The Deep South was the birthplace of the mega MAGA rally. How do people on the Gulf feel about President Trump now?

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Hispanic voters are souring on Republicans. Here’s why.

© Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters

Republicans are using the courts to hunt for noncitizen voters. Democrats worry the G.O.P. is trying make it harder for eligible voters to cast ballots — and paving the way to try to toss valid election results.

© Nick Hagen for The New York Times

As the Republicans try to hold their majority, the Senate Leadership Fund is diverting resources to Kansas, which has become a growing concern for the party.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

The Senate Leadership Fund is diverting money to Kansas, which has become a growing concern for the party as it seeks to hold its majority.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

President Trump spent the day preaching to his most fervent fans, not the voters he will need to help elect or re-elect a slate of Republicans fighting in states from Alaska to Maine.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

Republicans lined up a series of doomed votes in their final hours, hoping to portray Democrats as obstructionists. But some conceded that their party was more likely to be punished.

© Tierney L. Cross for The New York Times

© Jordan Vonderhaar for The New York Times

Under its current rules, Wisconsin has not had a race in which a small number of donors have made up such a large share of a campaign’s funding.

© Valerie Plesch for The New York Times

Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, and Steve Hilton, a Republican, sparred over President Trump, taxes and immigration in their only scheduled meeting.

© CNN

U.S. President Donald Trump on July 6 commented on tech billionaire Elon Musk's plan to create a new political party, calling it "ridiculous" and warning that third-party movements have historically failed in the United States.

"I think creating a third party is ridiculous... we've had tremendous success with the Republican Party," Trump told reporters on July 6 before boarding Air Force One in Morristown. "The Democrats have lost their way, but it's always been a two-party system, and I think creating a third party just adds to the confusion."

These comments came after Musk unveiled plans on July 5 to launch a new political force in the U.S. called the "America Party."

Musk said the party's goal is to "give you back your freedom" and offer an alternative to the entrenched Republican and Democratic systems, a few weeks after a public split with Trump.

The strained relationship between Musk and Trump began to deteriorate significantly after a period when Musk publicly supported Trump's re-election bid and held a high-profile role in the U.S. government's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk's new party announcement followed Trump signing a major tax and spending bill into law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, legislation that Musk had strongly criticized.

Trump later commented further in a Truth Social post, saying that third parties bring "complete and total disruption and chaos" and criticizing Musk.

"I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,' essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks," Trump wrote.

Trump also linked Musk's political shift to his frustration over the recently passed Republican bill eliminating the federal electric vehicle mandate.

"It is a Great Bill but, unfortunately for Elon, it eliminates the ridiculous Electric Vehicle (EV) Mandate, which would have forced everyone to buy an Electric Car in a short period of time. I have been strongly opposed to that from the very beginning," Trump added.

Musk led DOGE until May 30 and had been a key figure in dismantling U.S. foreign aid institutions, including USAID, which delivered billions in aid to Ukraine.

Musk launches ‘America Party’ following public feud with Trump

The announcement came a day after Trump signed his sweeping tax cut and spending bill into law, a legislative act that Musk has fiercely opposed.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova