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'God help us': Ex-GOP operative warns of 'incandescent' signal America is in decline

Former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt said that Elon Musk — the world's first trillionaire — is "a danger to every single American," in a video on Friday.The Lincoln Project co-founder called the SpaceX leader and Trump administration ally "a Nazi" and raised concerns about his influence on American and worldwide political extremism. Schmidt called Musk a non-state actor, "a nation state all unto himself, and that nation state has managed to take control of the American space program."He warned that this could seriously harm humanity, and specifically Americans."He's an extreme man, and now he's a trillionaire. And that is moral failure of American politics, of the two parties, it is an incandescent signal of the corruption of the age," Schmidt said. "Elon Musk is a most dangerous man." "And don't ever forget that when he delivered this salute in a state of ecstasy, he made himself known for all time, to everybody, for what he is at his core — which is a Nazi — and that is who has become the world's first trillionaire," Schmidt said. "God help us all."

Kennedy Center filing 'dunks' on Trump over small crowd sizes

A court filing Friday documented the wreckage of President Donald Trump's Kennedy Center vanity project — highlighting fleeing artists, cratering ticket sales, and an Honors broadcast nobody watched.The midnight deadline to scrub Trump's name from the Kennedy Center was still ticking Friday. Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio board member — meaning she holds her seat by virtue of her congressional position, not a Trump appointment — had just fired back at Trump's lawyers, who'd asked the judge to freeze his own order.The numbers in Beatty's filing claimed after the renaming, "many artists canceled upcoming performances," and ticket sales "experienced a precipitous drop as compared to prior years, as did viewership of the Kennedy Center Honors broadcast." CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane posted on X that the filing "dunks on the name change itself and 'crowd size.'"The 94-page ruling that led to the deadline cited a Wall Street Journal analysis that found ticket sales plunged 70% in a single week after the renaming, compared with the prior three years.For days, it looked like Trump's team was waving the white flag. Workers slapped new stickers with the original Kennedy Center name onto buses parked outside. The website dropped Trump's name. Staff got a memo telling them to scrub it from email signatures immediately — CNN reported the website was already clean by June 8.Then Trump himself joined a virtual board meeting Thursday night, and the board voted to fight back, according to the New York Times. Their lawyers raced a last-minute motion to court — essentially asking the judge to hit pause on his own order — arguing that removing the name would be "wasteful" and "incredibly confusing for the public."Beatty's filing shot back. "'It should go without saying that the Court can, and should, reject out of hand Defendants' rather silly suggestion that enforcing the law would be 'incredibly confusing for the public."Beatty's lawyers also argued in the filing that the Trump administration "waited two weeks and within hours of the deadline" before asking for emergency relief — proof, they say, that no real harm is at stake. The whole move, they wrote, is a "frivolous" eleventh-hour gambit.If the judge says no, Trump's lawyers could take the fight to a federal appeals court.

Judge won’t halt deadline to take Trump’s name off Kennedy Center

A federal judge on Friday rejected an eleventh-hour attempt by the Kennedy Center to pause the removal of President Trump’s name from the renowned performing arts center while an appeal plays out. The institution’s board had asked Judge Christopher Cooper to halt his previous order requiring that Trump’s name come off the façade of the…

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Kennedy Center board to appeal judge's order to remove Trump's name

The Kennedy Center plans to appeal a judge's order requiring President Trump's name to be removed from the performing arts center, according to multiple reports.Why it matters: An appeal could extend the controversy over Trump's name and the future of the famed center.Driving the news: The board of trustees appointed by Trump voted to pursue the appeal ahead of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper's Friday deadline to remove the signage from the building in Washington, D.C., CNN first reported.Cooper sided with a lawsuit brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, ruling ruling last month that the board had "overstepped its statutory bounds by unilaterally renaming the Kennedy Center after President Trump."State of play: The center had indicated it would adhere to the ruling, this week removing Trump's name from its website and social media accounts.Spokesperson Roma Daravi told the Washington Post: "We are complying with the court's order while evaluating all legal options to preserve this revitalization and recognize President Trump's leadership."Representatives for the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details throughout.

Judge upholds order to remove Trump's name from Kennedy Center

A judge has denied President Trump's request to pause a ruling requiring his name to be removed from the Kennedy Center.Why it matters: The request was a last-minute bid to avoid removing the president's name from the building and accompanying signage, as a previous judge ordered. The deadline for compliance is Friday.Editor's note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

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