Author: Stephanie Gauthier

One of Walmart’s heiresses, billionaire Christy Walton, drew the ire of the Trump camp and its supporters by calling on Americans to take part in the vast “No Kings” protests held on June 14.

Billionaire Walmart Heiress Promotes Nationwide Anti-Trump Protests

— Forbes (@forbes.com) 2025-06-11T11:32:26.160Z

Her message was featured in a full-page ad in the New York Times, where she issued a strong warning to Donald Trump ahead of the upcoming protests.

These anti-Trump protests, in all 50 states, were held on the same day as the big military parade organized by the Trump administration to celebrate the army’s 250th anniversary, a date that also coincides with Donald Trump’s birthday.

As tensions between Walmart and Trump intensified in recent months, the administration imposed tariffs that prompted Walmart to announce an inevitable price hike due to decisions made from the Oval Office. Furious, Trump had reacted on Truth Social by threatening the company with the words “EAT THE TARIFFS”. Joe Pennington, Walmart’s global press director, quickly clarified to Forbes that the ad paid for by Christy Walton was not “endorsed by Walmart”.

Despite this, calls for a boycott of Walmart quickly emerged on social networks, particularly on X, where many people strongly challenged Christy Walton and the company itself. This mobilization also provoked reactions in Trump’s entourage, notably from Roger Stone, Representative Anna Paulina Luna (Republican from Florida) and White House Special Advisor Kari Lake.

Whether MAGA supporters like it or not, these massive demonstrations, with over 1,800 protests across every state, sent an unequivocal message to Donald Trump.

According to CNN, Amazon has informed its employees of its intention to significantly reduce its human workforce in the future, relying increasingly on artificial intelligence to take over.

Amazon is warning its employees that artificial intelligence will help the company have a smaller workforce in the future.Read more: cnn.it/3FZVFuP

— CNN (@cnn.com) 2025-06-17T20:45:34.487Z

This announcement, made by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy via a blog, marks a major change to come in the way work will be done within the company: “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today”.

Although no specific date has been given for their implementation, these changes are expected to take place “in the next few years”, according to the CEO.

Jassy also asserts that what he calls “AI Agents” will be deployed very quickly, adding: “Make no mistake, they’re coming, and coming fast”.

The CEO then invited employees, in his blog post, to consider these AI Agents as “useful” “helpful” colleagues, specifying that they will become “smarter” “wiser” as they gain experience.

This message from Amazon only serves to heighten concerns, at a time when many experts predict that artificial intelligence will profoundly disrupt the job market in the years to come, by massively automating tasks in areas such as sales, logistics or customer service.

With millions of jobs at risk of disappearing, companies are betting on these “AI agents” to take over, a revolution that promises greater efficiency, but also raises real social concerns.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has confirmed that their MQ-9 drones were deployed to the protests in Los Angeles, at the request of the Department of Homeland Security headed by Secretary Kristi Noem under the Trump administration.

NEW: The CBP confirmed to @404media.co that it has been flying Predator drones over LA amid the protests. These Predator B drones are military-caliber UAVs used for aerial reconnaissance that can be armed.It further breaks the seal on federal involvement in civilian matters. More here:

— WIRED (@wired.com) 2025-06-13T16:02:09.649Z

CBP maintains that its drones are not used to directly monitor protesters in Los Angeles.

According to 404 Media, and as reported by Wired, the official justification put forward for deploying the drones is that they are used to “ensure officer safety when requested.”

These devices, designed for high-altitude surveillance, are generally reserved for military or border control missions.

Their use in a protest context raises serious concerns about the militarization of law enforcement and respect for the privacy of American citizens.

It should be remembered that although few details have been provided on the precise use of these drones in the context of the Los Angeles protests, the same devices had already been deployed during the demonstrations that followed the death of George Floyd.

Their use continues to draw criticism over the use of military surveillance technologies in the context of protests protected by the First Amendment, and reinforces calls for greater transparency over the use of these military drones for purposes of population control.

Trump seems to have finally found a worthy opponent: California governor Gavin Newsom isn’t hesitating to confront him head-on, calling him “unhinged” and also accusing him of behaving like a dictator.

Trump is ‘not all there,’ Newsom says amid Los Angeles fight.

— Politico (@politico.com) 2025-06-12T14:59:33.682Z

While the two men clash in court, the governor of California has sued the Trump administration for deploying the National Guard in Los Angeles without the state’s consent.

The complaint filed by the governor denounces a violation of the US Constitution, accuses Trump of abuse of power for political purposes in connection with the anti-ICE protests, and asks the court to block the operation while reaffirming states’ rights in the face of federal interference.

But the confrontation is also being played out in the media and on social networks, where Gavin Newsom openly criticizes Trump and his policies, which he compares to those of authoritarian regimes.

The governor condemns the deployment of the Marines on American soil, the threats of arrest against him and the mayor of Los Angeles.

Newsom accused the president of deliberately manufacturing the crisis in Los Angeles and called his threats of arrest “the actions of a dictator”.

He also asserted that he would “stand firm” in the face of Trump’s actions, embodying a resistance that many expect from Democratic elected officials in the face of the Trump administration, while the president asserts for his part that Newsom should thank him for sending the National Guard to Los Angeles as backup.

Since these events, the right-wing and several MAGA media outlets seem to be lashing out at Gavin Newsom, who is striking back blow for blow. The question now arises:

Is Gavin Newsom the future of the Democratic Party, or just a flash in the pan?

To everyone’s surprise, Donald Trump has decided to remove Christopher Hanson from his position as Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

A top nuclear safety regulator was fired by the White House in a two-sentence email Friday night.He says his firing is illegal.

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost.com) 2025-06-16T17:55:32.523Z

According to the Washington Post, Hanson learned the news through a brief email, a method now common in the Trump administration.

He says he was fired for no good reason, even though the position is supposed to be neutral and independent of politics.

In a move aimed at consolidating its authority over independent federal agencies, the Trump administration is criticizing the NRC for what it sees as its restrictive standards, perceived as an obstacle to the rapid deployment of small nuclear reactors.

This dismissal is part of a broader strategy linked to Trump’s recently unveiled energy agenda, centered on US “energy dominance”.

The decision drew widespread criticism, with some seeing it as a serious attack on the independence of regulatory institutions. Among them, the director of nuclear safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists accuses the administration of compromising the safety of the US nuclear fleet.

The year 2025 is proving to be a difficult one for SpaceX, which has just suffered the ground explosion of its rocket during a static test, while the company was conducting tests in preparation for the tenth test flight since the program began in April 2023.

Another SpaceX rocket explodes in new setback to Elon Musk’s Mars project

— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2025-06-19T10:31:36.854Z

The Star ship 36 explosion occurred in Texas at around 11pm local time, during its second static firing test.

A gigantic fireball was observed, and spectacular images of the incident were captured on video.

Prior to this spectacular explosion, Ship 36 had already carried out two cryogenic pressurization tests, as well as a single-engine static firing, according to NASA.

Prior to this explosion, SpaceX had already suffered seven major incidents since the program’s launch in April 2023, with explosions or total losses on test flights 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9.

These failures, mainly due to engine failures, fuel leaks or anomalies during the re-entry phase, testify to the persistent technical challenges of the Starship project aimed at Mars exploration.

Just a scratch

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 19, 2025

Elon Musk reacted briefly to the situation on X, calling the incident a “scratch”.

Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he wants to step up the immigration crackdown by ordering ICE to intervene in other Democrat-run cities.

NEW: President Trump has ordered ICE to "expand efforts to detain and deport" undocumented immigrants in Democratic-run cities.

— Axios (@axios.com) 2025-06-16T01:50:24.645Z

The directive follows a series of ICE raids in Los Angeles, which sparked major protests and fueled rising tensions, compounded by the deployment of the National Guard without the approval of California authorities.

On Truth Social, Trump said that to achieve the goal of deportations, ICE must step up its efforts to arrest and deport people without legal status in America’s largest cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

Trump maintains that the people targeted by his deportation policies are found by the millions in cities run by Democrats, citing the presence of “millions and millions of illegal immigrants”.

Trump maintains that these operations must target strategic Democratic strongholds, while he accuses Democrats of seeking to exploit the votes of “illegal aliens” to “cheat at the polls”.

Trump said he had mobilized all possible resources to support his mass deportation effort.

This massive deployment of operations to deport illegal immigrants, ordered by the President, comes at a time when, according to Axios, ICE has already exceeded its budget by more than a billion dollars.

Confronted with protests against ICE and its anti-immigration policies, Donald Trump has hardened his aggressive rhetoric against protesters, the mayor of Los Angeles and California governor Gavin Newsom.

Protests have intensified in Los Angeles following President Donald Trump's order to deploy the National Guard.Authorities and demonstrators have clashed in the Los Angeles area, with unrest beginning last week after dozens of people were detained by federal immigration agents. cnn.it/4kZYcUB

— CNN (@cnn.com) 2025-06-09T02:33:10.529Z

Over the weekend, Trump ordered the deployment of the National Guard without the governor’s approval, referring to the protesters as “paid insurrectionists”.

In an unprecedented about-face, Trump even expressed the wish that members of the U.S. Army Navy be sent to Los Angeles against the protesters, placing 500 Marines on high alert.

The protests erupted in response to a series of coordinated ICE raids in Los Angeles, which were seen as particularly aggressive. Gatherings of protesters quickly formed in the neighborhoods targeted by these operations, notably in Compton.

The anti-ICE protests were quickly labeled by Donald Trump as “migrant riots”, claiming that Los Angeles had been “invaded and occupied by illegal aliens and criminals”.

On Truth Social, he declared that the demonstrators were not mere protesters, but troublemakers and “paid insurrectionists”, calling for their immediate arrest.

Tensions came to a head when some of the demonstrators provoked violent clashes with law enforcement, accompanied by acts of vandalism, fireworks and vehicle burning.

The situation calmed down slightly during the day on Monday, according to local authorities, before flaring up again. For Governor Gavin Newsom, Donald Trump’s actions are only fanning the flames of an already extremely fragile situation.

Interviewed by ABC News and CNN, Trump visibly tries to reduce their breakup to the billionaire’s sudden instability, even claiming that he doesn’t think about him at all anymore, despite the humiliation inflicted when Musk publicly accused him of being in the Epstein Files.

President Donald Trump told CNN this morning that he is “not even thinking about” billionaire Elon Musk and won’t be speaking to him in the near future.“I’m not even thinking about Elon. He’s got a problem. The poor guy’s got a problem,” Trump said. Read more: cnn.it/4kU0BjJ

— CNN (@cnn.com) 2025-06-06T12:42:15.582Z

In the aftermath of their public clash on their respective social networks, Trump claims that he’s already stopped thinking about Musk, and that although Musk is, in his view, trying to contact him, he has little desire to talk to him.

When asked by an ABC News reporter if he had a call scheduled with Elon Musk in the next few hours, Trump countered by calling the billionaire a man who has simply “lost his mind”.

“You mean the man who’s lost his mind?”, Trump reportedly retorted to the reporter before asserting that no, he wasn’t at all interested in talking to him before changing the subject.

On CNN , reporter Dana Bash, who met with the president several hours after the explosive events, reported that he was no longer thinking about Musk at all, and even described him as someone with a problem…

“Poor guy’s got a problem,” Trump reportedly quipped.

For now, Trump seems to be faring better than Musk, whose personal fortune, as well as that of his companies, has melted by billions of dollars in real time during their public feud.

Meanwhile, journalists who managed to obtain statements from Trump were visibly careful to avoid any questions about the accusations launched by Musk, who had notably suggested that the president was featured in the Epstein Files, a presence which, he claimed, would explain the non-disclosure of certain classified documents by Trump’s close allies, no less…

Donald Trump has broken his silence in the face of Elon Musk’s fierce criticism of his “Big beautiful bill”, saying he was “very disappointed” and claiming he would have preferred Musk to attack him rather than his bill: “I’d rather he criticize me than the bill.”

BREAKING: President Trump says he's 'very disappointed' in Elon Musk's attacks on the GOP spending bill, suggests he's bitter about losing the electric vehicle mandate."I've helped Elon a lot."

— NBC News (@nbcnews.com) 2025-06-05T16:32:18.652Z

Donald Trump seemed visibly surprised by the billionaire’s reaction, claiming that his revolt was only explained by the presence in the bill of the electric vehicle measures (EV mandates), which offered favorable tax credits to Tesla.

He adds that Elon Musk has known for a long time that these provisions were part of the text and claims that “Elon knew all along.”

While, according to NBC News, the president claims to have “always liked Elon” and enjoyed a “great relationship” with him, Musk’s characterization of his bill as a “disgusting abomination” seems to have been the last straw, and that Musk might be suffering, in turn, from “a form of Trump Derangement Syndrome”… or TDS.

Trump is now hinting that their friendship is probably in jeopardy.

But…

Whatever.

Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.

In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful.…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

The billionaire was keen to close the subject by reaffirming his own reading of the situation, suggesting that the relationship between the two men is well and truly broken.

Musk, who invested millions of dollars in the 2024 election to support Donald Trump, followed up his comments with a message…

…claiming that “without him”, Democrats would have control of the House and Trump would have simply lost the election.

“Without me, Trump would have lost the election,” Musk asserts.

Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

It’s hard to say whether this verbal jousting will end there…

…as Trump seems to take Musk’s criticism as a direct attack against his mandate, while Musk openly claims his decisive role in the Republican victory.