Happy New Year 2025

Category: Business

OpenAI’s Altman says Musk ‘trying to slow us down’ with takeover bid

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar discusses the company’s partnership with SoftBank, consumers embracing artificial intelligence, OpenAI’s ‘deep research’ tool and DeepSeek’s impact in the space.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Elon Musk is “probably just trying to slow us down” with his bid to purchase the company, insisting on Tuesday that it is not for sale.

Altman, who spoke to Bloomberg on the sidelines of the AI Action Summit in Paris following Musk’s unsolicited bid of $97.4 billion to take over OpenAI, also said that Musk is probably living his whole life “from a position of insecurity” and that “I don’t think he’s like a happy person, I do feel for him.”

“Look, OpenAI is not for sale,” Altman told Bloomberg. “Elon tries all sorts of things for a long time. This is this week’s episode.”

“I think he is probably just trying to slow us down. He obviously is a competitor. He’s working hard to raise a lot of money for [his startup] xAI and they are trying to compete with us from a technological perspective from getting the product into the market and I wish he would just compete by building a better product but I think there has been a lot of tactics, you know many, many lawsuits, all sorts of other crazy stuff and now this,” Altman added. “And we’ll try to just put our head down and keep working.”

AI WILL HELP LOWER PRICES, BUT COULD BE USED BY AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENTS, ALTMAN SAYS

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, left, is rejecting a bid from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to purchase Open AI. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Chip Somodevilla/AFP/Getty Images)

When asked if he is concerned about Musk’s proximity to President Donald Trump and his ability to potentially influence him regarding U.S. policy on AI, Altman said “Maybe I should, but not particularly.

“I try to just wake up and think about how we are going to make our technology better,” he also said.

Marc Toberoff, Musk’s attorney, said he submitted the bid on Monday to the board of directors at OpenAI to purchase the company, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Altman also responded to Musk’s offer on X, saying, “no thank you but we may buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”

ELON MUSK WARNS FEDERAL RESERVE MAY FACE DOGE AUDIT

Elon Musk, left, and Sam Altman are seen onstage together during an event at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in San Francisco in 2015. (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Vanity Fair / Getty Images)

Musk turned to X and fired back quickly, “Swindler,” and later wrote, “Never a dull moment on X.”

Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI but cut ties with the company in 2018 after he was unable to persuade its other leaders to put him in charge of a for-profit OpenAI entity or merge the company with Tesla.

Both Musk and Altman started OpenAI as a charity in 2015. When Musk left, Altman became the chief executive and the company established a for-profit subsidiary to raise money from investors and Microsoft. Now, Altman is looking to turn the subsidiary into a traditional company, the WSJ reported.

OpenAI is the creator of ChatGPT. (Photo Illustration by Idrees Abbas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Last month, Trump announced a massive $500 billion infrastructure project called Stargate. Major names including Softbank, OpenAI and Oracle plan to join forces to build data centers in the U.S. for the further development of AI.

FOX Business’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

February 11, 2025
PETER NAVARRO: It’s a new golden age for American steel and aluminum

White House counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro talks President Donald Trump’s tariff negotiations, spotlights the fentanyl drug war and China-U.S. relations.

America’s steel and aluminum industries are not just pillars of the domestic economy but foundational to national security.  Recognizing their importance, President Donald Trump has signed two new proclamations to restore and strengthen the Section 232 tariffs he boldly implemented in 2018.

President Trump imposed the 2018 tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, and America’s steel industry responded with over $15 billion in investments, expanding production and building new facilities. Century Aluminum, America’s largest producer, restarted idle production lines, Alcoa expanded operations, and U.S. aluminum production surged.

President Joe Biden would end Trump’s Golden Age of steel and aluminum, however, with a withering wave of product exclusions, country exemptions, lax Customs and Border enforcement, and widespread tariff circumvention by foreign countries – including many of our putative allies.

WHO GETS HIT HARDEST BY STEEL AND ALUMINUM TARIFFS?

Leveraging Biden’s weakness, China and Russia would transship steel through Mexico and Canada.  Japan, amidst its declining domestic demand, would target the American market with high-value specialty steel products that undercut U.S. producers.

Canada’s government poured nearly a billion dollars into ArcelorMittal’s facilities, funding the transition of its outdated blast furnaces into modern Direct Reduced Iron – Electric Arc Furnace (DRI-EAF) operations.  These massive government subsidies thereby gave Canada’s national steel champion an unfair competitive edge.

Peter Navarro, Trump senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, analyzes the impact of the Columbian president caving to President Donald Trump’s tariff threat on ‘Making Money.’

As for Mexico, it facilitated a more than 1,000% increase in steel rebar imports.  South Korea would use its quota exemption to flood the U.S. market, exporting over 2.6 million metric tons in 2023 alone. This has allowed Korea’s national champion POSCO to gain a dominant foothold in American supply chains.

Even Brazil got into the act.  It would exploit its quota deal on semi-finished steel to export almost 4 million metric tons to the U.S. in 2023—nearly 15% of total U.S. steel imports.   Moreover, Brazilian producers, backed by export subsidies and a weak currency, would undercut American steelmakers, particularly in slab production, which U.S. mills then re-rolled into finished products at the expense of domestic melt and pour mills.

WHAT ARE TARIFFS, HOW DO THEY WORK AND WHO PAYS FOR THEM?

The net result has been to erase nearly all of the gains under the original Trump tariffs.  Major U.S. producers, including integrated mills and mini mills, have reported deteriorating financial performance and idled production lines.  Domestic steel capacity utilization has dangerously dropped to 74%, well below the sustainable 80% threshold.

America’s aluminum producers have been equally hard hit.  Australia has doubled its primary aluminum exports to the U.S while foreign competitors, including strategic adversaries like China and Russia, aggressively use transshipment loopholes through Mexico and Canada to evade and circumvent tariffs.

Rockwell Automation CEO Blake Moret explains how tariffs will be a ‘net positive’ for U.S. automation on ‘The Claman Countdown.’

As imports have surged, domestic aluminum production has fallen by 30% while smelter utilization rates have dropped to nearly 50%.  In June 2022, Century Aluminum idled its Hawesville, Kentucky smelter.  Alcoa announced the permanent closure of its Washington State Intalco smelter in March 2023 while Magnitude 7 Metals in Missouri curtailed operations at its New Madrid smelter in early 2024, further reducing the number of active primary aluminum producers in the U.S.

To strengthen and reinvigorate our pillar steel and aluminum industries, President Trump has reinstated his across-the-board 25% tariff on steel imports and raised the aluminum tariff from 10% to 25% while eliminating all country-specific exemptions and alternative agreements.

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To stop China and Russia and other foreign nations from using Canada and Mexico as transshipment hubs, the Trump 2.0 tariffs will ensure all imports, regardless of processing location, are subject to tariffs through the use of North American “melt and pour” and “smelt and cast” standards for steel and aluminum, respectively.

The Trump 2.0 tariffs also crack down on the shell game of using “derivative products” to evade tariffs. Countries like China, Russia, and others now ship semi-finished steel or aluminum to Mexico, Canada, or the EU where it is lightly processed (e.g., cutting, welding, or coating) before being sent to the U.S. tariff-free under existing trade agreements while Ukraine sends semi-finished steel to be processed in Poland where it is exported as a derivative product to the U.S., avoiding Section 232 tariffs and anti-dumping duties.

Tariff evaders also ship hot-rolled steel to tariff-exempt countries like South Korea or Japan where it is converted into cold-rolled or galvanized sheets before being exported tariff-free to the U.S. Still others may alter product forms just enough to have them classified as finished goods rather than raw materials, e.g., instead of shipping aluminum billets subject to tariffs, exporters extrude them into duty-free window frames or door thresholds.

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The Trump 2.0 tariffs crack down on all such tariff evasion by significantly expanding tariff coverage to capture derivative product evasion even as the product exclusion process has been eliminated. There have been hundreds of thousands of such exclusions, overburdening the Department of Commerce while exempting 115 million metric tons of imports from tariffs. This bureaucratic giveaway to foreign manufacturers has now been eliminated with one stroke of the Trump pen, ensuring a level playing field for U.S. producers.

Finally, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will make sure there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide for the tariff evaders.  It will now rigorously investigate and penalize all tariff evasion and misclassification.

In these ways, and in yet another example of “Trump promises made, Trump promises kept,” President Trump’s steel and aluminum proclamations reaffirm his unwavering commitment to American workers and national security even as they will usher in a new Golden Age of prosperity for two key pillar industries.

Peter Navarro is the White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing.

February 11, 2025
What would be the impact of a credit card interest rate cap?

A ‘Mornings with Maria’ panel provides their reactions to the December jobs report, detailing the impact it may have on the U.S. economy.

New legislation in Congress that was introduced by an unlikely duo of senators seeks to impose a credit card interest rate cap, with the potential for such a bill becoming law aided by President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge on the subject.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation that would cap credit card interest rates at 10% for five years after the bill’s enactment. The two populist senators touted the measure as a means of fulfilling a campaign pledge made by Trump’s campaign last year.

The bill’s introduction coupled with White House support for the proposal could allow for the idea to gain traction, although there would be consequences to the policy and it still faces a long road to enactment.

“Credit card rate caps have always been the longest of long shots because there’s so many people lined up against it for various reasons, but it shouldn’t surprise anybody that a rate cap is enormously popular,” Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree, told FOX Business.

JOSH HAWLEY, BERNIE SANDERS PROPOSE CAPPING CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATES AT 10%

Credit card interest rates could be capped at 10% under a bill offered by Sanders and Hawley. (iStock)

Schulz said that LendingTree conducted a poll that showed respondents continued to support the idea of a credit card interest rate cap even if it means restricted access to credit and diminished credit card rewards.

“It’s still a long shot, but there’s no question that the idea politically kind of has some wind at its back right now, and if it’s ever going to happen, this may be as likely a time as ever for it to happen,” he said.

Schulz added that credit cards offered by federally chartered credit unions are capped at 18%, which do still offer rewards but aren’t as lucrative as those offered by larger banks. He went on to say that a cap at that level or 20% would be significant for consumers dealing with credit card debt while potentially having a better chance at becoming reality.

US CREDIT CARD DEFAULTS SOAR TO HIGHEST LEVEL IN 14 YEARS

Several leading trade groups representing the financial services industry sent a letter to Hawley and Sanders outlining their opposition to the duo’s proposed 10% credit card interest rate cap. Signatories to the letter included the Consumer Bankers Association, America’s Credit Unions, American Financial Services Association, Bank Policy Institute, Independent Community Bankers of America, American Bankers Association and the National Bankers Association.

The letter cited economic research showing that government price setting on APR caps hurts consumers, in part because it “would eliminate access to credit cards for millions of consumers and drive them to sources of credit which are far more costly and less regulated.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., accused financial institutions of “extortion” and “loan sharking” for having credit card interest rates over 25%. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The groups noted the state of Illinois imposed a rate cap, which the Federal Reserve researched and found was responsible for reducing the number of loans to subprime borrowers by 38 percent. They also referenced a study by researchers at Dartmouth who found Oregon’s 36% all-in APR cap was responsible for “harming, not helping, consumers on average” and “restricting access caused deterioration in the overall financial condition of Oregon households.”

“As responsible and well-regulated financial institutions, we share the goals of reducing the cost of consumer credit and increasing financial inclusion. Unfortunately, the 10 percent rate cap proposed in this legislation would stifle our shared financial inclusion goals, reduce access to credit and push consumers to far more costly and less regulated lenders,” the groups wrote.

CONSUMER WATCHDOG WARNS COMPANIES AGAINST DEVALUING CREDIT CARD REWARDS, LAUNCHES TOOL TO AVOID SCAMS

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said high credit card interest rates are “exploitative” and capping them would provide “meaningful relief.” (Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)

While it’s unclear whether Congress will consider legislation capping credit card interest rates, Schulz noted that there are still steps consumers can take to ease their financial burden.

“The good news is that there are plenty of things you can do yourself to lower your interest rates without waiting for Congress to come in as the cavalry in lowering rates. You can get a 0% balance transfer credit card if you have good credit. You could look at a low interest personal loan, that’s a good option if you can’t get a 0% balance transfer card,” he said.

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“You can even call your credit card issuer and ask for a lower rate. LendingTree did a survey last year where we found that 76% of people who asked for a lower interest rate on one of their credit cards got one, and the average reduction was about 6 percentage points which is really significant,” Schulz said. “So it’s absolutely worth the call, because that sort of success rate shows that it’s not just people with 800 credit scores and long track records who are getting their way – it’s regular folks too who really need the help.”

February 11, 2025
EU says Trump’s ‘unjustified’ tariffs ‘will not go unanswered’

Potential Canadian prime minister, Jagmeet Singh, warned President Donald Trump and Tesla-founder Elon Musk that Canada will respond to American tariffs with tariffs of its own.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday she would impose “firm and proportionate” countermeasures against the U.S. in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

“Tariffs are taxes — bad for business, worse for consumers,” von der Leyen said in a statement. “Unjustified tariffs on the EU will not go unanswered—they will trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures.”

She said the EU “will act to safeguard its economic interests” and protect workers, businesses and consumers.

Trump placed a 25% tax on foreign steel and aluminum in an effort to allow local producers to work without intense global competition, which allowed them to charge higher prices. They are expected to take effect on March 12.

WHO GETS HIT HARDEST BY STEEL AND ALUMINUM TARIFFS?

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she would impose “firm and proportionate” measures against the U.S. in response to Trump’s newly announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. (Getty Images)

Trump imposed similar tariffs during his first term, but the move damaged relations with key allies and drove up costs for manufacturers that purchase steel and aluminum.

When he first imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in 2018, the EU retaliated by placing tariffs on Harley-Davidsons, jeans, lighters, cranberry juice and bourbon, according to POLITICO. Tensions between the two sides later deescalated, and the tariffs were suspended.

The president has now expanded his steel and aluminum tariffs to cover all imports, which effectively cancels earlier tariff deals with the European Union, the United Kingdom and Japan, among others, POLITICO reported.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the “unjustified tariffs” will “trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures” against the U.S. (Getty Images)

Von der Leyen was scheduled to meet Vice President JD Vance later on Tuesday during his visit to Europe.

The EU’s top trade official, Maroš Šefčovič, criticized the new tariffs as “a lose-lose scenario.”

“By imposing tariffs, the US will be taxing its own citizens, raising costs for its own business, and fueling inflation,” Šefčovič told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, noting that they would have “disruptive effects” on the global trading system.

TRUMP PLANS TO UNVEIL 25% TARIFFS ON ALUMINUM AND STEEL AMID TRADE POLICY OVERHAUL

President Trump imposed similar tariffs on the EU during his first term, but suspended them after tensions deescalated. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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“We are currently assessing the scope of the measures announced overnight,” Šefčovič added. “[We] will be responding in a firm and proportionate way by countermeasures.”

The EU is the third-largest source of steel and aluminum combined for the United States, according to POLITICO.

February 11, 2025
Costco CEO, execs members of Washington business group dedicated to “racial equity”

‘The Big Money Show’ explores companies turning against DEI policies while Costco bucks the trend.

Costco’s CEO and several executives are affiliated with a Washington business group dedicated to advancing “racial equity for Black Washingtonians,” showcasing just how deeply committed the grocery wholesaler is to diversity, equity and inclusion as it faces mounting pressure from investors to drop the controversial programs.

Washington Employers for Racial Equity is a group that brings together local business leaders, ranging from Costco CEO Ron Vachris to Microsoft President Brad Smith in order to support “Black Washingtonians” and build “a future rooted in equity for all,” according to its website.

WERE members have pledged to achieve a series of equity-related goals by the year 2030. Among those goals are racial quotas for their workforce, vowing to have the percentage of Black employees mirror the percentage of working-age Black people living in the communities the WERE members are doing business in, investing a combined $2 billion in programs to support “racial equity,” increasing investment in Black-owned business and providing anti-bias training.

COSTCO AWARDED EXECUTIVES HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS IN DEI-RELATED BONUSES

Several Costco execs are members of a “racial equity” business group.

“Equity will increase prosperity for our entire state. Our communities will be stronger, healthier, and more vibrant. Our economy and our companies will benefit from a greater diversity of ideas, a more robust talent pipeline, and increased opportunity for all Washingtonians. We will start by owning our part of this problem, actively working to contribute to solutions, and using our voices to advocate for governmental action that supports transformational and lasting change,” WERE’s report “The Commitment to Progress: An Equitable Future for Washington,” said.

In addition to Vachris, several other Costco execs are members of WERE’s “Supplier Diversity Task Force.” Costco Director, Journeys, Diversity & Inclusion Claude Green, Senior Vice President, Corporate Foods & Sundries Nancy Griese and Food & Sundries Assistant General Merchandise Manager Leanne Bender are all listed as being part of the taskforce.

“This task force focuses on removing barriers and identifying opportunities to improve supplier diversity and support investment in Black-owned businesses,” the website stated.

The grocery wholesaler has been under pressure to drop their DEI policies. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)

WASHINGTON AG STANDS BY COSTCO, BLASTS REPUBLICAN ATTORNEYS GENERAL THREATENING DEI CRACKDOWN

Costco’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion has made the grocery wholesaler the focus of a broader national conversation around DEI. In January Costco’s board shot down an investors’ proposal to investigate the risks associated with their DEI policies, which led to backlash as well as support from the Rev. Al Sharpton, who staged a “buy in” at wholesaler’s Harlem location.

In response, 19 states’ attorneys general wrote a letter to CEO Vachris ordering the grocery chain to drop their DEI policies to get in line with President Trump’s executive orders combating the controversial programs.

A former Costco executive Roger Campbell told Fox News Digital that DEI is part of the company’s culture, and a key ingredient in the secret sauce that made the grocery chain so successful.

President Trump has signed several executive orders combating DEI. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“The term DEI didn’t even exist to us, it was the way we ran our business… it’s who we are,” former Costco International Division Senior Vice President Roger Campbell told Fox News Digital.

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Several members of Costco’s board donated heavily to Democratic party aligned groups, with Chairman of the Board Hamilton E. James having given $100,000 to the Harris Action Fund in May 2023, FEC data revealed.

Neither WERE nor Costco responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

February 11, 2025
Canned tuna recall: Trader Joe’s, H-E-B, Walmart, Publix products impacted
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If you’ve recently purchased canned tuna at Trader Joe’s, H-E-B, Costco or Walmart, you may want to throw it out.

That’s because a manufacturer of canned tuna products recently issued a country-wide recall of its products over a design concern that could potentially cause botulism.

Tri-Union Seafoods initiated the recall on Feb. 7, according to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) press release. The recall impacts canned tuna products sold under the Genova, Van Camp’s, H-E-B and Trader Joe’s brand names.

The brands of the recalled products, as well as the states and stores they were sold in, are listed below:

POPULAR FROZEN MEAL SOLD AT ALDI RECALLED ACROSS 31 STATES FOR METAL CONTAMINATION: ‘DISCARD IT IMMEDIATELY’

The FDA recently announced a recall impacting canned tuna at popular supermarkets across the U.S. (iStock / iStock)
- H-E-B label – Texas
- Trader Joe’s label – Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin
- Genova 7 oz. – Costco in Florida and Georgia
- Genova 5 oz. – Harris Teeter, Publix, H-E-B, Kroger, Safeway, Walmart, and independent retailers in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Texas
- Van Camp’s label – Walmart and independent retailers in Pennsylvania, Florida and New Jersey
The manufacturer said that the recall was “out of an abundance of caution” after it was alerted to a defect in its cans.

“This voluntary recall is out of an abundance of caution following the notification from our supplier that the ‘easy open’ pull tab can lid on limited products encountered a manufacturing defect that may compromise the integrity of the product seal (especially over time), causing it to leak, or worse, be contaminated with clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning,” the press release detailed.

“Consumers are warned not to use the product even if it does not look or smell spoiled.”

GERBER TEETHING STICKS DISCONTINUED, RECALLED AFTER EMERGENCY ROOM VISIT: ‘RETURN THE PRODUCT’

Shopping bags at a Trader Joe’s in New York City. (Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), botulism can result in difficulty breathing, muscle paralysis, and – in the most severe cases – death.

“When people eat these foods [contaminated with Clostridium botulinum], they can become seriously ill, or even die, if they don’t get proper medical treatment quickly,” the CDC’s website notes.

Tri-Union Seafoods advised consumers to immediately seek medical attention if they feel unwell after eating one of the affected products – though no such case has been reported so far.

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Food And Drug Administration headquarters in White Oak, Md. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“If you have a recalled tuna can, please return it to the retailer for a full refund, throw it away, or contact Tri-Union Seafoods directly for a retrieval kit and a coupon for a replacement product,” the statement concluded. “Consumers can contact Tri-Union Seafoods at [email protected] or 833-374-0171, if they have any questions or to request replacement product.”

Tri-Union Seafoods did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
February 11, 2025
EasyJet flight lands in Greece after pilot collapses, causing midair fright

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Passengers were rattled during a recent international flight after an England-bound plane made an emergency stop in Greece over the weekend, citing a “medical emergency.”

EasyJet, a low-cost airline based in the United Kingdom, was operating a flight from Hurghada, Egypt, to Manchester on Feb. 8, when the plane’s pilot suddenly collapsed en route.

A passenger told the Manchester Evening News that the pilot collapsed around two hours into the flight. The travelers were initially unaware that the incident involved the pilot.

“At first we thought this may have been a passenger as nothing much was being said, other than the screams asking if anyone is medically trained, where a few passengers got up and assisted the cabin crew,” the passenger, who preferred to remain anonymous, said.

VIDEO SHOWS FLAMES SHOOTING FROM PLANE WING DURING SCARY LANDING

An EasyJet Airbus A320 passenger aircraft makes a final approach for landing at the runway of Athens International Airport in Greece. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“The following call was from the cabin crew to advise this was the captain/pilot who was seeking medical attention and has fell unwell and we again would be further updated with what was going to happen,” the traveler added. “At this point, the passengers were starting to get rather worried and anxious, including myself, knowing that it was a pilot and not the passenger.”

“The ride began to get very rough and scary.”

EasyJet confirmed the incident in a statement to People, noting that the co-pilot was able to divert the flight and land safely in Athens.

“The first officer performed a routine landing in accordance with standard operating procedures and the aircraft was met by paramedics on arrival in Athens,” the spokesperson confirmed.

JETBLUE, SPIRIT AGREE TO TERMINATE MERGER OVER REGULATORY ISSUES

EasyJet apologized for the inconvenience caused by the incident. (Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)

EasyJet also apologized for the inconvenience caused by the incident, as the flight was delayed overnight.

“We did all possible to minimize the impact of the disruption and arranged hotel rooms and meals where available,” the statement said. “We would like to apologize to passengers for the inconvenience caused and thank them for their patience and understanding.”

EasyJet made international headlines last year, when panicked passengers were forced to evacuate down a plane’s emergency slides after a vape pen explosion.

An Airbus A320-214 from EasyJet prepares for takeoff on the runway in Spain. (Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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“I could smell and see smoke coming towards us from the front of the plane, so I asked my dad, ‘Is this protocol?’” a passenger told Storyful at the time. “Then, a girl ran down the aisle with a bag, with smoke out of it, and then there was a cracking noise, which was the sound of the flames, which caused panic.”

FOX Business reached out to EasyJet for comment.

FOX Business’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

February 11, 2025
Canadian lawmaker wants to target Elon Musk in retaliation to Trump’s tariffs

Potential Canadian prime minister, Jagmeet Singh, warned President Donald Trump and Tesla-founder Elon Musk that Canada will respond to American tariffs with tariffs of its own.

Canadian lawmaker Jagmeet Singh proposed that Canada should “fight back” towards President Donald Trump and Tesla founder Elon Musk with new tariffs targeted at the Tesla founder.

Trump told reporters on Monday that he would soon announce 25% tariffs on all aluminum and steel imports into the U.S. and also plans to announce “reciprocal tariffs” – or tariffs directed at countries that impose duties on U.S. exports.

“Very simply, if they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said to reporters. “If they are charging us 130%, and we’re charging them nothing, it’s not going to stay that way.”

“Every country will be reciprocal,” he added.

Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh warned President Donald Trump and Tesla-founder Elon Musk that Canada will respond to tariffs with tariffs of their own. (CNN)

MEXICO AGREES TO DEPLOY 10,000 TROOPS TO US BORDER IN EXCHANGE FOR TARIFF PAUSE

Trump’s announcement ruffled feathers in Canada, causing the New Democratic Party leader to single out Musk.

“Elon Musk has been very loud. Very vocal attacking our country. We’re not going to let that stand. So if you are going to take a shot at us, we’re going to fight back,” Singh told reporters. “So Elon Musk thinks he can tweet off whatever he wants. Yeah, we’re going to put a tariff on him. I want that to be something that impacts him.”

CNN host Boris Sanchez spoke to Singh on Monday, asking about how Canadians feel about Trump’s talk of bringing Canada in as the 51st state. Singh noted that Canadians are known for being polite, but warned, “don‘t take our kindness for weakness” and said “hell no” to the proposal.

When asked about how he might approach Trump differently than current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Singh argued that he would “fight back” against economic “bully” tactics.

“I believe in being good neighbors and having good relationships, but I believe very firmly Donald Trump only understands force. He‘s acted as a bully in many circumstances, and now he‘s acting as an economic bully. The only language that bullies understand is the language of strength. So we have to show that we‘re ready to fight back,” Singh replied. “We might be smaller. We might be up against a larger opponent, but it‘s going to hurt both of us. It‘s a bad thing to do. It‘s going to hurt Americans. It‘s going to hurt Canadians. We need to show that it‘s the wrong thing to do, and also show that we‘re ready to fight back and defend what we have.”

U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attend the NATO summit at the Grove Hotel on December 4, 2019, in Watford, England. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) / Getty Images)

PALANTIR CEO TOUTS ELON MUSK’S DOGE, ABILITY TO HOLD ‘SACRED COW OF THE DEEP STATE’ ACCOUNTABLE

He added how he would do “dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs” and that Trump had started this fight. Included in his plan to hit back, would be to target Musk specifically, because of his comments about Canada becoming the 51st state.

O’Leary Ventures Chairman Kevin O’Leary shares whether he’s concerned about President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, the fate of the U.S. penny and the handling of the TikTok sale.

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“We just announced today what I would do is put in place a 100% tariff on Tesla, directly targeting Elon Musk. Elon Musk is proudly touting this idea of the 51st state, so let‘s hit back at Elon Musk,” Singh argued. “I‘ve also said we should shut down the supply of critical minerals. Another move that directly targets Elon Musk and his Tesla company, the batteries that he needs require these critical minerals. We‘ve got tools, and we should be ready to use them.”

He added, “It’s not something that we wanted to do, but if Donald Trump wants to bring this fight, know that we are ready. I’m putting Donald Trump on notice.”

February 10, 2025
LARRY KUDLOW: Elon Musk is here to stay — Democrats just have to deal with it

Donald Trump likes Elon Musk, and trusts Elon Musk.

President Trump totally supports the Elon Musk efficiency audit that has already uncovered fraud in numerous areas inside agencies where there’s been spending on items that Congress never mandated.

In fact, Mr. Trump is going to expand Musk’s remit to include auditing the Education Department and the Pentagon. And there may well be more.

Here’s how I put it this morning on Fox News Channel’s Outnumbered.

“The Elon Musk exercise is about systems, and efficiency, and delivery. It is not changing policies on the fly. Hence, there is nothing wrong with an audit… They’re finding judges, okay, who are all slightly to the left of Whoopi Goldberg… There’s nothing constitutional, there’s nothing policy about this.”

– Larry Kudlow, “Outnumbered” on Fox News Channel, February 10

Attorney General Pam Bondi will be moving rapidly to vacate various restraining orders put on many Trump actions, including the Elon Musk payments systems reviews.

Interestingly, none of the left-wing judges opposing Trump have used any case law so far. Department of Justice appeals may have to go all the way up to the Supreme Court. If they do, hopefully the Supremes will act expeditiously.

But the whole point of the Musk operation is transparency and efficiency in spending taxpayer dollars.

Additionally, Elon Musk and DOGE staff are federal government employees. They have been on-boarded, received ethics training and records training, have gotten interim clearances, and, according to Fox News Legal Editor Kerri Urbahn, the idea that career employees can have access to sensitive information — but political appointees should not — is preposterous on its face.

There is nothing unconstitutional about any of this.

Then comes a bunch of former Democratic Treasury Secretaries writing in the New York Times that efficiency audits in the Treasury Department might somehow impede U.S. financial commitments, even reaching into the credit worthiness of Treasury bonds. This is absolute Democratic hogwash.

As current Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has found, “controls for spending of the previous [Biden] administration were unacceptable. They were sending money out without knowing where the money was going.”

Last week, Scott Bessent told me on this show in Washington, D.C., “they are moving a lot of people’s cheese here in the Capitol and, when you hear this squawking, then some status quo interest is not happy.”

February 10, 2025
Who gets hit hardest by steel and aluminum tariffs?

MGA Entertainment CEO Isaac Larian says Donald Trump is a great president while expressing some concerns over tariffs on The Claman Countdown.

President Donald Trump on Monday is expected to sign new executive orders imposing higher tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the U.S., opening a new front in his trade war that could spur retaliation.

Trump’s actions would impose new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. on top of existing tariffs on those metals, escalating his efforts to reshape trade policy.

Tariffs, which are taxes on imports, increase costs for importers who typically pass some or all of those costs onto their customers. In the case of steel and aluminum, U.S. companies rely heavily on imports and the higher costs could hurt manufacturers and, in turn, consumers.

“The American economy has far more steel-users than steel-producers, meaning the tariffs will put far more manufacturing jobs in jeopardy than they create,” Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation, told FOX Business. “Looking at steel, jobs that use steel in the production process outnumber jobs that produce steel 80 to 1.”

TRUMP’S TARIFFS ON MEXICO AND CANADA WILL INCREASE PRICES FOR CONSUMERS; EXPERTS OFFER DETAILS

President Trump signaled that he will sign an order raising steel and aluminum tariffs by 25%. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

She noted, “Manufacturers from automakers, farm equipment, household appliances, and machinery used in oil extraction, the construction industry, and the beverage and cutlery industry all use metals as part of their production process.”

“When we apply tariffs, we increase the cost of both imported metals and domestically produced metals, which increases the cost of production in the United States for all these downstream industries. We should expect a net decrease in manufacturing employment and production as the direct result of higher tariffs,” York said.

WHAT ARE TARIFFS, HOW DO THEY WORK AND WHO PAYS FOR THEM?

U.S. companies rely heavily on imports and the higher costs could hurt manufacturers and, in turn, consumers. (Ty Wright/Bloomberg via / Getty Images)

Ryan Young, senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told FOX Business that cars and housing are likely to be the two hardest-hit sectors given that they account for about two-thirds of steel usage.

“If you’re in the market for a new car or a new house, expect to pay a couple hundred dollars more for an average-size car, and several thousand dollars more for a house,” Young said, adding that higher prices on new cars will cause used car prices to rise too as priced out buyers look for cheaper alternatives.

He added that aluminum tariffs will also raise car and house prices, as well as companies in the beverage industry like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and breweries. Other everyday items made with aluminum that are likely to see prices rise include bicycles, appliances and furniture.

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH TRUMP’S TARIFFS ON CHINA, CANADA AND MEXICO?

U.S. manufacturers may face higher costs due to increased tariffs on steel and aluminum. (Andrew Magnum/Bloomberg via / Getty Images)

About one-fourth of all steel used in the U.S. is imported, with most of it coming from neighboring Mexico and Canada, or from close allies in Asia and and Europe, such as Japan, South Korea and Germany.

Although China is the world’s largest steel producer and exporter, very little is sent to the U.S. because of 25% tariffs imposed in 2018 that shut most Chinese steel out of the market. The country exported 508,000 net tons of steel to the U.S. last year, which accounted for 1.8% of American steel imports.

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The U.S. is more heavily reliant on aluminum imports, with about half of all aluminum used coming from imports. The vast majority of U.S. aluminum imports come from Canada, which exported 3.2 million tons of aluminum to the U.S. last year – an amount more than double the next nine countries.

Reuters contributed to this report.

February 10, 2025