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National

Axios AM

President-elect Trump backs H-1B visas, siding with Elon Musk after the tech billionaire pledged to go to "war" to defend the program and branded GOP opponents "hateful, unrepentant racists."

Why it matters: The MAGA-DOGE civil war that erupted over the last 48 hours has now come to a tipping point, with Trump's new techno-libertarian coalition of billionaires taking full aim at his traditional base. 

Trump's support for the controversial visas is the first sign of his picking sides between his richest and most powerful advisors on one hand, and the people who swept him to office on the other.

The latest: The president-elect told the New York Post on Saturday he has "always liked the visas." 

"I have many H-1B visas on my properties," he said of the program for highly-skilled, foreign workers. "I've been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It's a great program."

Reality check: Trump pledged to end the program in 2016.

"The H-1B program is neither high-skilled nor immigration: these are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay," he said.

He added he was "totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse." 

Late in Trump's first term, his administration moved to tighten rules around eligible jobs and wages, though the program largely remained intact otherwise. 

Catch up quick: The MAGA-DOGE skirmishes started last Sunday, with anti-immigration and anti-Indian vitriol against Trump's pick of venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as his AI advisor.

It escalated into full conflict Thursday when Musk ally and DOGE co-lead Vivek Ramaswamy took to X to blast American "mediocrity" culture. Musk defended Ramaswamy, and the two sides started engaging in an increasingly bitter war of words. 

On Friday afternoon, Musk doubled down, saying MAGA adherents who continued to blast immigration and the tech community were "contemptible fools," later clarifying he was talking about "racists" who would "absolutely be the downfall of the Republican Party if they are not removed."

Zoom in: Just before midnight Friday, Musk once again defended the H-1B program in vulgar, all-caps terms, saying the program was the key to the success of his (and other big American) companies.

"Take a big step back and F--K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend," Musk wrote.

In a separate post, he pledged to "fight to my last drop of blood" to keep America a meritocracy.

What they're saying: As with Musk's previous posts defending Ramaswamy and condemning his opponents, Trump supporters did not react well to Musk's promise to defend the H-1B program.

"May God bless and protect President Trump from these people," outspoken right-wing commentator Laura Loomer wrote, after accusing Musk of trying to censor her. 

The intrigue: Though Trump has been mostly quiet on the matter, those around him have started showing their hands. 

Michael Seifert, the CEO of online marketplace Public Square, whose board of directors includes Donald Trump Jr., took to social media Friday to say the H-1B program was "destroying the lives of American workers."

Steve Bannon, one of the longest-tenured voices in Trump's orbit, had multiple guests on his show this week to talk about his hardline anti-H-1B views.

Bannon tells Axios he helped kick off the debate with a now-viral Gettr post earlier this month calling out a lack of support for the Black and Hispanic communities in Big Tech.

On Saturday Bannon called Musk a "toddler" in a Gettr post, and in another post accused him and Ramaswamy of attacking American workers, families and culture. 

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional statements and context. 

Trump sides with Musk in H-1B fight

MAGA and DOGE are quickly spiraling into a deeper conflict over immigration and American workers.

A post to X written by Elon Musk pledging to fight for American meritocracy. 

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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.

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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.

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President-elect Trump on Saturday praised a federal judge's decision to block the Biden administration from disposing of materials used for Trump's promised southern border wall before his inauguration. 

Why it matters: Trump's political identity has rested heavily on a promised crackdown on illegal immigration, earmarked with campaign vows of mass deportations and a completed border wall. 

What they're saying: The president-elect called the decision Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office announced on Friday "a major, crucial WIN for America" in a Truth Social post.

The attorney general's office said in a news release Paxton asked for a probe "to uncover potential legal violations committed by the Biden Administration after recent reports that segments of the border wall were auctioned off for pennies on the dollar."

"The Biden Administration confirmed to the court today that it will agree to an order preventing the outgoing administration from disposing of any further border wall materials over the next 30 days—allowing President Trump to use those materials as he sees fit," officials said in the release. 

"This will be adopted as an order of the court, making it enforceable if any violations occur."

The White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Trump calls federal judge's decision on border wall "major, crucial WIN"

It will block the Biden administration from disposing of materials used for the wall.

Construction crews install panels of the border wall on Nov. 26, 2024  in La Casita-Garciasville, Texas. The 1,402-acre ranch where border wall construction is taking place was recently offered to the Trump administration to build facilities to coordinate mass deportations.

Construction crews install panels of the border wall on Nov. 26, 2024  in La Casita-Garciasville, Texas. The 1,402-acre ranch where border wall construction is taking place was recently offered to the Trump administration to build facilities to coordinate mass deportations. Photo: Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images

A severe weather outbreak, including long-lasting and intense tornadoes, is affecting a swath of the South on Saturday into Saturday night. 

Threat level: The Storm Prediction Center has issued a rare "moderate risk" outlook, or level 4 out of 5 on the threat scale, for portions of Mississippi and Louisiana, indicating confidence in a potentially significant outbreak. 

Already, long-lasting, damaging tornadoes have struck southeastern Texas, including coastal sections of Harris County and near Port Arthur. 

Some of these circulations have persisted for more than 60 miles, with tornadoes on the ground for a significant portion of that distance. 

The text of the tornado warnings has included enhanced language, indicative of the threat level involved: "This is a particularly dangerous situation! Take Cover Now!" the NWS forecast office in Lake Charles, La. warned as one tornado sped towards southeastern sections of Port Arthur. 

Other tornadoes have been reported, along with damaging straight-line winds, hail and flash flooding in parts of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. 

The big picture: The NWS issued a high-end "Particularly Dangerous Situation" tornado watch for southeastern Arkansas, central and southwestern Louisiana, southwestern Mississippi and southeastern Texas until 9pm local time. The watch states the expectation for "numerous tornadoes" along with a few intense tornadoes of EF-2 strength or greater.

This outbreak follows severe weather earlier this week in Texas, and is the result of a deep dip, or trough, in the jet stream that is pulling moisture from the Gulf of Mexico northward. 

The storm forming in eastern Texas and northern Louisiana is forecast to move northeast while intensifying, eventually making its way into the Ohio Valley, Northeast and Quebec by early next week.

At lower levels of the atmosphere, there is ample wind shear (winds that blow at different speeds and/or directions at different altitudes) present to support long-lasting, rotating thunderstorms that can produce an array of extreme weather hazards, including tornadoes. 

Zoom in: About 2 million people live in the moderate risk zone, which includes the cities of Jackson and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, along with Alexandria, Louisiana. 

About 4.6 million people reside in an area designated as being under "enhanced risk" of severe weather, including the cities of Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Louisiana and Mobile, Lafayette and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 

This region is in a level 3 out of 5 on the risk scale. 

New Orleans is in the "slight risk" zone, indicating a lower threat there, though a heavy rains and thunderstorms are still expected in the Big Easy Saturday afternoon into Saturday night. 

Context: Although spring and summer are typically thought of as tornado season, the South and Southeast tends to see severe weather during the winter as well, since that is when strong storm systems form near the Gulf Coast. 

This yields collisions between warm, humid air to the south and cold, dry air to the north. 

Climate change affects the conditions in which thunderstorms form and may be leading to larger outbreaks, though fewer of them, by adding to the instability of the atmosphere while simultaneously cutting back on wind shear.

However, when both ingredients are present in enough abundance, major outbreaks can occur, studies show. 

Editor's note: This story has been updated with the latest conditions.

Particularly Dangerous Situation" tornado watch

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Severe weather outbreak targets the South on Saturday

Parts of Texas, Mississippi and Alabama are most at risk from the extreme weather event.

Map showing severe weather risk categories for Dec. 28. 

Map of severe weather risk categories for Dec. 28, including the "moderate risk" zone. Image: Pivotal Weather/NOAA

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Breaking climate science and policy coverage as extreme weather events reshape communities. Keep tabs on the race to a low carbon economy, which may be bumpy as governments, climate tech startups and major oil and gas companies race to find their niche amid the changing energy landscape.

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A Colorado man who allegedly attacked an AAPI TV reporter and demanded to know whether the journalist was a U.S. citizen, saying, "This is Trump's America now," is facing bias-motivated charges.

Driving the news: Patrick Thomas Egan, 39, was arrested on Dec. 18 in Grand Junction, Colorado, after police said he stalked KKCO/KJCT reporter Ja'Ronn Alex's vehicle for around 40 miles.

Zoom in: Egan tackled and choked Alex before several people intervened and restrained the suspect until officers arrived on the scene, Grand Junction police said.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by the AP, Egan, driving a taxi, had pulled up next to Alex at a stoplight and asked: "Are you even a U.S. citizen? This is Trump's America now! I'm a Marine and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!"

The attack occurred outside of the television station and was caught on camera, the arrest affidavit said.

Egan was transported to the Mesa County Detention Facility and charged with bias-motivated crimes, second-degree assault, and harassment.

Egan's lawyer, Ruth Swift, did not immediately return an email from Axios.

Zoom out: Alex is a native of Detroit. KKCO/KJCT reported that he was driving a news vehicle at the time.

Alex told police that he believed he had been followed and attacked because he is a Pacific Islander, per the AP.

Context: The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, recently shared with Axios new data that showed 2023 hate crimes overall hit records across 10 of the nation's largest cities, rising 16%.

Hate crimes against all Asian American communities have been on the rise since the pandemic, with 1 in 3 Asian American adults reporting being the subject of a hate act last year.

Grand Junction is around 250 miles west of Denver. 

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Colorado man facing bias-motivated charges after attacking TV reporter

Suspected reportedly yelled "This is Trump's America now" before attacking AAPI journalist

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Saturday's top stories

Trump sides with Musk in H-1B fight

Trump calls federal judge's decision on border wall "major, crucial WIN"

Severe weather outbreak targets the South on Saturday

Colorado man facing bias-motivated charges after attacking TV reporter

Why seed oils have become a target for RFK Jr. and health influencers

MAGA's new DEI fight

Putin apologizes for "fact" that deadly Azerbaijan Airlines crash occurred

Using AI to talk to animals

Treasury secretary sends warning urging Congress to act on debt limit

U.S. homelessness reached another record high in 2024