🔴 Redshift: Trump Sides with the Tech Bros

Good morning. While the right debates H-1B visas and larger questions about how to view and define the American nation, Donald Trump has come down on the side of his right-hand man, Elon Musk. Upward News will continue to cover this debate in the coming days — so stay tuned.

Mentioned in this edition: Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk, Nikki Haley, Charlie Kirk, Dan Bongino, Steve Bannon, Peter Thiel, Ryan Girdusky, Clay Travis, Buck Sexton, a daring new school, a $3 billion fund, the intra-right feud, and more.

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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

⚔️ Trump sides with Musk in the H-1B immigration fight. The president-elect has come down on the side of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in their call to increase high-skilled foreign labor, especially in STEM fields. Ramaswamy initially sparked the debate by arguing such immigration is necessary due to American culture undervaluing education and excellence. Many conservatives in Trump’s base want to diminish the H-1B visa program to prioritize American workers, and believe that it is not ultimately necessary to import foreign labor.

🏫 Elon Musk is launching an anti-woke school in Texas. Elon Musk is founding a new preschool, Ad Astra, near Bastrop, Texas, emphasizing STEM-based learning, critical thinking, and creativity while rejecting “social propaganda” like diversity and equity initiatives. Open to children aged 3 to 9, the school reflects Musk’s vision of equipping future generations with practical skills and merit-focused education, free from left-wing ideologies. Musk has eventual plans to found a university.

💼 Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund is raising $3 billion for another fund. The venture capital firm led by right-leaning billionaire Peter Thiel, known for backing tech giants like SpaceX and Stripe, is raising its third growth equity fund. With most of its previous growth fund invested in AI and other capital-heavy sectors, Founders Fund’s massive new venture will attempt to maintain its influence in shaping the tech sector.

🎙️ Ryan Girdusky is launching a new podcast. Fresh off making headlines for getting booted from a heated CNN panel, the right-populist political commentator Ryan Girdusky announced his new podcast, It’s a Numbers Game, debuting next month on iHeart Radio as part of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton podcast network. The weekly show will dive into the data shaping politics, economics, and culture.

👀 WHO WE’RE WATCHING

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Mentioned behind the paywall: Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk, Nikki Haley, Charlie Kirk, Dan Bongino, and Steve Bannon.