Congressional Republicans are openly attacking Elon Musk like never before after the billionaire Tesla founder claimed President Trump is "in the Epstein files" and even called for him to be impeached.
Why it matters: It's a stunning fall from grace for a man who flexed so much influence over Republican lawmakers just weeks — even days — earlier.
The slow-motion train wreck end of President Trump's relationship with Elon Musk on Thursday cost both men significant sums of money.
Why it matters: Both have vast business empires, but they each have one public company, and investors dumped both as their social media war spiraled into personal attacks.
President Trump's new travel restrictions mean widespread concern for the substantial Haitian population in Massachusetts.
Why it matters: Over 80,000 Haitian immigrants reside in Massachusetts. Community leaders say Bostonians with ties to the island are confused and fearful that the new ban cuts off access to family members and visits to their homeland.
Elon Musk's bitter public breakup with President Trump has included an undeniable fact: the world's richest man contributed more than any other billionaire donor to support Republicans in 2024 — by a lot.
Tesla shares plunged Thursday as the relationship between Elon Musk and President Trump imploded and Trump suggested canceling Musk's government contracts.
Why it matters: The threat escalates their real-time breakup and threatens to deliver a serious blow to the wealth of the world's richest person.
For marketers and communicators of all types, the digital economy is driving an insatiable demand for content. The pressure has become so intense that some employees have resorted to creating "rogue" content that can threaten companies' reputations and customers' experiences.
Elon Musk declared all-out war on President Trump Thursday, writing on X: "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate."
Why it matters: The public breakup between Trump and Musk — a key adviser who spent nearly $300 million to support the president's campaign and Republicans in 2024 — has escalated dramatically.
The big picture: The Tesla CEO initially seemed to leave the Trump administration on a good note and was expected to remain one of the president'smost influential outside advisers. That no longer appears to be the case.
President Trump suggested he could cancel billions of dollars of government contracts with Elon Musk's companies, accusing his former adviser and biggest political donor of going "crazy."
Why it matters: The close relationship between two of the most powerful men in the world is imploding in real time, triggered by Musk's scathing criticism of Trump's signature legislation.
Elon Musk posted a poll on X on Thursday asking followers whether they support the idea of a new political party to take on the Republicans and Democrats.
Why it matters: The richest man in the world is publicly feuding with the most powerful man in America, whom he spent record-setting sums to elect. We're about to find out what Musk is prepared to do about it.
Lux Capital's Josh Wolfe at the Axios AI+ Summit. Photo: Axios
Many venture capitalists are alarmed by the Trump administration's cuts to academic research, at Harvard and beyond, given that such funding has helped forge such foundational technologies as the internet and gene editing.
Why it matters: P&G's wide range of brands — including Bounty paper towels, Tide detergent and Old Spice deodorant — makes the company a bellwether reflector of broader economic issues.
U.S. goods imports plummeted in April, per data out Thursday, as President Trump's tariff policies rocked the global trade system.
Why it matters: The decline is a sharp reversal of the front-loading effect the previous month, when firms raced to import stuff before the tariffs took hold.
Anduril, the defense tech startup led by Palmer Luckey, announced Thursday that it's raised $2.5 billion in new venture capital funding at a $30.5 billion valuation.
Why it matters: This gives Anduril a repriced stock to make acquisitions.
A plurality (47%) of Americans think it's inappropriate for companies to publicly comment on political or social issues, according to a recent CLYDE/Ipsos survey.
Yes, but: 6 in 10 say companies have a responsibility to speak out on issues that may affect their employees, and roughly half say they should speak out on issues that affect customers.
As United Airlines' executive vice president of communications and advertising, Josh Earnest is responsible for sharing how the airline differs from its competitors.
Why it matters: Much of the job is spent protecting the brand amid ongoing crises — from COIVD-19 groundings, to the Boeing quality control issues, to the recent air traffic challenges at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of United's hubs.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee on Thursday blocked their Democratic colleagues' second attempt to force Elon Musk to testify before Congress.
Why it matters: Democrats felt they had even better standing to compel the Tesla founder and former Trump lieutenant's testimony now that he is out of government.
Elon Musk's X is piloting a new program to use its Community Notes feature to highlight posts where people of typically differing opinions actually agree with each other, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The goal is to build momentum around opinions that are widely shared, which could help make conversations on and off X less polarizing.
Record capitalis flowing into energy despite lots of geopolitical tension and economic uncertainty, but the picture varies among technologies, a new global analysis finds.
Why it matters: The International Energy Agency's investment report tallies regional and source-specific trends at a time when the world remains badly off pace for reaching Paris Agreement goals.
The European Central Bank cut interest rates by a quarter-percentage point for the eighth time this cycle on Thursday, the latest attempt to help a euro area economy hit by the President Trump's trade war.
Why it matters: Trade negotiations between the U.S. and the European Union have been rocky, with just weeks to go before each side unleashes higher tariffs.
Coign, a self-described credit card "built for conservatives," claims to have launched the first fully AI-generated national television commercial, at least in the financial services industry.
Why it matters: Hyper-realistic AI videos flooded the internet after the release of Google's Veo 3 tool last month. Now, signs are emerging of a potentially massive disruption to the $250 billion TV advertising industry.
President Trump issued a proclamation Wednesday restricting the entry of people from a dozen countries into the U.S., citing national security concerns.
The big picture: Trump's order states that he has decided to "fully restrict and limit" entry from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
