Nationwide protests against the Trump administration and adviser Elon Musk are planned for this Saturday, April 5 in all 50 states. The day of events, dubbed “Hands Off!,” will include protests in many red states including Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Florida, as well as major cities such as New York, L.A., and San Francisco. A flagship march is scheduled to take place on the grounds of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
Here’s everything you need to know about the day of protests.
What is the Hands Off protest?
The aim of the protests is to voice opposition to various Trump administration policies and massive budget cuts and layoffs across federal agencies spearheaded by Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history . . . They’re taking everything they can get their hands on,” Hands Off has posted on its website. “Our health care, our data, our jobs, our services . . . we’re taking to the streets nationwide to fight back with a clear message: Hands off!”
Who’s behind the protest?
The protests are organized by Indivisible, a grassroots movement aimed at rebuilding democracy and defeating Trump, which is partnering with a broad coalition of groups including: the Womens March, United Federation of Teachers, Public Citizen, Progressive Democrats of America, Common Cause, Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn, the League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood, as well as some unions including AFL-CIO, UAW, and SEIU.
Indivisibles co-executive director Ezra Levin told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that Hands Off is going through a wave moment, in which it’s seeing a larger number of people interested in volunteering, organizing, and participating.
How big is the Hands Off protest?
“We expect April 5th to be the largest single-day protest since Donald Trumps second inauguration,” a spokesperson for Hands Off told Fast Company. “Actions are scheduled in over 1000 cities nationwideand counting, with over 250,000 people expected to attend. Events [will] include marches, demonstrations and rallies.”
Many of the protests are scheduled to take place at state capitals, federal buildings, and congressional offices including at Social Securitys headquarters. There are also protests planned for the Daley Center in Chicago, city halls in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, and Bryant Park in Manhattan, as well as multiple cities outside the U.S., including London, Madrid, and Zurich.
Top minds at the world’s largest atom smasher have released a blueprint for a much bigger successor that could vastly improve research into the remaining enigmas of physics.
The plans for the Future Circular Collidera nearly 91-kilometer (56.5-mile) loop along the French-Swiss border and below Lake Genevapublished late Monday put the finishing details on a project roughly a decade in the making at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
The FCC would carry out high-precision experiments in the mid-2040s to study known physics in greater detail, then enter a second phaseplanned for 2070that would conduct high-energy collisions of protons and heavy ions that would open the door to the unknown, said Giorgio Chiarelli, a research director at Italys National Institute of Nuclear Physics.
History of physics tells that when there is more data, the human ingenuity is able to extract more information than originally expected, Chiarelli, who was not involved in the plans, said in an e-mail.
For roughly a decade, top minds at CERN have been making plans for a successor to the Large Hadron Collider, a network of magnets that accelerate particles through a 27-kilometer (17-mile) underground tunnel and slam them together at velocities approaching the speed of light.
The blueprint lays out the proposed path, environmental impact, scientific ambitions and project cost. Independent experts will take a look before CERN’s two dozen member countriesall European except for Israeldecide in 2028 whether to go forward, starting in the mid-2040s at a cost of some 14 billion Swiss francs (about $16 billion).
CERN officials tout the promise of scientific discoveries that could drive innovation in fields like cryogenics, superconducting magnets and vacuum technologies that could benefit humankind.
Outside experts point to the promise of learning more about the Higgs boson, the elusive particle that has been controversially dubbed the God particle, which helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang.
Work at the Large Hadron Collider confirmed in 2013 the existence of the Higgs boson, the central piece in a puzzle known as the standard model that helps explains some fundamental forces in the universe.
CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti said the future collider “could become the most extraordinary instrument ever built by humanity to study the constituents and the laws of nature at the most fundamental levels in two ways, by improving study of the Higgs boson and paving the way to explore the energy frontier, and by looking for new physics that explain the structure and evolution of the universe.
One unknown is whether the Trump administration, which has been cutting foreign aid and spending in academia and research, will continue to support CERN a year after the Biden administration pledged U.S. support for the study and collaboration on the FCC’s construction and physics exploitation if it’s approved.
The United States is home to 2,000 users of CERN, making them the single largest national contingent among the 17,000 people working there, including outside experts abroad and staff on site, Gianotti said.
While an observer state and not a member, the U.S. doesn’t pay into the CERN regular budget but has contributed to specific projects. Most of the CERN regular budget comes from Europe.
Costas Fountas, the CERN Council president, said he had spoken with some U.S. National Science Foundation and Department of Energy staff who relayed the message that so far they’re ‘under the radar of the cuts of the Trump administration’. Thats their words.
CERN scientists, engineers and partners behind the plans considered at least 100 scenarios for the new collider before coming up with the proposed 91-kilometer circumference at an average depth of 200 meters (656 feet). The tunnel would be about 5 meters (16 feet) in diameter, CERN said.
Jamey Keaten, Associated Press
When the Biden administration set new auto emissions standards, it was a landmark climate move; passenger vehicles currently account for more than a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. But the new standards also included fuel efficiency elements that would save drivers money.
President Trump has said he wants to roll back both emissions and fuel economy standards, calling the regulations an EV mandate. If he does roll those back, drivers of new models may end up spending thousands more just to fill their gas tanks.
Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office this week, Trump reiterated his plan to roll back the regulations, saying Were going to go back, probably, to a 2020 standard.
Doing so could result in consumers paying at least $8,000 more to fuel a vehicle in 2029, than they would have if the standards stayed in place, says Chris Harto, a senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports who focuses on energy efficiency.
Under Biden, the EPA enacted the emissions standards and and the Department of Transportation enacted the fuel economy standards. Both help clean up combustion vehiclesand both are in Trump’s crosshairs, as the standards were created in coordination with each other. Making vehicles more efficient, Harto explains, comes with the “very fortunate side benefit of making the vehicle cheaper to fuel.”
Biden announced the newest standards in 2024; they phase in over model years 2027 to 2032. They built on standards the EPA put in place in 2021 that cover model years 2023 to 2026. The standards established a 50.4 miles per gallon average for light-duty vehicles by model year 2031.
Those combined rules, a Consumer Reports analysis found, would deliver more than $2 trillion in consumer fuel savings by 2050. Thats a massive amount of money thats at stake, Harto says.
In the past three years, the new standards have already delivered $2,200 in fuel savings for new vehicles (and over the next five years, they’re on track to deliver another $6,000 in savings). That’s a stark difference from the four years prior, 2018 to 2021, when standards were being rolled back during Trump’s first term. Over those four years, consumers saw less than $500 in savings delivered per vehicle.
Though Trump says the standards promote EVs, Harto says they help drive all sorts of efficiency technology, including hybrids and plug-in hybrids, that can save consumers a lot of money without having to change the way they drive their vehicle. If those standards get frozen in the past, he adds theres a strong chance well see a pull back [from automakers] in some of those newer technologies across the board.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said that the new auto emissions standards dont mean a damn bit of difference for the environment but make it impossible for people to build cars. Harto contests both those claims. The Consumer Reports analysis also found that by 2050, the auto emissions standards would reduce pollution by 12 billion tons. Its the single most impactful piece of climate regulation that the U.S. has ever put in place, he says.
As for how difficult it is for automakers to comply, Harto says research shows that over the past two decades, automakers have been able to deliver $9,000 in consumer fuel savings for the average new vehicle, without an increase to that vehicle price, once adjusted for inflation. Every time regulation is on the table, the industry screams that its going to drive up costs for consumers, he says. In the end, they deliver significant savings to consumers with very little or no detectable cost. . . . It really is a win-win in terms of consumer and climate benefits. Though Harto said he couldnt speak for automakers about the future of these rules, he said most industries tend to like fewer regulations.”
Consumers broadly don’t support a roll back in emissions standards. In a January 2025 Consumer Reports survey, 96% of American drivers said fuel economy is at least somewhat important to them when considering a new vehicle, and nearly two-thirds agree that the government should continue to increase fuel-economy standards.
The Big Three U.S. automakers didn’t respond to requests for comment about whether they support the rolling back of standards. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation said in a statement that the current emissions rules are “extremely challenging to achieve” and that “a balanced approach to emission in the U.S. is key to preserving vehicle choice.” Since not all model years that the standards cover are in full production yet, carmakers could also adapt to regulatory changes by canceling upcoming vehicles or adjusting production volumes. Some U.S. automakers have already pulled back on EV plans, canceling some future models, and the U.S. significantly lags behind markets like China that have accelerated EV technologies.
Whether the standards are rolled back or not, Harto says Consumer Reports will continue to test vehicles for fuel economy and environmental impact and include those predominantly in their ratings. At a time when consumers pocketbooks are already stretched, basically locking in larger fuel bills for consumers for decades to come is a really bad idea, he adds.
If you’re in need of some good and satisfying news, Chipotle has got you covered. The beloved burrito brand is bringing back its free burrito promotion for April 3rd’s National Burrito Day.
According to the chain’s March 31 announcement, Chipotle Rewards members will once again be able to play the popular Burrito Vault game at UnlockBurritoDay.com.
The game, which involves customers trying to guess exact burrito order combinations, is easy to play but comes with delicious prizes. Players will get four attempts to win BOGO (buy-one-get-one) codes. Each hour, the first 2,500 members to choose burrito orders with the correct ingredients will win free food.
“Last year, our Burrito Vault drove unprecedented fan engagement that resulted in our highest digital transaction day of all time,” Chris Brandt, chief brand officer, said in the announcement. Now, we are giving them another chance to crack the code and score more free burritos.”
In addition to the BOGO deals, Chipotle is also giving Rewards Members $0 delivery fee offer for orders placed on National Burrito Day. Customers just have to use the code DELIVER on Chipotle’s app or website.
The reprised promotion comes shortly after rumors about Chipotle restaurants being shuttered have swirled online. Chipotle dispelled bankruptcy rumors in a statement to Good Morning America. The claim that Chipotle is closing restaurants is false, a spokesperson for Chipotle told the outlet. The false information stemmed from an inaccurate online article confusing Chipotle with a venture it tested in 2023. The story has since been corrected.
Despite rumors about the brand’s demise, it seems the reverse is actually true. In February, Fast Company reported that Chipotle was breaking records in terms of its growth. In 2024, the brand opened 304 new restaurantsthe most in a single year for the chain.
As the deadline to strike a deal over TikTok approaches this week, President Donald Trump has signaled that he is confident his administration can broker an agreement with ByteDance, the social media app’s China-based parent company.
Speaking with reporters on Air Force One late Sunday, Trump said that theres tremendous interest in TikTok.” He added that he would like to see TikTok remain alive. The president’s comments came less than one week before an April deadline requiring ByteDance to divest or face a ban in the United States.
We have a lot of potential buyers, Trump said.
Trump also said that the administration is dealing with China who also want it because they may have something to do with it. Last week, Trump said he would consider a reduction in tariffs on China if that countrys government approves a sale of TikToks operations in the U.S.
Questions about the fate of the popular video sharing app have continued to linger since a law requiring ByteDances divestment took effect on January 19. After taking office, Trump gave TikTok a 75-day reprieve by signing an executive order that delayed enforcement of the statute until April 5.
During his first term, Trump tried to ban TikTok on national security grounds, which was halted by the courts before his administration negotiated a sale of the platform that eventually failed to materialize. He changed his position on the popular app during last years presidential election and has credited the platform with helping him win more young voters.
I won the young vote by 36 points. Republicans generally don’t do very well with the young vote, he said Sunday. I think a lot of it could have been TikTok.
Trump has said that the deadline on a TikTok deal could be extended further if needed. He previously proposed terms in which the U.S. would have a 50% stake in a joint venture. The administration hasnt provided details on what that type of deal would entail.
TikTok and ByteDance have not publicly commented on the talks. Its also unclear if ByteDance has changed its position on selling TikTok, which it said early last year it does not plan to do.
What will happen on April 5?
If TikTok is not sold to an approved buyer by April 5, the original law that bans it nationwide would once again go into effect. However, the deadline for the executive order doesnt appear to be set in stone and the president has reiterated it could be extended further if needed.
Trumps order came a few days after the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a federal law that required ByteDance to divest or be banned in January. The day after the ruling, TikTok went dark for U.S. users and came back online after Trump vowed to stall the ban.
The decision to keep TikTok alive through an executive order has received some scrutiny, but it has not faced a legal challenge in court.
Who wants to buy TikTok?
Although its unclear if ByteDance plans to sell TikTok, several potential bidders have come forward in the past few months.
Aides for Vice President JD Vance, who was tapped to oversee a potential deal, have reached out to some parties, such as the artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI, to get additional details about their bids, according to a person familiar with the matter. In January, Perplexity AI presented ByteDance with a merger proposal that would combine Perplexitys business with TikToks U.S. operation.
Other potential bidders include a consortium organized by billionaire businessman Frank McCourt, which recently recruited Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian as a strategic adviser. Investors in the consortium say theyve offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash for TikToks U.S. platform. And if successful, they plan to redesign the popular app with blockchain technology they say will provide users with more control over their online data.
Jesse Tinsley, the founder of the payroll firm Employer.com, says he too has organized a consortium, which includes the CEO of the video game platform Roblox, and is offering ByteDance more than $30 billion for TikTok.
Trump said in January that Microsoft was also eyeing the popular app. Other interested parties include Trumps former Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and Rumble, the video site popular with some conservatives and far-right groups. In a post on X last March, Rumble said it was ready to join a consortium of parties interested in purchasing TikTok and serving as a tech partner for the company.
Sarah Parvini, AP technology writer
Seven years ago, when a joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico was awarded the 2026 World Cup, rifts created by tariffsyes, back then, too!and a proposed border wall were glossed over because of the neighbors’ longstanding political and economic alliances.“The unity of the three nations” was the overriding theme articulated by Carlos Cordeiro, then-president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. “A powerful message,” he called it.Well, here we are now, with the soccer showcase arriving in North America in about 15 months, and President Donald Trump back in officeinciting trade wars between the neighbors, not to mention across the globe, by levying tariffs that come, then go, then return, with more promised, including what the Republican calls “reciprocal tariffs” starting Wednesday.It’s hard to know how, exactly, the current geopolitical fissures, made all the more stark every time Trump or those in his administration talk provocatively about making Canada the 51st state, might affect the World Cup, its organization and coordination, fans’ travel plans, and more.“Oh, I think it’s going to make it more exciting,” was Trump’s take during an Oval Office appearance with FIFA President Gianni Infantino last month. “Tension’s a good thing.”
Will the world come to the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics?
Given that the U.S. also is preparing to welcome the world for FIFA’s Club World Cup in June, golf’s Ryder Cup in September, and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, the question becomes: Will the world want to come?And, taking Trump’s border and visa policies into account, will the world be able to?Alan Rothenberg, who ran the 1994 World Cup and successfully oversaw the bid to host the 1999 Women’s World Cup as then-president of U.S. Soccer, thinks the answers to those questions are “Yes.” Pointing to concerns about the last two World Cups, in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, he noted those still attracted attendance totals above three million apiece.“People love the United States around the worldfrankly, we wouldn’t have the immigration issue that we’re dealing with if that weren’t the caseso a lot of this is government-to-government,” Rothenberg said. “A passionate soccer fan is not going to be held up by that.”He doesn’t think one of the host nations would drop out of the World Cup, say, or that other countries might boycott, as happened at the 1976, 1980, and 1984 Summer Olympics.“More than anything, they’ll see it as an opportunity for, perhaps, rapprochement, rather than escalating the tensions,” Rothenberg said.“Besides, from an organizing standpoint, if either Canada or Mexico withdrew” from the World Cup, he said, “the U.S. would pick up the games in a heartbeat.”
Spectators booing the U.S. national anthem
Still, as the White House stance on tariffs and Russia’s war in Ukraine have put Europe on edge, and relations with other countries have become fraught, it might not be a surprise if soccer stadiums for the U.S. games at the World Cup offer the same sort of anti-American sentiment heard when spectators in Canada booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” during hockey’s 4 Nations Face-Off in February.FIFA, soccer’s governing body, did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment, but Infantino has never hidden his admiration for Trump, which he often demonstrates via social media. They have met at least five times since the U.S. election in November.Last week, when Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committeebecoming the first woman in that positionshe was asked how she would work with Trump and what she would tell athletes about traveling to the U.S. for the next Games.“I have been dealing with, let’s say, difficult men, in high positions since I was 20 years old,” Coventry said with a chuckle, “and first and foremost, what I have learned is that communication will be key. That is something that will happen early on. And my firm belief is that President Trump is a huge lover of sports. He will want these Games to be significant. He will want them to be a success.”Referring to concerns about whether the administration might deny some athletes visas, she added: “We will not waver from our values . . . of solidarity in ensuring that every athlete that qualifies for the Olympic Games has the possibility to attend the Olympic Games and be safe during the Olympic Games.”The overriding assumption among those involved in the Olympics is that Trump will assure the 2028 Games are a success.As U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee chairman Gene Sykes put it: “I can’t speak for him, but I think he’s the kind of person who probably believes that having these go very, very well is a reflection of his leadership.”
Will Trump’s tariffs and other policies affect soccer’s World Cup?
“The most likely outcome is that Trump’s nonsense won’t have an impact,” said Smith College professor Andrew Zimbalist, an expert on the economics of sports.“My guess is that if relations between Canada and the U.S. deteriorate to the point that there are travel restrictions and spending restrictions,” Zimbalist said, “Trump wouldjust like he’s making exceptions all the time on his tariffs policiesmake an exception for a month or six weeks.”The U.S. and Canadian soccer federations declined AP requests for comment on how White House policies might affect the 2026 World Cup.Gabriela Cuevas, who represents Mexico’s government in meetings with FIFA, said she considers the tariffs and the soccer event “separate issues,” adding that she believes “the World Cup could be a route to engage in a conversation.”Observers tend to agree, saying logistics such as security cooperation or team transportation from city to cityor country to countryshould not be hampered when it comes to the World Cup, scheduled to take place in 16 cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026.The borders might become an issue, though.“The main thing FIFA needs to move for this event is not car parts, and it’s not wheat, and it’s not electricity. It’s people. That’s your real concern,” said Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.“What were previously pretty reasonable border crossings could become much more challenging, simply because both sides amp up their level of inspections and the United States, in particular, cuts down government services that allow people to move effectively between countries.”As for the fans, 29-year-old Mexican businessman German Camacho Pacheco said “soccer is religion” in is country, so when it comes to the World Cup, “I don’t think they care about tariffs.”Camacho, wearing the Monterrey club jersey of defender Sergio Ramos while on the way to watch a game at a sports bar in Mexico City, said he doesn’t expect there to be any effect at all on the World Cup “unless this goes from a trade war to an actual war.”
AP writers Greg Beacham in Inglewood, California; Nancy Benac in Washington; Ronald Blum in New York; Graham Dunbar in Costa Navarino, Greece; Eddie Pells in Denver; Anne M. Peterson in Portland, Oregon, and Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City contributed.
Howard Fendrich is an AP national writer. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Howard Fendrich, AP National Writer
The U.S. Naval Academy has removed nearly 400 books from its library after being told by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office to review and get rid of ones that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, U.S officials said Tuesday.Academy officials were told to review the library late last week, and an initial search had identified about 900 books for a closer look. They decided on nearly 400 to remove and began doing so Monday, finishing before Hegseth arrived for a visit Tuesday that had already been planned and was not connected to the library purge, officials said. A list of the books has not yet been made available.Pulling the books off the shelves is another step in the Trump administration’s far-reaching effort to eliminate so-called DEI content from federal agencies, including policies, programs, online and social media postings and curriculum at schools.Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said late Tuesday, “All service academies are fully committed to executing and implementing President Trump’s Executive Orders.”The Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, had not been included in President Donald Trump’s executive order in January that banned DEI instruction, programs or curriculum in kindergarten through 12th grade schools that receive federal funding. That is because the academies are colleges.Pentagon leaders, however, suddenly turned their attention to the Naval Academy last week when a media report noted that the school had not removed books that promoted DEI. A U.S. official said the academy was told late last week to conduct the review and removal. It isn’t clear if the order was directed by Hegseth or someone else on his staff.A West Point official confirmed that the school had completed a review of its curriculum and was prepared to review library content if directed by the Army. The Air Force and Naval academies had also done curriculum reviews as had been required.An Air Force Academy official said the school continually reviews its curriculum, coursework and other materials to ensure it all complies with executive orders and Defense Department policies. Last week, Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, the Air Force Academy superintendent, told Congress that the school was in the middle of its course review, but there was no mention of books.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss academy policies.Hegseth has aggressively pushed the department to erase DEI programs and online content, but the campaign has been met with questions from angry lawmakers, local leaders and citizens over the removal of military heroes and historic mentions from Defense Department websites and social media pages.In response, the department has scrambled to restore some of those posts as their removals have come to light.The confusion about how to interpret the DEI policy was underscored Monday as Naval Academy personnel mistakenly removed some photos of distinguished female Jewish graduates from a display case as they prepared for Hegseth’s visit. The photos were put back.In a statement, the Navy said it is aware that photos were mistakenly removed from the Naval Academy Jewish Center. It said U.S. Naval Academy leadership was immediately taking steps to review and correct the unauthorized removal.Hegseth spoke with students and had lunch at the academy Tuesday, but media were not invited or allowed to cover the visit.
Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press
A trailer for Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third film in James Camerons galactically successful series, starts by delivering on the titles promise. Rivers of lava cascade through the forests of Pandora, reducing it to charred rubble. Soon, the score swells to epic proportions as the hulking, Smurf-colored Navi survey their ruined territory and swear vengeance on an unseen enemy. Released back in January, this trailer already has 3.5 million views. Not bad, considering it contains not one second of footage from the actual film.
Whenever Cameron and 20th Century Studios do release the official first trailer for Avatar: Fire and Ash, which is headed to theaters in December, they certainly wont release it through KH Studio, one of two video channels YouTube just demonetized to crack down on a larger issue.
The fake Avatar trailer, which relies on some truly abysmal AI, is part of a scourge of similar videos designed to trick movie lovers into thinking theyve found a first look at an upcoming flick. Crafty editors with access to Adobe Premiere take existing footage from previous media, splice in a dash of AI, andvoila steady stream of clicks and views from eager film buffs.
Google any major movie coming out later this year, and whether an actual trailer for it is already out there or not, the search will surface an impostor or two. Want a fake first glimpse of Edgar Wrights upcoming reboot of The Running Man? Its available on a channel called T Studio Movies (sic). How about a pirated preview of the next Conjuring movie? It can be conjured up on one called Skynet Studios. The most successful operators out there, though, appear to be the two that have newly attracted YouTubes ire: KH Studio and Screen Culture.
YouTubes move comes as a result of Deadline investigating the fake movie trailer epidemic. The publication reports that movie studios such as Warner Bros. Discovery were quietly lobbying YouTube to send any ad revenue from those fake movie trailers their way, but YouTube opted instead to suspend heavyweights Screen Culture and KH Studio from its partner program. Apparently, these channels violated the video giants policies forbidding content doctored in such a way that it misleads viewers.
“The two impacted channels were correctly suspended from the YouTube Partner Program following violations of our monetization policies,” says Jack Malon, Policy Communications Manager at YouTube. “Content isn’t eligible for monetization that uses metadata to deceive viewers into believing the content is different from what it actually is. For example, this could include a video title or description that alleges an official affiliation with a company. These suspensions are unrelated to any Content ID, or other copyright, enforcement.”
The two channels’ differing approaches highlight the level of variety in this strangely popular space. Screen Culture has 1.4 million subscribers and offers three tiers of membership. As Deadline reports, the channels founder employs a team of a dozen editors, whose fake movie trailers are viewed so often, they occasionally outrank real trailers in YouTubes search results. Screen Culture trailers are often slick and authentic-looking at first glance, mirroring the cadence and sound cues of typical Hollywood trailers with impressive alacrity. Only in the moments when the AI gets a touch shoddy, or the exposition extra disjointed, is it clear that these are forgeries.
The other newly demonetized channel, KH Studio, is a bit goofier. Its more amateurish trailers feature robotic AI-voice narration and graphics that look like ancient video game cutscenes. Beyond fake trailers for soon-to-be-blockbusters like the next Avatar, it also offers trailers for movies that will never be released, such as Interstellar 2, a Millie Bobby Brown-led remake of Nightmare on Elm Street; and Titanic 2: The Return of Jack.
The trailers on both channels offer warnings to viewers that these are merely concept trailers. The warnings come buried underneath the view count and a flood of hashtags, though; by the time the average viewer sees them, they will have already clicked on a link and inflated the view count that bit further. Although KH Studio claims in the warning that its videos are created solely for artistic and entertainment purposes, the channels trailers dont seem to have enough artistry or originality in their use of borrowed material to meet YouTubes monetization standards. They appear more like vehicles for siphoning off search traffic for notable movie titles.
While the output of neither of those channels may rise to the level of art or originality, theres a whole cottage industry of bait-and-switch trailers operating around them on YouTube. Channels like Blend FX and Dynatic Films publish videos about movies like the upcoming Naked Gun reboot starring Liam Neeson and simply add the word “trailer” in the title, guaranteeing at least some search-based traffic. The creators of those trailers cant even bother cobbling together a semi-coherent narrative to bolster their deception.
Both KH Studio and Screen Culture are entitled to appeal YouTubes decision. If they lose, we may never know what the trailer for Eraserhead 2: Revenge of the Lady in the Radiator looks like. If they win, all the other fake trailers may just be a sneak preview of whats to come.
A top employee of billionaire Elon Musk who is now working in the U.S. Justice Department previously bragged about hacking and distributing pirated software, according to archived copies of his former websites reviewed by Reuters.
Christopher Stanley, a 33-year-old engineer who has worked at both Musk’s social media company X and space-launch company SpaceX, is a senior adviser in the Deputy Attorney General’s office, according to a former Justice Department official and a staff directory listing reviewed by Reuters.
Stanley was assigned there while working for Musks Department of Government Efficiency that President Donald Trump set up to slash the federal bureaucracy. Musk has said no “organization has been more transparent than DOGE, but theres been little public information on the responsibilities and background of its staff.
Stanley ran a series of websites and forums starting as far back as 2006, when he was 15, registration data preserved by the internet intelligence firm DomainTools shows. Several of those sites distributed pirated e-books, bootleg software and video game cheats, according to copies maintained by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit whose “Wayback Machine” preserves old websites.
Stanley boasted about hacking into websites on at least two of the forums, according to archived posts, one of which dates to when he was 19. At the time, he said he had put his hacking days behind him. But a YouTube video he posted in 2014 shows his involvement in the breach of customer data from a rival hacking group, when he was 23.
In response to questions for this story, the Justice Department did not directly address Stanley’s current role or his past but said he had an active security clearance that predated his employment at DOGE. In a statement to Reuters, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had “full trust and confidence in Chriss ability to help the federal government.” Stanley, the White House, SpaceX, and X did not respond to requests for comment.
In the hours after Reuters contacted Stanley, several of his old websites vanished from the Internet Archive. Mark Graham, director of the Wayback Machine, declined to answer specific questions about the disappearance of Stanleys websites but said people who own the rights to sites can request to have their content withheld from the archive.
National security professionals were largely split on how seriously to take Stanleys past. Six former Justice officials told Reuters his background raised red flags, noting that the department handles sensitive information, including details of federal investigations and other information protected by grand jury secrecy rules.
I would have very serious concerns about hiring him in and giving him access to these kinds of records, said Jonathan Rusch, who spent more than 25 years as a Justice Department prosecutor before going into academia. Rusch said Stanleys background was worrisome, particularly for a Justice Department employee, because he had disclosed data which he had acquired apparently illegally.
Dan Guido, whose digital security firm Trail of Bits has worked with the Justice and Defense departments, was more forgiving. Stanleys history of hacking shouldnt disqualify him from working at the DOJ, he said, citing Stanleys youthfulness and the way he targeted other hackers as mitigating factors. That is a way Ive seen a lot of people learn.
Reuters could not determine Stanleys specific Justice Department responsibilities. The Deputy Attorney Generals office, run by Trumps former private attorney, Todd Blanche, oversees all the U.S. Attorneys offices, and manages criminal investigations into a range of offenses, including hacking and other malicious cyber activity.
Reuters also could not establish whether Stanley remains employed by X and SpaceX. On LinkedIn, he still identifies himself as working for them and makes no reference to his Justice Department work. A profile photo on X shows him standing before the emblem for the Office of Justice Programs, an office in the department that awards grant funds. Like Musk, Stanley is classified as a “special government employee” and is not drawing a government salary, the DOJ said.
PIRACY, VIDEO GAME CHEATS, AND HACKING
Other members of Musks DOGE team have faced scrutiny over their backgrounds.
When Reuters reported last week that DOGE staffer Edward Coristine had previously provided network infrastructure to a gang of cybercriminals, Democrats in the Republican-led House of Representatives Oversight Committee said in a post on X that it was another reason we need a full investigation into WHO is working for DOGE. Coristine has not responded to requests for comment.
Starting about 10 years before joining SpaceX, Stanley ran several online forums that covered software piracy, video game cheats, and hacking. He used various pseudonyms on those sites, including eNkrypt and Reneg4d3, both of which he still uses on some social media accounts.
Reuters was able to link the now-defunct forum websites and the usernames to Stanley by cross-referencing the sites registration data against his old email address and by matching Reneg4d3s biographical data to Stanleys.
On some of Stanley’s earliest sites, he claimed credit for hacking. The website, fkn-pwnd.com, launched in 2006 while he was in high school, boasted of Fucking Up Servers! and featured a crude sketch of a penis, according to a copy of the site preserved by the Internet Archive.
On reneg4d3.com, which he registered the following year, the archives show Stanley described how he hijacked a competing message board. Got admin access, he said in a 2008 post, just before he turned 17, describing the sites operators as stupid noobs. Easy exploit, he wrote.
Around that time, a rival video game-cheating website, rev0lution-cheats.com, was hijacked and defaced with the message: This site has been hacked by RENEG4D3.com. Reneg4d3.com was suspended by its internet service provider a few months later, according to a screenshot of the site preserved by DomainTools.
Reuters could not corroborate certain aspects of the hacking activity, including the identity of the site Stanley claimed credit for hijacking or the circumstances of rev0lution-cheats defacement.
Stanley went on to start other websites where he and other participants discussed hacking, video-game cheating, or piracy, including error33.net and electonic.net (sic), the Internet Archives records show.
I NO LONGER HACK
At age 19, Stanley distanced himself from malicious cyber activity in an archived 2010 post on electonic.net, writing: “I no longer hack into Paypals, gain root access into other peoples computer (sic), or exploit online websites like StickAM”an apparent reference to a video streaming service that shut down in 2013.
In that same post, he said hed been threatened with a lawsuit by the South Korean gaming company Nexon Co for “infiltrating their game software and altering certain aspects of the game.”
“They did not take kindly to this,” he said.
Reuters could not independently corroorate the claims of theft, computer hijacking, and software tampering, or the threatened lawsuit. A Nexon spokesperson said the company had been unable to locate any information regarding the matter. PayPal did not respond to a request for comment.
Discussions on the electonic.net forum show that Stanley had not entirely left the hacking world behind. The websitelike others Stanley had createdoffered contraband ebooks and warezinternet slang for pirated software.
In December 2014, when he was 23, Stanley posted footage of himself carrying out a hack of the customer database connected to Lizard Squad, a hacking group that took credit for several high-profile outages that included attacks against Sony Corp’s PlayStation Network. Reuters was unable to reach former members of Lizard Squad for comment.
Stanley posted the footage to his YouTube channel, where he still goes by the Reneg4d3 nickname and uses a photo of himself with Elon Musk as his profile picture.
Judge Susan Crawford preserved liberals’ narrow majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday by defeating conservative Brad Schimel, but in a way the real loser of the election was billionaire Elon Musk.Musk and his affiliated groups sunk at least $21 million into the normally low-profile race and paid three individual voters $1 million each for signing a petition in an effort to goose turnout in the pivotal battleground state contest. That made the race the first major test of the political impact of Musk, whose prominence in President Donald Trump’s administration has skyrocketed with his chaotic cost-cutting initiative that has slashed federal agencies.Crawford and the Democrats who backed her made Musk the focus of their arguments for holding the seat, contending he was “buying” the election, which set records for the costliest judicial race in history.“Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections, and our Supreme Court,” Crawford said in her victory speech. “And Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price, our courts are not for sale.”Trump endorsed Schimel as the race turned into a proxy fight over national political issues. The state’s high court can rule on cases involving voting rights and redistricting in a state likely to be at the center of both next year’s midterm elections and the 2028 presidential contest.But Musk’s involvement dialed those dynamics up to 11: “A seemingly small election could determine the fate of Western civilization,” the billionaire said Tuesday in a last-ditch call to voters on his social media site X. “I think it matters for the future of the world.”Notably, America PAC, the super PAC backed by Musk, spent at least $6 million on vendors who sent door-to-door canvassers across the state, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. It was a reprise of what the group did across the seven most competitive presidential battleground states, including Wisconsin, which were carried by Trump in November.But the end results this time were not good for Musk. Despite the millions he spent on Schimel, as of late Tuesday night the Supreme Court candidate was losing by four percentage points more than the other Republican-backed statewide candidate, Brittany Kinser, who also fell short in her bid for superintendent of public instruction.Musk’s court race defeat wasn’t only because of crushing Democratic margins in deep blue cities like Madison and Milwaukee. Crawford’s margins were higher in places where the Musk-backed group America PAC had been active, including Sauk County, just north of Madison, which Crawford was carrying by 10 points after Trump won it by less than two points in November.In Brown County, the home of Green Bay where Musk headlined a campaign rally with 2,000 people on Sunday, Crawford beat Schimel. Trump won the county by seven percentage points last year.Overnight, Musk posted on his X platform that “The long con of the left is corruption of the judiciary.” In another comment, he seemed to take solace from voters’ approval to elevate the state’s photo ID requirement from state law to constitutional amendment. The platform was rife with criticism from Trump opponents for his involvement in the race.“Please send @elonmusk to all the close races!” Jon Favreau, former speechwriter for President Barack Obama, wrote.“Elon Musk is not good at this,” J.B. Pritzker, Illinois’ Democratic governor and a billionaire himself who donated to support Crawford, posted on X.Voters definitely had Musk on their minds.“There’s an insane situation going on with the Trump administration, and it feels like Elon Musk is trying to buy votes,” said Kenneth Gifford, a 22-year-old Milwaukee college student, as he cast his ballot on Tuesday. “I want an actual, respectable democracy.”Others may not have had their vote decided by the billionaire but were all-too aware of the money pouring into their state.Jim Seeger, a 68-year-old retiree who previously worked in communications and marketing, said he voted for Schimel because he wants Republicans to maintain their outsized majority in Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, which could be at risk if Crawford wins and the court orders the maps redrawn. But, he added, he was disappointed the election had become a “financial race.”“I think it’s a shame that we have to spend this much money, especially on a judicial race,” Seeger said as he voted in Eau Claire.Wisconsin’s Democratic Attorney General, Josh Kaul, sued to bar Musk from making his payments to voters if they signed a petition against “activist judges.” The state Supreme Court unanimously declined to rule on the case over a technicality.Musk swooped into the race shortly after Trump’s inauguration. Republicans were pessimistic about being able to win the seat. They lost a longtime conservative majority on the state high court in 2023, and Democrats have excelled in turning out their educated, politically tuned-in coalition during obscure elections such as the one in Wisconsin.Musk duplicated and expanded on some of the methods he used in the final weeks of last year’s presidential race, when he spent more than $200 million on Trump’s behalf in the seven swing states, including Wisconsin.This time, in addition to the $1 million checks, Musk offered to pay $20 to anyone who signed up on his group’s site to knock on doors for Schimel and posted a photo of themselves as proof. His organization promised $100 to every voter who signed the petition against liberal judges and another $100 for every signer they referred.Democrats were happy to make Musk a lightning rod in the race.“People do not want to see Elon Musk buying election after election after election,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said Monday. “If it works here, he’s going to do it all over the country.”
Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Washington contributed to this report.
Nicholas Riccardi and Thomas Beaumont, Associated Press
