AFP USA

For many just a tasty delicacy, the oyster may actually be the hero the world needs to fight environmental degradation — and volunteers like Kimberly Price are battling to repopulate the surprisingly powerful species.The 53-year-old is an “oyster gardener” who fosters thousands of the mollusks at her waterside home until they are old enough to be planted in the Chesapeake Bay near the US capital Washington, where they clean the water and can even offset climate change.Far removed from the menus of seafood restaurants, oysters also have a supremely practical use as prolific water filters — with an adult able to process up to 50 gallons (190 liters) each day. This produces a healthier habitat, boosting plant and animal life, which experts say can also help waterways capture more planet-warming carbon dioxide. But today, just one percent of the native oyster population found in the bay before the 1880s remains, due to pollution, disease and overharvesting — leaving a mammoth task for environmentalists.Volunteers like Price are crucial to these efforts led by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF).For around nine months, they keep infant oysters in cages at their docks to give them the best chance of reaching adulthood. Then they put them to work at helping preserve the planet.”We humans destroy everything, right? So this is like, let’s fix our problems: how do we try and correct this?” Price, a housing consultant, told AFP.At her Maryland home, where ospreys flew overhead and tiny fish swam below, she pulled up a mesh cage marked “Not for sale or human consumption” suspended by rope in the water.Inside on large, old oyster shells — many recycled from restaurants — were half a dozen smaller live oysters each about the size of a knuckle.When Price got them last summer, they were no bigger than pinpricks that the CBF had received as oyster larvae from a specialist hatchery before bonding them to shells in setting tanks.Price’s role has involved scrubbing her eight cages and rinsing them with fresh water every two weeks to remove organisms that can restrict oxygen and hinder feeding.When AFP visited in late May, she was giving them a final clean before joining other volunteers returning the oysters to the CBF to be planted on sanctuary reefs in the bay, where fishing of the mollusks is banned.- ‘We can get there’ -It’s part of an ambitious goal that the nonprofit and its partners set in 2018 to add 10 billion new oysters to the bay — America’s largest estuary — by the end of 2025.Around 6.7 billion have been planted so far, CBF oyster expert Kellie Fiala said at the group’s headquarters, adding that the population is “trending in a positive direction.””Thinking about how many oysters used to be in the bay, we still have a ways to go,” she said, but insisted that “working together, we can get there.”A key challenge is a lack of substrate in the bay — the hard riverbed material that oysters need to grow on — because for many years, shells were removed to be used in building driveways and gardens.”Folks then just didn’t understand the importance of putting that shell back so it can be a home for new oysters,” Fiala said.To address this, the organization is encouraging volunteers to make “reef balls” — igloo-style concrete blocks that can serve as artificial underwater habitats.This initiative, like oyster gardening, encourages community participation ranging from schoolchildren to retirees.Some of those volunteers, including Price, arrived at the CBF’s office next to the bay to drop off their buckets of homegrown oysters ready for planting. Each got a rough tally of how many they had brought based on the average number of babies on a handful of shells. For Price, it was what she celebrated as a “very good” total of around 7,500.Her oysters were loaded with others onto a small, single-engine boat that the captain, 61-year-old Dan Johannes, steered towards a sanctuary reef in a tidal tributary of the bay.There, two interns began dumping the 20 buckets overboard, with the oysters splashing into the water.The planting process took no longer than a minute — 75,000 oysters, raised for almost a year — returning to the bay.

Federal agents clashed with angry protestors in the Los Angeles area for a second day Saturday, shooting flash-bang grenades into the crowd and shutting part of a freeway amid raids on undocumented migrants, reports said.The standoff took place in the suburb of Paramount, where demonstrators had gathered near a Home Depot that was being used as a staging area by federal immigration officials, the Fox 11 news outlet reported.They were met by federal agents in riot gear and gas masks, who lobbed flash-bang grenades and tear gas at the crowd, according to news reports and social media posts.The immigration raids are part of US President Donald Trump’s ongoing crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The Republican was elected to a second term largely on a promise to crack down hard on the entry and presence of undocumented migrants — who he likened to “monsters” and “animals.”Following the latest clashes in Los Angeles, authorities vowed to prosecute offenders and warned of an escalating security presence.”We are making Los Angeles safer. Mayor (Karen) Bass should be thanking us,” Tom Homan, Trump’s point man on border security, said on Fox News. “We are going to bring the National Guard in tonight.”FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said multiple arrests had been made following Friday’s clashes.”You bring chaos, and we’ll bring handcuffs. Law and order will prevail,” he said on X.On Saturday, amid chants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to get out, some protestors waved Mexican flags while others set a US flag on fire, the Los Angeles Times said. Cement blocks and overturned shopping carts served as crude roadblocks.A crowd swarmed a US Marshals Service bus exiting a nearby freeway, with authorities later closing on and off ramps to keep protesters from taking over the highway.The tense standoff came a day after masked and armed immigration agents carried out high-profile workplace raids in separate parts of Los Angeles, attracting angry crowds and setting off hours-long standoffs.”An insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States,” White House deputy chief of staff and anti-immigration hardliner Stephen Miller said on X, sharing a video of protesters marching Friday outside Los Angeles’s federal detention center.Los Angeles, the second-most populous city in the United States, is one of the most diverse metropolises in the country. The suburb of Paramount, home to about 50,000 people, is 82 percent Hispanic or Latino, according to US Census data.

US immigration agents detained and later allowed the “voluntary departure” of the world’s most-followed TikToker, Khaby Lame, after he “overstayed” his visa, authorities said Saturday.”US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Seringe Khabane Lame, 25, a citizen of Italy, June 6, at the Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada for immigration violations,” the agency said in a statement to AFP.Lame entered the United States on April 30 and “overstayed the terms of his visa,” the statement said of the Friday detention, adding that he was released the same day.The Italian national, who is a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and has a following of more than 162 million on TikTok, “has since departed the US.”Lame had not immediately posted publicly about the incident as of Saturday afternoon.Since taking power in January, US President Donald Trump has delivered on campaign promises to tighten immigration controls and carry out a mass deportation drive — aspects of which have been challenged in US courts.Lame holds top spot on the wildly popular TikTok social media app, with 162.2 million followers and has risen to fame for his short silent videos mocking the convoluted tutorials and tips that abound on the internet.He punctuates his videos with a trademark gesture — palms turned towards the sky, accompanied by a knowing smile and wide eyes — as he offers his own simple remedies.The idea for his content came to him while wandering around the housing project where his family lived in Chivasso, near Turin, after losing his factory mechanic’s job in March 2020. His posts took off — helping him gross an estimated $16.5 million through marketing deals with companies in the period between June 2022 and September 2023, according to Forbes. 

Rainbow flags flooded Washington’s streets on Saturday as the US capital celebrated WorldPride with a massive show of support for LGBTQ rights, which are facing an assault by the Trump administration.”We just have to show this administration, that we are united, that we cannot be broken,” said Amy Froelich, a 46-year-old artist and teacher, dressed in a rainbow-colored jumpsuit. “We need to be an ally to our brothers and sisters and our trans community,” she said, seated next to her wife on green chairs near the starting line for a massive parade that marks the culmination of weeks of festivities.”All of our laws and any protections that we’ve been working so hard for (are) getting reversed.”The WorldPride festival, a rotating global event advocating for LGBTQ equality worldwide, is being hosted in Washington this year — a stone’s throw from the White House and a president seemingly intent on rolling back rights hard-won by that community.Since returning to power in January, Donald Trump and his administration have slapped back LGBTQ rights gained in recent decades, in particular by members of the trans community. On his first day in office, Trump declared the federal government would recognize only two genders — men and women — and he has since targeted transgender people in a slew of other orders.Transgender American actress Laverne Cox, best known for her role in the series “Orange is the New Black,” addressed the crowd at the parade starting line.”I knew I had to be here, surrounded by community, because you give me so much hope,” she said.”I don’t have any faith in our government… but I have faith in you.”- ‘Big dark cloud’ -A few meters away, standing on the roof of the first bus in the parade, Yasmin Benoit, who came from Britain to show support for the US LGBT community, waved to the crowd. “We are literally on Trump’s doorstep right now, and I’m sure he’s not thrilled about all of this,” the 28-year-old model and activist told AFP.Benoit said she had been detained by border police upon her arrival in the United States, but was finally allowed to enter.”It’s definitely not the easiest place to come to, but I feel like that makes it a little more important to try,” she said.Trump’s policies are on the minds of many taking part in this year’s festival.”It’s been a big dark cloud since he was elected really,” said Ginny Kinsey, sitting in the shade with a friend.Her wife, she said, had been working as a federal civil servant, but had been forced to change careers amid government funding cuts.”My wife just switched jobs in the government, and she made the decision to not be out at her new job, (as) she was in her previous job,” she said.”People are just hiding again.”- ‘Unfair’ -Trying to cool off with his fan under the blazing Washington sun, Bill George, 74, said he had come “to celebrate who we are.””We’re as human as anybody else.”The retiree, who came out in 1975, has taken part in a number of demonstrations for LGBTQ rights, as well as for human rights and civil rights over the years.”Conservatism is a wave, that is actually attacking us again,” he told AFP, adding that he was furious with the Trump administration.”We will protest everything that he’s doing that we think is unfair.”

US President Donald Trump threatened his former advisor Elon Musk with “serious consequences” Saturday if the tech billionaire seeks to punish Republicans who vote for a controversial spending bill.The comments by Trump to NBC News come after the relationship between the world’s most powerful person and the world’s richest imploded in bitter and spectacular fashion this week.The blistering break-up — largely carried out on social media before a riveted public on Thursday — was ignited by Musk’s harsh criticism of Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful” spending bill, which is currently before Congress. Some lawmakers who were against the bill had called on Musk — one of the Republican Party’s biggest financial backers in last year’s presidential election — to fund primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the legislation. “He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,” Trump, who also branded Musk “disrespectful,” told NBC News on Saturday, without specifying what those consequences would be. He also said he had “no” desire to repair his relationship with the South African-born Tesla and SpaceX chief, and that he has “no intention of speaking to him.”Just last week, Trump gave Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).But their relationship cracked within days as Musk described as an “abomination” the spending bill that, if passed by Congress, could define Trump’s second term in office. Trump hit back in an Oval Office diatribe and from, there the row detonated, leaving Washington stunned.With real political and economic risks to their falling out, both had appeared to inch back from the brink on Friday, with Trump telling reporters “I just wish him well,” and Musk responding on X: “Likewise.”- ‘Old news’ -Trump spoke to NBC Saturday after Musk deleted one of the explosive allegations he had made during their fallout, linking the president with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.Musk had alleged that the Republican leader is featured in unreleased government files on former associates of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while he faced sex trafficking charges. The Trump administration has acknowledged it is reviewing tens of thousands of documents, videos and investigative material that his “MAGA” movement says will unmask public figures complicit in Epstein’s crimes.Trump was named in a trove of deposition and statements linked to Epstein that were unsealed by a New York judge in early 2024. The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.”Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files,” Musk posted on his social media platform, X.”That is the real reason they have not been made public.”Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about and offered no evidence for his claim.He initially doubled down on the claim, writing in a follow-up message: “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”However, he appeared to have deleted both tweets by Saturday morning. Trump dismissed the claim as “old news” in his comments to NBC on Saturday, adding: “Even Epstein’s lawyer said I had nothing to do with it.”Supporters on the conspiratorial end of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base allege that Epstein’s associates had their roles in his crimes covered up by government officials and others.They point the finger at Democrats and Hollywood celebrities, although not at Trump himself. No official source has ever confirmed that the president appears in any of the as yet unreleased material.Trump knew and socialized with Epstein but has denied spending time on Little Saint James, the private redoubt in the US Virgin Islands where prosecutors alleged Epstein trafficked underage girls for sex.”Terrific guy,” Trump, who was Epstein’s neighbor in both Florida and New York, said in an early 2000s profile of the financier.”He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

US Jewish groups are unified over the need to fight mounting anti-Semitic incidents across the country, but many are bitterly opposed to how President Donald Trump is seeking to counter the scourge.A string of incidents has targeted Jews in the United States in recent weeks. Two Israeli embassy workers were murdered in Washington, Molotov cocktails were thrown at an event in Colorado, and tensions persist on university campuses.The conservative Heritage Foundation think-tank, behind the “Project 2025” roadmap for radically overhauling and shrinking the government, published in October “Project Esther” — a blueprint on combatting anti-Semitism.The project seeks to “dismantle” so-called “anti-Israel,” “anti-Zionist,” or “pro-Palestinian” organizations allegedly part of a “Hamas support network” that has “infiltrated” universities including Columbia and Harvard.The text advocates the dismissal of professors, barring some foreign students from campuses, expelling others outright, and withholding public funding from universities.Robert Greenway, a Project Esther co-author, recently told The New York Times it was “no coincidence that we called for a series of actions to take place privately and publicly, and they are now happening.”The Heritage Foundation refused an interview request.Stefanie Fox, director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), said “Project Esther sets out a blueprint for the Trump administration to sharpen the legal regimes that will best advance (his) ‘Make America Great Again’ goals.”The JVP, a Jewish organization that leads demonstrations against “genocide” in Gaza, is named in Project Esther as a member of the so-called Hamas support network.”These assumptions are baseless, paranoid, laughable,” said Fox, whose group is on the left.- ‘Weaponizing’ anti-Semitism? -Although 89 percent of the 7.2 million US Jews say they are concerned about anti-Semitism, 64 percent disapprove of Trump’s efforts to combat it, according to a recent Jewish Voters Resource Center poll.”There is anti-Semitism on those campuses… But to give the broad claim that the thrust to fight anti-Semitism is to go after higher education is just absolutely ridiculous,” said Kevin Rachlin.He is a prominent figure in the Nexus Project formed in opposition to Project Esther that seeks to counter anti-Semitism without impairing freedom of speech.Trump’s strategy “doesn’t keep Jews safe.” Rather, it seeks to separate the Jewish minority from others in the country and ignores right-wing anti-Semitism, Rachlin argues.”We as Jews are safer when we’re in coalition with other groups and other minorities,” he said, adding that combatting anti-Semitism through education was more viable than targeting universities.Traditional Jewish groups have aligned more with Trump’s Republicans and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, unlike the “majority” of American Jews, claims author Eric Alterman.”What’s happened in Gaza has been very hard for most American Jews — particularly young American Jews — to stomach. Young American Jews are now roughly evenly divided between supporting Israel and supporting the Palestinians,” he told AFP.Alterman added most US Jews are not anti-Zionist — but don’t like the war in Gaza or Israel’s West Bank strategy.”They’re kind of caught in the middle.”Some Jewish groups warn that when Trump targets higher education purportedly combatting anti-Semitism, he is actually “weaponizing” the sensitive issue to stifle freedom of expression.In recent weeks, ten major Jewish organizations criticized the Trump administration in a letter, saying they reject the “false choice” between “Jewish safety” and “democracy.””There should be no doubt that anti-Semitism is rising” but access to “higher education, and strong democratic norms… have allowed American Jewry to thrive for hundreds of years,” the letter states.  One of the signatories, rabbi and former ambassador for religious freedom David Saperstein, said there was “appreciation” for Trump prioritizing anti-Semitic violence and rhetoric — but opposed the clampdown on universities, media and judges.He added: “Ironically, they are targeting democratic institutions that have given the Jewry in America more rights, more freedom, more opportunities than we have ever known in our 2,600 years of diasporic history.” 

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has deleted an explosive allegation linking Donald Trump with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that he posted on social media during a vicious public fallout with the US president this week.Musk — who just exited his role as a top White House advisor — alleged on Thursday that the Republican leader is featured in unreleased government files on former associates of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while he faced sex trafficking charges. The Trump administration has acknowledged it is reviewing tens of thousands of documents, videos and investigative material that his “MAGA” movement says will unmask public figures complicit in Epstein’s crimes.Trump was named in a trove of deposition and statements linked to Epstein that were unsealed by a New York judge in early 2024. The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.”Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files,” Musk posted on his social media platform, X as his growing feud with the president boiled over into a spectacularly public row.”That is the real reason they have not been made public.”Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about and offered no evidence for his claim.He initially doubled down on the claim, writing in a follow-up message: “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”However, he appeared to have deleted both tweets by Saturday morning. Supporters on the conspiratorial end of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base allege that Epstein’s associates had their roles in his crimes covered up by government officials and others.They point the finger at Democrats and Hollywood celebrities, although not at Trump himself. No official source has ever confirmed that the president appears in any of the as yet unreleased material.Trump knew and socialized with Epstein but has denied spending time on Little Saint James, the private redoubt in the US Virgin Islands where prosecutors alleged Epstein trafficked underage girls for sex.”Terrific guy,” Trump, who was Epstein’s neighbor in both Florida and New York, said in an early 2000s profile of the financier.”He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”Just last week, Trump gave Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).But their relationship imploded within days as Musk described as an “abomination” a spending bill that, if passed by Congress, could define Trump’s second term in office. Trump hit back in an Oval Office diatribe and from there the row detonated, leaving Washington and riveted social media users alike stunned by the blistering break-up between the world’s richest person and the world’s most powerful. With real political and economic risks to their row, both then appeared to inch back from the brink on Friday, with Trump telling reporters “I just wish him well,” and Musk responding on X: “Likewise.”But the White House denied reports they would talk. 

Masked and armed federal agents carried out sweeping immigration raids in Los Angeles Friday, while others pounced on migrants at a New York courthouse in forceful displays of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on people without papers.From courthouses to hardware store parking lots in two of the most diverse cities in the world, federal agents wrestled migrants into handcuffs and unmarked vehicles.Agents used extreme tactics, conducting unprecedented raids on at least three areas of Los Angeles to detain dozens of people.At one sweep less than two miles from Los Angeles City Hall, agents threw flash-bang grenades to disperse angry crowds of people following alongside a convoy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles as protesters hurled eggs and epithets at the agents, media reported.- ‘Terror’ -“As a Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place,” LA Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.”These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city.” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who grew up in LA’s Santa Monica, insisted on social media platform X that Bass had “no say in this at all.””Federal law is supreme and federal law will be enforced.” Service Employees International Union leader David Huerta was briefly detained while documenting one of the raids in Los Angeles, according to media reports. “Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals,” Huerta said in a statement after his release. Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe told the Los Angeles Times that federal agents were executing search warrants related to the harboring of people illegally in the country.Hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Los Angeles on Friday afternoon to demand the release of detainees, broadcaster ABC7 reported. The largely peaceful rally was later ordered to disperse by police, with some violent clashes between protesters and riot police being reported.- NY courthouse arrests -Across the country, plainclothes agents in New York pounced on two immigrants in the hallway of a courthouse Friday.AFP saw the officers yell for the men not to move before forcing them to lay face-down on the ground as they were handcuffed and arrested.It was not immediately clear why the two men were arrested.Trump was elected to a second term with broad support for his promise to crack down hard on the entry and presence of undocumented migrants.ICE agents have intensified such operations in and around American immigration courts in recent weeks.The Department of Homeland Security revoked regulations that limited agents’ access to protected areas such as courts after Trump returned to office in January.One of the men arrested in New York was Joaquin Rosario, a 34-year-old Dominican who arrived in the United States a year ago, registered as he came in and who had his first immigration hearing Friday, his relative Julian Rosario said.”He was at ease. He did not think anything was going to happen,” the relative said, adding that Rosario was so unworried he had not brought his lawyer with him.The other detainee appeared to be Asian. He arrived accompanied only by one of many immigration advocacy group volunteers who walk immigrants to and from the courtroom.The volunteers screamed out as the agents arrested the two men but it did nothing to halt the raid.- ‘Sound the alarm’ – Human rights groups are outraged by such operations, arguing that they sap trust in the courts and make immigrants wary of showing up for appointments as they try to gain US residency.”They’re illegal abductions,” said Karen Ortiz, a court employee who was demonstrating Friday against the sudden arrests of migrants.”We need to sound the alarm and show the public how serious this is and one way we can do that is actually physically putting ourselves between a masked ICE agent and someone they’re trying to detain and send away,” she told AFP.Trump has dramatically tested the limits of executive power to crack down on foreigners without papers since he returned to office, arguing that the United States is being invaded by criminals and other undesirables.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that Elon Musk had “lost his mind” but insisted he wanted to move on from the fiery split with his billionaire former ally.The blistering public break-up between the world’s richest person and the world’s most powerful is fraught with political and economic risks all round.Trump had scrapped the idea of a call with Musk and was even thinking of ditching the red Tesla he bought at the height of their bromance, White House officials told AFP.”Honestly I’ve been so busy working on China, working on Russia, working on Iran… I’m not thinking about Elon Musk, I just wish him well,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to his New Jersey golf club late Friday.Earlier, Trump told US broadcasters that he now wanted to focus instead on passing his “big, beautiful” mega-bill before Congress — Musk’s harsh criticism of which had sparked their break-up.But the 78-year-old Republican could not stop himself from taking aim at his South African-born friend-turned-enemy.”You mean the man who has lost his mind?” Trump said in a call with ABC when asked about Musk, adding that he was “not particularly” interested in talking to the tycoon.Trump later told Fox News that Musk had “lost it.”Just a week ago Trump gave Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after four months working there.- ‘Very disappointed’ -While there had been reports of tensions, the sheer speed at which their relationship imploded stunned Washington.After Musk called Trump’s spending bill an “abomination” on Tuesday, Trump hit back in an Oval Office diatribe on Thursday in which he said he was “very disappointed” by the entrepreneur.Trump’s spending bill faces a difficult path through Congress as it will raise the US deficit, while critics say it will cut health care for millions of the poorest Americans. The row then went nuclear, with Musk slinging insults at Trump and accusing him without evidence of being in government files on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Trump hit back with the power of the US government behind him, saying he could cancel the Space X boss’s multi-billion-dollar rocket and satellite contracts.Trump struck a milder tone late Friday when asked how seriously he is considering cutting Musk’s contracts. “It’s a lot of money, it’s a lot of subsidy, so we’ll take a look — only if it’s fair. Only if it’s to be fair for him and the country,” he said.Musk apparently also tried to de-escalate social media hostilities.The right-wing tech baron rowed back on a threat to scrap his company’s Dragon spacecraft — vital for ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station.And on Friday the usually garrulous poster kept a low social media profile on his X social network.But the White House denied reports that they would talk.”The president does not intend to speak to Musk today,” a senior White House official told AFP. A second official said Musk had requested a call. – Tesla giveaway? -Tesla stocks tanked more than 14 percent on Thursday amid the row, losing some $100 billion of the company’s market value, but recovering partly Friday.Trump is now considering either selling or giving away the cherry red Tesla S that he announced he had bought from Musk’s firm in March.The electric vehicle was still parked on the White House grounds on Friday. “He’s thinking about it, yes,” a senior White House official told AFP when asked if Trump would sell or give it away.Trump and Musk had posed inside the car at a bizarre event in March, when the president turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom after viral protests against Musk’s DOGE role.But while Trump appeared to hold many of the cards, Musk also has some to play.His wealth allowed him to be the biggest donor to Trump’s 2024 campaign, to the tune of nearly $300 million. Any further support for the 2026 midterm election now appears in doubt — while Musk could also use his money to undermine Trump’s support on the right.