25 h. ago Musk and Trump are enemies made for each other – united in their ability to trash their own brands | Jonathan Freedland

What one did to Twitter and Tesla, the other is doing to the United States of America. Their feud is revealing a fatal flaw in the Maga projectThe scriptwriters of Trump: the Soap Opera are slipping. The latest plot development – the epic falling-out between the title character and his best buddy, Elon Musk – was so predictable, and indeed predicted, that it counts as the opposite of a twist. Still, surprise can be overrated. Watching the two men – one the richest in the world, the other the most powerful – turn on each other in a series of ever-more venomous posts on their respective social media platforms has been entertainment of the highest order. X v Truth: it could be a Marvel blockbuster.But this is more than mere popcorn fodder. Even if they eventually patch things up, the rift between the president and Musk has exposed a divide inside the contemporary right, in the US and beyond – and a fatal flaw of the Trump project.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnistDo you have an...

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5 d. ago Elon Musk caps off DOGE exit by leaving Trump and Johnson unpleasant parting gift

Analysis: Musk’s deficit comments give conservatives the political cover they’d need to defy Trump and the White House, writes John Bowden

Politics

2 w. ago Trump administration accepts jet from Qatar for possible use as Air Force One

Plane offer set off a firestorm of bipartisan criticism of Trump and raised questions about Qatar’s motivesUS politics live – latest updatesThe Trump administration has accepted the controversial gift of a Boeing 747 jetliner from the government of Qatar, and directed the air force to assess how quickly the plane can be upgraded for possible use as a new Air Force One.The offer of the jet has set off a firestorm of bipartisan criticism of Trump, particularly following the president’s visit to the country last week to arrange US business deals. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Qatar prime minister says $400m gifts are ‘normal’ between friends, following Trump jet criticism

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani dismissed accusations that the move was being used by Qatar to curry favor with the president and his administration to seek benefits for the country

Politics

2 w. ago Trump threatens to sue ABC – again – for criticizing him over $400m jet gift from Qatar

Trump issued his complaints about the news station’s coverage of the $400 million jumbo jet

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3 w. ago Bill Maher slams Trump for planning to accept plane as gift from Qatari royals

‘You know, when you travel, you like to leave with a souvenir, right? So he got a $400 million plane,’ Maher says of Trump’s Middle East trip

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3 w. ago MIKEY SMITH: 10 deeply weird Donald Trump moments in 24 hours as he brands generals 'f******g losers'

Donald Trump is wrapping up his three day 'corruption 2025' tour of the Middle East - coming home with a bunch of deals on the table, but also a $400m grift jet that even Qatar apparently didn't want

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3 w. ago Hillary Clinton breaks silence on Trump’s controversial $400m Qatari jet

Former presidential rival warns Republican that no one gives away such an expensive gift ‘without expecting anything in return’ amid ethics uproar

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3 w. ago Qatari prime minister makes audacious claim about $400 million luxury jet gifted to Trump... as even MAGA allies raise alarms

Legions of Trump's own supporters, including high-profile MAGA personalities and Republicans, have led criticism against a proposed deal.

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3 w. ago Newsmax host defends Qatar’s gift to Trump then admits he’d ‘definitely criticize’ Biden for the same thing

‘I will say, I would definitely criticize Joe Biden if he cut the exact same deal, and I would criticize Joe Biden if he was about to get a $400 million plane from Qatar,’ Rob Finnerty said on Tuesday night

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3 w. ago Lions, horses and things of value: Other gifts given to US presidents as Trump faces heat over $400m jet

Poised to accept a $400 million Qatari jet, Donald Trump isn’t the only U.S. president who has been sent gifts from foreign leaders, writes James Liddell

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3 w. ago What Trump’s ‘palace in the sky’ gift from Qatar reveals | Moira Donegan

This kind of behavior from the Trump administration has gone on for so long that it is hard to rouse the media to cover itIt certainly looks as if policy is for sale in the Trump administration. After all, the president’s primary domestic policy deputy, Elon Musk, gained his position in the administration more or less by purchasing it: he is the richest man in the world, and the primary funder of Trump’s last presidential campaign, and it is seemingly by this virtue – does he have any others? – that Musk has been granted the authority to dismantle large swaths of the federal bureaucracy.This is something of a pattern for Donald Trump. In his first term, it became de rigueur for foreign dignitaries to stay at Trump’s hotel on trips to Washington, a practice long perceived to be a way of currying favor with the president by spending money at his businesses. Trump funneled money to his hotel business from domestic sources, too: when Secret Service agents were required to stay at Trump’...

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3 w. ago Donald Trump praises Syrian leader as ‘attractive guy, tough guy’ as trip continues in Qatar – US politics live

US president met Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia before heading to Doha amid growing controversy over Qatar luxury plane gift The meeting between Donald Trump and Syria’s president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia was the culmination of months of diplomacy by the Syrians, as well as their Turkish and Saudi allies, who believed face time with Trump would help end Syria’s international isolation, writes William Christou.Damascus had prepared a pitch to Trump that included access to Syrian oil, reassurances of Israel’s security and a proposal to build a Trump tower in Damascus. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Trump touches down in Qatar amid controversy over luxury jet gift and hopes for Gaza ceasefire

President Donald Trump arrived in Qatar Wednesday amid a controversy about its gift of a new Air Force One and amid hopes he can broker an Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Politics

3 w. ago ‘Why wouldn’t I accept a gift?’ stumped Trump asks amid Qatari jet furor

President Donald Trump apparently has no idea what could possibly be concerning about accepting a $400 million gift of an Air Force One replacement from Qatar, the bankroller of Hamas who might look for a favor in the future in return.

Politics

3 w. ago Trump meets leaders in Qatar amid backlash at home over plane gift: Live

President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed a defense sales deal worth nearly $142 billion, as the White House says it has secured $600 billion in Saudi investment

Politics

3 w. ago Donald Trump complains Air Force One 'much smaller and less impressive' than Middle East planes

President Donald Trump on Tuesday again defended his decision to accept the gift of a luxury jet from Qatar to serve as Air Force One during his remaining years as president.

Politics

3 w. ago Converting Trump's Qatari jet gift into Air Force One could cost $1billion and take years, experts say

Donald Trump has sparked outrage by accepting a luxury gift from the Qatari royal family in the form of a 747 jumbo jet, with experts warning the conversion process could take years

Economics

3 w. ago Democrats and Republicans speak out on Trump’s plan to accept $400m ‘gift’ plane from ‘Hamas

For President Donald Trump, accepting a free Air Force One replacement from Qatar is a no-brainer.

Politics

3 w. ago Trump 2.0 takes quid pro quo fears to new heights with $400m flying grift

Accepting a ‘gift’ of a luxury jet from Qatar is just the most eye-catching of the president’s ethically questionable actsUS politics live – latest updatesFox & Friends, the show beamed into millions of rightwing Americans’ homes every morning, is not generally considered to be the place where Donald Trump faces the tough questions. The “& Friends” in the show’s title gives that away.But on Monday morning, the show’s co-host Brian Kilmeade put the billion-dollar question to the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. News had just broken that Trump had decided to accept a gift of a $400m luxury jumbo jet from the government of Qatar, a petro-state which the president once denounced as a “funder of terrorism”. Continue reading...

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