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Donald J. Trump White House 2nd Term Page 3
Story by Sophie Clark

The judge who said that Donald Trump's administration had ignored his court order to restart the flow of federal funds, has had articles of impeachment drafted against him.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr., told the White House that it must abide by the preliminary injunction to halt its funding freeze.

Representative Andrew Clyne, a Republican, has announced on X (formerly Twitter) is drafting articles of impeachment, accusing the judge of being a "partisan activist."

Clyne and McConnell have been contacted for comment via email.

Why It Matters
Clyne said McConnell should be impeached because he is a "partisan activist." Federal judges, who are appointed for life, can only be impeached if they are accused of "treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors."

If he McConnell is successfully impeached and then convicted by the Senate, it will set a precedent that blocking the President's actions in court is akin to treason.

What To Know
In January, 23 Democratic state attorneys general (AGs) sued the Trump administration over its federal funding freeze.

Although the White House has said it is going to appeal the ruling which went in favor of the state AGs who said that the freeze was unconstitutional, it does have to obey it by returning federal funding to its pre-Trump levels.

McConnell, who was the presiding judge in the original funding case, found that the administration had not been complying with his order on Monday, despite the president saying that he would comply with court orders.

Dem Rep. Greg Casar pointed out today that Elon Musk is getting paid $8 million per day due to his government contracts. Chris Hayes is joined by Alex Wagner to discuss that and more.
Story by Uday Rana

Donald Trump is going to impose reciprocal tariffs on Thursday afternoon, the U.S. president said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“NEWS CONFERENCE ON RECIPROCAL TARIFFS TODAY, 1:00 P.M., THE OVAL OFFICE. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump said in the post.

He posted earlier in the day, saying it was going to be a “big one."

“THREE GREAT WEEKS, PERHAPS THE BEST EVER, BUT TODAY IS THE BIG ONE: RECIPROCAL TARIFFS!!! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

Trump on Monday signed a pair of executive orders that will impose 25 per cent tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum on March 12, with no exceptions or exemptions.

“It’s a big deal. This is the beginning of making America rich again,” Trump said as he signed the orders in the Oval Office.
Story by Brad Reed

Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) on Wednesday let loose on Republicans for giving X owner Elon Musk a pass when it comes to government waste.

During a House Department of Government Efficiency hearing, Casar slammed Musk and Trump for firing inspectors general who have traditionally overseen internal investigations into executive branch offices.

What's more, Casar argued that this was particularly dangerous given the massive government contracts that Musk's company SpaceX has with the federal government.

"You know what Elon Musk doesn't seem to be looking into?" he asked rhetorically. "His own contracts!"
Story by Julia Ornedo

President Donald Trump vowed to ship “the worst criminal aliens threatening America” to Guantanamo Bay. But even nonviolent, low-risk migrants have been detained on the remote island, according to CBS News.

Two U.S. officials who spoke anonymously to CBS News, along with internal government documents, indicated that migrants deemed “low-risk” were being sent to Guantanamo Bay along with “high-risk” individuals such as those with criminal records or ties to gangs.

Government guidelines define “low-risk” migrants as those who face deportation because they are in the U.S. illegally but otherwise have not been accused or convicted of violent or serious crimes.

High-risk detainees have reportedly been locked up in cells at Guantanamo’s maximum-security prison while low-risk migrants were taken to a barrack-like facility called the Migrant Operations Center, which includes rooms with restrooms. It was typically used to house asylum seekers.
Story by Ben Burgis

DOGE’s slashing and burning has nothing to do with “efficiency” and everything to do with further enriching Elon Musk and his fellow plutocrats.

Last Friday, Elon Musk posted a succinct boast on the social media platform he owns. “CFPB RIP,” it said, along with an image of a tombstone. He was bragging that he had, at least for the moment, shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a regulatory agency that polices the business practices of plutocrats like him.

Musk is not just the richest man in the United States but the wealthiest person who’s ever lived. He also owns multiple companies that rake in billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government. And now, he has a major role in the Trump administration. How major? On Tuesday, he joined Trump for a press conference from the Oval Office where, for much of the event, Musk stood and spoke while Trump sat at his desk looking bored.

Musk’s formal position is an odd one. He heads something called “the Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE). But DOGE is a department. Those have to be created by acts of Congress. Nor does it seem particularly focused on government efficiency. Instead, its freewheeling “audits” of various federal departments and agencies have amounted to a campaign of de facto budget cutting and deregulation not authorized by any legislation. Working together with acting secretaries and agency heads recently appointed by Trump, Musk’s DOGE has put a stop to congressionally authorized spending and fired (or put on leave, or ordered to halt all work) many thousands of federal employees.
Story by David McAfee

Donald Trump is threatening to turn the Supreme Court's biggest fear into a reality, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

Trump and his officials have stirred controversy in recent weeks by flirting with the notion that they might defy lawful court orders, especially as it relates to Elon Musk's authority to make changes to the federal government.

In an article entitled, "Trump Will Force the Supreme Court to Face Its Biggest Fear Throughout US history," reporter Greg Stohr details the historical concerns about Presidents potentially ignoring lawful court orders. The "judiciary has worried that a president might simply ignore its decisions," according to Stohr.

"That age-old quandary is becoming newly relevant as Donald Trump tries to bulldoze his way through longstanding legal constraints in the opening weeks of his second term as president," Stohr reported. "As lawsuits over birthright citizenship, spending cuts and workforce purges make their way to the Supreme Court, the cases carry the potential for a genuine constitutional crisis. What happens, Chief Justice John Roberts must ask himself, if Trump loses and then defies the court?"
Story by Christian Boone

Elon Musk is many things, but self-aware is not one. Compassionate is another adjective that eludes one of the nation’s biggest recipients of federal contracts.

On Wednesday, Musk posted a meme on his social media platform, X, showing a blue-eyed young blond woman sporting a bright smile with the caption, “Watching Trump slash federal programs because it doesn’t affect you because you’re not a member of the ‘Parasite Class.'”

Musk wrote an accompanying message, “Why 90 percent of America loves @DOGE,” referencing the Department of Government Efficiency, which the tech billionaire leads.

Musk has live tweeted DOGE’s progress targeting what he terms as agencies fraught with government waste — posting nearly 200 times in a 24-hour period alone from Tuesday into Wednesday, according to a review by ABC News.

Musk has taken to the job with zeal, mocking detractors while musing about which agencies he’ll target next. He’s unleashed a group of Gen-Z’ers with names like “Big Balls” to conduct interviews with government workers forced to explain why they should keep their jobs.

He has relentlessly mocked his detractors, whether they be members of Congress or affected federal workers, and posted about which agencies he plans to target next. It suggests an ignorance of politics, as government aid beneficiaries include many members of the Trump coalition, like first-generation Missouri farmer Skylar Holden, who went viral this week after expressing regret for voting for Trump after the president froze certain Department of Agriculture spending.

Holder and many farmers like him depend on that funding to keep their farms afloat, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture hasn’t said whether the freeze will be lifted. If Holder weren’t having second thoughts after that, being called a “parasite” likely would put him over the top. Many commenters were outraged by Musk’s latest meme.
Story by Niamh Kirk

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) hastily backtracked after dismissing top nuclear experts, a blunder that became apparent when The National Nuclear Safety Administration had to rehire them urgently. The firings were reversed on Friday following DOGE's oversight in not realising the agency's role in managing America's nuclear weapons before letting the employees go on Thursday.

The National Nuclear Safety Administration is now dealing with the repercussions of this "massive mistake", which has raised security concerns, as per reports. Insiders confided to CNN that the workers were let go because "no one had taken any time to understand what we do and the importance of our work to the nation's national security".

Around 400 NNSA staff at the Energy Department were reportedly axed as part of Musk's government cost-cutting initiatives, under presidential orders. Another source disclosed to CNN that Congress is "freaking out" over the fact that DOGE seemed unaware that the NNSA is in charge of the nuclear stockpile.
Story by Rene Marsh and Ella Nilsen, CNN

Trump administration officials fired more than 300 staffers Thursday night at the National Nuclear Security Administration — the agency tasked with managing the nation’s nuclear stockpile — as part of broader Energy Department layoffs, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

Sources told CNN the officials did not seem to know this agency oversees America’s nuclear weapons.

An Energy Department spokesperson disputed the number of personnel affected, telling CNN that “less than 50 people” were “dismissed” from NNSA, and that the dismissed staffers “held primarily administrative and clerical roles.”

The agency began rescinding the terminations Friday morning.

Some of the fired employees included NNSA staff who are on the ground at facilities where nuclear weapons are built. These staff oversee the contractors who build nuclear weapons, and they inspect these weapons.

It also included employees at NNSA headquarters who write requirements and guidelines for contractors who build nuclear weapons. A source told CNN they believe these individuals were fired because “no one has taken anytime to understand what we do and the importance of our work to the nation’s national security.”
Story by David McAfee

Donald Trump on Saturday made a statement that stunned onlookers.

Trump posted the following comment on his social media:

"He who saves his Country does not violate any Law."
Alison Durkee Forbes Staff

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Sunday to allow the firing of a top ethics official after lower courts blocked the move, the Associated Press reports—marking the first case of the second Trump administration to make it to the nation’s highest court, amid a slew of legal actions as Democrats and others fight Trump and cost-cutting czar Elon Musk.

The Treasury Department asked the Supreme Court to throw out a lower court ruling that temporarily blocked Trump’s firing of government ethics watchdog Hampton Dellinger, the AP reports, after District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled Trump “plainly” violated the law by firing the ethics official.

The Trump administration went to the Supreme Court after a panel of judges at a D.C.-based federal appeals court ruled 2-1 to uphold the lower court’s ruling shielding Dellinger, whom former President Joe Biden appointed to a five-year term at the Office of Special Counsel, which handles issues like protecting whistleblowers against retaliation.

U.S. District Judge John Bates—whom Musk and his allies had previously been attacking for issuing an unfavorable opinion—sided with Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and declined to issue a restraining order blocking DOGE from accessing information at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, as labor unions had asked for, with Bates swatting down the legal arguments the unions made even as he acknowledged his “serious concerns” about DOGE’s access to the data.
Story by Atlanta Black Star News

It’s the biggest fear of many never-Trumpers — that the Republican president will ignore the Constitution, the courts and Congress to reshape the executive branch into simply the executive, a single person lording over the government, immune from oversight, a monarchy without royalty.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump provided a window into his thinking with two social media posts that quoted the famous French general Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonaparte named himself emperor and ruled as an authoritarian.

“He who saves his country does not violate any law,” Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social, and Elon Musk’s X platform on Saturday. Musk reposted it along with 14 American flag emojis, and The White House account on X also shared the message alongside Trump’s official presidential photograph.
Story by Yasmeen Hamadeh

President Donald Trump signed a landmark executive order Tuesday that would allow the White House to control independent agencies that have long operated outside of its influence.

The sweeping order, which claims to promote “Presidential supervision and control of the entire executive branch,” could affect independent agencies like the Federal Election Committee, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The order appears to be designed to test a once-fringe legal theory, dubbed the unitary executive theory, which holds that the president has sole control over the entire executive branch. It also reflects the growing influence of Trump’s budget chief, Russell Vought, who has long been a proponent of the unitary executive theory.

The order is sure to be swiftly met by legal challenges.

“Previous administrations have allowed so-called ‘independent regulatory agencies’ to operate with minimal Presidential supervision,” the order reads.

“These regulatory agencies currently exercise substantial executive authority without sufficient accountability to the President, and through him, to the American people,” it continued, adding that these practices undermine the agencies’ “accountability” to the nation and prohibit a “unified and coherent execution of Federal law.”
Story by Mike Bedigan

Donald Trump has reportedly spent almost $11 million of taxpayer money funding his golfing hobby since returning to office, despite his and Elon Musk’s ongoing war on wasteful spending by government agencies.

Since being sworn in for the second time on January 20, the president has spent all four weekends on the green, and played golf at his own properties on nine of his first 30 days in office, according to HuffPost.

Based on a 2019 report by the Government Accountability Office, HuffPost has calculated that the cost of these excursions has been around $10.7 million.

It comes after Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency continue to take aim at various federal agencies, reducing both staff and items in the budget labelled as “fraud.” However, none of DOGE’s social media posting has mentioned the word “golf” or the president’s recreational trips, according to HuffPost.

HuffPost’s calculations were made by breaking down the costs of Trump’s first trips to Mar-a-Lago during his first term, with the GAO estimating that each trip cost $3,383,250.

Roughly one-third of the figure was the round-trip flight cost of Air Force One, with additional expenses for flying down vehicles, including two presidential limousines and Trump’s motorcade.
Story by Anthony Orrico

President Donald Trump and the Justice Department have shuttered the first nationwide database tracking misconduct by federal police, the DOJ confirmed to the Washington Post on Thursday.

The database, created in response to the murder of George Floyd in 2020 by Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, was designed to prevent bad police officers from jumping to new agencies and starting over with clean records. Ironically, Trump was the one to propose this database during his first term in 2020, but it wasn't created until an executive order by President Joe Biden created the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database. Trump issued an order last month revoking Biden’s orders, and the database.

While the database only covered federal law enforcement officers and not local, state, or county officers, it contained nearly 150,000 federal officers and agents, from the FBI and IRS all the way to the Railroad Retirement Board.
Donald Trump lashed out at Volodymyr Zelensky after the Ukrainian president accused him of living in a 'disinformation space' - and Putin is thought to be buoyant and under belief victory will soon be his
By Christopher Buckt in US Editor

Donald Trump’s latest betrayal of Ukraine is so appalling that even his most loyal Republican allies are refusing to defend him.

His reckless disregard for facts, his cosying up to Vladimir Putin, and his outright revisionist history have left many in his own party shaking their heads in disbelief. Trump’s claim that Ukraine “started the war” is not just a lie- it’s an insult to a nation fighting for its survival.

It’s a blatant distortion of reality designed to give cover to Putin’s brutal aggression. Even Republicans, who usually bow to Trump’s every whim, are publicly pushing back against this nonsense.

Among the most vocal critics is Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, who didn’t mince words.
Opinion by Matt Robison

This may be a week historians take note of: the moment when a U.S. president officially surrendered to our nation's enemies with nary a shot fired.

That's not hyperbole. It is a simple recognition that in a few short days, our nation's interests have profoundly suffered, the damage may be permanent, and it's our own president who did us dirty.

For the past 100 years, we have seen clearly that our cherished "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" could not be protected by oceans alone. Our ideals—as well as our bodies—need to be guarded by a wall of allies that fight vigorously with us against any foe.

When that wall began to crumble in the face of imperial Germany's attack, the United States saw its interests threatened as well and entered World War I, the third deadliest war in American history. A quarter century later, despite the pro-Nazi bleating of the original "America First" movement, we entered World War II because we saw that if totalitarian forces overwhelmed Europe and Asia, it was America that would ultimately suffer. More than 407,000 U.S. military servicemembers died for our cause.
Will we see evidence that this true and if we do then what?

Story by Christopher Bucktin

A former Soviet intelligence officer has claimed Donald Trump was recruited by the KGB in 1987 and given the codename “Krasnov.” The bombshell allegation was made by Alnur Mussayev, a former Kazakh intelligence chief, in a Facebook post. The 71-year-old, who previously headed Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, said he had served in the 6th Directorate of the KGB in Moscow, which was responsible for counter-intelligence support within the economy.

One of the directorate’s primary objectives, he claimed, was “recruiting businessmen from capitalist countries.” According to Mussayev, Trump, then a 40-year-old New York real estate developer, was one of those recruits. “In 1987, our directorate recruited Donald Trump under the pseudonym Krasnov,” he wrote. Mussayev’s post did not include evidence to support his claim, but in a further comment, he made another shocking allegation. “Today, the personal file of resident ‘Krasnov’ has been removed from the FSB. It is being privately managed by one of Putin’s close associates,” he alleged.

His allegations come amid years of speculation over Trump’s ties to Russia, dating back to his first visit to Moscow in 1987. At the time, Trump, then a rising star in the New York property market, travelled to the Soviet Union to explore the possibility of building a hotel in the capital. Soviet officials reportedly facilitated the trip, raising questions among intelligence analysts about whether it was a routine business opportunity or something more nefarious. At the time, Trump, then a rising star in the New York property market, travelled to the Soviet Union to explore the possibility of building a hotel in the capital. Soviet officials reportedly facilitated the trip, raising questions among intelligence analysts about whether it was a routine business opportunity or something more nefarious.
Story by Heather Digby Parton

It's been a month since Donald Trump was inaugurated but it feels like a year. When they said we were going to be hit with "shock and awe" they meant it and when Trump said he was going to be a dictator on day one, he actually told the truth for once. It's been one of the most fearful, distressing political events in most of our lifetimes and it's gotten worse every day.

As a result of his many escapes from accountability for his crimes and a Supreme Court that gave him the green light to commit more with impunity, Trump believes that he is invincible, even recently quoting a (possibly apocryphal) line from Napoleon Bonaparte: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” He's carrying on about "manifest destiny" and dreaming aloud about expanding American territory and starting wars with neighbors. He is convinced that he can bully everyone into submission, whether it's a political opponent, an ally or a foreign adversary. He has even called himself a king.

Over the course of this past month, it has appeared that he's not wrong. The Republican Congress has completely abandoned any pretense of integrity and independence. He's sending migrants to Guantánamo and flobbing off others on foreign countries to suffer who-knows-what fate. His followers have physically threatened those few who showed any inkling that they might oppose him and his executioner, Elon Musk, a man charged with the destruction of the federal workforce. In record time he has managed to storm through the government like an Abrams tank, crushing everything in his path and leaving anyone who survives stunned and disoriented.
Story by Joe DePaolo

CNN anchor Jake Tapper confronted a top official of President Donald Trump’s State Department with stunning footage of Russian State TV praising Trump.

In an interview on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, Tapper confronted Steve Witkoff — Special Envoy to Middle East who has also taken a lead role in Russia-Ukraine peace talks — about Russia’s belief that Trump’s view of the conflict is in “total alignment” with Vladimir Putin’s. To drive home the point, Tapper played footage from Wednesday of a Russian State TV host named Vladimir Soloviov praising Trump’s views, and claiming he essentially got his talking points direct from Putin during a Feb. 12 phone call.

“When Trump is answering questions about the press conference. I think it is not a coincidence that many of the narratives that are being voiced largely materialized after their conversation,” Soloviov said. He added, “The phrases [Trump] is saying, are so deep and so correct. They are in total alignment with the way we see things.”

The CNN anchor pressed Witkoff about the shocking clip.

“Do you think it’s good that the Russians think that the Trump administration is in total alignment with the way that Putin sees things?” Tapper asked.

Witkoff dodged the question by offering up a more broad response about the importance of having good relationships with both Russia and Ukraine:
Tagtik

Ukrainians are criticizing Donald Trump's attempts to seize the country's mineral resources as repayment for military aid provided since the start of the war.

For several days, the Trump administration has been pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign a deal granting the U.S. $500 billion worth of mineral resources.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE
“It is not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year,” he claims.
Josh Fiallo

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was slammed Wednesday for downplaying a measles outbreak that has led to the country’s first child death from the disease in decades.

Donald Trump’s health secretary waved off the active Texas outbreak—where pediatricians on the ground have reported children being accepted into care unable to properly breathe—as a normal thing that happens every year.

“There have been four measles outbreaks this year in this country, last year there were 16,” he told a reporter from Trump’s cabinet meeting. “It is not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year.”

There were 18 people hospitalized as of Wednesday morning, Texas health officials said. Those in Lubbock, which is ground zero for the outbreak, say that number is steadily growing.
Story by James Bickerton

President Donald Trump flew on Jeffrey Epstein's private jets repeatedly during the 1990s, files released by Attorney General Pam Bondi show.

The files did not disclose new information as flight logs naming Trump as a passenger on Epstein's aircraft at least seven times had already been made public in a separate court case. There is no suggestion in the documents that the president engaged in any illegal acts.

Newsweek contacted Trump for comment, via an email to the White House press office, outside regular working hours.

Why It Matters
In September, while campaigning for the presidency, Trump told podcaster Lex Fridman that he would have "no problem" releasing more documents related to Epstein, a convicted sex trafficker who died in 2019, if he secured a second term in the White House.

Prominent members of Trump's Make America Great Again movement have called for the declassification of documents related to Epstein, which they believe may disclose details linking high-profile individuals to child sexual exploitation. However, the files published on Thursday did not include much new information and were first handed to a number of conservative influencers, sparking a backlash online.
Story by Tom Boggioni

A comment made by Donald Trump about Russia and Vladimir Putin during a White House talk on Thursday drew the attention of two MSNBC hosts on Friday morning which led them both to rip it apart.

Asked by a journalist if he could trust the Russian strongman, the president replied, "I think he'll keep his word. I've spoken to him, I've known him for a long time now, you know, we had we had to go through the Russian hoax together –– that was not a good thing. It's not fair, that was a rigged deal and had nothing to do with Russia. It was a rigged deal inside the country and they had to put up with that too. They put up with a lot."

Trump's return to talking about the "Russian hoax" led "Morning Joe" co-host Willie Geist to fact-check the president.

"Before we get on to talk about Ukraine, we have to just pause right there and that statement was extraordinary," Geist stated. "The president of the United States saying he and Vladimir Putin went through the Russia hoax together, they were in this thing together that people were out to get them, when it was well documented whether you think the Trump campaign in 2016 sought the help or welcomed the help or not."

"It's not disputed that Russia put its thumb on the scale in that election, but he [Trump] sees a partner in that fight and a fellow victim," he added.
Matt Laslo

WASHINGTON — What emails?

That’s the mood from congressional Republicans these days as allegations of private servers and accessing sensitive, private data swirl about this White House.

In 2016 alone, House Republicans issued more than 70 subpoenas or investigative inquiries into Hillary Clinton and her private server.

Many of those same Republicans are now shrugging off fears that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency — a.k.a. DOGE — are flouting government protocols while scouring government databases in their effort to purge federal workers.

But Republicans are about to have a reckoning. Last summer the Supreme Court gave this Congress homework — work policymakers on Capitol Hill haven’t had to do in the past 40 or so years: Write precise rules and regulations instead of leaning on experts in federal agencies to flesh out the policy specifics after Congress passes a bill.

It’s unclear if the contemporary Congress is up to the serious task of policymaking, especially the 119th Congress, which is brimming with technophiles focused on clicks, viral videos and digital dunking.
Trump and Musk stupidity are putting our national security at risk.

Story by Natasha Bertrand, Katie Bo Lillis and Zachary Cohen, CNN

Foreign adversaries including Russia and China have recently directed their intelligence services to ramp up recruiting of US federal employees working in national security, targeting those who have been fired or feel they could be soon, according to four people familiar with recent US intelligence on the issue.

The intelligence indicates that foreign adversaries are eager to exploit the Trump administration’s efforts to conduct mass layoffs across the federal workforce – a plan laid out by the Office of Personnel Management earlier this week.

Russia and China are focusing their efforts on recently fired employees with security clearances and probationary employees at risk of being terminated, who may have valuable information about US critical infrastructure and vital government bureaucracy, two of the sources said. At least two countries have already set up recruitment websites and begun aggressively targeting federal employees on LinkedIn, two of the sources said.

The adversaries think the employees “are at their most vulnerable right now,” another of the sources said. “Out of a job, bitter about being fired, etc.”

“It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see that these cast aside federal workers with a wealth of institutional knowledge represent staggeringly attractive targets to the intelligence services of our competitors and adversaries,” a third source familiar with the recent US assessments told CNN.
Opinion by Simon Walters

It may well go down in history as the most remarkable, brutal and shocking political event ever seen on live television.

But it may prove to be more than a piece of TV history.

It may be the moment an entire nation was wiped off the world map.

Or worse, it might trigger events that are a threat way beyond the borders of Ukraine.

A threat to the rest of Europe and, yes, a threat to Britain. There is no point denying it.

But the extraordinary televised clash between President Zelensky and Donald Trump and his sidekick JD Vance was not just momentous for what it meant to the global political situation.

It was the moment the world saw the truth about three men.

On one side, Zelensky – physically small, but a giant in moral stature – the comedian who became an accidental hero, elected to lead his country only to see it invaded by the murderous totalitarian monster that is Vladimir Putin.
Little-noticed order that gives US president powers far beyond mere oversight denounced as ‘breathtaking’

Unusually for him, Donald Trump made no great fuss as he signed one drily worded executive order last Tuesday.

Public attention was distracted that day – by the headline-grabbing drama of Elon Musk bludgeoning his way through the federal bureaucracy, by immigrants deported to Guantánamo Bay, and by the torrent of other directives Trump has issued since his inauguration last month.

But Trump’s 69th executive order of his second presidency, under the deceptive title of “Ensuring accountability for all agencies”, has been denounced as a “bald power grab” that advances a political doctrine intended to make a dictator of the president.

The order, wedged between the signing of a directive to end Covid vaccine mandates in schools and another expanding access to in vitro fertilisation, also contains a single paragraph that permits the president to decide the law and who should obey it.

The paragraph has alarmed even some constitutional conservatives who otherwise agree with many of Trump’s actions. Other critics characterise it as another step toward an American brand of despotism.

Frank Bowman, a law professor and former federal prosecutor who authored High Crimes and Misdemeanors: A History of Impeachment for the Age of Trump, described the executive order as “breathtaking”.

“The essence of it is that Donald Trump is trying, quite consciously, to make himself an elected dictator,” he said.
Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday
Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon talks to former National Security Adviser John Bolton about the foreign policy implications of Friday's shocking press conference between President Trump and President Zelenskyy.
By GENE JOHNSON

SEATTLE (AP) — President Donald Trump’s plan to pull federal funding from institutions that provide gender-affirming care for transgender youth will remain blocked on a long-term basis under a federal judge’s ruling in Seattle late Friday.

U.S. District Court Judge Lauren King previously granted a two-week restraining order after the Democratic attorneys general of Washington, Oregon and Minnesota sued the Trump administration — Colorado has since joined the case.

King’s temporary order expired Friday, and she held arguments that day before issuing a preliminary injunction blocking most of Trump’s plan pending a final decision on the merits of the case. She rejected a portion of the states’ challenge regarding the order’s protections against female genital mutilation, on grounds that “no credible threat of prosecution exists” in such cases.
By SAM MEDNICK, WILSON MCMAKIN and MONIKA PRONCZUK

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Countries around the world already are feeling the impact of the Trump administration’s decision to eliminate more than 90% of foreign aid contracts and cut some $60 billion in funding. Hours after the announcement earlier this week, programs were shuttered, leaving millions of people without access to life-saving care.

Some 10,000 contracts with the U.S. Agency for International Development were terminated on Wednesday, in letters sent to nongovernmental organizations across the globe.

The letters said that the programs were being defunded “for convenience and the interests of the U.S. government,” according to a person with knowledge of the content who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.

Many of the programs are in fragile countries that are highly reliant on U.S. aid to support health systems, nutrition programs and stave off starvation. Other major issues like fighting terrorism, human and drug trafficking, including fentanyl, and monitoring and aiding migrants will also suffer as a result of the U.S. cuts, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Some said they felt the U.S. president was disrespectful and that they were proud of their leader for standing up to him.
By Kim Barker and Oleksandra Mykolyshyn
Reporting from Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine

Liudmyla Shestakova has lost a lot to this war — her son, and his wife, who died together on the front lines. But she’s a realist, like many in this mining region in central Ukraine. And ever since President Trump suggested it, she has thought that her country should sign a proposed deal that would give America some profits from mining in Ukraine.

Ms. Shestakova, 65, who works with an environmental group called Flora in the city of Kropyvnytskyi, had hoped a deal between the U.S. and Ukraine on critical minerals could bring much-needed investment to the region.

But on Friday night, Ms. Shestakova, like many people in Ukraine, was shocked and blindsided at how the deal fell apart and how she felt that President Trump treated Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, almost like a serf who didn’t bow and kiss the ring quite enough.

“With a trustworthy partner, this could have been a beneficial deal for everyone,” said Ms. Shestakova, who once ran Flora and now sits on its supervisory board. “But with a partner like Trump, it could actually be dangerous.”
Story by Paul Farrell and Reuters

Just hours after Donald Trump shocked the world by chastising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, the president took to his TruthSocial page to promise to pardon baseball great Pete Rose.

Rose, who died last year at 83, was banned from baseball for life. He admitted in 2004 that he had bet on games, though never against his own team. "Over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete pardon of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on his team winning," Trump posted on Truth Social.

"He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history."

Trump did not say what the pardon would cover, as Rose was not convicted of a crime. The commander-in-chief made a similar plea during his first term in February 2020 and again in 2024.
DOJ expands Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons to include unrelated weapons crimes
Story by Ashley Oliver, Washington Examiner

Department of Justice attorneys have broadened President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardons for Jan. 6 defendants to include certain crimes that did not occur at the U.S. Capitol, raising questions from at least one judge about the clemency’s shifting scope.

Judge Dabney Friedrich this week asked the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., which is currently being run on an interim basis by Trump-ally Ed Martin, to explain why it had a change of heart for one such defendant.

The defendant, Dan Wilson, was supposed to report back to prison on Saturday for illegal possession of multiple pistols and rifles, which police found in 2022 while executing a search warrant at Wilson's home as part of a Jan. 6 investigation.

Wilson had been freed from prison because of Trump's pardon, but DOJ attorney Jennifer Blackwell alerted the court on Feb. 6 that Wilson's release was mistaken because the pardon "did not extend" to the firearms convictions.

Less than three weeks later, the DOJ reversed course. Blackwell said in court papers that the DOJ had "received further clarity on the intent of the Presidential Pardon" and that it should, in fact, apply to Wilson's firearms convictions.

Wilson admitted in a plea agreement that his possession of the firearms was illegal because he had been convicted in the 1990s of multiple felonies, including burglary, and because one of the guns was not registered to him.
Story by Billal Rahman

President Donald Trump's close confidant and billionaire backer Elon Musk has supported a call for the U.S. to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations (UN).

In a post on Saturday night, Musk endorsed a suggestion from user @GuntherEagleman, who wrote: "It's time to leave NATO and the UN."

Why It Matters
Musk's influential relationship with Trump is well-documented, and his endorsement adds weight to growing skepticism within the administration toward international alliances. The U.S. has been critical of NATO, with Trump frequently questioning its value and pushing allies to increase defense spending.

Musk, leading the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is focused on cutting federal spending and has already dismantled multiple federal agencies.

What To Know
Although Trump has not directly stated plans to exit NATO, he has consistently urged European nations to increase their defense spending, warning that the United States should not shoulder the alliance's financial burden alone.

Days after his inauguration, Trump said he was not sure the U.S. should be spending anything on NATO, telling reporters the U.S. was protecting NATO members, but they were "not protecting us."
Story by Brenton Blanchet

Donald Trump has declared English as the official language of the United States.

On Saturday, March 1, the president signed his latest executive order, naming English as the national language. It marks a first in the nearly 250-year history of the U.S. — a country where residents speak more than 350 languages.

The executive order begins: "From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language. Our Nation's historic governing documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, have all been written in English. It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States."

"A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language," the order continues.

Trump goes on to note that a policy of encouraging new Americans to learn and adopt the national language will "make the United States a shared home."

The order also states: "To promote unity, cultivate a shared American culture for all citizens, ensure consistency in government operations, and create a pathway to civic engagement, it is in America's best interest for the Federal Government to designate one — and only one — official language."
Trump administration officials say the path to a peace deal to end the war depends on Zelenskyy’s next moves.
By Carol E. Lee, Kristen Welker and Courtney Kube

WASHINGTON — After Friday’s public clash between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. officials say the path to a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine is deeply uncertain — and wholly dependent the Ukrainian leader’s next steps.

Since the blowup, Trump administration officials have also discussed whether to pause U.S. military aid to Ukraine, according to two administration officials, though it’s unclear whether or when the president would take such a step.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment.

Zelenskyy was at the White House on Friday to sign a deal with Trump that would cut in the U.S. on money from mining rare earths and other critical minerals in Ukraine after the war with Russia ends. Trump has said the economic deal with the U.S. would serve as a security guarantee for Ukraine against a future Russian invasion like the one that started the war in February 2022. But the deal was never signed and remains in limbo.

Trump’s aides asked Zelenskyy to leave the White House after an Oval Office meeting featuring nearly an hour of remarks and questions from reporters devolved into a spat, which left the president angry and publicly questioning whether the Ukrainian leader wants to negotiate an end to the war.
Zelenskyy is seeking foreign support after a disastrous U.S. visit.
By David Brennan

LONDON -- European leaders will gather in London on Sunday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following a tempestuous White House meeting that thrust U.S.-Ukrainian relations further into crisis.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told BBC News on Sunday morning he had agreed with President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron that the U.K. and France would work on a Ukraine peace plan to then be presented to -- and discussed with -- the U.S. The prime minister added that "one or two" other nations may be involved in drafting the plan "to stop the fighting."

In a statement, Starmer's office said the prime minister will "intensify his efforts in pursuit of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine" while hosting Sunday's summit in the British capital.

Zelenskyy arrived in the U.K. on Saturday, straight from his visit to Washington, D.C., in which an Oval Office meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance descended into an open argument in front of gathered reporters.
By David Shepardson and Nate Raymond

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Saturday declared President Donald Trump's firing of the head of a federal watchdog agency illegal in an early test of the scope of presidential power likely to be decided at the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington had previously ruled Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel who is responsible for protecting whistleblowers, could remain in his post pending a ruling.

Jackson said in her ruling Saturday, opens new tab that upholding Trump's ability to fire Dellinger would give him "a constitutional license to bully officials in the executive branch into doing his will."
The Justice Department filed a notice late on Saturday saying they were appealing Berman's ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Dellinger, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden and approved by the Senate to a five-year term last year, said in an email to Reuters he is "grateful to see the court confirm the importance and legality of the job protections Congress afforded my position."
Story by Jack Izzo & Amelia Clarke

In February 2025, Alnur Mussayev, a former Soviet and Kazakh security official, claimed in a Facebook post that U.S. President Donald Trump was recruited in 1987 by the KGB, the intelligence agency of the Soviet Union, and assigned the code name "Krasnov."

Mussayev's post didn't state whether he personally recruited Trump or simply knew about the recruitment, nor did it state whether Trump actively participated in espionage or was just a potential asset.
Trump did visit Moscow in 1987, but there is no clear evidence suggesting he was actively recruited by the KGB during that trip or at any other time.

Mussayev's allegations that Trump was recruited by the KGB at that time don't line up with Mussayev's documented career path. Several biographies of him on Russian-language websites suggest that at the time Trump was supposedly recruited, Mussayev was working in the Soviet Union's Ministry of Internal Affairs, not the KGB.

Trump's pro-Russia stance (compared with other U.S. presidents) has fed into past allegations that he is a Russian asset — for instance, the 2021 book "American Kompromat" featured an interview with a former KGB spy who also claimed the agency recruited Trump as an asset. Again, however, there is no clear evidence supporting this claim.

In late February 2025, a rumor circulated online that Russian intelligence recruited U.S. President Donald Trump as an "asset" in the late 1980s and gave him the code name "Krasnov," following allegations from a former Soviet and Kazakh security official, Alnur Mussayev.
Story by Ben Chapman

Vladimir Putin’s “game plan” is clear to see after President Trump’s extraordinary confrontation with Volodymyr Zelensky, according to defence expert Robert Fox.

Speaking on GB News, Fox gave his verdict on the Oval Office clash that sent shockwaves across the world.

Figures like Nigel Farage have warned the clash only served to benefit Putin, and eyes are now on Moscow to see how the Russian President reacts.

“What Putin wants is a ceasefire from which Russia, on Victory Day, in the Red Square, is say that ‘we won’”, Fox said on GB News.

“That’s what Putin really wants. Putin wants to show that it was worth it. He wants to ensure this part of Europe remains part of the Russian sphere.

“That is what is going on. Russians are working for a big deal on minerals and we’ve heard about minerals in Ukraine, but they’re trying to do joint production with American companies in Russia and the Arctic.
The tech billionaire argued Friday on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast that one of America's most enduring social safety nets is an insidious ploy.
By Marco Margaritoff

Elon Musk is calling Social Security a “Ponzi scheme,” prompting suspicion that the world’s richest man is merely hoping to privatize a social safety net that has existed since the 1930s — and has kept millions of elderly, poor and disabled Americans from destitution.

The billionaire argued Friday on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast that the United States government is “one big pyramid scheme” before blasting Social Security as “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”

When asked to clarify, Musk said, “Well, people pay into Social Security and the money goes out of Social Security immediately, but the obligation for Social Security is your entire retirement career. If you look at the future obligations of Social Security, it far exceeds the tax revenue.”

Musk, who oversees Trump’s cost-cutting initiative for federal spending, the Department of Government Efficiency, added that “people are living way longer than expected” and thus the government’s obligation to pay the debt “will be much worse in the future.”

He is far from the first conservative to characterize Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme,” which refers to a type of fraud in which existing customers get payouts that come from the investments of new customers.
Story by Maurício Alencar

Secretary of State Marco Rubio threw a tantrum in an interview with ABC News after This Week presenter George Stephanopoulos claimed the Trump administration had “taken steps to placate Putin.”

Rubio was fuming as he dodged questions from Stephanopoulos and made an eyebrow-raising comparison between the war in Ukraine to conflicts in the Middle East.

Throughout the segment, which lasted over ten minutes, Rubio insisted Trump’s central mission was to open peace negotiations with President Vladimir Putin.

“The president is basically saying, there’s this horrible war. It’s been going on for three years. It is a bloody stalemate, a meat grinder-type war, and he wants it to end. How does it end? It’s very simple. The only way it ends is if Vladimir Putin comes to a negotiating table.”

“Right now, President Trump is the only person on earth who has any chance whatsoever of bringing him to a table to see what it is he would be willing to end the war,” he added.

But just moments later, Rubio admitted that the Trump administration had no idea what Putin’s demands were for a peace agreement to be made, despite several talks between American and Russian officials over the last month.

This includes at least one conversation held on the phone between Trump and Putin as well as a long and intimate meeting between the Russian leader and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow in February.
Story by Alex Stezhensky

“Today, we witnessed the biggest disgrace ever put on display by the current US president and his vice president. President Zelenskyy deserves great credit for maintaining his composure, even as the United States turned it into a televised spectacle,” the company stated in a now-deleted Facebook post.

Although the post criticizing the US was later removed from the company’s page, Haltbakk Bunkers has not retracted its decision.

According to reports, the company has immediately ceased all fuel supplies to US military forces in Norway and ships docking in Norwegian ports. It has also urged Norwegians and Europeans to join the boycott.

Gran emphasized in a media comment that “not a single liter of fuel will be supplied” as long as Donald Trump remains president.

He also highlighted that the company had cut ties with Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“We lost a lot of revenue, but we have a moral compass. Now the US is excluded because of its behavior toward Ukrainians,” Gran said.
Why does Trump keep doing things that helps Russia and hurts us?

NBC confirms Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered U.S. Cyber Command to stand down on all offensive cyber operations and information operations against Russia. MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart unpacks this breaking news with his panel.
Story by Jack Hobbs

President Donald Trump has seemingly fueled the rumors that the entire shocking takedown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with vice-president JD Vance was nothing more than a setup.

The rumors, which immediately started swirling after the disastrous meeting on Friday, were seemingly confirmed after Trump posted an analysis by a martial arts instructor who called the entire thing a "setup."

Trump shared the analysis, which was written by the head of an Arizona karate dojo, who claimed that, instead of the chaotic meeting accidentally going off the rails, the entire thing was meant to go the way that it did. The author of the post commented that it was a "brilliant strategy" and that Trump was a "master chess player."

"So what you witnessed tonight was a setup," Michael McCune in his lengthy post on his Facebook group page. "Trump and JD Vance knew that the only way to achieve peace was to strategically align, at least on the surface, with Russia. Why? Because Russia would never sign a peace treaty if Ukraine were admitted into NATO."
Story by Lee Moran

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), once a close ally of Donald Trump, suggested Sunday that the president must now recognize how his stance on Russia and its President Vladimir Putin is perceived.

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos — following Trump’s Oval Office berating of Ukrainian Preident Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday — Christie said: “What we need to understand is, and what I think the president should try to do now, is to understand that part of the problem here is that he looks and sounds like an ally of Putin.”

Rachel Maddow considers the number of ways that Donald Trump has been working to appease Russian President Vladimir Putin without extracting any concessions from Russia to ensure the security of Ukraine. Courtney Kube, NBC News Pentagon correspondent, joins to discuss Trump's cut off of aid to Ukraine and whether there is any upside for America in this deal arranged by the "America first" president.
Story by Paul Blumenthal, Arthur Delaney, Lilli Petersen

During a viciously partisan and seemingly never-ending speech littered with attacks on Democrats as the enemy of the country and lies about government spending, President Donald Trump accidentally screwed himself in court.

In touting the work of billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump thanked Musk and declared that the agency is “headed by Elon Musk.” That is going to be a major problem for Trump, Musk and DOGE as Musk’s position and many of the actions taken by DOGE are challenged in numerous lawsuits as illegal due to Musk exercising power that he should not legally have.

DOGE faces numerous legal challenges where this statement will now play a major role. One lawsuit directly challenges Musk’s position as illegal under the Appointments Act for exercising powers that can only be exercised by a Senate confirmed appointee. Others challenge DOGE’s access to payment systems for being illegally authorized due to Musk’s improper appointment.

The Trump administration has sought to obfuscate Musk’s position in government by, first, refusing to state in court who heads DOGE and, then, naming Amy Gleason as its administrator. But now Trump’s declaration to the whole nation that DOGE is “headed up by Elon Musk” undermines Gleason’s alleged appointment and the arguments Trump’s Justice Department is making in court.

Plaintiffs in one case challenging DOGE’s actions and Musk’s appointment filed a notice of new evidence highlighting Trump’s comment after his speech concluded.
Opinion by Matthew Chapman

President Donald Trump's tariff war is going to "whack" communities that cast the strongest votes for him, the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote in a new warning analysis published on Tuesday.

Trump had previously planned to let the tariffs on Canada and Mexico take effect last month, but authorized a 30-day extension after heavy pressure caused him to "blink," in the board's previous words. This time, he seems determined to go through with it, although even now he appears to be considering some sort of compromise.

"Tariffs are taxes, and Mr. Trump’s latest tariffs are estimated to be about an annual $150 billion tax increase," wrote the board. "Taxes are antigrowth. That’s the message investors are sending this week since Mr. Trump let his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico take effect. The President also raised his 10% tariff on China by another 10%. Canada and China retaliated, while Mexico is holding off until Sunday." As far as some immediate impacts, the board wrote, "Brace for higher prices on berries, bell peppers, and, gulp, beer" — with one of the most popular beers in the country, Mexican-brewed Modelo Especial, taking a clear hit.
By Tucker Reals, Ahmad Mukhtar, Anna Coren, Haley Ott

President Trump's imposition of blanket 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico drew swift vows of retaliation from the United States' immediate neighbors on Tuesday. China, which was hit with a second 10% tariff on U.S. exports since Mr. Trump took office, bringing the total levy to 20%, immediately announced its own reciprocal measures — deliberately targeting America's agricultural sector.

A Canadian official confirmed to CBS News that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Canadian foreign minister Mélanie Joly intened to speak on Wednesday.

Below is a look at the measures being imposed or planned by Canada, China and Mexico, and the rhetoric coming from officials in those countries as Mr. Trump ramps up his trade war against one of America's biggest adversaries, and its two closest neighbors.

Canada announces reciprocal tariffs; Trudeau calls Trump's move "a very dumb thing to do"

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced immediate retaliation to the new U.S. tariffs in a statement late Monday evening. He said Canada would impose a $30 billion counter-tariff on goods imported from the U.S. immediately, escalating to $155 billion worth of American products within the next 21 days. Trudeau has said previously that Canada would target American beer, wine, bourbon and home appliances, along with Florida orange juice, with its measures.

"Canada will not let this unjustified decision go unanswered," Trudeau said, adding that he was already discussing with Canada's provincial leaders various non-tariff measures that could be imposed if the Trump administration doesn't lift its tariffs.
Musk is a big part of the Parasite Class he criticizes, he and his companies have benefited from federal programs.


Elon Musk's business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding, a new report alleges. Meanwhile, Musk is profiting off of government contracts while pushing layoffs.
By JOSH BOAK, PAUL WISEMAN and ROB GILLIES

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump launched a trade war Tuesday against America’s three biggest trading partners, drawing immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China and sending financial markets into a tailspin as the U.S. faced the threat of rekindled inflation and paralyzing uncertainty for business.

Just after midnight, Trump imposed 25% taxes, or tariffs, on Mexican and Canadian imports, though he limited the levy to 10% on Canadian energy. Trump also doubled the tariff he slapped last month on Chinese products to 20%.

Beijing retaliated with tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of U.S. farm exports. It also expanded the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen.
Story by Stephen M. Lepore For Dailymail.Com

The leader of Canada's biggest economy is ripping up a deal with 'First Buddy' Elon Musk as the country continues to try and fight back against Donald Trump's tariffs.

Doug Ford is the Premier of Ontario, home to both Canada's capital of Ottawa and largest city in Toronto.

He has been one of the most fearsome fighters against Trump's tariff war with Canada which officially went into effect after midnight on Tuesday.

Ford - who also threatened to cut off energy to the United States - launched into an attack on Musk, canceling the company's $100million CAN ($68million US) contract with Starlink satellite internet provider.

'It's done, it's gone. We won't award contracts to people who enable and encourage economic attacks on our province and our country,' Ford said.

He went even further, attacking Queen's University in Kingston, saying they should be 'embarrassed' that Musk attended the school.

Ford, a member of the country's 'Tory' party which opposes Prime Minister Trudeau's liberals, said of the decision: 'They only have President Trump to blame.'

The Premier added that this didn't need to happen.
Story by Naomi LaChance

Changes to a program expanding internet access could “drastically increase” opportunities for Elon Musk, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The Commerce Department is looking to change a Biden era program that intends to make the internet more widely available across the country as soon as this week, meaning his satellite internet system, Starlink, will stand to profit.

Reporter Patience Haggin writes, “Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has told staff he plans to make the grant program ‘technology-neutral,’ the people said. That change will free up states to award more funds to satellite-internet providers like Starlink, rather than mainly to companies that lay fiber-optic cables, to connect the millions of U.S. households that lack high-speed internet service.”

Starlink is part of SpaceX, Musk’s space technology company. The $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program placed rules around the usage of satellites — they could only be used where it wasn’t a good idea to lay fiber cables, because they thought cables were more reliable and durable. Republicans say the program moves too slowly.
Story by Brad Reed

Bloomberg is reporting that members of the Federal Aviation Administration have been threatened with termination if they act to "impede" a takeover by SpaceX, the private space exploration firm owned by billionaire Elon Musk.

According to Bloomberg's sources, SpaceX engineer Ted Malaska last month came to the FAA's headquarters in Washington D.C. and gave employees what he described as a directive from Musk himself to "immediately start work on a program to deploy thousands of the company’s Starlink satellite terminals to support the national airspace system."

Furthermore they were given 18 months to complete this task and were told that they would be reported directly to Musk should they impede progress on it.

Musk is not an elected official nor a Senate-confirmed cabinet official, and it's not clear what authority he has to fire federal employees.
David Edwards

Brown Forman, the maker of Jack Daniel's liquor, warned investors after some Canadian officials reacted to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs by pulling American booze from the shelves.

CEO Lawson Whiting gave the warning in a post-earnings call Wednesday, according to The Globe And Mail.

"I mean, that's worse than a tariff, because it's literally taking your sales away, (and) completely removing our products from the shelves," Whiting said.
Story by Lee Moran

Critics slammed Donald Trump’s latest admission of the negative impact his tariffs will have on the American economy and U.S. citizens, with Rep. Jerry Gomez (D-Calif.) describing it on social media as the president’s own “’let them eat cake’ moment.”

Trump, during his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, said the tariffs are “about making America rich again and making America great again.”

“It’s happening and it will happen rather quickly,” he boasted.

But Trump then confessed: “There will be a little disturbance, but we’re OK with that. It won’t be much.”

Watch here:
Story by Joey Garrison and Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration Wednesday abruptly removed an inventory of 443 federal properties highlighted by some of the federal government's most iconic buildings that had been listed for potential sale the previous day.

The online list was initially attached to a news release Tuesday outlining plans for "decisive action to dispose of non-core assets" and singling out federal buildings that had become "functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by our federal workforce"

But on Wednesday, the General Services Administration's "non-core property list" was blank, with a new headline that read, "coming soon."

"We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties, for disposal," the updated page reads.

When asked why the list was taken down, Stephanie Joseph, acting associate administrator for the GSA's Office of Strategic Communication, said in a statement that the agency is reviewing the list. She said it will consider "compelling offers (in accordance with applicable laws and regulations) and do what's best for the needs of the federal government and taxpayer."
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