Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO and former senior adviser to President Donald Trump, donated $5 million to a Trump-aligned political action committee in late June, just one month after Musk and Trump got into a messy public feud. According to recent campaign finance filings, Musk gave $5 million to MAGA Inc. on June 27, The Hill reported. On the same day, he also gave $5 million each to the Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund, which boost Republicans. A little over a week later, Musk announced the formation of the “America Party,” an idea he pursued after running a poll on X, asking users if they “want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system!” There has been some fear that Musk’s America Party could hurt Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections, but in the weeks following Musk’s announcement of the new party, nothing has been done to launch it, according to Axios. Musk reportedly spent over $250 million to help Trump and other Republicans in 2024. The billionaire, however, said in May that he would spend “a lot less” on political campaigns “in the future.” In late May and into early June, Trump and Musk traded barbs after Musk, who was behind the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, came out against the president’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Musk argued that the legislation didn’t do enough to cut government waste. Trump fired back, saying that Musk “just went CRAZY” and threatened to cut government contracts with Musk’s companies. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO then alleged that the Jeffrey Epstein files hadn’t been made public because Trump is in them. He later deleted that post and apologized for some of his posts about Trump that “went too far.” Just one day after donating to Trump’s super PAC, however, Musk again posted criticism of the president’s tax bill. Musk has also blasted the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein case, calling it a “cover up.” While Trump said he has “no hard feelings” toward Musk, the president continued his criticism of his former senior adviser, saying in early July that Musk became a “TRAIN WRECK.” “He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States — The System seems not designed for them,” he added. “The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS, and we have enough of that with the Radical Left Democrats, who have lost their confidence and their minds!”

Democrats — who have a habit of puffing out their chests as they boast of their courage — are having a very tough time with continued Republican victories as their poll numbers continue to be in the trash. All of this is now manifesting in their latest routine in Texas. Texas Republicans are looking right now at redistricting the state congressionally, a process called gerrymandering. That’s quite typical around the United States. Every state has some form of gerrymandering — and some of the worst gerrymandered states are Democrat-dominated states. If you look at a map of Illinois with its congressional districts, it looks insane. The congressional districts make no sense because they’re all over the place. One congressional district, the 13th, looks like a snake that travels halfway through the state, and that is juxtaposed with the 17th congressional district, which was created simply to get to a Democratic majority. Screenshot: @kerpen/X The attempt to treat gerrymandering as though it is unnatural and those kinds of politics are only pursued by one side — which is what the Democrats are claiming — is absolute nonsense. The Texas state Republicans are now attempting to re-gerrymander the state. Texas Democrats have threatened that they would run away from the state so the state legislature cannot reach a quorum. In order for them to do that, they have to claim that the gerrymandering is an authoritarian threat to democracy, as opposed to a way that congressional districts have been created since the beginning of our Republic. There is nothing new here. Elbridge Gerry, from whom the word “gerrymander” is derived, was the Vice President of the United States who served under President James Madison from 1813 until his death in 1814. WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show But according to former Barack Obama Attorney General Eric Holder, what the Texas Republicans are doing is “authoritarian” and a “threat to democracy.” Holder, who once called himself Barack Obama’s “wingman,” stated, “What we’re seeing now is an attempt by the White House to insulate itself from any kind of congressional scrutiny, any kind of congressional oversight, to make sure that Donald Trump remains the authoritarian figure that he has become. We have a compliant Congress, and he wants to ensure that given the fact that they pass this bill — that is unpopular, that takes healthcare away from people, that gives tax breaks to billionaires, and it puts at risk the Republican majority — that he continues to have that compliant Republican House of Representatives.” The idea that the president is responsible for gerrymandering as opposed to the party that happens to be in control of the particular state legislature is ridiculous. So what are Texas Democrats doing? They’re doing what they’ve done before. They’re running away. POLITICO reported on Monday: When the Texas legislature reconvenes today at 4 p.m. ET, it will be 57 Democrats short of a quorum. While a small number of Democratic legislators remain in Austin, many more have fled. Instead, some will be in New York, meeting with Gov. Kathy Hochul; they’ll hold a media availability at 10 a.m. in Albany. Others will be hunkered down at an undisclosed hotel in the Chicagoland area; Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is providing them with logistical support. Still others are expected in Boston for the National Conference of State Legislators. There’s great irony that legislators from Texas are fleeing to Chicago, considering Illinois one of the most gerrymandered states in America. Illinois Democratic governor J.B. Pritzker is providing them with logistical support, which is no shock, as he wants to run for president in 2028. Texas Democratic State Representative James Talarico told POLITICO, “I’m hoping that what we’ve heard from blue state lawmakers talking about retaliation may give Texas Republicans pause, it may give Speaker Mike Johnson pause, because he’s got members in blue states that may lose their seats if this escalates further.” POLITICO continued: Aboard the bus, he and other members talked about how Abraham Lincoln once broke quorum in the Illinois state legislature by jumping out of a window. “Everybody is hungry and tired, but in good spirits,” Talarico told Playbook. The genuine heroism of these people. This is not the first time Texas Democrats have run away to break the quorum. They did this back in 2021; in doing so, they released some of the worst social media ever. They went to Washington, D.C., and started releasing photos of themselves eating salads and talking about what absolute heroes they were. Talarico was on Joe Rogan’s show recently, where he promoted a bunch of very Left-wing ideas that Rogan — who is not a Right-winger, possibly a heterodox person who voted for Donald Trump, but not traditionally conservative — started buying into.  “My Democratic colleagues and I have just left our beloved state to break quorum and stop Trump’s redistricting power grab,” Talarico huffed, adding: Trump told our Republican colleagues to redraw the political maps here in Texas in the middle of the decade to get him five more seats and protect his majority in Congress. They’re turning our districts into crazy shapes to guarantee the outcome they want in the 2026 elections. If this power grab succeeds, they will hang on to power without any accountability from the voters. But Texas Democrats are fighting back. We’re leaving the state, breaking quorum and preventing Republicans from silencing our voices and rigging the next election. “We are not fighting for the Democratic Party,” he puffed. “We are fighting for the democratic process. And the stakes could not be higher. We have to take a stand.” “We have to take a stand.”  By running away. That, assuredly, must be the only way to take a stand. “Brave Sir Robin ran away — bravely.” Run away? Yes. They are so brave. I am loving every element of this tremendous bravery. This demonstrates the extent to which Democrats are in real national trouble. They’re in trouble in states such as Texas. California has already been basically gerrymandered to death by the Democrats, so this is nothing new. The Democrats are whimpering, “If you go after Texas, we might redistrict California.” They already did it. How many more seats are they going to take away from Orange County? There’s not that much more they can do to gerrymander Republicans out of existence in places like California. All of the posturing speaks to the desperation of Democrats; they have no national brand. Whatever national brand they might possibly have is quite negative. So they run away.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) — The European Union will suspend its two packages of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs for six months following a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, a Commission spokesperson said on Monday. The E.U.-U.S. agreement leaves many questions open, including tariff rates on spirits, and Trump’s executive order last week setting tariffs on most E.U. goods at 15%, which did not include carve-outs such as for cars and car parts. E.U. officials have said they expect more executive orders to follow soon. “The E.U. continues to work with the U.S. to finalize a Joint Statement, as agreed on 27 July,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “With these objectives in mind, the Commission will take the necessary steps to suspend by 6 months the E.U.’s countermeasures against the U.S., which were due to enter into force on 7 August.” The retaliatory tariffs are in two parts: one in response to U.S. steel and aluminium duties, and the other to Trump’s baseline and car tariffs. (Reporting by Julia Payne; Editing by Toby Chopra)

A House Republican is set to introduce a bill to prevent states from enacting mid-decade redistricting plans that could reshape the balance of power in Congress. The offering from Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) comes as Texas lawmakers consider a GOP-led redistricting plan that could turn five Democratic seats in the House red ahead of the 2026 elections, a move that prompted California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom to warn that his state might redraw its maps in retaliation before the midterms. While the legislation seeks to stop all states from redrawing their maps before the 2030 census, Kiley is particularly focused on California. Kiley’s office said Newsom is looking to overturn a decades-long California Supreme Court precedent banning mid-decade redistricting and bypass the voter-approved Independent Citizens Commission. Should the Democrat governor go through with such a plan, it could threaten several Republican-held seats — including the one held by Kiley, who represents a district around Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. “Gavin Newsom is trying to subvert the will of voters and do lasting damage to democracy in California,” Kiley declared in a statement. “Fortunately, Congress has the ability to protect California voters using its authority under the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This will also stop a damaging redistricting war from breaking out across the country.” President Donald Trump has been pushing Texas and other states to draw their congressional maps with the expectation that Republicans would gain seats. However, the president also indicated that his administration would sue California if it tried to create more Democratic-leaning districts. “We’ll fight them. You know, they’re so corrupt in California,” Trump said last month. “You never know what’s going to happen, but we’ve done pretty well in the courts in California, as you see. We’re batting about 1,000, ultimately. We start off a little slow, and then we get a lot of hits.” Newsom fired back at Republicans in response to a GOP proposal for redrawing districts in Texas that would ostensibly eliminate five Democratic seats. “Donald Trump asks for 5 seats and Greg Abbott automatically bends the knee. The 2026 election is being rigged. California won’t sit back and watch this happen,” Newsom said. The battle over redistricting is heating up as dozens of Democratic lawmakers fled Texas to deny the quorum needed to advance that state’s redistricting proposal. Texas GOP Governor Greg Abbott has threatened a bid to have the AWOL Democrats removed from office if they do not return by Monday afternoon, in addition to potential charges. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, another Democrat, has signaled interest in redrawing state congressional maps, too, if Republicans proceed with mid-decade redistricting in states they control.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed Monday evening that a plan has been developed for Israel to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media. The plan will include the Israel Defense Forces operating in areas where hostages are believed to be held despite Hamas’s threats to murder hostages if forces get too close, The Jerusalem Post reported. Hamas killed six hostages last September — including American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin— in Rafah shortly before the IDF reached them. The Prime Minister’s office also encouraged IDF Chief of Staff, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, to resign from his position if he disagrees with a full occupation. “If this does not suit him, you should resign,” the office reportedly said. The decision came after Hamas tanked ceasefire negotiations last month, leading to President Donald Trump saying the terror group “wants to die.” “They pulled out in terms of negotiation,” Trump said. “It was too bad. Hamas didn’t really want to make a deal. I think they want to die and it’s very, very bad. It got to be to a point where you’re going to finish the job.” Trump added that Hamas did not want to make a deal because they are down to the final 50 hostages and “they know what happens after you get the final hostages.” Witkoff said the ceasefire talks fell through because Hamas was not acting “in good faith.” “We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza,” Witkoff wrote. “It is a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way.” Over the past few days, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released videos of severely malnourished hostages, including one of Evyatar David, who the terror organization forced to dig his own grave. “This is the grave I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out,” David said in the video. Hamas has reportedly barred the Red Cross from delivering food to hostages unless Israel permanently opens humanitarian corridors and suspends all air traffic during such deliveries, the Jerusalem Post reported. The IDF has been finishing up its operation dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots” in recent weeks and has withdrawn its elite 98th Division, made up of paratroopers and commando units, along with two reserve brigades, reported the Times of Israel. The operation led to the IDF gaining control of approximately 75% of the Gaza Strip. Since the launch of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, 48 IDF soldiers have been killed.