Palm Beach, Florida — An armed man was shot and killed by law enforcement after driving into the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago early Sunday morning, authorities said. The Secret Service confirmed the breach occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m., triggering an immediate response from federal agents and local deputies.

President Donald Trump, who frequently spends weekends at his Palm Beach resort, was at the White House when the incident unfolded. Officials said there was no immediate threat to the president.

The episode adds to a series of security incidents in recent years involving high-profile political figures, underscoring the persistent risks faced by federal protective agencies. Investigators are continuing to assess the circumstances surrounding the breach.

The breach and response

According to the U.S. Secret Service, the man entered the north gate of Mar-a-Lago as another vehicle was exiting the property. He was confronted by two Secret Service agents and a deputy from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters the individual was carrying a gas can and a shotgun. He was ordered to drop the items. Authorities said he put down the gas can but raised the shotgun into a firing position. The agents and deputy then opened fire, killing him at the scene.

The man was later identified by the FBI as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin of North Carolina. Officials said his family had reported him missing earlier Sunday. Authorities believe he purchased the shotgun while traveling south; a box for the weapon was recovered from his vehicle.

Investigators have not determined a motive. Sheriff Bradshaw said there was no immediate indication that Martin had prior contact with law enforcement.

The FBI has urged residents in the vicinity of Mar-a-Lago to review home security footage that could assist the investigation. In a statement posted on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau would dedicate “all necessary resources” to determining what led to the incident.

Family reaction in North Carolina

In Cameron, North Carolina, vehicles blocked access Sunday afternoon to a residence listed in public records as associated with Martin. A relative who spoke to reporters described him as quiet and not inclined toward firearms.

Braeden Fields, identified as Martin’s cousin, expressed disbelief at the events. He said Martin worked at a local golf course and often donated part of his paycheck to charity. Fields described his cousin as someone who avoided political discussions, even though other family members were strong supporters of Trump.

Law enforcement officials said they are working to compile a psychological profile as part of their inquiry. No further details about Martin’s recent movements or mental state have been released.

Previous threats and heightened security

Sunday’s breach occurred amid an already elevated security environment surrounding Trump. During the 2024 presidential campaign, he survived two assassination attempts.

In one case, a man later identified as Ryan Routh attempted to target Trump while he was playing golf at a club in West Palm Beach. A Secret Service agent intervened before Trump came into view, prompting an exchange that led to Routh’s arrest. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Trump was also targeted at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman fired multiple shots before being killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper. One rally attendee was killed in that attack.

Federal officials have consistently cited those incidents as examples of the challenges facing protective details assigned to current and former presidents.

Political backdrop

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a social media post that the Secret Service acted “quickly and decisively” in response to the threat. She also referenced the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security, which began Feb. 14 following a dispute in Congress over immigration policy.

The Secret Service, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, is among the agencies continuing essential operations during the funding lapse, though many employees are working without pay.

The White House directed further inquiries about Sunday’s shooting to the Secret Service and the FBI. Trump and his wife posted unrelated messages on social media after the incident.

Broader climate of political violence

The Mar-a-Lago breach comes against a backdrop of several high-profile acts of politically motivated violence in the past year, including attacks on elected officials and activists across the political spectrum. Law enforcement agencies have repeatedly warned of an environment in which threats against public officials have become more frequent and more public.

Five days prior to the Mar-a-Lago incident, authorities arrested a Georgia man armed with a shotgun near the west side of the U.S. Capitol. Trump is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address there on Tuesday.

Officials emphasized that the investigation into Sunday’s breach remains active. Authorities have not indicated whether the incident was politically motivated or whether the suspect intended to target anyone specifically inside the property.

For now, federal agents are focused on reconstructing the man’s travel, communications and actions in the hours before he entered the resort’s secured perimeter.

Source: AP News – Armed man shot and killed after entering secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, Secret Service says

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In a dramatic 24-hour period, House Speaker Mike Johnson’s government funding plan unraveled, sending shockwaves through the Republican Party and throwing the government into danger of a shutdown. The chaos was ignited by an unlikely combination of political forces, including President-elect Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk, who undermined Johnson’s short-term funding deal. Their actions left the House GOP scrambling, raising serious concerns about the party’s future direction once Trump takes office.

Trump has long been a supporter of Johnson, hosting him at various events and offering private backing despite growing conservative discontent with the Speaker’s actions. But everything changed when Musk, with Trump’s tacit approval, launched a barrage of social media posts on Wednesday, sharply criticizing Johnson’s funding deal and calling it “criminal.”

Trump swiftly followed up, threatening to oppose any Republican who voted for the measure in 2026 primaries. Additionally, he unexpectedly demanded that the debt ceiling be addressed before he assumes office, a move that complicated negotiations and pushed the government closer to a shutdown deadline. These last-minute demands caught many Republicans off guard, especially given Johnson and Trump’s prior communication.

The 24-Hour Whiplash

Trump’s sudden shift in position left GOP lawmakers in confusion. For weeks, Johnson had been inching toward an agreement on a short-term funding measure. In fact, just days earlier, Trump and Johnson were seen talking at the Army-Navy game, where Trump privately communicated his preference for a long-term spending bill and his desire for the debt ceiling to be addressed in that context.

Despite this, Trump’s preference for a clean slate upon entering office drove him to demand a more substantial funding package. The result was a chaotic 24-hour period where Trump and Musk’s social media influence seemed to pull the rug out from under Johnson, leading to the collapse of the bill. The bill would have funded the government for three months, lifted the debt ceiling until 2027, and included $110 billion for disaster relief, but it ultimately failed after 38 Republicans voted against it.

By Thursday, Trump was back supporting Johnson as he attempted to push an alternative plan. The confusion reflected Johnson’s vulnerabilities as a leader and Musk’s growing sway over Trump’s decisions. The failure of the bill underscored the fractured nature of Republican leadership, leaving the GOP unsure about how to navigate the remainder of 2023 and into 2024.

Trump and Musk’s Influence

As the bill’s details emerged on Wednesday, Trump began polling his allies and advisors on the merits of a short-term funding deal versus a longer-term solution. He and Musk quickly agreed that the funding deal was too generous to Democrats and unnecessarily costly. Musk’s vocal opposition on social media, even before Trump’s public comments, signaled his growing influence in the political landscape.

Behind the scenes, Vice President-elect JD Vance was handling most of the discussions on Capitol Hill, dealing with the nitty-gritty of negotiations while Trump enjoyed dinner with Musk and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos at Mar-a-Lago. Despite his private interventions, Trump’s public stance created confusion and fueled opposition within the GOP.

Debt Ceiling Debate Adds Uncertainty

Compounding the situation, Trump introduced a new demand: that the debt ceiling be dealt with before he takes office. This demand created further complications, especially since the conventional wisdom had been that the debt ceiling would be addressed later, potentially in March 2024. Trump’s sudden focus on the issue added a new layer of uncertainty, with some of his allies questioning why Republicans would allow a potential bargaining chip to remain in place for the Democrats to use against them in the coming year.

Wednesday’s Collapse and Johnson’s Troubles

Despite initial optimism about passing the funding bill, the situation quickly deteriorated by Wednesday afternoon. A whip count revealed that Johnson lacked the necessary Republican votes to pass the deal, even with Democratic support. Rumors swirled that a pay raise for lawmakers was included, further alienating members. Musk’s social media barrage only fueled the collapse, with disgruntled phone calls flooding Republican offices.

By Thursday morning, frustration among Republicans reached a boiling point. Some conservatives, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, publicly reversed their support for Johnson and speculated about Musk potentially taking over as Speaker. This shift signaled a deepening divide within the party and a growing sense that Johnson’s leadership was in peril.

Looking Ahead

As the crisis unfolded, many Republicans felt that Johnson’s team should have voted when they had the votes earlier in the day. Instead, the party found itself in disarray. Johnson, in a moment of reflection after the bill’s failure, vowed to regroup and find another solution. The question now is whether the GOP, already divided and dealing with a narrow majority, can navigate the remainder of the year without further disruption.

The episode exposed the fragile nature of GOP leadership, with Trump’s influence and Musk’s social media power looming large over the party’s next steps. As the government faces the looming threat of a shutdown, the chaos from this 24-hour period only highlights the deeper challenges facing the Republican Party in the coming months.

Source

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President-elect Donald Trump will join SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday to announce a major investment initiative. SoftBank plans to invest $100 billion in U.S. projects over the next four years. This announcement marks Trump’s first public address since his election win last month.

Scheduled for 11 a.m., the event will highlight SoftBank’s commitment to boosting U.S. economic growth through significant investments. Trump has a history of announcing high-profile deals, though some past promises, like Foxconn’s $10 billion complex in Wisconsin, were scaled back after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted plans. Despite this, Monday’s announcement is seen as a victory for Trump, who has spent the weeks since his election promoting policies and negotiating deals with global leaders.

Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, praised the announcement, calling it a fulfillment of Trump’s campaign promises to attract foreign investments and make the U.S. a global economic powerhouse. “President Trump is not even in the Oval Office yet and he’s already delivering on his promises for the American worker,” Leavitt stated.

Trump has also been vocal about imposing tariffs on Mexico and Canada, which led to high-level discussions with leaders from both countries.

On Tuesday, Trump further emphasized his pro-business stance on his Truth Social platform, declaring that anyone investing $1 billion in the U.S. would receive “fully expedited approvals and permits,” including environmental approvals. “GET READY TO ROCK!!!” he added in the post.

SoftBank, a Japanese tech giant, invests in various companies through its Vision Funds, with a portfolio that includes Yahoo, Alibaba, and Nvidia. Earlier this year, SoftBank teamed up with Saudi Arabia to build a robot factory in Riyadh.

This announcement comes shortly after Trump promised to streamline federal permits for energy and construction projects exceeding $1 billion. In 2016, before taking office, Trump met with Son, who pledged to invest $50 billion in U.S. startups and create 50,000 jobs—an announcement Trump hailed as a direct result of his election victory. However, some of SoftBank’s investments, such as in WeWork, faced difficulties.

While this $100 billion investment promises a boost to U.S. projects, its success will depend on the execution and follow-through.

Source

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently met with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, signaling a notable shift in their historically tense relationship.

This interaction comes as Trump maintains a close, high-profile connection with Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter). Unlike his camaraderie with Musk, Trump’s rapport with Zuckerberg has been marked by conflict, including Facebook and Instagram banning Trump following the Capitol riots and Trump’s past threats to imprison Zuckerberg if he interfered in the 2024 election.

A Turning Point in Relations

Recent developments suggest a thaw in the friction between Trump and Zuckerberg. The dinner at Trump’s Florida mansion is the most significant sign of their improving relationship.

“Mark was grateful for the invitation to join President Trump for dinner and the opportunity to meet with members of his team about the incoming administration,” a Meta spokesperson told the BBC. They added that it was an “important time for the future of American innovation.”

Past Tensions

Trump’s hostility toward Zuckerberg peaked in August when he claimed in a book that Zuckerberg could “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he meddled in the upcoming election. By October, however, Trump softened his stance, describing Zuckerberg as “nice” for avoiding involvement in the election and even thanking him for a supportive phone call after an assassination attempt on Trump.

Meanwhile, Zuckerberg appears to be taking steps to align more neutrally with American politics. Meta lifted Trump’s suspension from Facebook and Instagram, which had been imposed in 2021 for what the platform described as “praise for people engaged in violence” during the January 6 riots.

In a further sign of detente, Zuckerberg recently expressed regret for downplaying content about Hunter Biden during the 2020 election and has pledged not to fund electoral infrastructure again after a controversial $400 million donation during that cycle.

Dinner Discussions

Details of what was discussed over dinner remain unclear. However, Meta has faced increasing regulatory pressure, including an ongoing antitrust case from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This meeting could reflect Zuckerberg’s efforts to improve relations with an administration that may influence his company’s future.

Trump and Musk: A Contrasting Dynamic

While Zuckerberg’s interactions with Trump have warmed, they pale in comparison to Trump’s bond with Elon Musk. The X owner has reportedly contributed over $100 million to Trump’s campaign, earning the nickname “First Buddy” in political circles—a playful nod to the traditional title of First Lady.

Musk’s support has landed him a prominent role in Trump’s government, heading the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which may grant him influence over policy and regulations affecting his business ventures.

Rivalry Between Tech Titans

Despite Musk and Zuckerberg’s interactions with Trump, their own rivalry continues. Tensions date back to a 2016 SpaceX rocket explosion that destroyed a Facebook satellite. Their feud escalated to a war of words over a proposed cage fight, though such a spectacle seems unlikely to materialize.

As these relationships evolve, the intersections of politics and Big Tech will remain in sharp focus. For Zuckerberg, his dinner with Trump may be a step toward reshaping his role in this dynamic landscape.

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