident posted to X shows several transgender activists, one shirtless and wearing a purple tutu and another waving a ribbon baton, dancing around event organizer Renee McGuinness as she tries to give her presentation to parents. Speaking with the Vermont Daily Chronicle, McGuinness said the group had reserved the room for the event for the afternoon. However, State House Sergeant at Arms Agatha Kessler made both groups vacate the room after 30 minutes of continued disruption, citing concerns about both parties’ safety. The Chronicle reported that many event attendees moved to the cafeteria to hold their event. “Our First Amendment rights were denied in this case in favor of a group that was disruptive,” said McGuinness. “That’s not under the First Amendment for one group to just be able to outshout the other, and whoever outshouts the other, then they’ve won their First Amendment Rights at the sacrifice of the other party.” TRUMP GUEST SHARES SPECIAL MESSAGE TO PRESIDENT AFTER ADDRESS TO CONGRESS McGuinness explained that the event was meant to help former transgender people who have been “denied and ostracized and bullied.” “They want to have a voice, and they want healing from their wounds and injuries because of the medical procedures,” she said. McGuiness called for the Vermont legislature, which is majority Democratic, to amend its rules regarding decorum in the state house to respect the rights of groups that have gone through proper channels to reserve an event space. “It’s sad and unfortunate,” said McGuinness. “The First Amendment is really about civil discourse, right? And not censoring one group over another.” “Our First Amendment rights of speech were not protected,” Marie Tiemann, president of Speak VT, a group that was co-hosting the event, told Fox News Digital. NEARLY HALF OF DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION STAFF WILL BE ELIMINATED IMMINENTLY “The Sergeant of Arms essentially came down on the side of these activist disrupters,” she said. “We held the event to give a voice to the thousands of detransitioners who are suffering from the real-world harms caused to their emotional and physical health.” Erika Sanzi, Director of Outreach at a national parents group called Parents Defending Education, also spoke out after the incident. “If students and staff are forced to celebrate LGBTQ awareness and Pride, they should also be made aware of the very real and increasingly acute issue of de-transition,” she said. “Vermont can’t have it both ways where they preen about how inclusive they are and then deliberately exclude and even erase the stories of minors who have gone through the process of gender transition and later changed their minds and decided to detransition,” she went on. “This is a big deal —medically and psychologically—and ignoring it reveals ideological bias, bias and callousness.”
50 House Dems railed for ‘political puppet show’ after making identical social media posts
At least 50 House Democrats are being criticized as “actors reading a script” after posting identical talking points to social media, one of several similar online campaigns by Democratic lawmakers. “House Democrats stand united for a four-week funding extension that stops harmful cuts, keeps government open, and allows Congress to reach a bipartisan funding agreement. I am ready to vote today, tomorrow or Friday to pass a four-week extension,” a social media post made by dozens of Democratic lawmakers read on Thursday. The message was posted by the House Democrats X account, as well as by various lawmakers such as “Squad” member Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., “You can see the ridiculous political puppet show for what it really is,” Elon Musk, who is leading cost-cutting efforts at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), wrote in a post on X in response to the identical posts shared by EndWokeness. “They are just actors reading a script.” HAROLD FORD JR.’S MESSAGE TO DEMS: STOP SWEARING AND START GIVING ‘SERIOUS ANSWERS’ “This is the 2025 version of ‘Live by the promise of the hashtag,’” Republican commentator Matt Whitlock said. “Dems are so tacky.” Joe Concha, a Fox News contributor, deemed Democrats the “cut-and-paste party.” Dingell told Fox News Digital why Democrats decided to make the same social media post. “House Democrats shared the same message because we are all unified and ready to keep the government open in a way that serves the American people,” the congresswoman said in a statement. CONSERVATIVES FLIP SCRIPT ON SENATE DEMS PUSHING IDENTICAL TALKING POINTS AGAINST TRUMP: ‘LIKE ROBOTS’ The message comes as part of a new trend by Democratic lawmakers to post coordinated content to social media. Fox News Digital reached out to the House Democratic Caucus for comment. Senate Democrats also faced criticism earlier this year after identical videos to social media ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress in March. The synchronized “S— That Ain’t True” mashup saw at least 22 Democratic Senators repeating the same statement in unison. “Since day one of Donald Trump’s presidency, prices are up, not down. Inflation is getting worse, not better. Prices of groceries, gas, housing, rent, eggs — they’re all getting more expensive. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has done nothing to lower costs for you,” the Democrats, including senators Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in the video. Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J., recently said the video was created with the intention of reaching more people online. “We’re trying to do more things as a caucus that break through. Clearly, this was very successful,” the senator said. Democrats were again recently mocked for a viral “choose your fighter parody,” where several congresswomen, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were seen jumping up and down in a fighting position as if they were video game characters, along with their attributes. Jeremy Hunt, a media fellow at the Hudson Institute, recently told Fox News that Democrats are “lost at sea” with their messaging. “When you don’t have a message, and you have nothing positive to present to the American people, you have no plan, no strategy, you just start to think they are now just going off the reservation, constantly swearing, trying to howl at the moon, and trying to garner some type of resistance to what Trump is doing because they have no message,” Hunt told “Outnumbered in March.
Abortion research group opposes state reporting requirements amid ‘weaponization’ by lawmakers
The “hostile political climate” of the Trump administration means that states must “rethink” their mandated abortion reporting requirements and “vigorously oppose new ones,” according to the nation’s leading abortion research institute. But one pro-life activist told Fox News Digital such a move would be a “serious mistake.” A Guttmacher Institute policy analysis report published this month concluded that “the benefits of state-mandated abortion reporting no longer outweigh the risks, a shift that is likely to accelerate as anti-abortion policymakers double down on punitive approaches to data collection while using the resulting data to further restrict abortion rights and access.” “The enactment of abortion reporting requirements for purely political reasons and their increasing weaponization against patients and providers are clear indications that the harms of this mandatory data collection now outweigh its benefits,” researchers for the pro-abortion rights group said. “To prevent further harms, policymakers at all levels of government should work to remove existing reporting requirements and vigorously oppose new ones, along with any attempt to tie federal funding to abortion reporting.” FDA CHIEF COUNSEL WHO DEFENDED ABORTION PILL ACCESS UNDER BIDEN RESIGNS TWO DAYS INTO JOB Guttmacher, which is considered the gold standard for accurate abortion statistics since it provides more comprehensive data and receives more reporting than the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommended that, instead of doing away with reporting altogether, state policymakers should implement a voluntary form of data collection. Pro-life advocates object to the Guttmacher recommendation. “Rolling back state-mandated abortion reporting would be a serious mistake,” Mia Steupert, research associate at Charlotte Lozier Institute, a pro-life research group, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Considering Dobbs placed the authority to enact protections for unborn children in the hands of the American people and their elected representatives at the federal and state levels, it’s critical to have access to good data so that the impact of those abortion policies can be evaluated,” Steupert said, referring to the 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. CLINTON-ERA LAW ‘WEAPONIZED’ BY BIDEN AGAINST PRO-LIFERS MUST GO, PENCE GROUP URGES HOUSE GOP The normative practice of abortion data collection comes primarily from states that report their numbers to the CDC. The data is then compiled to give a snapshot of how many abortions there are nationwide, the age of the mother and how far along she was. However, while most do, not every state requires abortion providers, hospitals and other medical providers to report their numbers. Currently, 46 states and the District of Columbia have some form of mandated abortion reporting, according to the institute. California, Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey do not require reporting. “Even the CDC agrees that accurate abortion data is important for public health in terms of measuring unintended pregnancies and tracking changes in clinical practice,” Steupert said. “Ending state reporting requirements would give the abortion lobby a monopoly on abortion reporting, leaving the American people in the dark about the horrific realities of abortion.” The information gathered in abortion reports varies by state but generally includes details such as the names of the medical facility and clinician involved in the abortion service. Demographic data on the person receiving an abortion, including age, race, ethnicity, marital status, place of residence, gestational age of the pregnancy, the type of abortion elected and number of previous live births are also included. SOROS-BACKED JUDGE DEFENDS REDUCED SENTENCE FOR REPEAT CHILD MOLESTER AT DEBATE IN STATE SUPREME COURT RACE In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Guttmacher said their “recommendation isn’t an argument against states collecting abortion data, but a discussion of the risks and burdens of how it’s collected.” “Ending government-mandated abortion reporting does not contradict the collection of rigorous and accurate abortion data. We urge states to consider changing their laws and regulations to switch to voluntary models of data collection, which can produce high quality data while protecting the safety and privacy of patients and providers. We strongly oppose the intrusive and punitive federal abortion reporting mandate laid out in Project 2025,” the spokesperson said. Project 2025 refers to a policy blueprint by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank and is not an official Trump administration policy guide. The report comes nearly three years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade – the 1973 decision guaranteeing a woman’s right to abortion – and many states have since enacted abortion bans. The Trump administration also rolled back a Biden-era executive order that federally funded abortion services, re-enacting the Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal taxpayer dollars for elective abortions.
FLASHBACK: Biden also paraded electric vehicles at the White House when he drove a Jeep Wrangler in 2021
Democrats pounced on President Donald Trump’s purchase of a red Tesla on Tuesday — even though former President Joe Biden similarly paraded a Jeep Wrangler at the White House in 2021. Trump flaunted the vehicle on the White House’s South Lawn with SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is also heading up the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as Tesla’s stock floundered earlier in the week. The share price rose following the White House event. Democrats decried the move, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee labeled the Trump administration the “most corrupt administration in American history.” But Biden also conducted a similar event at the White House in August 2021, when he drove an electric Jeep Wrangler on the White House South Lawn as part of a meeting with top executives from General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. That event corresponded with Biden signing an executive order aiming for zero-emission vehicles manufactured in the U.S. to make up half of its vehicle production by the end of the decade. TRUMP BUYS RED TESLA MODEL S AT WHITE HOUSE ALONGSIDE ELON MUSK: ‘I LIKE SIGNING A CHECK!’ Musk and Tesla weren’t invited to Biden’s 2021 electic vehicle event. Musk had called out the Biden administration in a post on X at the time, saying, “Yeah, seems odd that Tesla wasn’t invited.” When asked at the time why the White House had excluded Tesla, the largest electric vehicle maker in the U.S., White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested that Tesla would receive an invitation for future events. “Well, we of course welcome the efforts of automakers who recognize the potential of an electric vehicle future and support efforts that will help reach the President’s goal, and certainly Tesla is one of those companies,” Psaki said in August 2021. “I would not expect this is the last time we talk about clean cars and the move toward electric vehicles, and we look forward to having a range of partners in that effort.” Meanwhile, the Biden’s administration’s refusal to meet with Musk served as the catalyst for Musk’s departure from the Democratic Party, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported in July 2024 that Musk had voted for Biden in 2020 and had reached out to the Biden White House following his inauguration, but the White House had refused to speak with him. The Journal reported that the Biden White House had hesitated to take Musk up on the offer due to concerns that ties to him would upset the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, since Tesla is the only non-union automaker in the U.S. Psaki said that for the electic vehicle event it had selected the “three largest employers of the United Auto Workers, so I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.” TESLA REBOUNDS AFTER TRUMP DEFENDS MUSK, BRINGS EVS TO WHITE HOUSE Others criticized Trump for his Tuesday Tesla show. “I’m sure all the people losing their retirement, jobs, and health care because of Trump are glad to see the White House turned into a car dealership for the richest man on the planet,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in an X post. Fox Business’ Breck Dumma contributed to this report.
Dem governor says Newsom shouldn’t have hosted Bannon on podcast
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear slammed fellow Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom for allowing Steve Bannon on his new podcast, saying that “I don’t think we should give him oxygen on any platform, ever, anywhere.” Beshear made the remark Thursday during a Democratic policy retreat in Virginia, according to Politico. The episode of the “This is Gavin Newsom” podcast featuring Bannon was released the day before, describing him in the show notes as a “former Trump White House chief strategist and MAGA architect.” “I think that Governor Newsom bringing on different voices is great, we shouldn’t be afraid to talk and to debate just about anyone,” Beshear was quoted by Politico as saying. “But Steve Bannon espouses hatred and anger, and even at some points, violence, and I don’t think we should give him oxygen on any platform, ever, anywhere.” Newsom’s office did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment by Fox News Digital. HEATING UP: PRE-SEASON MOVES IN 2028 PRESIDENTIAL RACE GETTING UNDERWAY The governor told Politico Wednesday that it is “critically important” to understand President Donald Trump’s movement and that “I think we all agreed after the last election that it’s important for Democrats to explore new and unique ways of talking to people.” Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger also criticized Newsom for bringing Bannon onto his show. GAVIN NEWSOM ASKS CHARLIE KIRK TO GIVE HIS PARTY ‘ADVICE’ IN ONE-ON-ONE PODCAST INTERVIEW “I am in shock at the stupidity of Gavin Newsom inviting Steve Bannon on his podcast. Many of us on the right sacrificed careers to fight Bannon, and Newsom is trying to make a career and a presidential run by building him up. Unforgivable and insane,” Kinzinger wrote on X. Newsom previously sat down one-on-one with conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk for a frank discussion about his party’s shortcomings in the 2024 presidential election. In the first episode of his new podcast, “This Is Gavin Newsom,” the governor marveled at Kirk’s success as the founder of Turning Point USA, which played a pivotal role in President Donald Trump making inroads with young voters. Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.