Tesla’s shares dropped by about 14.2% on Thursday at market close, wiping roughly $152bn off the value of the company as a feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump erupted into public view. The former political allies traded threats and insults through posts on their respective social media platforms throughout the afternoon as the company’s price fell.

Trump suggested on Truth Social that he could cut Musk’s government subsidies and contracts, of which both Tesla and SpaceX have been immense beneficiaries. Musk meanwhile threatened to decommission the SpaceX spacecraft that Nasa relies on for transport missions, called for Trump’s impeachment, derided the president’s signature tariffs and accused him of being affiliated with the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Musk said late Thursday evening his company will not decommission its spacecraft.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on June 5 to restore programs funded by AmeriCorps grants in 24 Democratic-led states but declined to bar the federal agency for national service and volunteering from cutting the bulk of its workforce.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Baltimore issued an injunction requiring the administration to reinstate millions of dollars in grants in those states and the District of Columbia and ordered the administration to restore thousands of volunteer service workers the administration had sent home.

Her ruling applied only to the Democratic-led states who sued in April to challenge what they said was an unlawful dismantling of AmeriCorps by Republican President Donald Trump's administration.

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Democrats are furious with former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s decision to publicly leave the party and announce she’s a political independent while promoting a book.

Jean-Pierre served as former President Biden’s voice to the media for more than two and a half years, and her decision to split from the party at a time when it is particularly troubled has been more than irksome to Democrats.