--:-- Shumita Basu: Good morning. It's Thursday, March 13th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shumita Basu: On today's show, how Mexico's president has skillfully negotiated with Trump, reaction from Congress members to Trump's threats to arrest more student protesters, and the White House withdraws its nominee for director of the CDC. But first, to Elon Musk and the growing backlash against him and his electric vehicle company, Tesla.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Since President Trump took office, Musk and his Doge team have been the face of efforts to slash federal spending and cut tens of thousands of federal jobs. In response, Tesla has faced blowback from consumers, some of whom are not happy about the large role Trump gave Musk in the federal government and how his decisions are impacting their lives.
--:-- Becky Peterson: We've seen people increasingly come out and protesting Tesla properties, whether that's showrooms, where there's been a number of peaceful protests across the country. Some Tesla owners have been selling or trading in their vehicles because they no longer want to be affiliated with Musk and his politics.
--:-- Becky Peterson: In other incidents, things have escalated. There have been service centers that have been riddled with bullet holes. There's been some instances of arson at Tesla superchargers and examples of people having their Tesla spray painted with graffiti, often swastikas or other references to Nazis.
--:-- Shumita Basu: President Trump on Tuesday vowed to label any violence against Tesla dealerships as economic terrorism, and he told reporters any perpetrators will, quote, go through hell.
--:-- Becky Peterson: Tesla's also taken some serious hits in the stock market. It's been down every week since Musk went to Washington. Since mid-December, the company has lost more than half its value. That's around $800 billion in market cap.
--:-- Becky Peterson: And earlier this week, Tesla's stock experienced its biggest drop in value in a single day since 2020. It rebounded Tuesday, however, after President Trump's comments in support of the company, where he turned the White House driveway into a pop-up Tesla showroom of sorts, lined up several vehicles and made a personal promise to buy one.
--:-- Shumita Basu: We saw Donald Trump sit in one of the cars and he joked about how he doesn't get to drive very much anymore. The president also called on Americans to support Tesla and Musk.
--:-- Becky Peterson: Number one, it's a great product, as good as it gets. There are ethics rules prohibiting employees of the executive branch from promoting or endorsing products on behalf of their friends or their relatives. But the New York Times reports that those rules do not apply to the president.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And while it's perhaps not very surprising that Trump is standing by Elon Musk, one of his biggest financial supporters, his support of Tesla in this moment contradicts his administration's goals for EVs more broadly and his own stated opinions on them.
--:-- Becky Peterson: Trump has had a lot of harsh things to say about electric vehicles over the years. He's criticized their cost, their mileage, their battery life. He changed his tune last August when Musk endorsed his run for president, saying, quote, I'm for electric cars. I have to be because Elon endorsed me very strongly.
--:-- Shumita Basu: But since taking office Trump has rolled back Biden incentives that encouraged EV sales and manufacturing And just this week Trump administration halted much of the federal government efforts to adopt EVs into its fleet of cars and trucks
--:-- Becky Peterson: Elon Musk has evolved too in his politics and in his opinion of Donald Trump. He went from being a one-time Trump critic to now influential advisor.
--:-- Shumita Basu: We asked Peterson what were some moments that helped crystallize Musk's political leanings. She said, of course, when he bought Twitter in 2022 and started sharing a lot more of his personal views, but also even further back, the beginning of the pandemic, Peterson says, was a real turning point for him.
--:-- Becky Peterson: A big one was in 2020 when Tesla's only U.S. factory in California had to stop making cars because of coronavirus lockdowns. We saw Elon get really upset about those lockdowns and really turn against the state of California in response.
--:-- Becky Peterson: It was soon after that that he moved the company to Texas and he started advocating for different politics. And as Musk's politics changed, so it seems has Tesla's fan base.
--:-- Shumita Basu: We looked at sales and survey data, which suggests that politics is definitely affecting demand. Tesla had a long history of being very popular in Democratic-leaning areas like San Francisco and Los Angeles. Now, though, it looks like Republicans are more likely to say they would buy a Tesla than Democrats are, which is a sharp reversal from much of the company's history.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Now to Mexico, where President Claudia Sheinbaum has stood out among foreign leaders as a skillful negotiator with President Trump.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: On two separate occasions, she's persuaded him to delay tariffs on her country by making the case that Mexico's efforts to deter people from bringing fentanyl across the border were already having measurable impact.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: And by telling him about a public awareness campaign launched by Mexico to discourage fentanyl use. That campaign, according to a source in Mexican government who spoke to The Washington Post, was largely designed to impress the U.S. government.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Mexico doesn't have a fentanyl use epidemic. And it worked. Trump spoke glowingly about his call with Sheinbaum to reporters last month.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: I thanked her for that. You know, I make so many calls and I never learn anything from anybody. I know everything and I never learn anything from anybody. And I spoke to this woman as soon as she said it. She didn't have to say exactly what I said. Exactly. What a great idea.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Mary Beth Sheridan, the bureau chief for The Washington Post in Mexico, told us about the dynamic between these two leaders.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: It's been a surprisingly warm relationship. She told us a lot of Shane Baum's success working with Trump can be attributed to her preparation. Ahead of her meetings, she talks to a lot of advisers and runs through different scenarios.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: She tries very hard, I think, not to be confrontational, not to jump on any insulting statement or whatever, to stay very cool. She calls it a cool head.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Shane Baum is popular in Mexico. She was elected easily by a 30-point margin, and her current approval rating stands at a massive 85 percent.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: She came into office with the reputation of being a kind of low-key academic type. She has a Ph.D. in energy engineering. And Sheridan told us that cool-headed approach is serving her well.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: She's also being praised for knowing when to wait a situation out. For example, she hasn't been quick to announce retaliatory tariffs.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Between the time Trump says he impose the tariffs or even does impose them and the time where he and Sheinbaum will have a conversation usually a few days will pass And in that time the markets typically have fallen or the U automakers or other U.S. businesses are complaining to Trump and raising concerns and so on.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: So essentially, Trump comes under pressure from American companies and the markets and so on. And so by the time he gets on the phone with Shane Baum, he seems a bit more ready to make a deal.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Now, Sheinbaum has also made plenty of concessions to Trump. She sent more than 10,000 troops to the border to deter fentanyl shipments and illegal migration.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: She extradited 29 suspected drug traffickers to the U.S. And despite her diplomatic victories, Trump's threats to impose tariffs on Mexico haven't disappeared.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The steel and aluminum tariff enacted yesterday impact Mexico, which is one of the top exporters to the U.S.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: Sheridan reports that Trump has not ruled out using the U.S. military to strike fentanyl targets in Mexico. And Sheridan says Mexican officials are braced for the possibility that their currently positive relationship with Trump could become more volatile.
--:-- Shumita Basu: But I think that people in the Scheinbaum circle feel is that we're bound to have more uncertainty because Mexico is kind of at the center of all these issues, drugs, migration, trade.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: It's a crucial partner of the U.S., so doubtless there's going to be more turmoil.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Detained Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil will remain in a Louisiana immigration jail as his case makes its way through court, a judge ruled on Wednesday.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Khalil is a green card holder living in the United States legally and permanently, but he was arrested on Saturday in New York by ICE officials who said his green card was being revoked.
--:-- Shumita Basu: He is not charged with a crime. Instead, he's being detained for his role in organizing protests at Columbia University against the war in Gaza last year.
--:-- Shumita Basu: His detainment is a result of an executive order from President Trump, who's calling pro-Palestinian demonstrations that spread across campuses nationwide anti-Semitic.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Though there has been widespread condemnation of Khalil's arrest by human rights lawyers and First Amendment experts, the Democratic Party hasn't fully rallied around Khalil's case or President Trump's comments that there will be more arrests to come.
--:-- Shumita Basu: On Tuesday, 14 House Democrats signed a letter calling on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to immediately release Khalil.
--:-- Shumita Basu: In the letter, they call his detention a, quote, illegal abduction. But as I just mentioned, it was signed by only 14 Democrats. That's roughly 6% of the Democrats in the House.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Khalil's own representative, Democrat Adriano Espayot from New York, did not sign the letter. But he told The Intercept he expects the Trump administration to adhere to the rule of law.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Meanwhile, in the Senate, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee put out a statement on social media saying, quote, this should terrify everyone.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, put out a video calling for Khalil's release.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The White House doesn't claim he did anything criminal. He's in jail because of his political speech.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And here's why everybody should care. In America, your political speech is protected, whether or not the president likes what you say.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Senator Chuck Schumer, who is a staunch supporter of Israel, also put out a statement saying that although he, quote, abhors Khalil's political positions, the administration must either articulate what crime he has committed or release him
--:-- Shumita Basu: Schumer also says in that statement that Halil may well have been in violation of various campus rules but that that is for Colombia to decide
--:-- Shumita Basu: And Schumer dedicated a fair amount of his statement to calling on Colombia to do more to protect Jewish students.
--:-- Shumita Basu: According to the Jewish publication The Forward, in the lead-up to Halil's arrest, pro-Israel activists have been compiling a list of student protesters that they believe the Trump administration should detain and deport.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Halil has long been on top of that list. And the forward reports that at least one pro-Israel activist was in D.C. recently meeting with aides to members of Congress, including Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Ted Cruz, to discuss this matter.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Those aides reportedly promised to, quote, escalate the issue.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Fetterman did not immediately respond to the forward's request for comment, But in response to the Senate Judiciary Democrats calling for Khalil to be freed, he posted, free all the hostages.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The White House has withdrawn its nomination of Dave Weldon, a physician and former congressmember, to serve as CDC director.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Axios reported it just hours before he was set to testify. at his Senate confirmation hearing.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Weldon is a known anti-vaccine advocate, and Stat News delved into congressional records from his time in Washington to examine his history of questioning vaccine safety, in particular the measles vaccine.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The New York Times spoke to officials who said it became clear that Weldon wouldn't have the votes to get confirmed.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, a House subcommittee hearing came to an abrupt end on Tuesday after Republican Texas Congressman Keith Self misgendered Representative Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress, calling her Mr.
--:-- Shumita Basu: He was swiftly confronted by Congressman William Keating, who insisted he correct himself.
--:-- Shumita Basu: This hearing is adjourned.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Self later said on X in response to the incident, quote, it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female, seeming to be referring to an executive order signed by Trump on his first day in office.
--:-- Shumita Basu: McBride later wrote on X, quote, no matter how I'm treated by some colleagues, nothing diminishes my awe and gratitude at getting to represent Delaware in Congress.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And finally, in a surprise result, Greenland's center-right opposition party won the island's general election yesterday as talk of a takeover of the territory by Trump and the U.S. dominated the conversation.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The Democratic Party, which backs a gradual move toward independence, won about 30 percent of the votes.
--:-- Shumita Basu: One parliamentarian said while there was a lot of international attention on the election, domestic issues like health care, pensions and phishing policy also played a big role.
--:-- Shumita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a Narrated article coming up next.
--:-- Shumita Basu: As the Trump administration cracks down on diversity and inclusion policies, The Hollywood Reporter looks at how major movie studios have backtracked.
--:-- Shumita Basu: If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
