Elon Musk Ordered Starlink Restrictions For Ukraine: Report
Elon Musk personally ordered a slowdown of his military-grade version of Starlink that is used by Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was blindsided by the sudden slowdown in the country’s connection to the satellite-based network, which rendered some drones virtually useless. President Donald Trump previously said neither he nor Musk were involved in the decision.
“Well, I don’t know if it was anybody because it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” Trump said last week. “And from what I understand, it’s the same as it’s always been.”
Musk also denied involvement at the time, blaming Trump.
“Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” Musk posted on X after news of the slowdown became public.
Sources told The Wall Street Journal that Musk spoke with multiple senior administration officials, including Trump, before imposing the slower speed cap, which Ukraine said allowed Russian missiles to evade its defenses. The Telegraph first reported on Musk’s involvement last week.
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Sanders Condemns Islamophobic Attacks Against El-Sayed
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) condemned the Islamophobic attacks that have been levied against Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in a campaign event that took place shortly after President Donald Trump embraced such rhetoric at an earlier rally.
“The reason that they are using Islamophobia against Abdul is because they have nothing to say about the real issues facing working people,” Sanders said at the DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Sunday evening. “Mr. President, instead of slandering Abdul and his family, what are you going to do about the health care crisis in America? What are you going to do about the housing crisis? What are you going to do about income and wealth inequality?”
As HuffPost’s Sanjana Karanth reported, Trump used much of a Michigan rally on Sunday “trashing El-Sayed for his Muslim faith, falsely tying him to terrorists and the Muslim Brotherhood.”
A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More Flooding In Parts Of Southwest After Storms Bring Heavy Rain And At Least One Tornado
A rain-soaked swath of the Southwest U.S. endured additional flooding as crews in New Mexico scoured evacuated neighborhoods Sunday for dead animals, downed power lines and other hazards left behind by receding floodwaters and at least one tornado.
With more showers and thunderstorms moving through, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for much of the Four Corners region — the meeting point of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. The area has experienced unusually heavy rain since Wednesday that caused rivers to surge, flooding homes and forcing water rescues.
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The Right Hates Indian Americans. It Might Cost Republicans Texas.
SUGAR LAND, Texas ― The responses to Vasant Bhatt’s post proved his point.
Bhatt, the son of an Indian immigrant and a 21-year-old student at the University of Houston, has about as long a history in conservative politics as a college student can have: He interned for Sen. Ted Cruz’s reelection campaign in 2024, and he was a correspondent for Campus Reform, a right-wing news site focused on higher education.
So he had some idea what to expect when he posted on social media he was backing Democrat James Talarico in this year’s Texas Senate race, explaining he was “disgusted by the xenophobia, racial resentment, and increasingly brazen attacks on my identity” as an Indian American.
But the responses from conservatives to his post were even more venomous. One writer for the right-wing outlet The Federalist called it “a really strong case for limited legal immigration,” a conservative streamer labeled him a “parasite,” and the prominent conservative podcaster Jack Posobiec suggested Bhatt was a secret liberal all along.
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Bolsonaro Refuses To Concede, Calls For Brazilian Election Results To Be Annulled
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, was reelected Sunday in a result that provides relief to critics of widening U.S. influence in Latin America.
With 100% of the vote counted, Brazil’s electoral court announced that the soon to be 81-year-old Lula had a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes over opponent Flávio Bolsonaro, giving him 51.8% of the total vote. Bolsonaro quickly refused to concede defeat and asked for the election results to be annulled after an evening of chaos at some polling places that followed a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours.
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Lula, Brazil's Iconic Working Class President, Wins Historic Fourth Term
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won an unprecedented fourth term on Sunday, the country’s electoral court said, in a shock result that defied polls, precedent and global anti-incumbent sentiment to put the brakes on a wave of right-wing election victories across Latin America.
Lula, an icon of the global left and the most dominant force in Brazilian politics this century, defeated Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
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Trump Gives A Crude Shoutout To Nicki Minaj At Michigan Rally
President Donald Trump called out the attendance of rapper Nicki Minaj with a crude shoutout at his Michigan rally on Sunday.
During the event, he revisited comments he’s made about Sen. Jon Husted’s (R-Ohio) physique and went on to link them to a crass observation about Minaj.
“I said I looked at his ass and I’ve never done that with a man before, it’s true,” Trump said at the event, regarding Husted. “Off the record, women, yes, men, no, OK?”
“By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before, Nicki Minaj. That’s hard to miss,” Trump added about the musician, who also spoke at the rally. “Stand up, that’s hard to miss.”
Minaj, who’s touted her support for Trump in the last year, stood and waved at the crowd.
“I hope Nicki wasn’t insulted, but we love Nicki,” Trump added before going on to elaborate further on his Husted remarks.
Trump Says Jewish Michiganders Who Vote For El-Sayed 'Should Be Ashamed'
President Donald Trump targeted Michigan’s Jewish community during a rally in Port Huron on Sunday, saying any Jewish voter who casts their ballot for Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed “should be ashamed of themselves.”
“Any Jewish person that supports this guy should be ashamed of themselves. You should never speak to them again,” he said to applause. The president spent most of his rally trashing El-Sayed for his Muslim faith, falsely tying him to terrorists and the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed would be the first Muslim senator if elected.
“You know, I’m polling at 99% in Israel,” he said, equating Jewish Americans and Israeli citizens in a dual loyalty trope he’s used before. “And I cannot understand how anybody who’s Jewish can even think about voting for this guy. And he’ll get some, you explain it to me someday.”
Despite Trump’s history with shaming Jewish Americans who vote Democratic, progressive Jewish voters are coming out in vocal support of El-Sayed. A growing coalition called Michigan Jews for Democracy said that while some members have disagreements with El-Sayed on a few issues, the Democrat is a far better option than Republican Mike Rogers.
“In this race, Abdul El-Sayed is clearly the better choice for Jews, for all Michiganders,” the group said in a letter. “In Abdul, we see someone who understands what it is to live in the minority, who is open to listening and learning.”
Mary Peltola Reschedules Campaign Events In Alaska After Car Accident
Democratic Senate candidate for Alaska, Mary Peltola, announced Sunday that she will be delaying some campaign events after she and her family were involved in a car accident the night before.
According to the campaign, Peltola and her family were on their way to the Alaska Federation of Natives Annual Banquet when their car was struck by another driver, causing minor injuries that needed medical attention.
“Mary and her family sustained minor injuries but are in good spirits. Unfortunately, per the advice of medical professionals, Mary’s upcoming events in Fairbanks and Bethel will be rescheduled for later in the week as she takes time to recover,” Alaskans for Mary Campaign Manager Cheryl Bruce said in a statement.
The campaign had announced Saturday that Peltola would be kicking off an eight-stop “Alaska Always Tour” over the course of seven days leading up to the election. The Fairbanks and Bethel stops, originally scheduled for Sunday and Monday respectively, will be rescheduled in the coming days. Events in Homer, Kenai, Seward, Juneau, Anchorage and Palmer will continue as scheduled.
“Mary is disappointed that the accident is delaying the start of her Alaska Always Tour, and she is eager to get back on the campaign trail to speak directly with Alaskans about her plan to take on the rigged system and lower costs for working families,” Bruce said.
White House Official Floats Naming Nicki Minaj As The Next WHAT Now?!?
MAGA rapper Nicki Minaj used a seemingly staged audition to be the next White House press secretary to gush about President Donald Trump on Sunday, just over a week after Katie Zacharia resigned from the post in the wake of her disastrous debut.
Minaj — in a bizarre clip shared to social media — is seen sitting across from White House communications director Steven Cheung on Air Force One as he asks her softball questions like why she thinks “the economy is moving” under the president and if there’s “anyone who works harder” than him.
Minaj — who has embraced MAGA with open arms over the past year — responds by declaring that Trump is “naturally” a businessman and that no one works harder than him before rolling out the false claim that he won “three elections.”
The clip ends with Minaj turning her eyes to the camera and chuckling as Cheung begins to speak, only to be cut off.
Cheung captioned the social media post: “Ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have found the new White House Press Secretary!”
It’s unclear if Minaj is seriously in the running for the post, which Karoline Leavitt left for family reasons back in August and was briefly filled by Zacharia before the current vacancy.
Minaj was en route to Port Huron, Michigan on Sunday afternoon where she’s set to join the president at a rally for Mike Rogers, the GOP’s nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in the state.