MTG outs MAGA rep who secretly ‘hates’ the president

Former Republican representativeMarjorie Taylor Greenehas claimed that New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler secretly “hates” PresidentDonald Trumpand mocked him behind his back.

Greene, still an influential voice among conservatives despite retiring from Congress in January, appeared onThe Tucker Carlson ShowWednesday to discuss members of their party she believed had betrayed its values and sold out to “the establishment donor class.”

She cited Rep. Lawler as an example of a “bought and paid for” politician and said of him: “He hated Donald Trump, made fun of him constantly, mimicked him, making fun of his voice.

“He used to attack me, make fun of me, come and find me on the House floor, and make fun of me for supporting Donald Trump, and this was in the four years before Trump got elected as president again in 2024,” she added.

“And I was just like this guy is literally one of the worst – well, I would say he’s the worst, but really [Florida GOP Rep.] Randy Fine is the worst.

“But Mike Lawler was unbelievably... I thought he was a Democrat. I was like, he’s literally a Democrat. He’s so against all the things that Republican voters care about, and he clearly hates Donald Trump.”

She went on to claim that the congressman’s attitude towards the president changed significantly after Trump won the Republican primary in 2024.

“I saw this unbelievable change in him,” Greene said. “All of a sudden, Mike Lawler, I started joking. I started calling him MAGA Mike Lawler because he was all of a sudden becoming Trump’s biggest supporter.”

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Responding, a spokesman for Rep. Lawler toldThe Independent: “Marjorie Taylor Greene, AKA Jewish Space Laser Lady, AKA Moscow Marge, AKA one of the dumbest people to ever serve in Congress, has zero credibility on any issue. Unlike Marjorie, who went from sycophant to psychopath in the span of five years, I’ve always been true to who I am and what I believe.

“I voted for the president three times, was a delegate in 2016, and have worked with the president to deliver results for my district, including lifting the cap on SALT. When I agree with the president, I say it. When I disagree with the president, I say it. I will always represent my district and do what I think is right for our country. Marjorie can go sit and spin, as she goes down in history as one of the least liked and most ignorant members to ever serve.”

The congressman alsoattacked Carlson on X, calling him “a moron” and commenting: “The grifters are truly dumbing down America with one nonsensical argument after the next.“

Both Greene and Carlson have turned against Trump over the last year, with the former breaking with him over his focus on foreign commitments and the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and the latter overthe Iran war.

Greene has recently claimed the president has“gone insane,”stirred up conspiracy theories over whether or not the assassination attempt on him in Butler, Pennsylvania, two years agomight have been staged, and claimed Trump showed“no compassion”when death threats were made against her family.

Recent episodes of Carlson’s show have meanwhile found the hostapologizing for campaigning on the president’s behalfin 2024, calling Trump“a slave who can’t make his own decisions,”and urging his administration tosever ties with Israel.

On Wednesday, the former Fox News anchor addressed the president directly and chastised him fornot doing enough to improve conditions domestically, saying: “You have not done a good job running this country. You don’t even care to try. You’d rather run the world or the empire.

“You don’t want to improve Baltimore. You don’t care about Gary, Indiana. Rural America makes you sick. Normal leaders would ask themselves, ‘Why are people mad? What are they dissatisfied with? How can I help them? They’re clearly in pain.’”

His criticism came on the same day that a new poll found that Trump’s approval rating hasdipped to a new low, with just 34 per cent of Americans applauding his performance in office amid widespread concern that his conflict in the Middle East is only exacerbating the affordability crisis he was elected to resolve.

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May 01, 2026

MTG outs MAGA rep who secretly ‘hates’ the president

Former Republican representativeMarjorie Taylor Greenehas claimed that New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler secretly “hates” PresidentDonald T...

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Musk says it's not ok to 'loot a charity' as he takes the stand in OpenAI trial

By Deepa Seetharaman and Kenrick Cai

OAKLAND, California, April 28 (Reuters) - Elon Musk took the stand on Tuesday at a high-stakes trial over the future ofOpenAI, casting his lawsuit as a defense of the institution of charitable giving.

Musk, the world's richest person, is suing OpenAI, its co-founder and Chief Executive Sam Altman and its President Greg Brockman, saying they ‌betrayed him and the public by abandoning the ChatGPT maker's mission to be a benevolent steward of AI for humanity, and transforming the nonprofit into a profit-seeking juggernaut.

“If we make it okay ‌to loot a charity, the entire foundation of charitable giving in America will be destroyed. That’s my concern,” Musk said in initial remarks, going on to describe his own life history.

Musk, in a black suit and black tie, appeared calm, sometimes looking at ​and addressing the jury.

Bill Savitt, a lawyer for OpenAI and Altman, said it was Musk who saw dollar signs as he helped finance OpenAI's early growth and pushed it to become a for-profit business, one he might eventually lead as CEO.

Savitt said Musk wanted "the keys to the kingdom," and sued only after he failed and then in 2023 started his own AI business, xAI.

"What he cares about is Elon Musk being on top," Savitt said in his opening statement. “We are here because Mr Musk didn’t get his way at OpenAI."

OpenAI's lawyer also framed OpenAI's March 2019 creation of a for-profit entity as critical to letting it buy computing power and pay top scientists to ‌stay competitive with Google's DeepMind AI lab.

Musk's lawyer Steven Molo told jurors in ⁠his opening statement it was the OpenAI defendants who wanted riches for themselves, as OpenAI began drawing investors includingMicrosoft.

"The defendants in the case stole a charity, and we're asking you to hold them accountable," Molo said during his opening statement. "It wasn't a vehicle for people to get rich."

Musk, theTeslaand SpaceX founder, is seeking $150 ⁠billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, one of its largest investors, with proceeds going to OpenAI’s charitable arm.

He also wants OpenAI to revert to a nonprofit, with Altman and Brockman removed as officers and Altman removed from its board. Musk's claims include breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment.

JUDGE ADMONISHES MUSK OVER SOCIAL MEDIA USE

Before jurors were seated, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers admonished Musk after OpenAI lawyers complained about his posts on X on Monday, in which he ​assailed ​Altman as “Scam Altman” and accused him of stealing a charity.

Rogers said she was loath to issue a gag order, but ​urged Musk to "try to control your propensity to use social media to make things ‌work outside the courtroom … Perhaps you’ve never done that before."

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Musk agreed to minimize his social media activity, as did Altman. Both are expected to testify at trial, as is Microsoft chief Satya Nadella.

The trial could offer a window into some of the egos and personalities that shaped OpenAI as it evolved from a nonprofit research lab in Brockman’s apartment to a company worth more than $850 billion.

It also risks complicating OpenAI's plans for a potential initial public offering by casting doubt on its leadership, and could intensify Americans' fears about AI technology more broadly.

OpenAI was co-founded by Musk and Altman in 2015 with a goal of developing AI to benefit humanity and fend off rivals such as Google.

LAWYERS DISPUTE IMPORTANCE OF AI SAFETY TO MUSK

Molo said "Elon became more worried" as the technology advanced, and collaborated with Altman to "develop AI safely" after a meeting with U.S. ‌President Barack Obama in 2015 did not address AI's risks. Recruiting top AI scientists like Ilya Sutskever was part of ​that process, Molo said.

Savitt countered that AI safety wasn't a priority for Musk, and that Musk denigrated OpenAI employees who focused on ​it. "Jackasses is what he called them," Savitt said.

Musk has said he provided about $38 million to OpenAI ​for its original mission, only to see OpenAI create a for-profit entity 13 months after he left its board.

Molo said a major turning point for Musk came when Microsoft ‌invested $10 billion in OpenAI in January 2023. "It violated every commitment (the defendants) made, not ​just to Elon, but to the world," he said.

Russell ​Cohen, a lawyer for Microsoft, said that company didn't do anything wrong.

“Microsoft has been a responsible partner every step of the way,” Cohen said in his opening statement.

OPENAI RECENTLY OVERHAULED STRUCTURE AGAIN

OpenAI also faces growing competition from rivals including Anthropic, and is spending billions on computational resources. A potential IPO could value the company at $1 trillion, Reuters has reported.

Musk's xAI trails far behind OpenAI in ​usage. He has folded that business into SpaceX, whose own potential IPO this ‌year could be the largest ever.

Last fall, OpenAI overhauled its structure again to become a public benefit corporation, in which the nonprofit and other investors including Microsoft hold stakes. The ​nonprofit holds a 26% stake, plus warrants if OpenAI hits certain valuation targets.

A public benefit corporation could make OpenAI more investor-friendly while retaining its charitable origins.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman and ​Kenrick Cai in Oakland, California; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Nick Zieminski and Chris Reese, Noeleen Walder and Peter Henderson)

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May 01, 2026

Musk says it's not ok to 'loot a charity' as he takes the stand in OpenAI trial

By Deepa Seetharaman and Kenrick Cai OAKLAND, California, April 28 (Reuters) - Elon Musk took the stand on Tuesday at a high-stak...

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Analysis: US blockade is squeezing Iran's all-important oil industry

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Even as Iran squeezes world energy supplies with itschokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, its own oil industry is increasingly being threatened by an American blockade.

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With no way to export the oil it is pumping out and diminishing room to store it at home,Iranmay be forced to dramatically reduce or cease production from some of its wells, perhaps beginning in as little as two weeks, experts say.

The situation likely isn’t as dire as U.S. President Donald Trump recently described, colorfully suggesting pipelines could start exploding within days. But once shut down, production from the aging wells may not be restarted so easily, if at all, undermining Iran’s future oil output. Iran appears to have begun dialing back production already, analysts say, to avert outright shutdowns.

The pressure is building as the U.S. Treasury Departmentratchets up sanctionson Iranian oil shipments already at sea. The U.S. military has seized at least two tankers off Asia believed to be carrying Iranian oil.

With its oil trade constrained, Iran is seeingless hard currencyflow back into aneconomy mauled by weeks of war, months of unrest and decades of international sanctions. But with fewer tankers shipping Iranian oil, the effects ofthe Strait of Hormuz shutdownare only being magnified, leading to shortages of jet fuel andrising gasolinepricesaround the world.

Iran's leaders “are really resisting” shutting down oil wells because of how painful that would be long-term, said Miad Maleki, a former sanctions expert at the U.S. Treasury who is now a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“They’ve been under sanctions, they’ve been isolated for 47 years now. Those oil wells are not maintained well. Their machinery is not maintained well," Maleki said. Once shut off, he added, the wells won't easily "snap back after a few months.”

The squeeze on Iran intensifies

Iran had been pumping over 3 million barrels of crude oil a day before the war, with a little more than half going toward its domestic market. But since the American blockade began on April 13, ships have been filled with oil and unable to get out.

“It looks like there’s been a significant slowdown in production,” said Antoine Halff, the co-founder and chief analyst at Kayrros, an environmental intelligence company that tracks emissions and energy supply chains. He pointed to signs that storage is not filling as fast as usual at Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf.

Iran is likely storing some of its oil in tankers positioned around Kharg Island, Halff noted.

Kpler, a firm monitoring commodities markets, said it believes Iran has enough capacity left to store about two weeks worth of oil production, even after reducing output.

“While the immediate revenue impact is limited, operational constraints are now forcing production cuts and setting up a delayed but significant financial squeeze,” wrote Homayoun Falakshahi, an analyst at Kpler.

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Wood Mackenzie, another oil analysis firm, estimates Iran will run out of storage capacity in about three weeks.

“If the blockade persists, cuts become inevitable,” wrote Alexandre Araman of Wood Mackenzie. Shutdowns of more than a month “risk long-term damage” to Iran’s oil reservoirs, he wrote, adding that recovering older fields “remains uncertain.”

Iran’s oil industry long a shaky lifeline

From the moment it first struck oil in 1908, Iran’s oil industry has been entangled in the region’s politics. A move to nationalize Iran’s oil fields and wrest control from the British sparked the CIA-backed 1953 coup that cemented Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s rule. That also lit a long fuse to Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the shah. During the revolution, oil workers went on strike and brought production down from 6 million barrels a day to around 1.5 million.

Iran’s oil industry never recovered and faced decades of international sanctions, during which its infrastructure aged and faltered.

In his first term, Trump exerted a “maximum pressure” campaign, hiking sanctions to severely cut Iran’s oil exports. Forced to store oil in tankers at sea, the Iranian government lost tens of billions of dollars in revenues. Still, the pressure failed to push Tehran into reaching a nuclear deal with the U.S.

Now Iran faces a combination of hiked sanctions and the blockade. Trump on Tuesday claimed that Iran was “in a ‘State of Collapse.’”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent piled on, writing on X, “Iran’s creaking oil industry is starting to shut in production thanks to the U.S. BLOCKADE. Pumping will soon collapse. GASOLINE SHORTAGES IN IRAN NEXT!”

There have been no immediate signs of any gasoline shortages in Iran. However, Iran does seem to be acknowledging some of the pain indirectly.

A segment on state TV, which is run by hard-liners, included journalists discussing the possibility of an oil storage crisis. One noted that if empty tankers get blocked from returning to Iran, “we won’t be able to export.” Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad on Monday praised oil terminal staff for their “continuous perseverance."

Maleki, the analyst from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that if the blockade continues and production slows further or halts, oil workers could potentially lose their jobs — which could cause new unrest.

“In 1979 when the oil industry was disrupted, in the 1980s war with Iraq ... you can go and look at to see how effective they were in really pressuring the regime,” he said. “It’s really going to affect some of the most strategic provinces in Iran and the most strategic industry.”

EDITOR’S NOTE —Jon Gambrell, news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press, has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the Mideast and the wider world since joining AP in 2006.

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May 01, 2026

Analysis: US blockade is squeezing Iran's all-important oil industry

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Even as Iran squeezes world energy supplies with itschokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, its own oil i...

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US to issue passports bearing Trump's image

By Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it would produce a limited number of ‌commemorative passports bearing a portrait of Donald Trump, the latest ‌example of the administration attaching the president's likeness or name to official property.

The passports ​will be released as part of celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence in July, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement, which did not mention that the passports would ‌contain Trump's image.

Renderings provided by ⁠the State Department showed Trump's portrait displayed on a page inside the passport, opposite an image of the ⁠signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

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"These passports will feature customized artwork and enhanced imagery while maintaining the same security features that make ​the U.S. ​passport the most secure documents in ​the world," Pigott said.

A State ‌Department official said the special edition passports will only be available at the Washington Passport Agency, so those applying for a passport by mail would not receive one. There would be no extra fee charged, the official said.

The U.S. Mint has also announced plans for a ‌commemorative gold coin featuring Trump's image to ​mark the anniversary of the country's founding, ​and the Treasury Department ​has said paper currency will bear Trump's signature, the ‌first time a sitting president has ​signed U.S. money.

Since ​he returned to office early last year, Trump's administration has also affixed his name to prominent Washington buildings, a planned class ​of Navy warships, a ‌visa program for wealthy foreigners, a government-run prescription drug website, ​and federal savings accounts for children.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing ​by Daniel Wallis and Hugh Lawson)

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May 01, 2026

US to issue passports bearing Trump's image

By Simon Lewis WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it would produce a limited number of ‌c...

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