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The Hill

US strikes deal to send Ukraine weapons through NATO

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense & National Security Defense & National Security The Big Story  US strikes deal to send Ukraine weapons through NATO President Trump has announced that a deal was struck with NATO to send weapons to Ukraine, with the military alliance bearing the brunt of the cost. …

Politics

The Recap: Trump’s tariff threats return, and how much can one man suck up to the president?

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Trump’s threats are back in full force to wreck the economy Fingers crossed he pulls another TACO. Trump’s racist ‘border czar’ admits ICE is breaking the law “People need to understand they don’t need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them.” Trump team launches brutal purge of State Department workers Who needs diplomacy anyhow? Cartoon: Proudly not woke Easy to see why the MyPillow guy is a fan of MAGA. ‘Make halal eight bucks again’: Zohran Mamdani has the blueprint It hits at the key issue that defines basically every election. Missouri AG tries to get Trump’s attention in the most pathetic way What if all chatbots were racist? Click here to see more cartoons.

Politics

Failed X CEO declares victory on her way out as app bleeds users and cash

Linda Yaccarino resigned as CEO of X on Wednesday, declaring victory in implementing Elon Musk’s vision for the platform.  “I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App,” she wrote. Protecting “free speech” for Nazis has certainly been important to Musk, as his own AI chatbot has fondly proven—literally the day before Yaccarino’s resignation. But he certainly doesn’t believe in the free speech of companies that don’t want to advertise on a Nazi-enabling platform, suing them for pulling their advertising. And let’s not forget Musk’s blocking of links to rivals like Mastodon and other social media sites.  Elon Musk in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump Whether the company has “turned around” is debatable, and there certainly aren’t any transparent financials to support that claim. X touted a win after raising $1 billion in new financing at a $32 billion valuation—down from the $44 billion that Musk paid for it.  While that was higher than analysts expected, much of the bump coincided with Musk’s bromance with President Donald Trump and his growing influence in the administration. “Investments” in Trumpworld have a way of getting inflated by those seeking access and favors from corrupt oligarch overlords. But we do know that the platform is hemorrhaging users. According to Similarweb, X had 388.5 million mobile users when Yaccarino took the job in June 2023. As of last month? It’s down to 311.1 million. That’s a loss of more than 75 million users—a 20% decline. In other words, 1 in 5 users has bailed. Then there’s Yaccarino’s final claim, that she transformed X into “the Everything App.” Which is funny because … she didn’t. This refers to Musk’s repeated desire to turn X into a U.S. version of China’s WeChat.  “In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world,” he wrote on X in July 2023, a month after hiring Yaccarino. That was two years ago. According to The Guardian, WeChat is so prominent in China that it’s nearly impossible to navigate without it. The app, owned by the Chinese tech giant Tencent, is used for messaging, social media, payments, subscriptions, utility bills, food deliveries, transportation tickets, ride-sharing services, and more. By contrast, X remains … X. The same toxic cesspool, now with a Nazi AI attached. It’s not a super app with financial tools and killer features. It’s just empty promises, user loss, and legal drama. So what, exactly, did Yaccarino transform? Even Musk didn’t bother pretending to care about her resignation, simply responding with a frosty, “Thank you for your contributions.”  Then he moved on to posting about everything else except her.

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