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Elon Musk’s renewed efforts to buy Twitter could pave the way for President Donald Trump‘s return to the platform that permanently banned him a year earlier.

If Musk follows through on the deal — and if he stands by his prior plan to reverse Trump’s ban — the Republican ex-president could potentially resume tweeting in time to make an impact on the November midterm elections.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share in April but then tried to scrap the deal, this week signaled through a regulatory filing that he once again wants to proceed with the original transaction. News of the deal, which is still not finalized, sent Twitter’s stock soaring.

Before getting cold feet on the deal over the summer, Musk said he planned to lift Trump’s Twitter ban if he took over the company. “I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump,” Musk said in May.

Twitter had shut down Trump’s account in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, when a violent mob of Trump’s supporters, spurred by his false claims of a rigged election, stormed the U.S. Capitol and forced lawmakers to flee their chambers for safety.

Trump, who now posts on a similar platform he backed called Truth Social, has said he won’t return to Twitter even if he is allowed back on. “I was disappointed by the way I was treated by Twitter. I won’t be going back on Twitter,” Trump told CNBC in April.

But with Musk’s $44 billion Twitter buyout now back on the table, some believe Trump won’t be able to resist the allure of regaining an account that boasted nearly 90 million followers at its peak.

“Of course he will” return to Twitter if he can, Democratic strategist Kurt Bardella said of Trump.

The former president is “a Twitter addict” who “loves the instant gratification” it offers, Bardella said, while noting that Truth Social has so far failed to garner a similar level of user engagement.

Trump’s Truth Social account, created in February, currently has 4.15 million followers.

Twitter’s suspension of Trump “took away his megaphone,” said Jonathan Nagler, co-director of NYU’s Center for Social Media and Politics and a professor of politics. The tech giant’s move “lessened his ability to push bogus election fraud claims” and “incite action against election officials,” he said.

“Truth Social, as far as anyone can tell, has had nowhere near the impact or reach that his Twitter account has had,” Nagler said.

Spokespeople for Trump, Musk, Twitter and Trump’s company behind Truth Social did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Musk has not yet reiterated that he will lift Trump’s Twitter ban if the latest buyout plans come to fruition. With sources telling CNBC that a deal could happen as soon as Friday, it’s possible Trump could be allowed to resume tweeting before the Nov. 8 midterm elections.

If so, Trump’s frequent musings about the midterms could soon be back on Twitter, reaching an audience that was once more than 20 times the size of his Truth Social following.

What’s more, Twitter is used much more heavily by most media organizations and politicians, both in the U.S. and around the world. But Nagler warned Trump may not want to be “100% beholden to Musk, the world’s richest man,” as his social media enabler.

“Elon Musk could change his mind as well,” Nagler said. “We’re trying to predict the behavior of two people, both of who seem quite agile in their ability to shift what they plan to do.”

Still, Nagler said, Trump is likely to rejoin Twitter if given a chance. “That would be my guess,” he said. “At the end of the day, Trump likes to be heard … my guess is that would win out.”

Some of Trump’s conservative fans cheered the news that Musk was once again pushing to buy Twitter. But not everyone is so sure it will benefit his allies.

“I think it’s going to cut both ways,” Nagler said. Trump’s tweets could possibly mobilize parts of his base to turn out to the polls, but “his increased visibility could be a reminder to moderates of why they do not want Republicans in office,” the professor said.

Bardella argued that Republican candidates have struggled “every time that Donald Trump has been the center of attention.”

He pointed to the 2018 midterms and the more recent Georgia special elections, which led to Democrats clinching a slim Senate majority. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, meanwhile, unseated a Democrat in a blue-leaning state by keeping Trump at arm’s length during the general election, Bardella said.

“The last thing that Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy want the elections to be is a referendum on Donald Trump,” Bardella said. “Republicans have made it very clear, they want the conversation heading into the midterms to be about the economy, inflation and crime. They don’t want it to be about Donald Trump.”

Musk’s comments about the need for Twitter to be “politically neutral,” and his recently revealed correspondence with people pushing him to fight “woke-ism” and censorship on the platform, could also indicate how the site might change the way it previously handled Trump’s tweets.

During the 2020 election, Twitter tried to combat misinformation by labeling certain accounts’ tweets with warnings and providing links with credible election information. Trump’s tweets were tagged multiple times, as the then-president regularly amplified a wide variety of conspiratorial claims that his reelection chances were being threatened by rampant election fraud.

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Firefly Aerospace prices shares at $45, above the expected range

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Firefly Aerospace prices shares at , above the expected range

The Blue Ghost Mission Operations Engineer, Jaxon Liebeck, showcases the Blue Ghost moon lander at Firefly Aerospace headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024 in Cedar Park.

Houston Chronicle/hearst Newspapers | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images

Firefly Aerospace priced shares in its IPO at $45 on Wednesday, above its expected range.

The Texas-based rocket maker will debut on the Nasdaq Thursday under the ticker symbol “FLY.” The offering raised $868 million and values the company at about $6.3 billion.

Firefly filed its initial prospectus in July and upped its IPO range this week to $41 to $43 a share, from an initial range of $35 to $39.

The space technology sector has seen rising investor interest over the last few years as billionaire investors such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos put their money behind SpaceX and Blue Origin, respectively.

So far this year, space technology companies Voyager Technology and Karman Holdings have gone public.

The broader IPO landscape has also seen major public debuts this year from Figma, CoreWeave and Circle as the market for public offerings reopens following a prolonged drought.

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Trump vows 100% tariff on chips, unless companies are building in the U.S.

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Trump vows 100% tariff on chips, unless companies are building in the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Apple CEO Tim Cook in the Oval Office of the White House on August 6, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Win Mcnamee | Getty Images

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will impose a 100% tariff on imports of semiconductors and chips, but not for companies that are “building in the United States.”

The announcement of new sector-specific tariffs shows Trump ratcheting up his efforts to pressure businesses to manufacture their products in the U.S.

But specifics about the plan, such as how much U.S. manufacturing a company needs to do in order to qualify for the tariff exemption, were not immediately clear.

“We’re going to be putting a very large tariff on chips and semiconductors,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon.

“But the good news for companies like Apple is if you’re building in the United States or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge,” he said.

“So in other words, we’ll be putting a tariff on of approximately 100% on chips and semiconductors. But if you’re building in the United States of America, there’s no charge.”

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Trump had previously signaled that the duties on chips and semiconductors, which have become key components in virtually every industry, could come as soon as next week.

The remarks came after Trump touted a commitment by Apple to invest another $100 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, on top of the $500 billion the tech giant has previously pledged.

Several top chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor, Nvidia and GlobalFoundries, have already pledged to manufacture some of their products in the U.S.

They’re not alone: More than 130 projects in the U.S. totaling $600 billion dollars have been announced since 2020, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip company, has pledged to invest a total of $165 billion in U.S. manufacturing.

Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, said in April that it plans to spend $500 billion on AI infrastructure in the U.S. over the next four years.

GlobalFoundries pledged $16 billion in June to expand its semiconductor manufacturing at facilities in New York and Vermont.

Also in June, Texas Instruments announced a $60 billion boost to seven chip fabs in the U.S. The company counts Apple, Ford, Medtronic, Nvidia and SpaceX as customers.

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Apple and Trump detail $100 billion U.S. spending expansion, including $2.5 billion for an iPhone glass factory

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Apple and Trump detail 0 billion U.S. spending expansion, including .5 billion for an iPhone glass factory

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as Apple CEO Tim Cook gestures, as they present Apple’s announcement of a $100 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing, while U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stand in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 6, 2025.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

Apple CEO Tim Cook and President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that the iPhone maker will spend an additional $100 billion on U.S. companies and suppliers over the next four years.

The company said its investment would incentivize overseas companies to buy more U.S.-made parts. The commitment is on top of a $500 billion announcement that Apple made in February.

“This is the largest investment Apple has ever made in America and anywhere else,” Trump said. “As you know, Apple has been an investor in other countries a little bit, I won’t say which ones, but a couple, and they’re coming home.”

Trump said that he expects new U.S. factories to be built soon based on his policies.

“There are a lot of factories and a lot of plants that are either under construction or soon we’ll be starting construction,” Trump said. “So can’t tell you exactly when, but I want to be around a year from now.”

Apple on Wednesday said it created the so-called American Manufacturing Program that includes Corning, Coherent, GlobalWafers, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments, Samsung, GlobalFoundries, Amkor and Broadcom.

The company said it would spend $2.5 billion to fund a major expansion with Corning, which makes glass for iPhones in Kentucky. Apple said that all glass for iPhones and Apple Watches will be manufactured in the U.S. at Corning’s facility.

A gift given by Apple CEO Tim Cook to U.S. President Donald Trump stands on President Trump’s table, as they present Apple’s announcement of a $100 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 6, 2025.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

At the White House, Cook presented Trump with a souvenir based on Corning’s glass.

Apple also said it had a multiyear supply agreement with Coherent to produce lasers for the iPhone’s facial recognition system.

The company said its U.S.-based supply chain would produce more than 19 billion chips for its products this year. That’s including chips made by TSMC in Arizona, Apple said. It also includes U.S.-made wafers from GlobalWafers and chips from Texas Instruments. 

Apple said it would collaborate with Texas Instruments to install additional tools in factories in Utah and Texas. GlobalFoundries, a U.S.-based foundry that manufactures older chips particularly for the U.S. government, will manufacture wireless charging technology in New York for Apple.

The iPhone maker said its goal was to have an “end-to-end” supply chain, which means that every part of the chipmaking process can take place on American soil.

Earlier this year, Apple said it would invest $500 million in a rare earths miner and that it would build AI servers at a factory in Texas.

“Oh, I love that you’re doing this,” Trump said after reading a list of Apple’s announcements.

“President Trump shared some kind words about that work, but he also asked us to think about what more we could commit to doing,” Cook said about Apple’s earlier initial $500 billion commitment. “Mr. President, we took that challenge very seriously.”

Trump has criticized Apple and Cook for not making its smartphones in the U.S., a move that Apple has never signaled that it is likely to make. Experts say that moving production of a high-volume, complicated electronics product like the iPhone to the U.S. would be economically infeasible and could take years.

When asked about the possibility of making the iPhone in the U.S. on Wednesday, Cook said that many of the parts inside the device were made in the U.S.

“If you look at the bulk of it, we’re doing a lot of the semiconductors here, we’re doing the glass here, we’re doing the face ID module here,” Cook said.

Not Apple’s first U.S. commitment

Apple has made similar announcements in the past. In 2018, under pressure during the first Trump administration, Apple committed to spend $350 billion in the U.S. over five years, or about $70 billion per year. In 2021, Apple announced plans to spend $430 billion over five years, or $86 billion per year in the U.S. Wednesday’s announcement has the company at $600 billion over four years, or $125 billion per year. 

Much of what Apple has announced has come to fruition, although the company doesn’t report its U.S. spending on an annual basis and suppliers generally don’t break out how much revenue comes from Apple. 

The company also faces increased tariffs that could hurt its profits. It’s currently paying for tariffs placed on Chinese imports earlier this year, and faces increased import taxes on semiconductors when the Trump Administration finishes a so-called Section 232 investigation.

Trump said on Wednesday that he planned to impose a 100% tariff on semiconductors and chips, but that Apple was exempt because it is committing to build in the U.S.

Apple in May said that the majority of phones it’s selling in the U.S. are assembled in India to avoid Chinese tariffs, and although tariffs on India are going up to 25%, White House sources told CNBC that the iPhone maker will be “largely unaffected” by the India tariffs. Apple said that tariffs could cost the company $1.1 billion in the current quarter. 

In 2017, Apple announced that it was creating a $1 billion manufacturing fund, which would go towards future purchase commitments with U.S. suppliers. Apple raised that to $10 billion earlier this year.  Corning, one of the participants in Wednesday’s announcement, previously got two public commitments from Apple’s manufacturing fund. 

In 2021, Apple said that its U.S. spending was outpacing its initial 2018 announcement. In its initial announcement, the company said it would spend $10 billion on data centers in North Carolina, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and Iowa. Apple operates data centers in all those states today. 

Apple on Wednesday said it was expanding data centers in North Carolina, Iowa, Nevada and Oregon. 

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