- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- Under-fire Ten Hag 'together' with Man Utd hierarchy
- Guardiola talks of Man City love affair as financial hearing rumbles on
- De Bruyne out of Belgium Nations League squad
- Japanese trainer Yahagi hopes Shin Emperor achieves 50-year-old Arc dream
- UK's Starmer hails 'landmark' carbon capture funding
Musk to deliver 'drastic' cuts to Trump government
Elon Musk's fervent support for Donald Trump in the upcoming US election could extend far beyond incendiary tweets and campaign cash if the former president returns to the White House.
The world's richest person has become increasingly present in Trump's campaign, essentially putting his personal X account, with its nearly 200 million followers, at the candidate's service.
Following a second apparent assassination bid on Trump Sunday, Musk questioned why Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden have been spared such attempts on their lives. He later deleted the post.
Musk has also used his personal account to endorse the unfounded conspiracy theory that a community of Haitian immigrants in Ohio had been stealing and eating the predominantly white population's pets.
- Role in a Trump admin -
Less publicized is Musk's agreement with Trump to lead a special commission on reducing federal spending, which would implement "drastic reforms," according to the former president.
The idea originated from a freewheeling conversation between Musk and Trump broadcast on X in August. Musk proposed a "government efficiency commission" to ensure taxpayers' money would be well spent.
Trump embraced the idea, praising Musk as "the greatest cutter," in reference to the Tesla and SpaceX founder's ruthless approach to running his companies.
"When your employees stop working, you say 'That's OK... every one of you is gone,'" Trump said admiringly of Musk.
While Trump didn't name the company, the reference was clearly to Musk's 2022 takeover of Twitter, which he later renamed X.
In that acquisition, Musk eliminated 75 percent of staff, retaining only those willing to abide by his "hardcore" workplace ethos.
The mass layoffs decimated its content moderation teams and ushered in Musk's reign over the platform, leading to a rise in misinformation and an exodus of advertisers.
- No 'rule by fiat' -
According to the New York Times, the two men have had regular conversations about Musk's workplace philosophy, with the hope that the multi-billionaire can impose it on the US government in a second Trump administration.
When asked on the "All-In" podcast if this meant cutting as much as 5 percent of federal staff annually (about 150,000 workers), Musk replied, "I think we'd need to do more than that."
He declined to be more specific, claiming doing so would put him at risk of being "assassinated," but said that workers would have time to find new careers.
"The number of disgruntled workers, former government employees will be quite a scary number," he added ominously.
Public policy scholars cautioned that Musk may be overestimating his potential influence.
In the United States, the power to cut government jobs lies with Congress, which controls the government's purse strings.
"Our system doesn't allow that concentration of power into any one office or any one individual that allows them to just rule by fiat the way that Musk can do at X, Tesla or SpaceX," said Casey Burgat, director of the legislative affairs program at George Washington University.
However, others worry that a second Trump administration could reset the rules, especially now that a conservative-led Supreme Court has the final say over the laws of the land.
The nine-member top court is now dominated by conservatives, including several Trump appointees, and has made recent decisions increasing the powers of the White House.
Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor at Syracuse University, suggests that Trump could decide to "do whatever he wants and let somebody file a lawsuit and bring it to the Supreme Court, who have been pretty favorable to Trump on matters of executive power."
- No fouls? -
Neither Trump nor Musk seem to be bothered by questions of conflict of interest, which are glaring to many observers.
Musk's diverse businesses are deeply intertwined with government, whether as a supplier to NASA in the case of SpaceX or as a subject of regulation as with Tesla, which often faces scrutiny over safety issues.
Trump, meanwhile, has a history of appointing family members to top government positions and faces regular accusations of overlapping his business interests with his role as a public servant.
Enforcing conflict-of-interest rules requires the political will of Congress, which Burgat said did little against obvious breaches in the first Trump administration.
"There's no umpire calling fouls here," Burgat told AFP.
M.Gameiro--PC