An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 struck during a live TV broadcast in Chile’s northern city of Copiapó.
Chilean politician and presidential candidate, Carolina Toha, was speaking about her campaign proposals with two journalists when the studio began shaking.
The interview was cut short as all three quickly left the studio as the tremors continued, knocking down equipment on the set.
For more than a decade, China’s aspirational shoppers, spurred by a fast-growing economy and rising wages, snapped up products from cosmetics giants like L’Oreal, Estee Lauder, and Shiseido. Before the COVID pandemic hit, China appeared set to overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest makeup market.
Those boom times are over, as more Chinese consumers now turn to up-and-coming local brands, like Mao Geping and Florasis.
L’Oreal’s sales in Mainland China dropped last year, shrinking its overall North Asia sales by around 3%. The Chinese market, the bulk of the firm’s North Asia revenue, now accounts for 17% of group sales, down from 23% in 2022. The French firm continues to call China an important market, but has reportedly started cutting its retail workforce due to slower Chinese demand.
As China stagnates, L’Oreal is now looking to regions, like the Middle East and Southeast Asia, as a source of growth.
SAPMENA—L’Oreal’s term for “South Asia Pacific, Middle East, and North Africa”—will soon “play a much bigger role” when it comes to beauty, says Vismay Sharma, who oversees the region for the French cosmetics firm.
L’Oreal, No. 91 on Fortune’s Europe 500, reported sales of 1.1 billion euros ($1.19 billion) for the first quarter of 2025, up 12.2% year-on-year, across SAPMENA and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
That’s still small compared to other regions, sitting far behind Europe, North America and North Asia. But while SAPMENA-SSA only contributed9.2%of L’Oreal’s quarterly revenue, it was the only region to log double-digit growth.
SAPMENA covers a huge swathe of the globe, stretching from Morocco all the way down to New Zealand just under 19,000 kilometers away. The region’s 35 markets cover 3 billion people, or about 40% of the world’s population, yet only accounts for 10% of global beauty sales. “It has to come together, and eventually demographics have to win,” Sharma says.
SAPMENA’s quick growth doesn’t surprise Sharma. “The consumers in this part of the world are about 5 years younger than the rest of the world, live in aspirational societies and in economies that are growing fast,” he says.
China has proved to be a tricky market for global cosmetics firms post-pandemic. Sluggish China sales have dragged down the financial results of U.S. firm Estee Lauder and Japan’s Shiseido.
A sluggish economy and stagnant consumption are partly to blame. But there’s also new competition. “C-Beauty” brands are starting to pick up steam among Chinese shoppers, with new brands going viral on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and other social media platforms. (L’Oreal is paying attention, investing in local Chinese brands like To Summer)
Still, Sharma thinks China offers lessons for SAPMENA.
Southeast Asia, like China, has highly connected consumers who are used to e-commerce and livestreaming. For example, Sharma notes that over 50% of L’Oreal’s business in Vietnam comes from e-commerce.
This is less true of the Middle East and North Africa.
“When you look at the ecosystem of beauty over there, you still don’t have TikTok Shop. They’re still a few years behind platforms like Shopee, like Lazada,” he says.
Yet consumers in the Middle East share similar preferences to those in Southeast Asia. “Expectations for beauty are very similar. We can see aspirations in terms of kind of hair, skin, lips, and eyes,” Sharma says, pointing to a preference for longer black hair as an example.
That gives L’Oreal a chance to grow in the region. “Our ability to create content at scale in the GCC becomes a huge advantage,” Sharma says.
After the conclusion of the 100 backstroke tonight, all four stroke 100’s have come and gone in Indianapolis. The 100 freestyle and butterfly saw no surprises in top spot, as the #1 seed took the win, but the 100 breaststroke and backstroke tonight were far more open – especially after top seed Shaine Casas scratched the backstroke heats.
So, what does all this mean for Team USA’s 4×100 medley relay this summer? We looked at this before the start of the championships, but now know who will be on the team – and kudos to you if this was the quartet you had down.
Stroke-By-Stroke
Last year’s Olympic Trials featured a familiar face winning three of the four stroke 100s. Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink and Caeleb Dressel took the wins in backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly and were subsequently on the finals relay in Paris.
All three are skipping the National Championships and by extension worlds this year. This introduced a considerable amount of uncertainty, which came to the fore today – both of the event winners in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke are first time National Teamers this year.
Jack Alexy and Shaine Casas are a world-class back half, although of the four swimmers now projected to be on the relay only Alexy has swum on a summer medley relay before for the US.
Casas swam fly on the men’s relay at the 2024 Doha World Championships, splitting 50.99 at a meet where he was only 52.21 individually, so a 50-low could be on the cards. However, the swimmers that tend to benefit more from a flying start on fly are those with a strong second 50.
For Casas, who was out in 23.40 yesterday and 23.31 in his PB (50.40), there isn’t really half-to-three-quarters of a second to drop on the first 50. All of the swimmers in Paris who broke 23 on the way out have 50 PBs at least three-tenths faster than Casas, other than Ilya Kharun, who can bemuch quicker than 23.09 (or even his unofficial 22.93) in the 50.
However, by forgoing the 100 backstroke he has made his intentions clear that the 100 fly will be a focus. He’s 4th in the world so far this year, is quick enough to be in the World final and he can without a doubt be 50-flat on this relay. He will need to be.
McKean is the bolter of the squad, dropping over two seconds in the last 12 months. He has one swim under the 1:00-barrier, one swim under the 59-second barrier, is #T-6 all-time with Eric Shanteau among US men and the second-fastest man in the World so far this year.
It’s hard to believe all that comes from the same swimmer, and by virtue of his rapid rise will be the least predictable part of this relay. He was no worse than his flat -start time on relays at Junior Pan Pacs last year, splitting 1:01.15 and 1:00.35 after going 1:01.13 individually.
He is precisely the kind of swimmer who will benefit from the need-for-speed first 50 on a flying split. He had a wicked second 50 tonight of 31.29 and was 31.63 this morning. The first of those is about on par with peak Nic Fink, and it would not be a shock if he was in the 58-mid range at Worlds.
Tommy Janton is probably the shock of the Championship so far. He was 8th at last year’s Olympic Trials, setting his previous best of 53.61 in the semi-finals, and snuck into tonight’s final by just over a tenth.
The outside smoke paid off for him as he was around half a second faster tonight on both 50s, splitting 25.61/27.39 to go 53.00, a big drop, but that is the slowest national Champion since 2015 when Nick Thoman went 53.23.
For Championships held in years where a National Team was selected, this was the slowest winning time since David Plummer won the 2008 Olympic Trials in 53.60.
For the US, who in World and Olympic finals have hit the wall at the end of the backstroke leg no lower than third since the 2001 World Championships (when they were DQed), this year will come as a shock.
There are five countries who should comfortably touch the wall ahead of the US after leg 1 this year. All have swimmers who have been under 52.5 in the last 12 months.
If either of Poland or Hungary make the final you can add them to the list as well. The breaststroke leg will be a gauntlet for McKean to run, likely starting in the wash of swimmers much bigger than he is, unsurprising given the age difference.
Jack Alexy is the one bona-fide 100m star on this relay, #6 all-time in freestyle and the fastest man in the last five years not named David Popovici or Pan Zhanle. He is the fastest man in the world so far this season, and the only one under 47 seconds
There is of course a caveat with him too – he has been better individually than on relays at his two major long course meets, and his best-ever split (47.00) is a hundredth slower than his flat-start best.
He changed that at Short Course Worlds, over half a second faster on the relays than his gold-medal-winning time from the individual final. Now on his third international team in a row, he’s got the pace and the power to fight through the wash on the final leg.
Even with the star power of Alexy, the U.S. will almost certainly not have the fastest of any of the four legs in the final. They have had at least one in every summer final since 2015.
In Paris, for the first time since the boycotted 1980 Moscow Games, the United States did not win the 4×100 medley relay at the Olympics. China were champions there behind Pan Zhanle’s 45.92 freestyle split, and will return three of their four legs from last year, with the fourth (butterfly) looking stronger with Chen Juner on after he was 51.03 at Chinese Nationals.
Russia will also return to the World stage under the guise of ‘Neutral Athletes B’, and look like the only nation to potentially challenge China this year. Their National Record was recently broken – by the St Petersburg team, not the National Team – at the recent Russian Championships in 3:28.49. Notably, that did not feature Kliment Kolesnikov or Andrei Minakov.
By the look of things the U.S. will be in a scrap for bronze. Their add-up from Trials here is 3:29.64 – the slowest it has been since 2018. With France, Great Britain, Italy and Australia all in the fight as well, they will be glad of the World’s experience of Jack Alexy and Shaine Casas.
Once again, we’ll have a brief look back at the drops that the medley relay team has made from their Trials add-up, and a very rough prediction for what they may go in Singapore.
Here was what the gaps look like between the add-up from the top four at Nationals and the relay times swum later that summer since 2000.
The Numbers
Fastest three flat-start times of the four stroke 100 champions:
Fastest international three relay splits of the four stroke 100 champions:
Flat-start add-up (last 24 months):
Flat-start + relay split add-up (last 24 months):
You can tell this is a very new relay team – not one has a flying split faster than their flat-start best.
The medley relay team is one of the most consistent at dropping time – they have done so at every major summer meet in in the 21st Century
And then just for fun, here are the U.S. Nationals/Trials to summer relay drops since 2000 based on location. The circles get darker as the year gets later, and any hollow circles indicate a negative drop – that is, an increase.
A 2025 study in the UK revealed that the country loses the equivalent of 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools of drinking water every day due to leaks and ageing infrastructure. In a world where increasingly frequent droughts and extreme weather events make it harder to guarantee a stable and reliable water supply, technology has become a vital ally in improving the efficiency of sanitation and distribution networks. In this article, we highlight some of the latest innovations helping to monitor and protect infrastructure that often remains invisible to the average city dweller.
Technological solutions that safeguard every drop of water
Progress in the sector spans both software—such as artificial intelligence and big data—and hardware, including robotics, sensors and IoT-based technologies.
Robotic inspectors supporting sewerage networks
One example comes from northern Spain, where ACCIONA has deployed drones and robotic dogs to inspect Bilbao’s sewer network, starting with a pilot across eleven kilometres of pipes. The drones are equipped with high-resolution cameras, while the robotic dogs boast 360-degree vision and artificial intelligence, enabling them to detect blockages, leaks and structural defects even in hard-to-reach areas.
These technologies not only improve the accuracy of inspections but also enhance safety by reducing the need for human operators to enter hazardous environments. They provide real-time data, allow potential faults to be identified early, and help optimise resources — all of which contributes to more efficient and sustainable maintenance.
Joey, pipe inspections on wheels
A similar initiative, though at an earlier stage of development and focused on water distribution systems, is the Joey robot. This small autonomous vehicle weighs just 70 grams and uses rotating legs to move through pipes, identifying leaks or structural issues along the way. Joey forms part of Pipebots, a collaborative project involving UK universities and water providers, which envisions swarms of robots eventually being deployed by a larger “mother” robot known as Kanga.
Acoustic sensors that detect leaks in real-time
Robots and drones are not the only tools making a difference. One particularly effective solution in the UK involves acoustic sensors installed along water distribution networks. One utility has placed more than 24,000 of these sensors across 15,000 kilometres of pipework, cutting water losses by 15%—the equivalent of 17 million litres saved each day. These sensors detect minute changes in the sound of flowing water, allowing leaks to be identified the moment they occur.
The countless applications of AI
As noted, innovation in water management is not limited to hardware. Artificial intelligence offers wide-ranging applications in the sector. We recommend this article, which explores how AI can help reduce chemical use in water treatment, predict leaks before they happen, and improve energy efficiency in water pumping systems.
Digital twins for infrastructure (and rivers)
Another software-driven solution, supported by IoT sensors, is the use of digital twins. These virtual models replicate sanitation infrastructure and enable monitoring, simulations and interventions using AI and immersive reality tools. In addition to use in built infrastructure, digital twins of rivers can be developed to forecast flooding and manage other river-related risks.
If you are interested in learning more about the potential of digital twins, check out this in-depth article on their features and applications.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist, 32, was arrested in February as she tried to leave Russia, where she had been playing basketball in the WNBA offseason.
She testified in court that she used prescribed cannabis oil to treat pain from sports injuries, but had forgotten the cartridges were in her luggage when she hastily packed for her trip.
US diplomats are under intense pressure to negotiate a prisoner swap for Griner and Paul Whelan, who was arrested in 2018 and accused of being a spy.
Speaking to reporters at the White House after Tuesday’s midterm elections, President Joe Biden said there had been a number of discussions to try to secure Griner’s release.
“I’m hopeful that now that our election is over there’s a willingness to negotiate more specifically with us,” Biden said. “I’m determined to get her home and get her home safely.”
Advocates say the Americans are being kept as political pawns by the Kremlin amid the ongoing fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We are thankful for everyone’s support, and hope that as we near nine months of detention, that BG and all wrongfully detained Americans will be shown mercy and returned home to their families for the holidays,” Colas said.
Hallwood Media has promoted Tal Meltzer to the role of Chief Operating Officer.
Meltzer previously served as Senior Vice President, Head of A&R and Business Affairs, where he was “a key architect in building the company’s record label and publishing divisions.”
He also led the expansion of Hallwood’s A&R and Marketing teams.
In his new role, Meltzer will be based Hallwood’s West Hollywood headquarters, and will report to CEO Neil Jacobson.
Prior to joining Hallwood, Meltzer spent a decade as a writer and producer, reportedly working with artists such as Fergie, Julia Michaels, and Cash Cash.
In his newly expanded role, he will oversee Hallwood’s operations.
Commenting on the promotion, CEO Neil Jacobson said: “Tal’s deep understanding of both the creative and operational sides of our business has been instrumental to our growth.”
“Tal’s deep understanding of both the creative and operational sides of our business has been instrumental to our growth.”
NEIL JACOBSON, HALLWOOD MEDIA
Jacobson added: “His leadership and vision will drive our continued success as we innovate in the music industry.”
Meltzer commented: “I’m incredibly excited to take on this role and continue contributing to Hallwood’s future.”
Meltzer added: “I’ll always be grateful to Neil for his unwavering belief in me and his mentorship throughout my career.
“Hallwood is a truly special place — an independent company that moves fast, adapts, and creates real opportunities for the world’s most talented musicians.
“I look forward to pushing boundaries and redefining what a modern music company can be.”
“I look forward to pushing boundaries and redefining what a modern music company can be.”
TAL MELTZER, HALLWOOD MEDIA
Neil Jacobson was the long-time Geffen Records boss in Los Angeles, before exiting the UMG label in 2019 and launching Hallwood Media in 2020.
Hallwood Media started out as a producer management division under Geffen Records in 2013. Jacobson spun out the unit in 2020 when he exited the company.
Hallwood has since expanded its scope to include management, recordings, distribution, publishing, merchandise, and ventures.
Jacobson is known for representing producers and songwriters Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, Bruno Mars, Harry Styles), Emile Haynie (Lana Del Rey, Eminem) and Brendan O’Brien (Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam).
The exec was behind a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) called The Music Acquisition Corporation (TMAC), which floated on the New York Stock Exchange in February 2022 under the ticker symbol TMAC.U, raising $230 million in the process. The SPAC filed to liquidate early in October 2022.Music Business Worldwide
Jannik Sinner downs Novac Djokovic to reach maiden French Open final against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3) to set up a French Open final against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic is the men’s record 24-time Grand Slam champion but could not counter Sinner’s relentless accuracy and pounding forehands on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Friday evening.
Sinner became only the second Italian man to reach the final at Roland-Garros after Adriano Panatta, the 1976 champion.
Sinner is aiming for his fourth major title, Alcaraz his fifth.
Djokovic fought back in the third set but wilted in the tiebreaker, somehow missing an easy smash at the net to trail 3-0 and then lost on the second match point he faced when his forehand hit the net.
“These are rare and special moments,” Sinner said. “I’m very happy.”
He extended his winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments to 20 matches after winning the US Open and the Australian Open.
Djokovic was bidding for a record-extending 38th Grand Slam final, and eighth in Paris, where he was won three times. But he spent much of the semifinal camped behind the baseline, sliding at full stretch and grunting loudly while Sinner sent him scurrying left and right like a windscreen wiper.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic speaks with umpire Damien Dumusois during his semi final match against Italy’s Jannik Sinner [Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters]
A cross-court two-handed backhand winner from Sinner in the ninth game of the third set was executed with such pure timing that it drew applause even from Djokovic.
Sinner gave him almost no chances, but there was a glimmer of light in the 10th game, when Djokovic had four chances to break Sinner’s serve.
The crowd broke out into prolonged chants of “Nole! Nole!” as Djokovic forced two break points at 15-40.
Sinner saved both. Tensions were rising.
The crowd started self-policing when a couple of rowdy fans shouted out as Sinner prepared to serve, telling the offenders to “Chut!” (French for shush).
Djokovic’s forehand landed wide on his third break-point chance, making it deuce. The chair umpire, Damien Dumusois, came down to check the mark. Djokovic disagreed and walked over, saying, “It’s on the line.”
Then Sinner came to the net and had a brief discussion with Djokovic, who lost the point but won the next with an overhead smash for a fourth set point, saved again by Sinner.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI was closing in on a $5bn debt financing package to fund new data centres and chips to power its business. Then on Thursday the world’s wealthiest man torpedoed his relationship with US President Donald Trump.
Musk’s bankers at Morgan Stanley must now contend with this new complication as would-be investors try to assess the fallout from the dramatic unravelling of Musk’s ties to the president, according to people briefed on the matter. The debt could be more expensive too, they added.
Before the two men launched into a war of words — which included Trump’s threat to rip up Musk’s government contracts — investors had placed more than $4bn of orders for the deal.
Lending money to an AI venture belonging to the president’s “first buddy”, as Musk referred to himself, also looked like a solid bet.
The enthusiasm was drawing Morgan Stanley close to the finish line on the debt raising, with big name investors such as TPG in tow.
The interest was so high that Morgan Stanley had floated the prospect that xAI might lock in cheaper financing than they had initially pitched.
But that pricing is now up in the air, with some investors wagering xAI may have to pay up to lock in the financing.
The multibillion-dollar borrowing package is still expected to be split between fixed- and floating-interest rate loans as well as a corporate bond, and a person briefed on the matter said the $5bn capital raising was still on track.
Bankers had earlier in the week debated reducing the coupon on the bonds and fixed-rate loans from 12 per cent to 11.5 per cent, while the floating-rate loan was expected to price with an interest rate 7 percentage points above the benchmark floating interest rate.
“This makes it even harder,” one person conducting due diligence on the deal said of Musk’s fallout with Trump. “You need government support for that whole ecosystem, not just for this. It has to have some impact on . . . people’s comfort level with supporting it.”
xAI management met investors on Thursday as the two men locked heads on social media, sharing projections for the company’s business and its growth prospects.
Morgan Stanley had pitched the debt to large credit shops who could place orders of at least $100mn and had targeted many of the same investors who had agreed to buy loans from xAI’s sister company, social media site X, earlier this year, several people said.
In a sign of the effect the kerfuffle was having on Musk’s businesses, prices on X’s debt slid to about 96 cents on the dollar from more than 99 cents a day earlier.
Even before the spat, Morgan Stanley had faced some investor pushback. Lenders had raised concerns with the documents that underpin the deal, requesting that xAI buttress a number of traditional safeguards that are offered to investors. Those include the amount of incremental debt xAI can take on as well how much cash it can pay out to its investors.
Others had raised questions about the intellectual property that secures the loan package and the value of the collateral. The debt is also secured by data centres xAI is building.
Some investors had signalled they would walk away from the deal if their concerns were not met, which could diminish how much money xAI is able to raise or increase its interest burden. Morgan Stanley is working towards a deadline of June 17 to hammer out these terms.
xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Morgan Stanley and TPG declined to comment.
Investors who have been conducting due diligence on the debt said xAI was lossmaking and revenues were small. But their investment thesis is in part underpinned by the company’s equity valuation and their belief xAI will begin to sell lucrative corporate contracts to use its technology.
“It’s a product that will probably be one of the winners of commercial AI,” one lender said. “On the consumer side OpenAI has a big lead but on the commercial side they can be a material player and that will be worth a lot more than $15bn to $20bn.”
The Financial Times reported on Monday that xAI was launching a $300mn share sale that would value the group at $113bn.
Nonetheless, some creditors have complained about the limited data that has been shared so far.
People familiar with the deal said that Morgan Stanley was keeping a tight yoke on access to the data room and on calls with management. One person added that a slide deck xAI provided ahead of a management presentation to investors on Thursday had roughly 10 or fewer slides.
“It was really pretty fugazi and I say that as a lover of the xAI data room,” the person said, using a slang term for phoney.
“It’s all fantasy, it’s an idea,” a second person said of the presentation. “They are spending money, not making money yet.”
Watch: How Trump and Musk’s break-up played out in real time
The feud between two of the world’s most powerful billionaires shows no sign of ending after the US president claimed on Friday that the richest man in the world had “lost his mind”.
Even though observers have long speculated that Donald Trump and Elon Musk would eventually fall out, few predicted the speed and ferocity with which their social media beef erupted.
A phone call that was reportedly due to happen on Friday didn’t, and Trump is reportedly considering selling the red Tesla that he purchased from Musk’s company in March. Their falling out over US government spending could have far-reaching implications for American industry.
Since Musk pledged his full-throated support for the president following an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania less than a year ago, the political and business interests of the two men have become increasingly intertwined.
In several key areas – including political funding, government contracts and their personal relationships – the two men have come to rely on each other, meaning ending the alliance is likely to be messy.
That complicates the fallout from their rift and ensures that, wherever the row goes from here, they will continue to be linked – and have the potential to hurt each other in multiple ways.
Campaign funding
Over the course of the last year, Musk’s donations to Trump and other Republicans have been enormous – totalling $290m (£214m) according to the campaign finance tracking site Open Secrets.
Musk claimed on Thursday that the president won the election because of him, and complained about “ingratitude”.
There’s an obvious counterexample. Earlier this year Musk shovelled $20m into a key judicial race in Wisconsin, however, his chosen Republican candidate lost by 10 percentage points in a state Trump won last November.
Still, Musk’s donations are a huge chunk of money that Republicans will miss as they try to hold their congressional advantage in the midterm elections in November 2026.
It may have been a problem they were facing in any case. Musk has previously said he would contribute a “lot less” to campaigns in the future.
But could the bust-up with the White House prompt Musk not just to withdraw but throw his money behind opposition to Trump?
He hinted as such on Thursday when he posted a poll on X with the question: “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?”
Government contracts and investigations
Watch: How Trump went from Tesla owner to critic to seller
Musk’s companies including SpaceX, its subsidiary Starlink and Tesla do a huge amount of business with the US government.
Trump realises this gives him leverage over the world’s richest man.
He posted on Truth Social on Thursday: “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
Musk threatened to retaliate by decommissioning SpaceX’s Dragon, which ferries astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. But he later backed down from that threat.
In practice, cancelling or withdrawing from government contracts would be a complicated and lengthy legal process, and for now and some time to come, the US government is likely to continue to do a significant amount of business with Musk’s companies.
No other company other than SpaceX can make Dragon and Falcon 9 rockets, and Nasa has committed to a number of space station and moon missions using SpaceX craft.
Despite those commercial partnerships, Musk and his companies also face investigations from a number of government agencies – more than 30, according to a February report by the New York Times – and regulatory issues such as approval for Tesla’s proposed driverless taxis.
People inside government and Silicon Valley
When Musk was given the task of setting up the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) as one of Trump’s key drivers of change inside the US federal government, he was given broad scope to choose his own staff.
According to leaked lists of Doge employees, many of them previously worked for Musk’s companies. And even though Musk left Doge a week ago, many of the staff remain in their government jobs.
Some Doge employees also have deep ties to the Trump camp. Katie Miller – who worked in Trump’s first administration and is married to the current White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller – was Doge’s spokesperson.
However, CNN reported that Mrs Miller also left the government last week and is now working “full time” for Musk.
There are others in the Trump administration whose loyalties may be tested by the feud. David Sacks, who Trump named as his top advisor on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, is close to Musk, having worked with the tycoon decades ago at PayPal.
On X, many Silicon Valley executives along with Maga-world influencers were picking sides and parsing each of the back-and-forth messages posted by the president and the world’s richest man.
Polling firm YouGov carried out a snap survey on Thursday asking people who they would side with. The results indicated 70% of Republican respondents said Trump, compared to less than 1 in 10 who chose Musk.
