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Donald J. Trump White House 2nd Term Page 6
How much tax payer money has Musk used to build his empire?

Story by Alena Botros

Elon Musk runs a number of multibillion-dollar companies that have made him the world’s richest man. Part of that comes from his skill in collecting money from the government, according to Jeb Barnes, a professor of political science for the University of Southern California.

“He’s done it with all of his businesses,” Barnes told Fortune.

Musk has reportedly collected at least $38 billion in funding through government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits that go as far back as 20 years, according to a recent Washington Post analysis. His electric-car maker Tesla has collected $11.4 billion in regulatory credits, per the Washington Post, but most of the funds (via government contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense) are to his rocket maker, SpaceX. A separate ABC News analysis found SpaceX and Tesla were granted at least $18 billion in federal contracts in the past decade.

Some of that government money came at crucial times for his companies. In one instance, it was a $465 million loan from the Energy Department to Tesla that Musk was reportedly personally involved in securing. He held daily meetings with Tesla executives and spent hours with the loan officer. But when the loan went through, Tesla was missing a certification it needed to qualify—so Musk reportedly went directly to the administrator around Christmas time to get it done. “Tesla would not have survived without the loan,” a former Tesla employee told the Washington Post. “It was a critical loan at a critical time.” (Tesla benefited from a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for those who buy its electric cars, too—and if it’s killed, it could hurt Tesla, but it would devastate almost every other EV maker). The outlet also reported that government contracts helped build SpaceX’s infrastructure so that it could actually build and launch rockets.

The papers related, sometimes very tangentially, to the assassination of John F. Kennedy were made public by President Trump, but it’s unclear how many are new. Though scholars don’t expect major revelations, they are still eager to look.
New York Times

The promise of a “final” release of all government secrets relating to the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy has whetted the appetite of many Americans, including the current occupant of the Oval Office. But many historians are taking a measured, wait-and-see approach to the latest documents, which the National Archives released on Tuesday.

“I doubt that these releases are going to overturn our understanding of what happened on that terrible day in Dallas,” Fredrik Logevall, a historian at Harvard who is working on a multivolume biography of President Kennedy, said before the release.
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN

CNN — Billionaire Elon Musk appears to have overstepped his executive branch authority with his Department of Government Efficiency, a federal judge said Tuesday as he indefinitely blocked the dismantling of USAID.

“The court finds that Defendants’ unilateral actions to shut down USAID likely violated the United States Constitution,” said Judge Theodore D. Chuang of the US District Court in Maryland.

Chuang said that DOGE cannot terminate any more contracts or grants of USAID, nor can it fire or put on leave any more employees. He also cut off DOGE staffers from sharing sensitive personal data kept by the agency, in a major win for groups broadly challenging Musk’s role in the federal government.

The ruling, placing a preliminary injunction on DOGE, is one of the first major rulings to limit Musk’s work in the federal government because of the US Constitution.

And it may chart the way other courts will look at Musk, as his efforts and the Trump administration are challenged for attempting to dismantle other government agencies and abruptly cut back federal spending.
Bart Jansen USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department failed Wednesday to provide information a federal judge requested about deportation flights of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act, instead filing a request for a postponement to wait for appeals courts to block what it called a potentially “catastrophic” disclosure.

The filing escalated a legal clash over the deportations that has already led President Donald Trump to call for Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's impeachment and a rebuke of Trump by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

Boasberg demanded information by noon Tuesday about the number of deportation flights on Saturday, the number of passengers and the foreign destinations. He asked for the information as he weighs whether the government defied his oral and written orders to halt the flights and potentially turn around flights in the air.
Fired members of Federal Trade Commission confirmed to be Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter
Marina Dunbar

Donald Trump has fired the two Democratic commissioners on the US Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, further blurring the lines of bipartisanship at regulatory agencies.

The fired commissioners are confirmed to be Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. Bedoya confirmed his firing in a post on social media.

“I’m a Commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The President just illegally fired me,” he wrote.

“The FTC is an independent agency founded 111 years ago to fight fraudsters and monopolists, our staff is unafraid of the Martin Shkrelis and Jeff Bezos of the world. They take them to court and they win.

“Now, the President wants the FTC to be a lap dog for his golfing buddies,” he continued.
Story by Yelena Mandenberg

President Donald Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, looked sour after a reporter corrected her claims that the judge who blocked the Alien Enemies Act was a "democratic activist."

The reporter stopped her for a second after her comments, telling her, "He [the judge] was originally appointed by George W. Bush and elevated by Obama. Feel I should clear that up."

Leavitt immediately went on the defense and tried to shoot back, as she's no stranger to being called out at her pulpit for misinformation, but the damage was done as reporters sitting in the press room quietly smiled at the reporter's comment.
The alarming news comes as part of a memo from the General Services Administration, which explains a number of changes prompted by Trump's executive order on diversity, equity and inclusion
By Alana LoftusBoston reporter

After a recent change made by the Trump administration, the federal government no longer prohibits contractors from having segregated restaurants, waiting rooms, and drinking fountains.

The segregation clause was among several mentioned in a public memo detailing President Trump’s executive order on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Trump rescinded an order issued by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 regarding federal contractors and nondiscrimination. Johnson enacted the order shortly after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which marked a pivotal moment in US history.
Story by Charles Switzer

DOGE's Latest Controversy: Starlink Installed on White House Grounds
©ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is once again making headlines after a staffer triggered an alarm while attempting to install Elon Musk's Starlink system on the roof of a federal building near the White House. The New York Times reported that the incident resulted in a Secret Service response, though DOGE officials later claimed they did not consider the incident to be a security breach. Despite the chaotic nature of the installation, Starlink terminals are now operational at both the White House and the General Services Administration.
Here's what happened...

Musk's Expanding Government Influence
©ChrisStanely/LinkedIn
One of the key concerns surrounding this installation is Elon Musk's deep financial and personal ties to DOGE. Chris Stanley, the DOGE official overseeing the project, is also a security engineer at both X and SpaceX, raising potential ethical and legal questions. This development adds to the growing list of concerns about Musk's involvement in the Donald Trump administration, particularly given accusations that the Commerce Department has altered federal broadband grant rules to benefit Musk's company.

Security Risks: A New Cyber Vulnerability?
©ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
While the White House already has secure fiber-optic internet, the addition of Starlink raises cybersecurity concerns. Experts have warned that satellite internet systems could introduce new vulnerabilities, especially given Elon Musk's unpredictable business decisions and recent cybersecurity issues at X. Despite assurances from the administration, critics question whether this move was more about bolstering Musk's influence than enhancing national security.
That is some BS. No matter what Trump and other racist believe being Black or a woman does not mean they were a DEI hire. Black people and women have to work three to four times as hard as white people for less pay and less credit for their work.

At least one website about Robinson, who trained as an officer and was assigned to a tank regiment during World War II, was reinstated Wednesday afternoon.
By Curtis Bunn

The military story of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball after serving as a 2nd lieutenant in the Army, no longer exists on the Defense Department’s website as part of the Trump administration’s wiping out of diversity, equity and inclusion within the federal government.

Trump ordered the Pentagon to scan federal websites for articles, social media posts, photos, news articles and videos to remove any web pages that “promote diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Several websites under Pentagon jurisdiction have removed thousands of pages documenting the history of people of color, LGBTQ people, women and others from marginalized backgrounds and their contributions to the American military. Multiple pages about Robinson were taken down, including a page about Negro League players talking about serving in the military. But as of Wednesday afternoon, at least one page about Robinson, in a series about athletes who served in the military, had been reinstated.
Closing the department requires an act of Congress, but Trump could make it nearly impossible for remaining employees to carry out their work, much like at USAID.
By Garrett Haake, Nnamdi Egwuonwu and Tyler Kingkade

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday to close the Education Department, fulfilling a yearslong pledge to dismantle the federal agency, the White House confirmed.

Trump will hold an event at the White House to sign the order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

USA Today first reported that Trump will sign the order Thursday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared the story Thursday morning in a post to X, writing in all-capital letters that the signing was "happening today at 4pm ET."

Formally closing the department requires an act of Congress. But even without formally shutting it down, the Trump administration could effectively make it nearly impossible for employees to carry out their work, as it has done with the U.S. Agency for International Development.

President Jimmy Carter established the department in 1979 after Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act in bipartisan votes.

McMahon recently moved to drastically reduce the size of the Education Department by cutting its workforce in half. She called the job terminations the first step toward shutting down the department.
Bloc aims to build up military-industrial complex to deter Russia and brace for the U.S. shift away from Europe.
By Gregorio Sorgi, Jacopo Barigazzi and Giovanna Faggionato

BRUSSELS — United States arms-makers are being frozen out of the European Union’s massive new defense spending plan, which aims to splash the cash for EU and allied countries, according to defense spending plans released Wednesday.

Also left out — for now — is the United Kingdom.

“We must buy more European. Because that means strengthening the European defense technological and industrial base,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in announcing the Readiness 2030 program.

In a bid to strengthen ties with allies, Brussels involved countries like South Korea and Japan and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in its program that could see as much as €800 billion spent on defense.

“We need to see not only Russia as a threat, but also ... more global geopolitical developments and where Americans will put their strategic attention,” European Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told reporters.

In recent years, about two-thirds of EU procurement orders have gone to U.S. defense companies.

The Commission presented its long-term defense policy proposal, known as a white paper, as well as a raft of legislative proposals aimed at making it easier for countries to boost military spending and to create a more integrated defense market in the bloc.

“We’re not doing this to go to war, but to prepare for the worst and defend peace in Europe,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat.
White House has ‘moved beyond’ minerals deal; Zelenskyy expects ceasefire deal to cover civilian as well as energy infrastructure. What we know on day 1,121
Warren Murray with Guardian writers and agencies

Donald Trump told Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday that the US could own and run Ukrainian nuclear power plants as part of a ceasefire. The Ukrainian president said following their call that “we talked only about one power plant, which is under Russian occupation”, referring to Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power station. The White House said it had “moved beyond” the idea of taking possession of Ukraine’s mineral wealth as part of negotiations. “We are now focused on a long-term peace agreement,” said White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.

Kyiv was “ready” to pause attacks on Russia’s energy network and infrastructure, Zelenskyy said, write Shaun Walker and Pjotr Sauer. Zelenskyy indicated he did not yet consider a ceasefire to be in place, instead saying it could be established quickly, and his team would present the Americans with a list of the kind of facilities it should include. Zelenskyy also indicated he expects the ceasefire to apply to civilian infrastructure as well as energy facilities.
Story by Victor Tangermann

Tesla is in deep trouble. The embattled EV maker has seen sales plummet worldwide in large part due to its CEO Elon Musk's highly polarizing behavior.

Tesla's share value has also dropped precipitously, down over 37 percent year to date, wiping out all gains made since Musk's key ally Donald Trump was elected last year.

Even the company's financials are now sprouting some glaring questions. As the Financial Times reports, a whopping $1.4 billion appears to have vanished in thin air. The enormous hole arises when examining the carmaker's capital expenditures and how those compare to the reported rise of the value of its assets.

According to Tesla's cashflow statements, the firm spent $6.3 billion on "purchases of property and equipment excluding finance leases, net of sales" in the second half of 2024. However, its balance sheet claims the gross value of property, plant, and equipment rose by only $4.9 billion — leaving an eyebrow-raising $1.4 billion discrepancy.

The news couldn't have come at a worse time, with furious investors accusing Musk of abandoning Tesla by spending most of his time rampaging through the government with the help of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
Story by Cara Lynn Shultz

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recently shared that he thinks birds with the avian flu should be isolated, not culled, and then left to breed — amid reports that staffers have not been hired for the existing federal office for pandemic preparedness.

The White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR) had a staff of approximately 20 people and was established by Congress in 2022 after the Covid-19 pandemic.

As archives from President Joe Biden’s White House explain, the office “coordinates actions related to preparedness for, and response to, known and unknown biological threats and pathogens that could lead to a pandemic or to significant public health-related disruptions in the United States.”

However, according to a report by CNN, only one staffer remains in the office, and its website has been taken down from the Internet. The OPPR, the outlet quotes a source as saying, “has fallen into the abyss.”
Story by Michael Sainato

US Postal Service workers and advocates are holding a day of action today in more than 150 cities as they brace for the Trump administration to launch an “illegal hostile takeover” which they warn will slash jobs, boost prices and shut down post offices.

Donald Trump’s officials are weighing plans to transfer the USPS to the Department of Commerce, stripping it of its independence. The president and his allies have also signaled they are willing to privatize the service.

“This is the people’s postal service, emphasis on ‘service’,” said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, in a statement on Thursday’s demonstrations. “If this administration succeeds in taking over the USPS, it will lead to higher prices and reduced service, especially in rural areas.”

Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, said: “The American people depend on the United States Postal Service, and it’s unacceptable for political interference to disrupt its operations. President Trump supports the hard work of these individuals and is solely working to make the entire federal government more efficient and uproot waste, fraud and abuse.”

Boycotts over President Trump’s trade war have caused drops in border traffic linked to tourism as Canadian travelers shift their vacation plans to Mexico and elsewhere amid the ongoing trade war with the U.S.

A Department of Defense webpage describing baseball and civil rights icon Jackie Robinson’s military service was restored Wednesday after it was missing earlier in the day. The Morning Joe panel discusses.
Story by Lorie Konish

A federal judge Thursday issued a temporary restraining order barring Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team from getting access to personally identifiable information from the Social Security Administration.

A federal judge Thursday issued a temporary restraining order barring Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency team from getting access to personally identifiable information from the Social Security Administration.

Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander in a scathing ruling accused DOGE of launching a "fishing expedition" at the Social Security agency and failing to provide any reason why it needed to access vast swaths of Americans' personal and private data.
Story by Raúl Izquierdo

Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency has created not just a political storm, but also an economic one. His recent trade policies, including tariffs on countries like Canada, China, and the European Union, have caused widespread reactions.

For the EU, these tariffs stand at 25%, leading European authorities to retaliate with tariffs on American products like Levi’s jeans. However, some are taking individual action. In France, nearly 70% of citizens are willing to boycott U.S. products, according to a recent Ipsos survey.

One French businessman leading the charge is Romain Roy, CEO of Groupe Roy, a company specializing in solar energy solutions. He has decided to cut ties with Tesla, after years of collaboration with Elon Musk, who serves as a senior advisor to Trump.

“For four years, we almost had a contract with Tesla, as they offered the best value for money. That’s over now. I don’t want a single euro from my company to enrich that man,” Roy declared. He has since canceled his order of 15 Tesla vehicles that was placed months ago.

The Republican chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees issued a joint statement Wednesday criticizing the idea of the U.S. drastically changing its military combatant command structure, saying they “will not accept” those changes without coordination with Congress and other agencies. The statement marks one of the first major instances of Republican lawmakers pushing back on President Trump in his second term.
Story by Carl Gibson

One steel manufacturer in the Midwest has announced it will be laying off hundreds of workers as a result of President Donald Trump's tariffs.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported Thursday that 630 steelworkers in Minnesota are about to lose their jobs. Steel manufacturer Cleveland-Cliffs, which is based in Ohio, announced that the layoffs will be at the company's operations in the Minnesota towns of Hibbing and Virginia. Those facilities specialize in steel pellets used in auto manufacturing, and Cleveland-Cliffs said they will be subjected to "temporary idles" in order to "rebalance working capital needs and consume excess pellet inventory produced in 2024."

Earlier this month, Trump announced he would be imposing new 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. The Star-Tribune reported that while steelmakers like Cleveland-Cliffs expect a boost to their business as a result of the higher prices on their foreign competitors, the auto industry is still largely unprepared to shift production to the United States with new tariffs on imports from Canada, China and Mexico fast approaching in April.
Carl Gibson

One of President Donald Trump's core economic policies is attracting significant opposition from within his own party — including a longtime U.S. senator from one of the reddest states in the country.

On Wednesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) penned an op-ed for the Louisville Courier-Journal (his hometown newspaper) making the case against Trump's new tariffs on imported goods. Earlier this week, Trump announced a 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum, which comes just after a 10% tariff on goods imported from China. His previously announced 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods has been put on hold for now, after negotiations with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"[N]o matter our best intentions, tariffs are bad policy," McConnell wrote. He quoted Kentucky's junior U.S. senator, Rand Paul, who has previously said that "tariffs are simply taxes."
David Badash

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is “basically admitting” the White House “lied” about the mass firings of tens of thousands of federal government employees, a legal expert is alleging, based on her remarks on Friday. Many of not most of the terminated government workers were ordered to be reinstated by two separate federal courts on Thursday. Judges ruled the terminations were likely unlawful.

According to The New York Times, one judge “said in his lengthy ruling that the government’s contention that the firings of the probationary employees had been for cause, and not a mass layoff, ‘borders on the frivolous.'” Another judge “concluded much the same and made it clear that he thought the manner in which the Trump administration had fired the probationary workers was a ‘sham.'”
Is this the whitewashing of black people from American history?

Story by BIN

The Trump administration has reportedly banned nearly 200 words, including "Black," "racial justice," and "anti-racism," amid its war on woke and attacks against DEI.

According to the New York Times, 199 words and phrases have been prohibited from use in the Trump administration as the president works to reverse efforts made by Former President Joe Biden.

The censured words include “Black,” “anti-racism,” “discrimination,” “racial justice,” “diversity,” “trauma,” “at-risk,” “minorities,” “underprivileged,” “biased,” “climate science,” “women,” “female,” “socioeconomic,” “climate change,” “cultural heritage," and more.
Story by Keith Raffel

A man with a long track record of corruption took office as president in January. In his second term, he's surrounding himself with like-minded cabinet secretaries and agency heads.

It's a fact that Donald J. Trump is a felon, convicted by a unanimous state jury of 34 counts of corruptly falsifying business records. Days before taking office in 2017, he paid $25 million to settle a suit for cheating students who'd enrolled in Trump University. His Trump Foundation was shut down for misusing charitable funds for political gain.

Now back in office, Trump continues to exude the odor of corruption more strongly than ever. Here's one example: his launch of a cryptocurrency product in January. Two days before his inauguration, Trump promoted a meme coin on the social media platform X with a post urging investors to "GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW." Purchase of the coin provides a straightforward way to funnel money to Trump. Last month, the SEC paused its investigation into a businessman after he bought $75 million worth of the coin.

Corruption and conflicts of interest have gone viral in the second Trump administration.

Take Elon Musk, who contributed $288 million to the 2024 Trump presidential campaign and who, according to The New York Times, has signaled his intent to contribute another $100 million to the Trump political operation. Musk's net worth of over $300 billion can be traced primarily to his holdings in Tesla, the electrical vehicle company; SpaceX, the rocket company; xAI, an artificial intelligence company; and Neuralink, a company designing brain implants. He is the CEO of the first three and owner of the fourth. The Washington Post estimates that Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits from the federal government extending back over 20 years.
Story by Griffin Eckstein

Amid plunging share prices due to poorer-than-expected earnings and the unpopular political activities of CEO Elon Musk, Tesla’s slapdash methods once again caught up with the automaker.

Hours after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick used an interview slot with Fox News’s Jesse Watters to urge Americans to buy stock in Tesla, the company was forced to issue a recall on every single Cybertruck it has sold to date.

More than 46,000 Cybertrucks produced between Nov. 13, 2023, and Feb. 27, 2025, were recalled this week due to a large steel exterior panel’s tendency to detach from the car. A report shared by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the automaker became aware of the problem in January and has no knowledge of any accidents related to the defect.

According to auto industry news site Jalopnik, it’s the eighth recall since release day for the Cybertruck, a car that’s reportedly numerous times more deadly than the infamously explosive Ford Pinto.

The issue stems from an unconventional bit of penny-pinching from the world's richest man. Per Gizmodo, the panels on the vehicle are merely glued together. The NHTSA recall notice confirms the panel is joined to the car with “structural adhesive” and could fall off on the road. Videos obtained by other automotive outlets have shown the piece in question falling off of the vehicle while it was being driven.
Story by Jasmine Venet

A veteran FBI agent who blew the whistle on what he saw as political meddling in the bureau’s work was arrested this week by federal authorities while attempting to board an international flight at New York City’s JFK Airport.

Jonathan Buma, who had worked for the bureau for 15 years, stands accused of illegally disclosing classified records in his upcoming tell-all book about his career.

He drew scrutiny during Trump’s first term for reportedly saying during a presentation that he believed Rudy Giuliani may have been compromised by a Russian counter-influence operation—concerns that were immediately shut down by his superiors.

On Monday, the longtime counterintelligence officer was about to board an outbound international flight when he was taken into custody. Buma was released on $10,000 bail on Tuesday during a Brooklyn federal court hearing, and his case will be handled in a California federal court.
Story by Carl Gibson

South African centibillionaire Elon Musk — one of President Donald Trump's closest advisors — is now reportedly scheduled to receive a top-secret briefing involving the United States' top-secret plans in the event the nation goes to war with China.

The New York Times reported Thursday evening that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO will be visiting the Pentagon on Friday to get "access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded military secrets." Those war plans are detailed in "20 to 30 slides" that reveal exactly how the U.S. would plan to fight a war against the world's most populous nation and second-largest economy. The Times Julian E. Barnes, Maggie Haberman, Eric Lipton, Ryan Mac and Eric Schmitt noted that the briefing comes despite Musk having "extensive financial interests in China."

"If a foreign country was to learn how the United States planned to fight a war against them, it could reinforce its defenses and address its weaknesses, making the plans far less likely to succeed," the reporters wrote.
Money Watch
By Megan Cerullo
Edited By Alain Sherter

President Trump's executive order on Thursday starting the process of dismantling the Department of Education could throw federal student loan programs into disarray and lead to frustration for millions of borrowers, according to experts.

The Education Department's remit is broad. The agency manages student loans for more than 40 million Americans; oversees $18 billion in Title I funding for elementary and secondary education in low-income areas; issues Pell Grants to help low- and middle-income students pay for college; and administers the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which lets students apply for loans, grants and other college aid.

"It takes resources to manage that asset, including trained staff to make sure borrowers have good information and colleges can administer loan programs properly," said Peter Granville, a higher education finance expert and fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank. "It takes technical expertise that only Education Department officials have."

Ahead of the Thursday signing ceremony for Mr. Trump's order, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the Education Department "will be much smaller than it is today." For now, the agency will retain oversight of student loans and Pell grants, she added.
Story by M.B. Mack

Elon Musk issued a stark warning to Pentagon employees after a report leaked details of a planned military briefing, vowing that those responsible "will be found" and prosecuted.

On Thursday, the New York Times published a report stating that Musk was scheduled to receive a Pentagon briefing on potential U.S. war plans against China.

The report, citing anonymous officials, raised concerns about Musk's growing influence over U.S. defense policy, given his business ties to both the U.S. government and China, Politico reported.

Following the leak, both the Pentagon and President Donald Trump denied that the meeting involved China at all, with Trump calling the report "completely untrue."

After the article was published, Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) to denounce the New York Times, calling the publication's report "pure propaganda" and warning that those responsible for the leak "will be found."
Trump Says Elon Musk Won’t Get Briefing on Pentagon’s China War Plans
President says his billionaire adviser visited the Department of Defense in his capacity with DOGE, and not for China
Alexander Ward, Nancy A. Youssef, Annie Linskey

WASHINGTON—President Trump said Elon Musk wouldn’t receive a sensitive briefing at the Pentagon on a plan for potential war with China because of his financial ties to Beijing.

“Certainly you wouldn’t show that to a businessman,” Trump told reporters Friday. “Elon has businesses in China,” he continued, adding that showing him the war plans would be improper.
Cory Turner

President Donald Trump continued the unwinding of the U.S. Department of Education on Friday, announcing that the management of the entire federal student loan portfolio and of the department's "special needs" programs would be moved to other federal agencies effective immediately.

Appearing in the Oval Office with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump said, "I've decided that the SBA, the Small Business Administration, headed by Kelly Loeffler, a terrific person, will handle all of the student loan portfolio. We have a portfolio that's very large," Trump said.

The federal student loan portfolio – which manages about $1.6 trillion in loans for roughly 43 million borrowers – is currently overseen by the Education Department's office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). That office has been gutted by the recent raft of buyouts, early retirements and last week's broad reduction-in-force.

It was not clear, based on Trump's announcement, how or if the remaining employees and expertise at FSA would be transferred to the Small Business Administration. Trump said he would move student loans "out of the Department of Education immediately" and that Loeffler and her staff are "all set for it. They're waiting for it. It'll be serviced much better than it has in the past. It's been a mess."
Opinion by Bobby Kogan

Republicans have a trifecta, which means they’re trying to pass more expensive tax cuts that will disproportionately go to the rich.

How expensive? They’ll cost $4 trillion over the next decade and would increase upward pressure on the debt ratio by 50 percent. How disproportionate? America’s top 0.1% would get a tax cut of $278,000 while 28 million households in the bottom 80 percent would have no change in their tax bill and 14 million in the bottom 80 percent would actually have their taxes go up.

What’s different is that, this time around, much of what they’re trying to do is currently in effect but set to expire — and Republicans are not pretending the tax cuts will pay for themselves (because they don’t). Instead — and I am not making this up — they’ve just decided to say the costs don’t count. They’re free.

How did we get here? Back in 2017, Trump and congressional Republicans enacted the Trump tax cuts. Because they used a process known as budget reconciliation — the same process they’re using now — most of those cuts are set to expire at the end of 2025.

In looking for ways to extend those cuts, Republicans face two problems.

First, the tax cuts cost $4 trillion over the 10-year budget window, and Republicans can’t even get close to finding a way to pay for them, but some of them don’t feel comfortable with adding that much to the deficit. The House GOP’s proposal attempts to offset some of the extension by kicking millions of people off Medicaid and cutting food benefits down to just $1.67 per person per meal on average. Yet deficits would still increase by around $3 trillion over the decade.
Story by SCOTT BAUER

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A group funded by billionaire Elon Musk is offering Wisconsin voters $100 to sign a petition in opposition to “activist judges,” a move that comes two weeks before the state’s Supreme Court election and after the political action committee made a similar proposal last year in battleground states.

Musk’s political action committee America PAC announced the petition in a post on X on Thursday night. It promises $100 for each Wisconsin voter who signs the petition and another $100 for each signer they refer.

The campaign for Susan Crawford, the Democratic-backed candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court, said Musk was trying to buy votes ahead of the April 1 election. The offer was made two days after early voting started in the hotly contested race between Crawford and Brad Schimel, the preferred candidate of Musk and Republicans.

The winner of the election will determine whether the court remains under liberal control or flips to a conservative majority.

Musk’s PAC used a nearly identical tactic ahead of the November presidential election, offering to pay $1 million a day to voters in Wisconsin and six other battleground states who signed a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments.
Story by Matt Shuham

The chair of the powerhouse legal firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP sent an email to thousands of employees Thursday evening announcing an agreement with the Trump administration: The White House would withdraw an executive order targeting the firm, the chair said, and in return the firm would agree to a series of commitments that he said were consistent with its statement of principles.

“With this behind us, we can devote our complete focus — as we always do — to our clients, our work, our colleagues, and our Firm,” the firm’s chair, Brad Karp, wrote in an email obtained by HuffPost.

But the version of the “agreement” Karp emailed Paul Weiss employees Thursday night is substantially different from the version President Donald Trump posted online. The internal memo is different in several places, leaving out key pledges the White House claims the firm made.

The primary differences are additions in Trump’s version: After the firm commits to merit-based hiring, promotion and retention, Trump’s version adds: “and will not adopt, use, or pursue any DEI policies” — a reference to “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives that Trump has targeted throughout government and the private sector.

Later, Paul Weiss says it will dedicate the equivalent of $40 million for pro bono legal services on various initiatives. The firm’s internal version refers to “these initiatives,” while Trump’s version refers to “the Administration’s initiatives.” Both versions list “assisting our Nation’s veterans, fairness in our justice system, the President’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, and other mutually agreed projects.” (Trump’s version refers to “the Justice System.”)
Amid the move to dismantle the Department of Education, the SBA also announced big layoffs.
Jordan Weissmann

President Trump announced on Friday that he plans to move management of the federal student loan program to the Small Business Administration (SBA), a major step in his effort to dismantle and possibly shut down the Department of Education.

“We have a portfolio that is very large. Lots of loans. Tens of thousands of loans. Pretty complicated deal. And that’s coming out of the Department of Education immediately,” Trump said, vastly understating the number of outstanding loans — there are currently about 43 million Americans with student debt.

The president offered few details about how the Small Business Administration would go about assuming control of the loan program or what borrowers could expect in the weeks ahead, but suggested the process would be smooth.

“They’re all set for it. They’re waiting for it,” he said, referring to the SBA. “It will be serviced much better than it has in the past. It’s been a mess.”

The White House and Commerce Department did not return a request for comment. Education officials referred Yahoo Finance to an interview with Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Fox News on Friday, in which she said, in part, that she would work with the SBA on a strategic plan.
Story by Dan Gooding

Cubans attending immigration appointments in Florida are reportedly being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

At least 18 individuals have been taken into custody, the Miami Herald reported, despite previously being given somewhat special protections from removal proceedings.

"The administration is taking a take-no-prisoners approach to immigration enforcement where every person who could conceivably be deported is a priority," Mark Prada, an immigration attorney in Miami, told Newsweek Friday. "Whether you are undocumented, have a process pending for legal status, or pending an immigration court hearing, DHS has always had the authority to arrest and detain if one does not have a valid, unexpired legal status."
Story by Ted Hesson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's administration will revoke the temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans in the United States, according to a Federal Register notice on Friday, the latest expansion of his crackdown on immigration.

It will be effective April 24.

The move cuts short a two-year "parole" granted to the migrants under former President Joe Biden that allowed them to enter the country by air if they had U.S. sponsors.
Rebecca Falconer, Natalie Daher

Elon Musk met with the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday after President Trump and other officials denied reports that he was originally scheduled to receive a top-secret briefing for a potential war with China.

Why it matters: Some lawmakers and ethics experts have raised conflict of interest concerns about Musk's role as senior adviser to the president while his companies hold substantial government contracts — in particular SpaceX, which has deals with the Pentagon and NASA.

The billionaire CEO has been the face of DOGE-driven federal cuts that have triggered protests and seen Tesla vehicles and dealerships targeted in attacks the FBI is investigating as domestic terrorism,
Musk was seen leaving the Pentagon Friday, and multiple outlets reported he had only sat for an unclassified meeting. Trump told reporters Friday that Musk wouldn't receive China briefings and was there for his role with DOGE.

"Always a great meeting," Musk said as he left. "I've been here before, you know."
Story by Gabriela León

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), co-founded by billionaire Elon Musk, has made headlines by deleting more than 3.2 million outdated records from the US Social Security Administration (SSA). These records included individuals marked as alive despite being over 120 years old, with some astonishingly listed at more than 200 years. This bold move is part of a broader effort to streamline government operations and eliminate inefficiencies.

In a statement on X, DOGE announced, "For the past two weeks, Social Security has been conducting a major cleanup of its records. Approximately 3.2 million number holders, all listed as age 120+, have now been marked as deceased. More work remains to be done." Elon Musk, known for his disruptive innovations, reposted a March 20 post, emphasizing the importance of "Cleaning up the fraud file".

As part of its ongoing mission, DOGE continues to focus on cutting government expenditure. According to government records, as of March 8, the Social Security database listed 1,357,967 people between the ages of 150 and 159 as alive. By March 17, this number had decreased by 186,415 to 1,171,552. In total, 3,261,057 individuals were reclassified as deceased, highlighting the scale of the inefficiencies being addressed.

While the existence of these records does not necessarily imply that benefits were still being paid to the deceased, the Trump administration believes that such inaccuracies could lead to systemic inefficiencies.
Story by Gustaf Kilander

Elon Musk has claimed that his AI chatbot Grok would be “truth-seeking,” yet it often contradicts the billionaire’s positions.

When he launched the new version of Grok last month, Musk said it would be “maximally truth-seeking … even if that truth is sometimes at odds with what is politically correct.”

Instead, Grok has notably challenged Musk’s version of the truth on several topics, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and immigration, The Washington Post reported. Grok last week declared that Democrats are better for the economy than Republicans.

Another point of conflict between Grok and Musk is the treatment of trans youth.

Musk has a trans daughter but has still shared his strong opposition to gender-affirming care. Last July Musk told right-wing commentator and psychologist Jordan Peterson in a conversation livestreamed on X that he doesn’t support his daughter’s gender identity.

“I lost my son, essentially,” said Musk, adding that his child was essentially “dead, killed by the woke mind virus.”

But asked for a one-sentence answer if children should receive gender-affirming care, Grok responded: “It depends on the child’s specific needs, age, and medical advice, but evidence suggests it can help some while others urge caution due to long-term unknowns.”
The acting commissioner of the SSA claims a ruling against DOGE has handcuffed his entire administration.
Josh Fiallo
Breaking News Reporter

President Donald Trump’s interim Social Security chief doubled down Friday on his threat to outright shutter the Social Security Administration in retaliation to a ruling against the Department of Government Efficiency. Acting commissioner Leland Dudek alleged to The Washington Post the SSA cannot comply with a federal ruling—meant to block DOGE’s access to sensitive data within the administration—from Thursday because it would handcuff the work of his entire staff. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander ruled that Social Security officials are barred from sharing Americans’ personal information with DOGE staffers and its “affiliates” for two weeks.
Story by Bloomberg News

China’s imports of US cotton, cars and some energy products all plunged in the first two months of the year after President Donald Trump started imposing tariffs and Beijing retaliated.

In a prelude to what could be widespread disruption to global trade, Chinese purchases of cotton fell almost 80% from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg analysis of data released Thursday. Imports of large-engined cars were down nearly 70%, while purchases of crude oil and liquefied natural gas dropped more than 40%.

All these goods were subject to Chinese retaliatory tariffs either in February or March.

The tit-for-tat trade war measures that the US and China have imposed on each other over the past six weeks — and the probability of more to come in the months ahead — are creating huge uncertainty and raising costs for businesses across the region.

Firms are already reacting, with Chinese companies cutting the export of small parcels in February. Meanwhile, Walmart Inc. and others in the US are asking for price cuts to compensate for the levies.
Is Howard Lutnick unts? They are not “fraudsters” or people “stealing” but people who worked hard and need their Social Security to live on.

Story by Brett Arends

Howard Lutnick only opens his mouth to change feet.

Donald Trump’s billionaire commerce secretary made another staggering statement on Friday when he suggested that only “fraudsters” and people “stealing” from the government would complain if they didn’t get their Social Security checks next month.

The bizarre, almost surreal comment comes just days after Lutnick, a former Wall Street tycoon, used his position to pump stock in Elon Musk’s company Tesla even though he knew that Musk stands to make a staggering $400 million in personal gain for each $1 the stock rises.

“Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month,” Lutnick said during a YouTube interview Friday. “My mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain. She just wouldn’t. She’d think something got messed up and she’ll get it next month.”

By contrast, he said, “a fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining. … Anybody who’s been in the payment system and the process system knows the easiest way to find the fraudster is to stop payments and listen. Yeah. ’Cause whoever screams is the one stealing.”

The comments, coming just as Musk and his DOGE team slash the number of people working at Social Security and close branch offices, are unlikely to win friends and influence people even among Republicans, let alone anyone else.
Story by Alex Henderson

Some voters who supported Donald Trump in the 2024 election are now expressing buyer's remorse, including government workers who were abruptly laid off because of the mass downsizing of the federal workforce being carried out by the Trump Administration with the help of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Others are upset because they are now realizing that Trump's steep new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and other countries will hurt them financially — or because they are troubled by Musk's anti-Social Security comments.

Such voters are likely to be independents or swing voters who favored Trump in 2024 because they blamed then-President Joe Biden for inflation — even if they voted for Biden in 2020. And now, they are deciding that Trump is hurting, not helping, them economically.

But Salon's Amanda Marcotte describes a different type of 2024 Trump voter in an article published on March 21: those whose "devotion to the MAGA cult" remains strong despite the ways in which Trump is making their lives worse.
Amy Goodmanand | Democracy Now

The Social Security Administration is considering drastic new anti-fraud measures that could disrupt benefit payments to millions of Americans, according to an internal memo first obtained by the political newsletter Popular Information. The changes would force millions of customers to file claims in person at a field office rather than over the phone. An estimated 75,000 to 85,000 elderly and disabled adults per week would be diverted to field offices. This comes even as the Trump administration slashes jobs and closes offices at the agency. Officials in the Social Security Administration who spoke with reporter Judd Legum, founder of Popular Information, have told him that there is an “effort to break the organization.”

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

The Social Security Administration is considering drastic new, what they call, anti-fraud measures that could disrupt benefit payments to millions of Americans. This is according to an internal memo first obtained by the political newsletter Popular Information.

Authored last week by Acting Deputy Social Security Administration Commissioner Doris Diaz, the changes proposed in the memo would force millions of customers to file claims in person at a field office rather than over the phone. According to the memo, customers applying for retirement and disability benefits would be required for the first time to verify their identity through an online system. If their identity can’t be verified online, they would have to visit a field office in person. The memo estimates that 75,000 to 85,000 people per week would be diverted to field offices, because a large number of elderly and disabled adults do not have access to a computer or a smartphone and would be unable to complete the online identify verification requirement. The memo acknowledges the strain this would place on vulnerable populations, and lists service disruption, as well as legal challenges and congressional scrutiny, among the risks of the proposed changes.
Story by Alex Henderson

Since March 8, Mahmoud Khalil — a 30-year-old Columbia University student — has been held in a federal detention center in Louisiana for, Trump Administration officials allege, expressing sympathy to the terrorist group Hamas during protests on the campus.

Khalil, who was born in Syria to Palestinian parents, is a legal resident of the United States and is not accused of any acts of violence. And his wife is a U.S. citizen. But Khalil is at risk for deportation, and critics of the Trump Administration and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi are arguing that his detention is an example of thought policing — not an action based on legitimate national security concerns.

Two of those critics are attorneys Thomas Anthony Durkin and Bernard Harcourt (a law professor at Columbia University in New York City).

In an op-ed published by The Guardian on March 21, Durkin and Harcourt argue that the movement to deport students for saying controversial things recalls the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy's (R-Wisconsin) witch hunt of the 1950s.
CNN flags curious 'discrepancy' as Trump denies signing order — featuring his signature
Story by Erik De La Garza

President Donald Trump is once again raising eyebrows with his claim on Friday that he didn’t sign a proclamation invoking the arcane wartime law, which his administration leaned on to carry out last weekend’s deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members, CNN reported.

The stunning denial came as Trump took questions from reporters before boarding Marine One, including one surrounding the fury U.S. District Judge James Boasberg unleashed on DOJ attorneys at a hearing Friday as he pressed them on why the proclamtion invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was "signed in the dark.”

“And I don’t know when it was signed because I didn’t sign it,” Trump told reporter. “Other people handled it. But Marco Rubio’s done a great job, and he wanted them out. And we go along with that. We want to get criminals out of our country.”
'Emergency 25% tariffs': Trump flips out after Colombia turns away deportation flights
David Edwards

President Donald Trump said he was imposing "emergency" tariffs and other measures on Colombia after the country turned away at least two deportation flights.

In an angry social media post on Sunday, Trump revealed that the flights "were not allowed to land in Colombia." He accused Colombian President President Gustavo Petro of jeopardizing "the National Security and Public Safety of the United States."
'You are beyond vile': Outraged expert claims Trump just unleashed 'American Gestapo'
Jake Johnson, Common Dreams

Top Trump administration officials—including the president, vice president, attorney general, and secretary of state—openly celebrated the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants over the weekend in defiance of a federal judge's order to halt the removals, which were carried out under a 1798 law that plainly states it is only operative in the context of a declared war.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance wrote late Sunday that "there were violent criminals and rapists in our country" and "President [Donald] Trump deported them." There was no due process for the more than 200 Venezuelans whom the Trump administration claims are gang members.

Vance's social media post, which came in response to reporting about the White House's acknowledgment that it ignored the court order blocking the deportations, was met with disgust and alarm.
Story by Danielle Shockey

In a stunning move Friday, President Donald J. Trump issued a sweeping memorandum ordering the revocation of security clearances and access to classified information for more than a dozen high-profile individuals, including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and a number of former intelligence and law enforcement officials.

The directive, sent to all executive departments and agency heads, cites national interest concerns and directs officials to take “all additional action as necessary” to ensure that the named individuals no longer have access to classified materials or secure U.S. government facilities.

The individuals named in the memorandum include:

・President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

・Vice President Kamala Harris

・Secretary of State Antony Blinken

・National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan

・Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco

・New York Attorney General Letitia James

・Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

・Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

・Former Rep. Liz Cheney

・Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger
...more
Story by Isabel van Brugen

The Trump administration has threatened to shut down the Social Security Administration (SSA) over a court ruling that blocks Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the personal data of millions of Americans.

President Donald Trump’s interim Social Security chief, Lee Dudek—who has been working closely with DOGE—warned that the SSA could be forced to cease operations if Musk’s team continues to be denied access to the information.

“My anti-fraud team would be DOGE affiliates. My IT staff would be DOGE affiliates,” Dudek said in remarks published by Bloomberg. “As it stands, I will follow [the judge’s order] exactly and terminate access by all SSA employees to our IT systems.”

He said that he planned to request an immediate clarification from the judge.

“Really, I want to turn it off and let the courts figure out how they want to run a federal agency,” he added.
Rep. Harriet Hageman was loudly booed after claiming that "DOGE is not dismantling social security"
Story by Grist.org

The Trump administration’s freeze on funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the landmark climate law from the Biden era, has left farmers and rural businesses across the country on the hook for costly energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy installations.

The grants are part of the Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP, originally created in the 2008 farm bill and supercharged by funding from the IRA. It provides farmers and other businesses in rural areas with relatively small grants and loans to help lower their energy bills by investing, say, in more energy-efficient farming equipment or installing small solar arrays.

By November 2024, the IRA had awarded more than $1 billion for nearly 7,000 REAP projects, which help rural businesses in low-income communities reduce the up-front costs of clean energy and save thousands on utility costs each year.

But now, that funding is in limbo. Under the current freeze, some farmers have already spent tens of thousands of dollars on projects and are waiting for the promised reimbursement. Others have had to delay work they were counting on to support their businesses, unsure when their funding will come through — or if it will.

REAP is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Secretary Brooke Rollins said the agency is “coming to the tail end of the review process” of evaluating grants awarded under the Biden administration.

“If our farmers and ranchers especially have already spent money under a commitment that was made, the goal is to make sure they are made whole,” Rollins told reporters in Atlanta last week.
Story by Filip Timotija

President Trump instructed the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday to sanction attorneys and law firms if they engage in “frivolous, unreasonable and vexatious” litigation against the U.S. government.

“Lawyers and law firms that engage in actions that violate the laws of the United States or rules governing attorney conduct must be efficiently and effectively held accountable,” Trump said in a memo released by the White House. “Accountability is especially important when misconduct by lawyers and law firms threatens our national security, homeland security, public safety, or election integrity.”

In the directive, labeled “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court,” the president targeted immigration lawyers specifically. He argued that they “frequently coach clients to conceal their past or lie about their circumstances when asserting their asylum claims, all in an attempt to circumvent immigration policies enacted to protect our national security and deceive the immigration authorities and courts into granting them undeserved relief.”

The president then ordered Bondi to review the “conduct” of lawyers and law firms that have brought litigation against the federal government in the last eight years.
Promise was central plank to space agency’s Artemis program, which is scheduled to return humans to the lunar surface in 2027
Richard Luscombe in Miami

Nasa has dropped its longstanding public commitment to land the first woman and person of color on the moon, in response to Donald Trump’s directives to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices at federal agencies.

The promise was a central plank of the space agency’s Artemis program, which is scheduled to return humans to the lunar surface in 2027 for the first time since the final Apollo mission in December 1972.

The Artemis landing page of Nasa’s website previously included the words: “Nasa will land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the Moon using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.”

The version of the page live on the website on Friday, however, appears with the phrase removed.
Elon Musk's DOGE program promised to save taxpayers billions through aggressive cost-cutting measures. New investigations reveal many of these claims are based on miscalculations.
Story by Arezki AMIRI

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is set to close dozens of offices across the United States this year as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s efforts to cut the size of the federal government and eliminate waste. This decision has raised concerns regarding its potential impact on the efficiency of the SSA and the timely delivery of benefits to the millions of Americans who rely on them.

What’s at Stake: Impact on Millions of Beneficiaries
The SSA provides Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to more than 72.5 million Americans, including some of the most vulnerable populations in the U.S.

These individuals, including the elderly and disabled, depend on monthly checks to cover their living expenses. The closure of SSA offices, many of which serve as important locations for in-person services, has sparked worries that beneficiaries might face delays or disruptions in receiving their benefits.

What We Know About the Closures
According to the SSA, there are about 1,200 field offices across the country. On its website, DOGE, which is led by Elon Musk, lists 47 SSA offices across 18 states that are set to be closed. These closures are primarily concentrated in the South and Southeast regions.

The closures are part of a larger initiative to reduce federal spending, but according to an SSA spokesperson, most of the offices slated for closure are used primarily for in-person hearings, which are being phased out in favor of virtual hearings.
Opinion by EJ Montini, Arizona Republic

Elon Musk gave the maximum campaign contributions allowed to seven Republican members of Congress trying to impeach judges who are bold and brave enough to honor their oaths to the Constitution instead of sheepishly ignoring the law and giving President Donald Trump whatever he wants.

When I see a news article that starts out like that I immediately say to myself, “There must be someone from Arizona on that list.”

Yep.

Arizona’s own Republican Rep. Eli Crane received a nice fat check from our South African American co-president for having filed articles of impeachment on U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, who prevented “DOGE” bros from accessing the financial records of ordinary Americans like us.

The judge's decision is something for which Crane should have been thanking him, rather than trying to impeach him.

Republicans staging useless stunts to impress Trump and Musk
But, no.

With Arizona’s GOP members of Congress, their loyalty – fealty, actually – is only to Trump. Not to those who put them in office. Not to their constitutional oaths.

The Defense Department has removed or plans to delete thousands of websites to comply with US President Donald Trump’s order eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The deleted content includes pages on the Holocaust and 9/11. One article was about Holocaust survivor Kitty Saks and an Air Force Academy cadet’s visit to concentration camps. Another deleted page highlighted Holocaust Remembrance Week and the importance of religious diversity. Despite these removals, Trump has stressed his commitment to fighting antisemitism. The president has previously threatened to cut Columbia University’s federal funding unless it adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition. The takedowns extend beyond DEI-related content. Pages on veterans’ suicide prevention, sexual assault prevention and 9/11 have also been removed.
"Moscow Agent Governing America"

Story by Kyle O'Sullivan

Donald Trump made a disturbing slip up during Monday's cabinet meeting, where he confessed he was "activated last week".

Trump was humiliated by Putin after being kept waiting ahead of their phone call, but he has continued to attack Ukraine and firmly take Russia's side in the war.

A former Soviet intelligence officer claimed Trump was recruited by the KGB in 1987 and given the codename 'Krasnov' - and his unusual choice of the word 'activation' has led to fears there may be some substance there.

Trump, who has a unique bond with Vladimir Putin, was giving a sickly testimonial to Elon Musk when he oddly used the phrase, which is heavily associated with undercover Russian spies.

After praising Musk for his contributions to his administration, Trump explained that Musk has "never asked for anything."

"He has never asked me for a thing. He could have. I always say, 'I wonder if he is ever going to ask me for something?'."

Pointing out that he got rid of the electric vehicle mandate, Trump thanked Musk for standing by him even though Tesla dealerships are being attacked.

"I did get activated last week when I saw what they were doing," said Trump. "I said he makes an incredible product and we're going to go out and tell people you can't do that stuff."
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