Elon Musk weighing in on Trump staffing decisions: Sources
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(WASHINGTON) — In the days since Election Day, billionaire Elon Musk has emerged as an influential figure in President-elect Donald Trump’s orbit, offering input on staffing decisions and playing a significant role in shaping the future Trump administration, multiple sources tell ABC News.
Since Election Day, the world’s richest man has spent nearly every day at Mar-a-Lago with Trump, multiple sources tell ABC News.
But his presence stretches far beyond that, with sources telling ABC News that Musk is now weighing in on Trump’s staffing choices.
Musk was present for at least two phone calls the president-elect had with foreign leaders, sources told ABC News. During a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week, Trump even handed the phone to Musk so he could speak to Zelenskyy as well, sources told ABC News. Musk was also present a call with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sources said.
Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz speaks during the Vice Presidential debate in New York City, Oct. 1, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — During the first and only vice presidential debate of this election cycle Tuesday evening, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz admitted he “misspoke” about being in China during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
Walz has repeatedly claimed he was in China for the protests during his year-long stint as a high school teacher in the southeastern Chinese town of Foshan.
As recently as in February, Walz said during an episode of the podcast “Pod Save America” that he was in Hong Kong during the protests.
“I was in Hong Kong when it happened – I was in Hong Kong on June 4th when Tiananmen happened … Quite a few of our folks decided not to go in,” he said.
It appears Walz did not actually travel to the region until August 1989, according to local newspaper clippings obtained by ABC News. The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which led to a deadly government crackdown by the Chinese government, lasted from April 15 to June 4 that year — ending about two months ahead of Walz’s travel to the country.
Pressed to clarify news reports that disprove such claims, Walz said that he “misspoke” in his earlier claims but then reiterated that he “was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protest.”
While evading the question over whether he was telling the truth about the timeline of his travel, Walz defended his character by admitting he has gaffes, has “not been perfect” and is a “knucklehead at times.”
This marks another instance of Walz appearing to have misspoken about his past.
The Democratic vice presidential pick previously came under fire for his military record, with critics attacking the way he has characterized his experience and pointing out instances of him failing to correct inaccuracies.
In addition to Walz repeatedly saying that he retired with a rank he achieved but did not retire with, the Harris-Walz campaign admitted he misspoke when stating in 2018 that he carried weapons of war “in war.”
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(WASHINGTON) — Vice presidential nominees Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz will campaign in Arizona on Wednesday as early voting begins in a state that could decide the presidential race and control of the Senate.
Both Vance and Walz will hold rallies in Tucson on Wednesday. Vance will also participate in a town hall later in the day in Mesa hosted by the Conservative Political Action Conference, while Walz will hold an event in Chandler with Senate candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego and Jim McCain, son of former Republican Sen. John McCain.
With less than a month until Election Day, the race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris to win the battleground state remains tight. According to FiveThirtyEight’s latest forecast, Trump leads Harris by just over 1 percentage point in the state.
The Trump campaign said Vance will encourage Arizonians to vote early in this year’s election, a sharp departure from the rhetoric Trump used in 2020 when he questioned mail-in ballots and voting early.
Wednesday’s swing for Vance is his third visit to the state since becoming Trump’s running mate in July and Walz’s trip is his second since he was picked by Harris to be her running mate in August.
Harris and Trump will also visit Arizona later this week — Harris will campaign there on Thursday and Trump on Sunday.
In 2020, Trump narrowly lost the state to President Joe Biden by just over 10,000 votes. As ABC News has previously reported Trump attempted to pressure then-Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to overturn the results of the presidential race.
Trump dispatched former Vice President Mike Pence to pressure Ducey to find fraudulent votes in the state, and while Pence did call Ducey multiple times in the aftermath of the election, he did not follow those orders.
Speaking on the “Ruthless” podcast last Thursday, Vance shared that he feels good about the campaign’s chances in Sunbelt states such as Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina, but that more work needs to be done in the Rust Belt states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
Arizona’s first day of early voting also coincides with the Senate debate between Gallego and Republican Kari Lake in a race that will help decide which party controls the Senate in 2025.
Currently, Gallego leads Lake by just under 8 percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Lake, who lost the Arizona gubernatorial race in 2022, alienated many moderate Republicans by feuding with Ducey and upsetting supporters of the late Sen. McCain. Lake has also continued to deny the validity of the 2020 and 2022 elections but has changed how she approaches her campaign, trying to court those moderate Republicans she lost in 2022.
Ducey endorsed Lake in August, saying that too much is at stake in this election cycle.
“I will be voting for Republicans up & down the ballot in November — and both Donald Trump and Kari Lake have my endorsement,” Ducey posted on X. “Differences aside, there is too much on the line and only a Republican in the White House and a majority in the House and US Senate can ensure it.”
A spokesperson for Gov. Tim Walz did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment on this story.
(WILMINGTON, N.C.) — Former President Donald Trump is returning to the key battleground state of North Carolina on Saturday amid a major controversy revolving around North Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, who the former president had previously supported and called “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
Robinson, the sitting Republican lieutenant governor of North Carolina, allegedly posted inflammatory comments on a message board of a pornography website more than a decade ago, according to a report out Thursday from CNN.
Robinson is not expected to attend Saturday’s rally, though sources caution plans could always change. Trump has not given any indication that he intends to pull his endorsement of Robinson.
The controversy has become a new headache for Trump in the final stretch of the 2024 election cycle.
Trump has campaigned for Robinson multiple times this election cycle, including inviting him to speak at his rallies in North Carolina this year and hosting him at his Mar-a-Lago estate for a fundraiser last year. Also, Trump’s advisers are keenly aware just how important battleground North Carolina is for the former president’s victory in November.
People close to the former president told ABC News that they were bracing for the Robinson story on Thursday. Sources said the campaign was planning to put more distance between Trump and Robinson, but initially did not have plans to call on him to drop out.
“President Trump’s campaign is focused on winning the White House and saving this country. North Carolina is a vital part of that plan,” Trump campaign’s National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in a statement to ABC News in response to allegations about Robinson.
When it comes to winning North Carolina, the Trump campaign “will not take our eye off the ball,” Leavitt said.
Trump has yet to make any direct comment on the Robinson controversy. His running mate Sen. JD Vance dodged reporters’ questions about it on Thursday, later, in a post on X, he repeated attacks on Harris as his “comment on Mark Robinson.”
Among the controversial comments Robinson allegedly made online many years ago, according to CNN’s reporting, is one comment where he allegedly referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” CNN reports the comments were made by Robinson between 2008-2012 under the username “minisoldr” on “Nude Africa,” a pornographic website that includes a message board.
ABC News has not confirmed this reporting or the online username alleged to be linked to him.
Robinson has denied he made the comments and claimed the allegations were “salacious tabloid lies.” Defending his character, Robinson vowed to stay in the race as the deadline to drop out as a candidate in North Carolina approached on Thursday.
While Robinson’s alleged past comments online have received a lot of attention, so too have Trump’s past comments in support of Robinson.
“This is Martin Luther King on steroids,” Trump said at a rally in March 2024 while campaigning in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Taking the stage after Robinson’s speech, Trump said, “I told that to Mark. I said, ‘I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you are Martin Luther King times two.'”
Trump later said he was “outstanding” and set to “be the next governor” of North Carolina.
In December 2023, at a private Mar-a-Lago fundraiser supporting Robinson, Trump said people should “cherish” Robinson like a “fine wine.”
“We have to cherish Mark. We have to cherish him. It’s like a fine wine, because that’s what you have, you have a fine wine,” Trump said in a social media video posted by North Carolina politician Robert Ward, who attended the fundraiser.
Trump further called Robinson an “outstanding person” that he “got to know fairly quickly,” asking donors gathered at his property to donate to Robinson and to get out and vote because he has a “tough opponent.”
“You got to help him financially, because you all people that have a lot of money — I know, rich as hell. So anything you were going to do, quadruple it,” Trump said.
Trump campaigned with Robinson twice at his North Carolina rallies in August. In Asheville, on Aug. 14, Robinson was the final speaker of the pre-programming prior to Trump’s arrival, and Trump called him a “good man” and a “fighter” in a relatively short shout out.
“I want to thank a very good man, and he’s in there fighting,” Trump said about Robinson. “… We know he’s a fighter. The next governor of North Carolina, Mark Robinson. Thanks, Mark. This is Mrs. Robinson. Thank you. They’re a great, great couple. Thank you both.”
In Asheboro, on Aug. 21, Robinson did not speak on stage, but Trump gave him a shout out during his speech and briefly brought him on stage.
The Harris campaign has been capitalizing on Trump and Robinson’s relationship on social media, firing off a series of posts featuring Trump’s praising past comments on Robinson and calling them “best friends.”
On Friday, the Harris campaign released a new ad that seeks to tie Trump to Robinson, saying “they’re both wrong for North Carolina.”
The ad, which will air in North Carolina, features past clips of Trump praising Robinson. The 30-second spot also highlights Robinson’s hard-line comments on abortion.
The ad does not include the alleged comments and conduct outlined in CNN’s article.
ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
