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Axios What's Next

GM CEO Mary Barra asked about competition from Tesla

GM CEO Mary Barra, facing an aggressive timeline to launch a self-driving taxi fleet,  tells "Axios on HBO" they won't deploy the technology until it is safer than a human driver. 

Why it matters: In a largely self-regulated industry, it is up to carmakers to demonstrate when self-driving cars are ready for deployment. The race to be first means the buzz and hype have often gotten ahead of the reality.

Tesla, for instance, claims it will have a million self-driving robotaxis by next year.

"We want to be safe. And so that's what's motivating us," Barra tells "Axios on HBO." "We understand this is life-changing technology."

What's happening: GM's self-driving unit, Cruise, set a 2019 target to launch robotaxis "at scale" in San Francisco, but that timetable already seems in jeopardy.

Test vehicles have faced various technical glitches, according to one report in The Information (subscription required), including an embarrassing failed demonstration for the CEO of Honda, a Cruise investor, in April.

Though not unusual for technology still in development, the reported problems underscore the challenge of deploying self-driving cars following early hype-fueled advancements.

GM's own message has changed over the past year, from telling investors it is "on track" for commercial launch in 2019 to "we'll be gated by safety." (Company officials say the timeline hasn't changed.)

On "Axios on HBO," CEO Mary Barra says the most important thing is making sure the technology is ready to drive on its own, without a backup safety driver.

Waymo, the Google spinoff that is Cruise's biggest competitor, launched a commercial ride-hailing service near Phoenix last December called Waymo One. But riders who summon a Waymo van still have a backup safety driver in the front seat.

"If you can demonstrate that your technology is safer than a human driver, that's what we think then makes it acceptable to put out on the road," Barra said.

Even without a safety driver, GM's first AVs for public use will likely be equipped with a steering wheel and pedals because the U.S. Department of Transportation hasn't acted on its request for an exemption of motor vehicle safety laws that require manual controls. 

While not committing to a launch date, Barra says she doesn't regret the 2019 target: "It's a rallying cry. And I think it's been motivational."

What we're watching: While Cruise continues to improve the technical capabilities of its cars and weighs the timing of their deployment, GM could draw lessons from the problems faced by scooter companies in San Francisco.

Companies like Bird and Lime were booted off the streets and only allowed to return by applying for highly regulated permits from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

The bottom line: While weighing whether its self-driving technology is ready, GM must also consider whether consumers are ready to ride in a car when no one's behind the wheel. 

Exclusive: GM CEO Mary Barra on the race to be first with self-driving cars

A plan to deploy a robotaxi fleet by the end of 2019 already seems in jeopardy.

Transportation

Autonomous vehicles

Business

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

Social conservatives say they've gotten more from President Trump than from any other president. And a lot of it will last.

The big picture: Activists and advocates are happy with Trump’s policies. They are thrilled about his judicial confirmations. But what has really sent them over the moon, they say, is the way he talks about them and their issues — loudly, constantly and without reservation.

What they’re saying: “If I could just pick one, I would pick Trump every time. I would pick Trump over any other president in terms of his energy and his commitment and his follow-through,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List.

Trump has overseen a hard push to the right on abortion, LGBTQ rights and religious accommodations. Some of that, you might expect from any Republican president — but Trump has repeatedly upped the ante, going further than even his supporters expected.

One big example: Moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to move to Jerusalem, which had been a talking point on the right for years.

Evangelical voters "are not only not disappointed that they backed Trump, they will likely back him and support him in even higher numbers in 2020," said Ralph Reed, the founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition.

Some advocates said they couldn't imagine Mitt Romney or John McCain going as far as Trump has.

Even George W. Bush doesn’t measure up, some advocates said, even though he — unlike Trump — was personally a member of the religious right. 

On abortion, Trump reinstated and expanded the so-called “Mexico City policy,” which says international organizations that receive U.S. funding cannot “perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning."

He eased Obama-era rules designed to protect Planned Parenthood’s funding.

His administration recently banned the use of fetal tissue in government-funded medical research.

On LGBTQ rights, Trump reversed the Obama administration’s decision to let transgender troops serve in combat.

The White House is planning to roll back Obama-era rules that require adoption agencies receiving federal funding to serve same-sex parents.

The administration has changed a legal interpretation so that it would no longer be a violation of federal civil rights law for doctors to discriminate against transgender patients.

A similar reinterpretation also cleared away nondiscrimination rules for housing.

What’s next: Some of Trump’s executive actions will likely only last as long as his administration. In many cases, he has reversed Obama-era policy decisions — some of which reversed Bush-era policy decisions, and which the next Democratic president could simply reverse again.

But Trump’s ability to reshape the courts will help him build a longer-lasting legacy in other areas — especially abortion.

Bush replaced one moderate Supreme Court justice who had voted to uphold Roe v. Wade — Sandra Day O’Connor. 

But the true sea change didn't come until Trump replaced the last remaining swing justice, Anthony Kennedy, enshrining a solid conservative majority for years.

And the Senate has confirmed wave after wave of federal appeals judges, which will pull the courts to the right nationwide and shape the kinds of rulings that make it to the high court. 

“That’s the most transformational thing he could possibly do, and we’ll be living with that for generations," Dannenfelser said.

Between the lines: Social conservatives supported Trump in 2016 — they weren’t that worried about how he would govern. And they knew Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would prioritize judges.

But, partly because Trump wasn’t a part of the community in his personal life, they weren’t necessarily expecting him to go all in for them. That part has been a surprise.

Dannenfelser noted that a big chunk of Trump's most recent State of the Union address was devoted to abortion, and praised the fervor with which he attacked Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam over an abortion bill in the state.

The bottom line: “It's been a stellar record," Reed said.

Trump’s trump card: Social conservatism

They say they've gotten more from Trump than any other president.

Illustration of President Trump hugging an elephant trunk

Politics

Donald Trump

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman hosted a special ceremony Sunday to dedicate a new town in the Golan Heights called "Ramat Trump," or "Trump Heights" in English. The only problem is that for now, this is only a "paper town," meaning it does not yet exist and is not even in planning stages. 

Why it matters: This is a public relations stunt meant for a domestic audience on the eve of the upcoming elections. It's also significant for foreign policy reasons, intended for a target audience of one — President Trump. Trump's recognition of the Golan Heights in March gave a dramatic boost to Netanyahu's election campaign. Netanyahu will need Trump's help again soon with the new September 17 elections looming. 

Details: Netanyahu took the whole Israeli cabinet to the Golan Heights today and stated the cabinet will pass a resolution to establish the new town. But the cabinet resolution that passed actually said the government couldn't make a decision like that during an election period. 

So what was actually decided is that the Ministry of Housing will start preliminary planning work. For now, there is not even a fund allocated to build the new town. 

But what Netanyahu and his people did do was place a huge sign with the name of the new town in the spot the town might be located sometime in the future. Netanyahu and Ambassador Friedman unveiled the sign in front of the cameras and praised Trump. 

It did the trick. Several hours later, Trump tweeted: "Thank you Prime Minister Netanyahu and the state of Israel for this great honor."

Go deeper: Countries around the world criticize Trump's Golan announcement

Israel's Netanyahu inaugurates non-existent 'Trump Heights' town in the Golan

It's a PR stunt meant for a domestic audience and a foreign audience of one: President Trump.

Netanyahu gives a speech before the newly-unveiled sign for the new settlement of "Ramat Trump", or "Trump Heights." Photo: JALAA MAREY/AFP/Getty Images

World

Israel

Conflicts, policies and powers are intersecting and shaping the world. Breaking news and analysis of national security, foreign policy and global crises.

Capital

Axios Capital

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki wants rules. "From a policy standpoint, we need to be consistent," Wojcicki told Axios' Ina Fried on Monday. "If we took down that content, there would be so much other content that we would need to take down."

The state of play: There are two kinds of enforcement mechanisms. Silicon Valley engineers naturally gravitate towards rules-based systems: If this, then that. Once you set the rules, the job of enforcing them becomes routine. The alternative is a principles-based system. In the legal system, principles can be found in areas like sentencing guidelines or even the "reasonable doubt" test.

The big picture: YouTube's rules-based system is not working. Malign creators like Steven Crowder are effectively gaming the system and causing significant harm. A principles-based system — one where a single decision doesn't cause a binding precedent for the future — would be much more effective at cracking down on bad actors, and would also allow benign actors to escape unnecessary censure.

What they’re saying: Vox Media's Peter Kafka and Nilay Patel both put it to Wojcicki that YouTube was too big and too heterogeneous to be able to operate a one-size-fits-all set of bright-line rules about which content stays up and which stays down. But Wojcicki rejected that idea outright. "We need to have consistent policies," she said.

Wojcicki told Fried that she was "truly sorry" for the hurt that YouTube had caused the LGBTQ community, but didn't specify any particular action that she was sorry for. Indeed, she insisted that she had ultimately done the right thing, and that, given her druthers, she would do it all over again.

Background: The NYT's Sarah Jeong recently explained to her colleague Charlie Warzel that, in a legal system, there are good reasons to have hard-and-fast rules.

"Standards are harder to enforce," she wrote, "so you’re more likely to get delays in the courts and inconsistency in decisions."

But YouTube already suffers from delays and inconsistencies in its enforcement. Meanwhile, in a principles-based system, YouTube would find it much easier to take down hateful videos.

By the numbers: A rules-based system takes work. Wojcicki said that YouTube's recent incremental policy change on hate speech "took months and months of work, and hundreds of people we had working on that."

But a principles-based system would require even more work. Under such a system, "there would be literally millions of other people saying what about this video, what about this video, what about this video," she said.

The bottom line: A YouTube that based its decisions on high-level principles rather than bright-line rules would create more work for itself, but also provide more accountability for the rest of us. As Warzel told Jeong, "When it comes to principles, YouTube is either lacking or too afraid to express them publicly."

Why YouTube needs principles

YouTube's rules-based system is not working.

Tree with pulsing YouTube logo as an apple

YouTube

Media

Big Tech

They were called "unicorns" for a reason: No one really knew whether Silicon Valley's fabled billion-dollar valuations were real, or whether they were a mixture of delusion and financial engineering that would evaporate upon contact with harsh public-market realities.

Flashback: An influential paper in 2017 declared that, properly valued, most so-called unicorns were actually worth less than $1 billion. The paper downgraded Zoom's valuation to $500 million from $1 billion. Other unicorns imploded either before they went public (Theranos) or afterwards.

Blue Apron is a prime example of what skeptics were worried about. It raised private funds at a $2.2 billion valuation, tried to go public at a $3.2 billion valuation, eventually went public at a $1.9 billion valuation, and is now worth just $0.1 billion.

The big picture: Today's public markets are much less skeptical. The IPO market is on fire: Zoom is now worth $27.3 billion, Chewy went public this week and is now valued at $15 billion, Pinterest is worth $14.6 billion, CrowdStrike is worth $13.3 billion, and Beyond Meat is worth $8.5 billion. Even Fiverr, the freelance marketplace, is worth $1.2 billion. Slack expects that this time next week it'll be worth $17 billion or so, but given the exuberance in the market, that might be conservative.

Other former unicorns also have enormous valuations on the public markets. Uber is worth $75.1 billion, Square is worth $30.6 billion, Twitter is worth $27.9 billion, Spotify is worth $25.7 billion, Snap is worth $18.9 billion, Lyft is worth $17.8 billion, and Dropbox is worth $9.9 billion.

The bottom line: Consider the venture capitalists vindicated. For all that it's possible to be skeptical of public markets, they're the best corporate price discovery mechanism we've got, and they're ratifying — and even vastly exceeding — private valuations that many people thought crazy. For every disappointment like Blue Apron or Lending Club, it's easy to find a high-flying stock-market darling like Beyond Meat or Zoom.

Why it matters: Given how receptive the public markets are to the current stampede of unicorns, it's going to be increasingly difficult for the holdouts to remain private. WeWork is set to be a public company soon; it's fair to assume that CEOs at companies like Palantir, SoFi, Stripe, and Airbnb are feeling more pressure than ever to go down the same road.

Unicorns are real, and they're stampeding

The IPO market is on fire. Consider the venture capitalists vindicated.

Initial public offerings (IPO)

Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Saudi Arabia has joined the U.S., Israel and the United Kingdom in blaming Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week, the Washington Post reports. 

Why it matters: Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have ratcheted up once again after the threat of war seemed to have subsided in recent weeks, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo telling Fox News Sunday: "We’ve taken a handful of actions to increase the opportunity to convince Iran that these actions aren’t in their best interest. And it appears to be Iran that wants to escalate this conflict."

Yes, but: Japan, which owns one of the tankers that was attacked, has cast doubt on U.S. intelligence that Pompeo said provides "unmistakable" evidence of Iran's culpability. The Japanese owner of the tanker said the crew believes they were hit by a "flying object," contradicting U.S. claims that it was a limpet mine that set off the explosion, the Post reports.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has also questioned the intelligence the U.S. has released, telling reporters: "The video is not enough. We can understand what is being shown, sure, but to make a final assessment, this is not enough for me."

Pompeo: "We’re going to guarantee the freedom of navigation through the straits. This is an international challenge. This is important to the entire globe. The United States is going to make sure that we take all actions necessary, diplomatic and otherwise, to achieve that outcome.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that Saudi Arabia "does not want a war in the region, but we will not hesitate to deal with any threat to our people, our sovereignty and our vital interests."

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff told CBS' Face the Nation: "There's no question that Iran's behind the attacks. I think the evidence is very strong and compelling. ... But nonetheless, the problem is we are struggling, even in the midst of this strong evidence, to persuade our allies to join us in any kind of response. It shows just how isolated the United States has become."

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also told CBS: "These unprovoked attacks on commercial shipping warrant a retaliatory military strike against the Islamic Republic of Iran."

U.S. doubles down as more nations point fingers at Iran for oil tanker attacks

Sen. Tom Cotton said the attacks "warrant a retaliatory military strike" against Iran.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks from the State Department briefing room on June 13, 2019. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Iran

Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam has apologized for a controversial extradition bill that prompted hundreds of thousands of protesters to take the streets on Sunday and demand for her resignation. 

"The Chief Executive acknowledges that her government work has been unsatisfactory, leading to confusion and conflict in society, and leading to disappointment and heartbreak. The Chief Executive would like to apologize to the city’s citizens and is open to receiving criticism [on how to] further improve and provide better services for the broader society.”

Why it matters: Lam indefinitely suspended the bill on Saturday after violent clashes between protestors and police this week, but refused to withdraw it completely. The move did little to quell what has become Hong Kong's worst political crisis in decades.

The big picture: Critics argue that the bill, which would allow people arrested in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China, could be used as a political ploy to arrest and try political activists who oppose the Chinese government. The bill has sparked broader concerns about the increase of Beijing's influence on the former British colony, which retained a high degree of autonomy after being returned to China in 1997, per the BBC.

Organizers say today's protest may be even bigger than last week's demonstrations over the bill itself, which drew more than 1 million people, Bloomberg reports.

: A protester holds a placard from a bridge as others march beneath during a demonstration against the now-suspended extradition bill on June 16, 2019 in Hong Kong.

Many protesters are concerned that Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam supported the bill. Photo: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images

Thousands of protesters dressed in black take part in a new rally.

Young families and elderly protesters are among those attending the rally, per Reuters. Photo: Dale De La Rey/AFP/Getty Images

People carry a banner reading "Make love no shoot".

A sign making reference to police firing on protesters with rubber bullets on Wednesday. Photo: Dale De La Rey/AFP/Getty Images

A placard (C) with an image of Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam is displayed at a rally.

A placard (C) displaying an image of Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

 Many protesters dress in black for the latest rally. 

Many protesters dress in black for the latest rally. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

rotesters display placards during a march against a controversial extradition law proposal in Hong Kong.

Protesters display placards during Sunday's march. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

 Thousands of protesters take part in a new rally against a controversial extradition law proposal in Hong Kong on June 16, 2019.

Thousands have rallied, despite clashes with police days earlier. Photo: Dale De La Rey/AFP/Getty Images

Protesters arrive for another rally on Sunday. 

Protesters arrive for the rally. Photo: Dale De La Rey/AFP/Getty Images

A woman waves a British flag as protesters gather to take part in a new rally in Hong Kong.

A protester waves a British flag. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

Protesters attend a rally against a controversial extradition law proposal in Hong Kong on June 16, 2019.

Protesters continue to rally despite the city's embattled leader suspending the bill.  Photo: Dale De La Rey/AFP/Getty Images

A protester holds up a placard as people gather ahead of a new rally.

A protester holds up a placard ahead of a new rally. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

A protester hands out posters before a rally against a controversial extradition law proposal in Hong Kong on June 16, 2019.

A protester hands out posters before the rally. Photo: Dale De La Rey/AFP/Getty Images

Hongkongers gather for another mass protest. Photo: Dale De La Rey/AFP/Getty Images

Mourners place flowers and offer prayers at the site where a protester died, prior to the start of a rally in Hong Kong on June 16, 2019. 

The site where a man died unfurling a protest banner Saturday, per Reuters. Photo: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images

Go deeper: Hong Kong's people stand up to China

Hong Kong's leader apologizes as protesters demand resignation

The mass protests this week have become the territory's worst political crisis in decades.

Thousands rally in Hong Kong, despite clashes with police days earlier.

Thousands rally in Hong Kong, despite clashes with police days earlier. Photo: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images

Hong Kong

President Trump has accused people or entities of committing treason at least 24 times since he was elected, according to a Factba.se record of his comments. His most recent target is the New York Times, which published a story on Saturday reporting that the U.S. is stepping up its online attacks on Russia's power grid.

Do you believe that the Failing New York Times just did a story stating that the United States is substantially increasing Cyber Attacks on Russia. This is a virtual act of Treason by a once great paper so desperate for a story, any story, even if bad for our Country.

Why it matters: Treason is one of the most serious crimes an American can commit, and is punishable by death. The president freely using the term to attack his political enemies, without evidence, is not normal.

The big picture: Trump has most frequently used "treason" or "treasonous" to describe the investigations into his campaign's ties to Russia, which he has claimed are politically motivated. He has also used the term to attack Democrats for their policies on immigration and various media outlets for reporting on his administration.

Most references come in the form of tweet or interviews with Fox News, but Trump has also accused people of treason while participating in press conferences with foreign leaders, like NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and South Korea President Moon Jae-in.

May 23, 2019 [Speech at farmers event]: "But should she lose, we'll have an insurance policy, and we'll get this guy out of office. And that's what they said, and that's what they meant. That's treason. That's treason. They couldn't win the election, and that's what happened. And that's what's happening right now because -- without the "treason" word, I guess -- but that's what's happening now."

May 20, 2019 [Rally]: "It's his fault, no, it's his fault. Now, we caught 'em. They were spying -- they were spying on our campaign. I'll tell you what, if that ever happened to the other side, this thing would have been over two years ago, and you know it would have been treason. They would have called it treason and that's what it is. It was treason and it should never be allowed to happen to another President again ever, ever, ever."

May 17, 2019 [Tweet]: "My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on. Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics. A really bad situation. TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON!"

May 12, 2019 [Tweet]: "The Democrats new and pathetically untrue sound bite is that we are in a “Constitutional Crisis.” They and their partner, the Fake News Media, are all told to say this as loud and as often as possible. They are a sad JOKE! We may have the strongest Economy in our history, best employment numbers ever, low taxes & regulations, a rebuilt military & V.A., many great new judges, & so much more. But we have had a giant SCAM perpetrated upon our nation, a Witch Hunt, a Treasonous Hoax. That is the Constitutional Crisis & hopefully guilty people will pay!"

May 8, 2019 [Tweet]: "Everyone wants to know who needs to be accountable, because it took up two years of our lives talking about this Russian involvement. It proved No Collusion, & people want to trace it back to see how this all happened?” @ainsleyearhardt @foxandfriends  TREASONOUS HOAX!"

April 19, 2019 [Tweet]: "...big, fat, waste of time, energy and money - $30,000,000 to be exact. It is now finally time to turn the tables and bring justice to some very sick and dangerous people who have committed very serious crimes, perhaps even Spying or Treason. This should never happen again!"

April 10, 2019 [Pool spray with South Korea president]: "And I know a lot of people were very disappointed, but they knew the real answer. You know, when the Democrats go behind the scenes and they go into a room backstage and they sit and they talk, they laugh because they know it's all a big scam, a big hoax. And it's called politics, but this is dirty politics and this is actually treason."

April 10, 2019 [Tweet]: "I think what the Democrats are doing with the Border is TREASONOUS. Their Open Border mindset is putting our Country at risk. Will not let this happen!"

April 10, 2019 [Tweet]: "So, it has now been determined, by 18 people that truly hate President Trump, that there was No Collusion with Russia. In fact, it was an illegal investigation that should never have been allowed to start. I fought back hard against this Phony & Treasonous Hoax!"

April 10, 2019 [Press gaggle]: "And they got caught. And what they did was treason. What they did was terrible. What they did was against our Constitution and everything we stand for. So hopefully that will happen. There is a hunger for that to happen in this country like I have never seen before, including all of the millions of people that voted for me. What they did was disgraceful.'"

April 6, 2019 [Tweet]: "Why should I be defending a fraudulent Russian Witch Hunt. It’s about time the perpetrators of this fraud on me and the American People start defending their dishonest and treasonous acts. How and why did this terrible event begin? Never Forget!"

April 2, 2019 [Pool spray with NATO chief]: "And I hope that's going to continue forward because people did things that were very, very bad for our country and very, very illegal and, you could even say, "treasonous." Okay?"

March 27, 2019 [Interview with Sean Hannity]: "So he didn't want to do anything because he thought that Clinton was going to win and he didn't want to upset the apple cart. But he knew about it. And the question is, one of the many, many questions, and this is probably not as big as other questions, because you are talking about major, major treason and corruption."

March 25, 2019 [Pool spray with Israeli prime minister]: "It's lasted a long time. We're glad it's over. It's 100 percent the way it should have been. I wish it could have gone a lot sooner, a lot quicker. There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things. I would say treasonous things against our country."

Feb. 18, 2019 [Tweet]: “The biggest abuse of power and corruption scandal in our history, and it’s much worse than we thought. Andrew McCabe (FBI) admitted to plotting a coup (government overthrow) when he was serving in the FBI, before he was fired for lying & leaking.” @seanhannity @FoxNews  Treason!

Feb. 18, 2019 [Tweet]: "There is a lot of explaining to do to the millions of people who had just elected a president who they really like and who has done a great job for them with the Military, Vets, Economy and so much more. This was the illegal and treasonous “insurance policy” in full action!"

Sept. 6, 2018 [Interview with FOX]: "Well number one, The Times should never have done that, because really what they've done is, virtually, you know it's treason. You can call it a lot of things. But to think that you have somebody in all of the Cabinet, so many people. You know, they came forward, they're writing editorials. They're all saying, you know, it's gotta be at a fairly low level."

Sept. 6, 2018 [Rally]: "I mean, you look at the Washington Post or the New York Times, I can never get a good story. I mean, you look at this horrible thing that took place today, it's really -- is it subversion? Is it treason? It's a horrible thing. Even -- you know the good thing about that? Even liberals that hate me say that's terrible what they did. And it is really terrible."

Sept. 3, 2018 [Interview with Daily Caller]: "I mean they were surveilling my campaign. If that happened on the other foot, they would've considered that treasonous. They would've considered that spying at the highest level."

June 23, 2018 [Interview with Mike Huckabee]: "Well, first of all, we came to a wonderful agreement [with North Korea]. It's a shame that the fake news covers it the way they do. Honestly, it's almost treasonous, if you want to know the truth, because we signed an agreement and the big thing that they'd said was I met, okay? You know, there was nothing else they could say. I met. Well, let me tell you we got our hostages back, we get the remains back of our great heroes that have died, thousands and thousands of young people."

Feb. 5, 2018 [Speech]: "It got to a point where I really didn’t even want to look up too much during the [State of the Union] over to that side because honestly, it was bad energy. Even on positive news, really positive news like that, they were like death and un-American. Un-American. Somebody said treasonous. I mean, yeah, I guess, why not."

Jan. 11, 2018 [Interview with WSJ]: "And what went on with the FBI, where a man is tweeting to his lover that if she loses, we’ll essentially go back to the—we’ll go to the insurance policy, which is—if they lose, we’ll go to phase 2, and we’ll get this guy out of office. I mean, this is the FBI we’re talking about. I think that is—that is treason. See, that’s treason right there. ... By the way, that’s a treasonous act. What he tweeted to his lover is a treasonous act."

Go deeper: Everything Trump says he knows "more about than anybody"

The 24 times Trump has accused somebody of "treason"

He has done it in tweets, at rallies and even at press conferences with foreign leaders.

Trump answers questions on the White House lawn. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Treason

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Since October of last year, border patrol has arrested almost a quarter of a million child migrants who crossed the border alone or with their family, a Customs and Border Protection official told Axios. 

Why it matters: The U.S. immigration system is not set up to handle this surge of young migrants mostly from Central American nations — and it's breaking down. 

Kids are being held beyond the legal time limits in Customs and Border Protection facilities, and the non-profit child shelters overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services are near capacity.

There are long wait times, sickness and even child deaths. 

By the numbers: In fiscal year 2014, during the child migrant crisis under the Obama administration, 68,541 unaccompanied minors were caught crossing the border.

With 4 months left in the current fiscal year, more than 56,000 unaccompanied minors have already been arrested by border patrol, according to CBP data. Tens of thousands of children also crossed with at least one parent during that time — for a total of more than 230,000 children apprehended for crossing the border. 

 “I have stools and benches, but I have no beds. . . . Our facilities are not built for long-term holding, and they’re certainly not built to house children for very long at all.”

What happens when a migrant child crosses the border

In just 40 days, more than 60,000 migrant children crossed into the United States.

Immigration

India announced it's imposing higher tariffs on 28 U.S. products from Sunday, after Washington withdrew the South Asian country's preferential trade status.

Trump trade war: India announces tariffs on U.S. products

The U.S. has withdrawn India's preferential trade status.

Sunday's top stories