Britain wants to get close to Trump. Will Elon Musk stand in the way?
#News #UK
It was not the start to 2025 that Keir Starmer wanted or expected: in the early hours of New Year’s Day, Elon Musk lobbed a series of angry posts and allegations towards the British prime minister, engulfing his government in a very public fight.
In the days since, the world’s richest man has dredged up a painful, years-long scandal over grooming gangs and pushed for the release of Tommy Robinson, an imprisoned far-right agitator with a swelling social media following.
The tech billionaire, who played a prominent role in US President-elect Donald Trump’s election campaign, has posted or reposted on X about child sex abuse cases in the UK more than 50 times this week.
He has called for Starmer and his safeguarding minister to be removed from power, for new elections to take place, and even for King Charles III to unilaterally dissolve parliament – something which hasn’t happened for nearly two centuries and would cause a constitutional crisis.
The topics represent the latest fascination of Musk, but his vexation is not new – as Trump’s inauguration nears, the X owner has intervened with increasing ferocity in European politics and hailed far-right figures on the continent. He has repeatedly condemned the European Union’s institutions and policy decisions, and Italy’s president has warned him to stop meddling in the country’s affairs.
Musk now poses a delicate new challenge for Britain’s political leaders. Starmer is taking great pains to charm Trump, while also hoping to hold back at home the growing influence of Reform UK, a populist, anti-immigration party that Musk has endorsed.
And the row may already have burnt Nigel Farage, the Reform leader who had been openly working to secure Musk’s financial backing – but whom Musk turned against on Sunday, after Farage failed to endorse his stance on Robinson.
Can Musk be ignored?
Musk’s tussles with Starmer’s Labour government did not begin this week.
He had previously called Britain a “police state” over its crackdown on far-right rioters, who sparked violent clashes on the country’s streets during the summer. He has long derided Starmer on his platform, and more recently hailed Reform UK, which since its founding in 2018 has capitalized on public frustration with the country’s two major parties and now rivals each of them in opinion polling.
He has prodded other European politicians too; in the past week the German government has accused Musk of attempting to influence the country’s February election, through his support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The group been accused of resurrecting Nazi-era ideology and slogans, and its youth arm has been designated by German authorities as an extremist organization.
Now, Musk’s growing infatuation with Tommy Robinson has positioned the billionaire as an idol for Britain’s online far-right community. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was jailed for 18 months in October after he admitted to being in contempt of court by repeating false accusations about a Syrian refugee.
For most in Westminster, Musk’s anger – like much online trolling – remains little more than a sideshow.
One Labour MP told CNN they were “looking forward to the great Musk vs Trump estrangement.” The lawmaker added that, while using Musk’s platform, they have “noted the usual post-New Year energy from the right wing who are frustrated. It’s unseemly but that’s populism for you.” A handful of lawmakers have discussed whether they would stop using X over concerns about content moderation.
But privately, some Labour MPs are asking themselves an obvious question: why us? Unlike in Germany, there is no impending parliamentary election through which Musk can exert his influence. An election is not due to be held in Britain for more than four years, and Labour’s government is relatively unpopular but, in parliamentary terms at least, rock solid.
And for Starmer, Musk can’t be entirely ignored. The prime minister has so far resisted taking Musk’s bait – the billionaire has accused him of failing to act against grooming gangs while director of public prosecutions – but MPs will eventually want to see him take a stronger stand, to protect his ministers from torrents of online abuse. (Musk has repeatedly this week called for Starmer’s safeguarding minister, Jess Phillips, to be imprisoned – on Saturday calling her “pure evil” and “a wicked creature” – for prioritizing a local inquiry in Oldham over a national inquiry, a policy approach which is not a crime.)
“Musk and others must not be given oxygen in their attempts to undermine (the) government, elected by the British people — it is for them alone to critique,” another Labour MP told CNN. “It is clear that (his) increasing interest in UK politics must be recognised, not least (given) how social media is being used to manipulate the electorate,” they added.
At the same time, the United States is Britain’s closest and most important ally – and Musk seems to be, for now at least, the closest and most important ally of its incoming leader.
Labour is desperate to build trust with the Trump administration; the government being shunned by the president-elect would only work in Farage’s favor, and there is huge economic incentive in working with Trump on, for instance, exemptions from his tariff regime.
The comments of Starmer’s ministers reflect that dilemma. In a tip-toeing remark, health secretary Wes Streeting told reporters on Friday: “Some of the criticisms that Elon Musk has made I think are misjudged and certainly misinformed, but we’re willing to work with Elon Musk, who I think has got a big role to play with his social media platform to help us and other countries to tackle this serious issue.”
A delicate dance for Britain’s right
It remains unclear how much influence Musk will have on Trump’s decision-making – particularly on foreign policy, which is firmly outside his official remit as a co-head of the new Department of Government Efficiency.
But his remarks are already having some impact in Britain – exposing the fault lines in a deeply divided and unusually malleable political landscape.
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, reactively called on X for a “long overdue… full national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal.”
But her authority on the issue, as with so many others, is limited by her own involvement in an ousted but deeply disliked Conservative government. That government had, indeed, commissioned a years-long inquiry into child sexual abuse, which concluded in 2022. But the probe’s leader subsequently criticized the former government’s response to her findings, which included a key recommendation that reporting of child sex abuse should be mandatory.
The long hangover of the Conservative era has allowed Farage to position his movement, with some success, as the “real” opposition in Britain, and Musk’s growing interest in Reform represents an opportunity for Farage to further his standing.
The populist leader predictably condemned Badenoch’s comments and has attached himself to most of Musk’s remarks. He talks openly about hoping for financial backing from Musk, ahead of a round of local elections in May in which Reform is on pace to perform well.
“He will help us enormously because he’s a hero figure, especially for the youth who really do admire this man,” Farage said of Musk on the GB News channel on Friday. “He’s helping us because he has given us an understanding of how we did it in America. And that’s very useful to us.”
But there were dangers for Britain’s populist rabble-rouser, too. Echoing Musk’s support for Robinson was a bridge too far for Farage, who told GB News: “(Musk) sees Robinson as one of these people that fought against the grooming gangs. But of course the truth is Tommy Robinson’s in prison not for that, but for contempt of court.”
“We’re a political party aiming to win the next general election. He’s not what we need,” Farage said of Robinson.
And soon after, Musk appeared to have turned his back on the leader. “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes,” Musk posted on Sunday.
“Well, this is a surprise! Elon is a remarkable individual but on this I am afraid I disagree,” Farage responded. “My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform and I never sell out my principles.”
For leading politicians across Britain’s ideological divide, Musk brings a heady mix of opportunity and risk.
His tendency to fawn over far-right figures won’t find much popular support in a country that, unlike some European nations, has not seen the emergence of a serious, extreme right-wing political movement – a fact Farage will remember even if he continues to push for the US magnate’s financial backing.
But in government, outwardly shunning Musk is not yet an option. The delicate nature of Starmer’s relationship with Trump may depend on keeping the billionaire at arm’s length – for as long as that remains possible.
#ElonMusk #US
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Egypt to present 'vision' to rebuild Gaza without displacement
Egypt has said it is working on a "comprehensive vision" for the reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza Strip that guarantees Palestinians the right to stay on their land, unlike the proposal put forward by US President Donald Trump.
The Egyptian foreign ministry said it hoped to co-operate with the Trump administration to reach "a just settlement of the Palestinian cause".
It followed Trump's meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah on Tuesday, where he doubled down on his plan for the US to take over Gaza and permanently move the two million Palestinians living there to Jordan, Egypt and other locations.
Abdullah said every Arab state rejected the idea, and that Egypt would present an alternative.
The UN has warned that any forced displacement of the territory's population would be illegal under international law and "tantamount to ethnic cleansing".
It comes amid growing concern that the fighting in Gaza could resume, after Israel's prime minister warned Hamas it would end the ceasefire if the Palestinian armed group "does not return our hostages by Saturday".
Benjamin Netanyahu issued the ultimatum after Hamas said it was postponing freeing more hostages until further notice, claiming Israel had violated the terms of the ceasefire deal.
Sitting alongside King Abdullah at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said there had been "great progress" on his proposal to take over Gaza.
"With the United States being in control of that piece of land... you can have stability in the Middle East for the first time," he told reporters. "And the Palestinians, or the people that live now in Gaza, will be living beautifully in another location."
When pressed by the reporters to comment on the plan to force the Palestinians to relocate to Jordan, King Abdullah said: "We have to keep in mind that there is a plan from Egypt and the Arab countries."
Later, the king wrote on X that he had "reiterated Jordan's steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank" during the meeting, adding: "This is the unified Arab position."
Trump had said before the meeting that he could "conceivably" halt aid to Jordan and Egypt if they refused to co-operate with his plan and take in displaced Gazans.
Not long after the king's remarks, Egypt's foreign ministry said it hoped to co-operate with the Trump administration to reach "a just settlement of the Palestinian cause".
"In this context, Egypt affirms its intention to present a comprehensive vision for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, in a manner that ensures the Palestinian people stay on their land, and in line with the legitimate and legal rights of this people," it added, without giving any details.
President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi also told Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a phone call on Tuesday that the reconstruction of Gaza must happen "without displacing Palestinians", his office said.
It was not immediately clear when Egypt would present its alternative Gaza plan.
Cairo is due to host an emergency Arab summit to discuss the "serious" developments for Palestinians on 27 February, while King Abdullah said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had invited Arab leaders to Riyadh at an unspecified date.
Sisi was also given an open invitation by Trump to visit the White House during a phone call earlier this month. However, Egyptian security sources told Reuters news agency on Wednesday that Sisi would not travel to Washington if the agenda included Trump's plan.
Abeer Barakat, a Palestinian teacher in Gaza City, told the BBC she believed Trump's plan was "impossible to achieve" but that it had infuriated people.
"We worry that Jordan and Egypt are going to bend from Trump's threats," she said.
Palestinians fear a repeat of the Nakba - the Arabic word for "catastrophe" - when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven from their homes before and during the war that followed the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
Many of those refugees ended up in Gaza, where they and their descendants make up three quarters of the population. Another 900,000 registered refugees live in the occupied West Bank, while 3.4 million others live in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, according to the UN.
Asked by reporters on Monday if the US would force Palestinians to leave Gaza, Trump replied that "they're all going to want to leave". He also said in an interview that Gazans would have no right of return because he was "talking about building a permanent place for them".
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
More than 48,220 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Most of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times, almost 70% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.
#news #Israel #Gaza #Egypt #Palestinian #territories #DonaldTrump #Jordan #UnitedStates
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Arab nations reject Trump’s call to relocate Gazans to neighboring countries
A key group of Arab nations have said they “firmly” reject any efforts to resettle or evict Palestinians from Gaza, after US President Donald Trump said he wanted to “clean out” the enclave and move its population to neighboring countries.
The foreign ministers of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt issued a wide-ranging statement Saturday, saying they hoped to work with Trump on a two-state solution in the Middle East.
But they pushed back on Trump’s suggestion to relocate Palestinians from Gaza. Without specifically referencing the president’s proposal, the ministers reiterated a commitment to rebuilding the enclave while ensuring “the continued presence of Palestinians in their homeland.”
The nations “firmly rejected any actions that threaten these rights, including settlement expansion, forced evictions, home demolitions, land annexation, or the displacement of Palestinians through direct expulsion or coerced migration,” they wrote after a meeting of the foreign ministers in Cairo.
In January, Trump said he had spoken with the king of Jordan about potentially building housing elsewhere in the Middle East and moving more than 1 million Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries.
“I said to him that I’d love you to take on more, because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “You’re talking about a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing.”
“I don’t know, something has to happen, but it’s literally a demolition site right now,” Trump said. “Almost everything’s demolished, and people are dying there, so I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing in a different location where I think they could maybe live in peace for a change.”
The statement from the Arab foreign ministers touched on a range of topics relating to Gaza’s reconstruction, as the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel allows the region to assess the impact of a brutal 15-month conflict.
The group hailed “the important role played by the United States in facilitating the deal,” for which both Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden have sought credit.
They also “called for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and rejected any attempts to partition the Strip,” and pointed to the “indispensable role” of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees or UNRWA, two days after Israel’s ban on the agency went into effect.
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Trump’s memo signed at the White House seeks to punish the law firm Covington & Burling days after it was revealed that the firm provided pro bono legal services to Smith, who charged Trump in two criminal cases that were later dismissed after Trump won back the presidency in November.
#US #News
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In Gallup’s most recent poll, only 38 percent of Americans voiced a favorable view of the Democrats, the party’s worst showing in at least three decades. Quinnipiac University, meanwhile, pegs approval of congressional Democrats at just 21 percent, an all-time low. And some of this disdain is coming from inside blue America: Only 40 percent of Democratic voters are “satisfied” with their party’s approach to fighting Donald Trump, according to Quinnipiac; in CNN’s polling, that figure is 22 percent.
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#News #ElonMusk #Trump #USA
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How Trump is laying the groundwork for rejecting the election result if he loses
Mr Trump has repeatedly told his supporters to make sure the Democrats don't cheat in this year's election - just one example of how he is trying to undermine confidence in the legitimacy of the very democratic process in which he is competing.
Next week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago will be characterised by a mood of relief among delegates.
The switch of candidate from the aged Joe Biden to his vice president Kamala Harris has put the party back in contention in this year's general election, when it seemed set to be flattened by Donald Trump's re-election bid for the presidency.
It still looks like a close race. And even if Ms Harris wins the vote she may not become president.
Much may also hang on how strongly Democratic candidates lower down the ticket perform. It may fall to the US Congress to uphold the constitution.
If Mr Trump "loses" to Ms Harris there are still arguably legitimate ways in which he could end up back in the White House.
Trump loyalists are already preparing for this fight - egged on with carefully unspecific rhetorical encouragement in rambling comments of the man himself.
Whether Mr Trump's protests against his defeat in 2020 amounted to a "Big Lie" or evidence of a "Big Steal", as a majority of Republicans now claim, he is preparing to do it again, if he loses.
At the very least America would be plunged into political and legal chaos, again, for months after the approaching election on 5 November.
It could be much worse. This month President Biden told CBS he is "not confident at all" that there will be a peaceful transition if Ms Harris is elected president.
"Now if I don't get elected it's gonna be a bloodbath," Mr Trump told an audience in March, leaving it ambiguous whether he was only talking about the prospects for the car industry there in Dayton, Ohio.
Lesser politicians are clumsier.
Republican Ohio state senator George Lang apologised after declaring: "I'm afraid if we lose, it's going to take a civil war to save this country."
He did not withdraw his praise for "Bikers for Trump" or the slogan "Fight! Fight! Fight!", also mouthed by Mr Trump, fist aloft, after the assassination attempt on his life.
How Trump could win with the least votes - again
To win the presidency the successful candidate does not necessarily have to get the most votes from the people.
The victor needs the support of a majority of the electoral college - at least 270 out of 538.
Technically the election votes decide the make-up of the college, state by state. Membership does not directly reflect the views of the overall US population.
Republican nominees defeated in the popular vote, including Mr Trump and George W Bush, have become US president in three of the last seven elections.
In 2000, the dispute over Florida went to the US Supreme Court, which ruled in Mr Bush's favour. Since then Mr Trump has made three appointments which have tilted the court in his favour. The justices are likely to back him if there are any legal disputes.
Former president trying to sow seeds of chaos
Mr Trump repeatedly tells his rallies that they have to do two things - they have to vote and they have to make sure that the Democrats don't cheat.
This is just one example of how he is trying to undermine confidence in the legitimacy of the very democratic process in which he is competing. He is laying the ground in advance to challenge the results if they do not go in his favour.
The strategy is a familiar one in modern US campaigns, first formulated by the Republican strategist Roger Stone as "Stop the Steal" back in 2016, in case things did not go Mr Trump's way.
They did and at the end of his presidency, Mr Trump commuted Stone's prison sentence for lying to Congress. As shown in the recent TV documentary, A Storm Foretold, Stone was bitterly disappointed that he did not get a full pardon but he has endorsed Mr Trump again in this campaign.
If Mr Trump loses the vote he may still have successfully spread chaos and confusion which calls the results into question.
There are then potential legal routes at state level and subsequently in Congress, which could even overturn the result in his favour.
This year, election officials have until 11 December to certify the results in their state.
#news #USElections
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