Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here’s what he’s proposed

[phkrause]

Trump administration pulling almost all USAID workers off the job worldwide The Trump administration said Tuesday that it is pulling almost all U.S. Agency for International Development workers off the job and out of the field worldwide, moving to all but end a six-decade mission to shore up American security by fighting starvation, funding education and working to end epidemics. Read more.

Why this matters: The order takes effect just before midnight Friday and gives direct hires of the agency overseas 30 days to return home unless they are deemed essential.   The mass removal of staffers would doom billions of dollars’ worth of projects in some 120 countries, including security assistance to partners such as Ukraine as well as development work for clean water, job training and education, including for schoolgirls under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Health programs like those credited with helping end polio and smallpox epidemics and an acclaimed HIV/AIDS program that saved more than 20 million lives in Africa already have stopped.   Democratic lawmakers and others say that USAID is enshrined in legislation as an independent agency, and cannot be shut down without congressional approval. Supporters of USAID from both political parties say its work overseas is essential to countering the influence of Russia, China and other rivals and adversaries abroad, and to cementing alliances and partnerships.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Senate confirms Pam Bondi as US attorney general   Doug Collins confirmed as veterans affairs secretary   Trump picks former chief entangled in ‘Sharpiegate’ to lead NOAA   Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick to oversee US spy agencies, clears Senate committee   USPS has suspended parcels from Hong Kong and China   In Trump’s quest to close the Education Dept., Congress and his own agenda may get in the way   Trump to sign executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing   Democrats confront limits of their power in bid to stop Trump and Musk   Protests against Trump and Project 2025 are planned in cities across the US   Treasury tells Congress that DOGE has ‘Read Only’ access to payment systems   FBI agents sue over Justice Dept. effort to ID employees involved in Trump-related investigations

[phkrause]

Trump says he’s exploring option to send jailed US criminals to other countries President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he was exploring whether he can move forward with El Salvador’s offer to accept and jail violent American criminals in the “most severe cases” even as he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both say it raises clear legal issues. Read more.

Why this matters: Rubio reached an unusual agreement with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele a day earlier that the country would accept U.S. deportees of any nationality, including American citizens and legal residents who are imprisoned for violent crimes. “I’m just saying if we had a legal right to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ More than 100 Indian migrants deported by the US arrive home   First military flight lands in Guantanamo Bay with migrants deported from the US   What to know about El Salvador’s mega-prison

[phkrause]

Federal judge blocks Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship

A second federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order that seeks to end birthright citizenship, saying it’s likely unconstitutional and “runs counter to our nation’s 250-year history of citizenship by birth.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/05/politics/judge-blocks-birthright-citizenship-executive-order/index.html?

Trump's birthright citizenship order frozen by judge

A federal judge in Maryland issued a nationwide block of President Trump's executive order to nix birthright citizenship Wednesday.

https://www.axios.com/2025/02/05/trump-birthright-citizenship-federal-judge-injunction?

[phkrause]

American Chaos Is Trump’s Plan

In a chaotic week, the Trump administration froze federal spending and sent the nation into turmoil. Was that the point?

Donald Trump has been president for less than two weeks, and the government is already in chaos. Amidst a flurry of executive orders, Trump suspended all federal spending earlier this week. The move sent panic throughout the federal government and upended critical services like Medicare and school funding. Is there an ideology behind the chaos? Or was the chaos the point? And what should the country make of it? 

https://www.levernews.com/american-chaos-is-trumps-plan/

ps:Language Alert! This podcast has some bad language

[phkrause]

Musk says he is working to shut down “beyond repair” USAID

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk, who is heading U.S. President Donald Trump's drive to shrink the federal government, gave an update on the effort early Monday, saying work is underway to shut down the U.S. foreign aid agency USAID.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-give-update-reform-effort-amid-questions-about-his-power-2025-02-03/

ps:Every time I think it can't get any worse . . . or that they can't get any lower . . . I get a slap in the face to wake up!!!!!

pss:

? Musk is targeting the agency that’s inspecting his company’s equipment. Elon Musk’s crusade to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development comes months after the agency announced a probe of his company’s Starlink terminals, according to pages that still remain on the agency’s website. An archived 2022 USAID press release — now inaccessible on the agency’s website — said the agency had delivered 5,000 of the terminals to the Ukrainian government “through a public-private partnership with the American aerospace manufacturer, SpaceX.”

• In September, the agency’s inspector general told Congress the probe was reviewing “USAID’s oversight of Starlink Satellite Terminals provided to the Ukrainian government, and USAID’s efforts to protect against sexual exploitation and abuse in Ukraine.” Other USAID webpages mentioning SpaceX and Starlink seem to have disappeared from the agency’s website, though some remain available at the Internet Archive.

[phkrause]

? Vance doesn’t mention his puppetmaster’s ploy. On Fox News Sunday, Vice President JD Vance depicted the Trump administration’s possible takeover of Greenland as a humanitarian effort to liberate “people living on Greenland who are not actually happy with Danish government.” Unmentioned: The investment firm of Vance’s billionaire political sponsor Peter Thiel has been looking to build a “crypto city” in the Danish territory, and Trump’s new ambassador to Denmark is Thiel’s longtime business partner.

ps:As I mentioned before it just keeps going down, down, and down!!!!!

[phkrause]

Musk runs into Watergate-era privacy law. As Elon Musk and his minions reportedly rifle through federal workers’ personnel files and other private records, groups representing those workers are now suing the Trump administration under the Privacy Act of 1974 — a longstanding Watergate-era measure. That law makes clear that “no agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency” unless special conditions are met.

A statute with a private right of action. The law creates criminal penalties for illegally accessing federal personnel records, but Trump’s own prosecutors get to decide whether to bring those charges. However, the statute also empowers individuals to “bring a civil action against the agency” that is unlawfully disclosing records. In this case, they are bringing their case against Trump Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who reportedly gave Musk’s acolytes access.

The Privacy Act was designed to stop what Musk appears to be doing. The Congressional Research Service notes that the privacy law at issue is a “product of and response to scandals eroding public trust in the government’s handling of personal information, including Watergate” and FBI surveillance. Put another way: It was created to stop presidents from weaponizing their special access to federal records against their political opponents.

[phkrause]

Susie Wiles Shoots Daggers at Trump During Unhinged Gaza Press Conference

Trump’s chief of staff looked a bit stunned as her boss tried to convince a group of reporters the people of Gaza should abandon their homes forever.

President Donald Trump’s “ice maiden” lived up to her name on Tuesday as she stared down her boss during a bizarre press conference in the Oval Office with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As Trump rambled on and on about Gaza being hell on Earth and described a half-baked idea for some other very rich country to build a beautiful town for the people of Gaza in an unspecified place, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles edged closer until she was standing directly behind Trump.

She pursed her lips and opened her eyes wide, looking a bit stunned as the president went on to blame his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

In a series of coordinated attacks, Hamas and other militant groups killed about 1,200 people and abducted 250 hostages. Israel responded by invading Gaza, killing more than 46,000 Palestinians—most of them women and children—and leveling large areas of Gaza.

“Iran was in very big trouble when I left” office the first time, Trump said on Tuesday. “They didn’t have money for Hamas, they didn’t have money for Hezbollah. You had no problem. October 7th could never have happened.”

Unlike Wiles, Netanyahu smiled and smirked as Trump said he thought the 1.8 million Gazans who had been displaced during the fighting shouldn’t bother to return home.

“Why would they want to return? The place has been hell,” he said.

“Because it’s their home, sir!” a reporter called out. “Why would they leave?”

“It’s been one of the meanest, toughest places on Earth,” Trump continued. “And right now, I’ve seen every picture from every angle—better than if I were there—and nobody can live there. You can’t live there.”

But later that same day, he called for the U.S. to “take over” Gaza and transform it into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” suggesting it’s not such a hellish place after all.

Unfortunately, Wiles wasn’t standing by for that comment. We would have liked to have seen her face.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/susie-wiles-shoots-daggers-at-trump-during-unhinged-gaza-press-conference/?

[phkrause]

MAGA’s Civil War Over Immigration

A spat between tech bros and Trump’s base illuminates the growing cracks in the Right’s anti-immigrant coalition.

Over the holidays, when President-elect Donald Trump said he would appoint an Indian-American immigrant to serve in the White House, key members of Trump’s base were apoplectic. On X, formerly Twitter, prominent Trump supporters like Steve Bannon and Laura Loomer argued the move was antithetical to Trump’s pledge to scale back immigration. That put them at odds with billionaire advisor Elon Musk and other tech executives who are leaning on Trump to embrace the use of H-1B visas, which allow highly skilled foreign workers to work in the U.S. and have proven to be a boon for the tech industry.

https://www.levernews.com/magas-civil-war-over-immigration/

? Goodbye CFPB? Elon Musk said he wants Trump to “delete” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the agency’s new acting head, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, seems like he might be on board. Bessent, a former hedge fund executive, took over the consumer watchdog on Monday and immediately ordered staff to cease enforcement work. The bureau currently has open lawsuits against several major corporations with ties to Trump’s campaign including Apple, Walmart, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America.

ps:Of course he does!! And so does the criminal in charge!!!!

? Americans aren’t asleep — they are rightly pissed off. Trump already has the highest disapproval rating of any new president in 72 years. Aggregate data show that 42 percent of Americans disapprove of the job he is doing as president — the highest recorded level of opposition to any new president since 1952. On that list, the president with the second highest disapproval rating is first-term Donald Trump.

ps:They aren't asleep? Seems like many are asleep!!

[phkrause]

Mar-a-Gaza dreamin’. During a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump yesterday declared that “the U.S. will take over the Gaza strip, and we will do a job with it, too.” He said Palestinians should leave, and vowed to convert the territory “the Riviera of the Middle East.” He did not rule out deploying American troops to the area, which a bipartisan group of lawmakers called insane.

The Art of the Kushner. The plan to convert the Palestinian territory into a grand real estate play was reportedly floated to Trump by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who recently touted “Gaza’s waterfront property” which he said “could be very valuable.” The Lever recently reported that Kushner had doubled his stake in a financial firm that stands to gain from turbocharging Israeli settlements. 

The Gaza gas play. Three weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Israel began awarding new leases for fossil fuel companies to explore natural gas reserves in Gaza’s offshore field — part of a plan Netanyahu announced before the conflict. The Biden administration touted the gas reserves as a potential economic boon to the Palestinian economy, but there remains a dispute over who actually controls — and will benefit from — the reserves. Human rights groups have asserted that Israel is illegally usurping Palestinians’ maritime territory.

Bibi gets another reprieve from his corruption scandal. Netanyahu lauded Trump for “thinking outside the box with fresh ideas” and “showing willingness to puncture conventional thinking.” CNN quotes one source close to the negotiations saying: “Bibi is all for it. Not having Palestinians on the other side of the border? What could be better than that?” Another benefit for Bibi: more heat off his own massive corruption scandal, which we reported on in November.

[phkrause]

Trump’s EPA Just Deleted Climate Change

On Jan. 27, the Environmental Protection Agency quietly removed all information about climate change from its homepage and other prominent areas of its website, burying it deep in sections that are harder to find.

https://www.levernews.com/trumps-epa-just-deleted-climate-change/?

Trump and Musk’s dismantling of government is shaking the foundations of US democracy

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Elon Musk debuted the Department of Government Efficiency recently at the Capitol, House Speaker Mike Johnson enthusiastically predicted the coming Trump administration would bring “a lot of change around here.”

https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-doge-congress-4e0c025629e8a0c758d13dc916ab4f43?

Trump’s Gaza plan has stunned the region. Here’s a look at the serious obstacles it faces

President Donald Trump’s stunning proposal to forcibly transfer hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and develop it as a tourist destination faces major obstacles.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-trump-gaza-egypt-saudi-2b1af11c18bf7d5d9aedef68aaba4c00?

Protesters in cities across the US rally against Trump’s policies, Project 2025 and Elon Musk

Demonstrators gathered in cities across the U.S. on Wednesday to protest the Trump administration’s early actions, decrying everything from the president’s immigration crackdown to his rollback of transgender rights and a proposal to forcibly transfer Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

https://apnews.com/article/50501-protests-project-2025-trump-state-capitols-ddd341171a54ba9b498cbfe7530e18ab?

[phkrause]

Justice Dept. official accuses FBI chief of ‘insubordination,’ tamps down talk of revenge on agents

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Justice Department official accused the FBI’s acting leaders of “insubordination” in a Wednesday memo in which he sought to soothe anxiety inside the bureau over the potential for a broad purge of agents involved in investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-justice-department-jan-6-ff003e46ea48c4e8be710d1ba2eb2d02?

ps:Of course they do!!!!!

CIA offers buyouts to staffers as new director looks to stamp Trump’s imprint on the agency

WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA confirmed on Wednesday that it has offered buyouts to employees who voluntarily resign, the latest group of workers targeted in President Donald Trump’s push to transform the federal government.

https://apnews.com/article/cia-trump-buyouts-ratcliffe-musk-intelligence-agencies-514aaa655c9058bb2ddc171c144698a2?

[phkrause]

Officials walk back Gaza takeover

The White House today seemed to walk back President Trump's stunning comments about the U.S. potentially taking over Gaza.

• Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described Trump's idea as only a "temporary" relocation of Palestinians while the devastated enclave is rebuilt.
• Trump hasn't committed to putting U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza or to pay for the reconstruction, she added. She stressed the president is looking for a deal about Gaza with countries in the region.

? What they're saying: "The whole region needs to come up with their own solutions if they don't like Trump's solution," White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told CBS.

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today while traveling in Latin America that Trump's offer wasn't meant as a hostile move, but was one people need to think about.

A senior adviser told Axios: "Trump is a builder. He knows how to rebuild. He's a leader. And he's the ultimate negotiator. ... Everything is a negotiation. And what he wants is a negotiation for peace. So everything is on the table."

?️ DOGE targets feds' media subscriptions

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

The executive branch will stop spending millions on Politico subscriptions and is looking at other subscription cutbacks, the White House said today amid an online uproar. MAGA media dug into public records on USAspending.gov and uncovered that the government paid Politico $8.2 million in the last 12 months for Politico Pro policy content. That spending fueled a false conspiracy theory that USAID was funding Politico. That turned into dozens of viral posts on X, reposted by Elon Musk himself. ? Reality check: It appears $24,000 of that $8.2 million came from USAID. $8.2 million was the amount the entire government paid Politico — the cost of premium subscriptions to Politico Pro. The paywalled content goes deeper on policy and industry, and costs thousands per year. ? Zoom out: It's a prime example of how false information sweeps through social media, and it could spell trouble for other media organizations with government subscribers. Conservative commentator Dana Loesch is calling for protests outside Politico's offices. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Politico subscriptions would be canceled across the government. "The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now," she said. 'This is a whole-of-government effort to ensure that we are going line by line when it comes to the federal government's books." Disclosure: Our Axios Pro products provide in-depth policy and industry news to paying subscribers, including government employees. Last year, $5,550 in payments were made to Axios as part of a Federal Communications Commission subscription, according to the government's database that tracks federal spending. Go deeper.

[phkrause]

Trump's gut-it-all plan

Photo illustration: Maura Losch/Axios. Photo: Justin Lane via Pool/Getty Images

The Trump administration's gutting of USAID is just a start: Elon Musk and President Trump's Cabinet and advisers are combing through agencies to purge those deemed to be anti-Trump, anti-American or too "woke," top officials tell Axios' Marc Caputo. Why it matters: Trump promised during his campaign to root out what he called the "Deep State" — institutional resistance. But the speed and tactics of Trump's vengeance-fueled cost-cutting efforts have been astonishing. ? Zoom in: The CIA on Tuesday became the first major security agency to offer "buyouts" to its entire workforce. Fresh off her Senate confirmation, Attorney General Pam Bondi is establishing a "Weaponization Working Group" to analyze the actions of federal prosecutors and FBI agents in the criminal cases the Justice Department brought against Trump. It also will examine the New York civil and criminal cases brought against him. Tulsi Gabbard will be tasked under a Trump executive order to examine the "weaponization" of the agencies under her purview after her expected confirmation as director of national intelligence. Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) clashed last weekend with USAID officials who tried to deny Musk's team of tech wizards access to secure government payroll and systems. ?️ The big picture: Trump is focused on the Justice Department for prosecuting him. But the State Department and the National Security Council are two major ideological battlegrounds where officials say they expect to encounter "resistance" liberals. Even before Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, his team was seeking mass resignations from the State Department and the NSC. "The State Department is largely run by bleeding-heart liberals," House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) told Axios. As a senator, Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Mast in criticizing the State Department and USAID. They issued a 2023 report called "Diversity over Diplomacy: How Wokeness is Weakening the U.S. State Department" and sponsored an anti-DEI bill aimed at the department. ? Zoom out: USAID is the world's premier foreign assistance agency and manages as much as $40 billion in appropriations. It's the keystone of U.S. "soft power" in fostering relations in developing nations. It's also a target for Republicans who see parts of the agency as a liberal-aligned patronage system that helps Democrats revolve in and out of government and non-governmental organizations. "Bring USAID to heel and you end the Democrat gravy train," a Rubio ally told Axios. ps:The geniuses at work

[phkrause]

? Exclusive: Inside Trump's give-me-Gaza stunner

"This can't go on like this," President Trump said as he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat in the Oval Office on Tuesday, discussing Gaza's rebuild from the rubble.

• "Here's what I want to do," Trump said, according to two officials briefed on the meeting, which included Cabinet members and Trump senior advisers.
• Trump then laid out a plan far more ambitious than what he and his aides had discussed earlier in the day: "The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip ... we will develop it."

Why it matters: Trump's earthquake of an announcement — an "audible," staffers called it — continued to ripple around the world yesterday, drawing some praise but a lot of backlash, namely about its legality and logistics, Axios' Marc Caputo, Barak Ravid and Alex Isenstadt write.

• The White House has cast Trump's takeover plan as an idea worth discussing. But it has walked back one highly controversial part of Trump's plan by saying Palestinians would be relocated from Gaza only temporarily, not permanently as he indicated.

? Behind the scenes: A Gaza takeover wasn't part of the plan when Tuesday dawned. Trump's messaging strategy called for him just to reinstitute his "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran.

• The war in Gaza and the possibility of moving Palestinians from Gaza were supposed to be on the agenda of their meeting. But the notes prepared for Trump that morning said that such a move, if it happened, would be "temporary."

But Trump wanted something bigger, bolder, more surprising. That's why he decided to say Palestinians should be "permanently" removed from Gaza for the rebuilding and that the U.S. should take over the enclave to develop it, a source familiar with the process told Axios.

• That huge shift reflected Trump's thinking and private discussions he'd been having about Gaza for more than two months, sources tell Axios.

An Israeli official briefed on the meeting said Trump devoted most of the time to his vision for Gaza.

• "Trump didn't tell Bibi where this idea came from but said in the meeting he would include it in his statement at the press conference, and that's what happened," an Israeli official said.

Trump finished the meeting by jotting down his ideas on paper. They were then added to his prepared remarks that he gave about two hours later in the press conference with Netanyahu.

• Keep reading.

? Trump surprise: "catch and release"

President Trump's administration has used the "catch and release" program to free 461 undocumented immigrants from custody since he took office, partly because of limited detention space in U.S. immigration facilities, Axios' Brittany Gibson reports.

• Why it matters: Trump repeatedly criticized the Biden administration's use of "catch and release." On Day 1, officials said that they plan to end the practice.

But for now, it remains part of Trump's immigration enforcement strategy, as he pushes agents to round up immigrants for mass deportations at a time when detention facilities are nearly full.

• Under "catch and release," nonviolent undocumented immigrants who've been arrested by U.S. agents are freed after agreeing to return for their cases to be heard by an immigration court.
• The immigrants usually are given wristbands or ankle monitors, or are told to check in by telephone, to allow authorities to keep track of them until their court dates.

? Zoom in: The released immigrants make up less than 6% of the roughly 8,000 undocumented people arrested since Jan. 21, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said in an emailed statement to Axios.

• "They do not have final deportation orders and are likely contesting their immigration status," she said.

Keep reading.

⚡ Scoop: Trump's podcast guru gets new MAGA role

Alex Bruesewitz — a pivotal media adviser to President Trump, known for pushing podcasts and other disruptive outlets during the campaign — will be a senior adviser to Never Surrender, Trump's new leadership PAC.

• Why it matters: Bruesewitz, 27, overnight became one of the most influential political strategists in the U.S.

The revelation of whether he'd "go inside" the White House has been eagerly awaited. Bruesewitz spearheaded Trump sit-downs with mainstream podcasts and influencers, with assistance from Barron Trump, and input from the likes of UFC CEO Dana White and John Shahidi, who manages the Nelk Boys.

• "We went where the people were," Bruesewitz told me. "All of the podcasters we teamed up with had massive unique, audiences."

Zoom in: Bruesewitz will lead digital messaging for the new group. His firm — X Strategies LLC, based near Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach — will manage all digital properties linked to the Trump political brand.

• That includes the powerful X accounts @TrumpWarRoom and @TeamTrump, which have millions of followers.

Don Jr. told us in a statement: "Alex has secured our complete trust and confidence through his unwavering loyalty and delivering extraordinary results for my father on the campaign."

? Sneak peek: Trump trade pick plans "country of producers"

Jamieson Greer — President Trump's pick to be U.S. trade representative — will tell the Senate Finance Committee at his confirmation hearing this morning that "America should be a country of producers. We are more than just what we consume."

• "Americans should have the opportunity to work in good-paying jobs producing goods and services they can sell in this market and abroad to earn an honest living."

Why it matters: Greer, a protégé of former Trump trade chief Robert Lighthizer, will hold one of the tariff-happy administration's most important positions.

• He was Lighthizer's chief of staff during Trump's first term.

? Zoom in: Greer plans to say that America "will have little in the way of hard power to deter conflict" without pushing for a more robust manufacturing base.

• "Trade policy can play an important role in ensuring that we have the economic security that leads to strong national security."

[phkrause]

Trump signs executive order intended to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. Read more.

Why this matters: The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” gives federal agencies wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender someone was assigned at birth.   Trump found during the campaign that the topic resonated beyond the usual party lines. More than half the voters surveyed by AP VoteCast said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ US officials now say Trump only wants to displace Palestinians from Gaza temporarily   Israel begins preparations for Gaza exodus as Egypt lobbies against Trump plan   Pro-Trump Arab American group changes its name after the president’s Gaza ‘Riviera’ comments   Democratic senators protest after they say Trump gives Musk’s staff access to classified info   Democrats sue GOP county executive over armed volunteer unit they say amounts to an illegal militia   US to seize Venezuelan president’s plane held in Dominican Republic during Rubio visit   Trump unleashes a supercharged MAGA agenda and Republicans come aboard   Justice Dept. official accuses FBI chief of ‘insubordination,’ tamps down talk of revenge on agents   Is it real or is it a trick? Federal workers debate legitimacy of buyout offer as deadline nears   Scott Turner confirmed as Trump’s HUD secretary   What to know about the court cases over President Trump’s birthright citizenship order   Companies scaling back DEI goals include McDonald's, Target, Ford, Walmart and Google   Fox News hires president’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump for weekend show on network

[phkrause]

Federal workers

The clock is ticking down for federal employees weighing whether to accept the Trump administration's so-called "buyout" offer to resign. President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk aim to oust hundreds of thousands of workers in a move they say will help streamline America's federal agencies. Widespread layoffs are expected to begin soon after today's 11:59 p.m. ET decision deadline set by the Office of Personnel Management. A White House official said at least 40,000 federal employees have accepted a separation agreement. That figure represents about 2% of the roughly 2 million workers who received the offer. The White House has said its target is for between 5% and 10% of employees to resign.

Gaza

President Trump's proposal for the US takeover of Gaza is drawing widespread criticism from allies and adversaries around the globe. On Wednesday, the White House press secretary moved to walk back some elements of Trump's stunning suggestion and said he was advocating for a "temporary" resettlement of nearly 2 million Palestinians. The view appeared at odds with the plan Trump had revealed a day earlier to "resettle people permanently" in another area. Meanwhile, Egypt and Jordan are rejecting Trump's plea to take in Gaza residents, and Palestinians in the region insist they won't give up their land. 

 

[phkrause]

“We Feel Terrorized”: What EPA Employees Say About the Decision to Stay or Go Under Trump

In the face of the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to reshape the Environmental Protection Agency and drive out its workers, more than 300 career employees have left their jobs since the election, according to a ProPublica analysis of personnel data.

https://www.propublica.org/article/epa-workers-resign-trump?

Memory-Holing Jan. 6: What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish?

The Trump administration’s decision to delete a DOJ database of cases against Capitol riot defendants places those who seek to preserve the historical record in direct opposition to their own government.

https://www.propublica.org/article/january-6-erasure-doj-database-trump-history?

Protesters in Tallahassee and Tampa join national movement pushing back against Trump

Roughly 300 people gathered in front of the old Florida Capitol in Tallahassee Wednesday afternoon to protest the Trump administration, including the president’s actions against immigrants and transgender people.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/02/05/protesters-at-florida-capitol-join-national-movement-pushing-back-against-trump/?

Trump: “The U.S. Will Take Over the Gaza Strip”

President Donald Trump welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House on Tuesday, the first foreign leader to visit in his second term, by floating the idea that the United States should take ownership of the Gaza Strip and permanently displace all Palestinians living there. 

https://theintercept.com/2025/02/04/trump-netanyahu-gaza-palestinians-displace/?

The Capitol Rioters Are Free — But Ed Martin’s Crusade Against Jan. 6 Prosecutors Is Just Getting Started

The Trump minion has said Jan. 6 defendants should get cash reparations and those responsible for the charges should get jail time.

https://theintercept.com/2025/02/04/jan-6-prosecutions-ed-martin-reparations/?

ps:What an administration! Do as little as possible for those that voted for us, but let's spend the next 4 yrs just doing whatever the criminal in charge needs to placate himself to what he did that day!!!!!

Trump the “Peacemaker” Ramps Up America’s Forever War in Somalia

The American tradition of airstrikes against Somalia is continuing into Trump’s second term.

https://theintercept.com/2025/02/04/trump-airstrike-somalia/?

The latest on Trump’s presidency as judge pauses ‘buyout’ offer for federal workers

A federal judge paused Thursday’s deadline for federal employees to accept the Trump administration’s so-called “deferred resignation” offer while more court proceedings on the program’s legality play out.

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-gaza-news-02-06-25?

[phkrause]

Musk associates sought to use critical Treasury payment system to shut down USAID spending, emails show

Four days after Donald Trump’s inauguration, Elon Musk’s top lieutenants at the Treasury Department asked its acting secretary, a career civil servant, to immediately shut off all USAID payments using the department’s own ultra-sensitive payment processing system.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/06/politics/elon-musk-treasury-department-payment-system/index.html?

ps:Of course they did! Because they know that legally they have no right to do this Bull Manure!!!!!

Judge temporarily blocks Trump plan offering incentives for federal workers to resign

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to push out federal workers by offering them financial incentives, the latest tumult for government employees already wrestling with upheaval from the new administration.

https://apnews.com/article/buyout-offer-deadline-trump-federal-workers-ce854b19c41b90cd657f75cf09511e96?

Musk uses his X ownership and White House position to push Trump priorities, intimidate detractors

WASHINGTON (AP) — The emergence of X owner Elon Musk as the most influential figure around President Donald Trump has created an extraordinary dynamic — a White House adviser who’s using one of the world’s most powerful information platforms to sell the government’s talking points while intimidating its detractors.

https://apnews.com/article/musk-doge-trump-x-democracy-e581786ee599f8b047d40c2e2c7ad9da?

In their own words: What Trump said about Gaza and how top administration officials contradicted him

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration have contradicted some of his recent comments about the United States taking long-term control of Gaza. They also have played down the possibility of sending in U.S. troops and permanently resettling Palestinians amid rebuilding efforts that American interests might lead but U.S. taxpayers would not necessarily pay for.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-rubio-leavitt-gaza-permanent-temporary-funding-53d3c737d24dd8ea290e0e7962546575?

Panama’s president denies making a deal that US warships can transit the canal for free

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday denied the U.S. State Department’s claim that his country had reached a deal allowing U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free.

https://apnews.com/article/panama-canal-trump-rubio-hegseth-b623a51ac94ef2a738195e8b894e2a8b?

[phkrause]

Courts curtail Trump

A federal judge today paused the Trump administration's "buyout" offer for federal employees, which had been set to expire tonight.

• Multiple judges have now ordered freezes on President Trump's plan to end birthright citizenship.
• Lawsuits involving Elon Musk's takeover of federal agencies are just getting started, but they're already resulting in some limits on the DOGE team.

?The big picture: The courts are one of the only real threats to slow or stop substantial parts of Trump's agenda — and they're doing it, Axios' Sam Baker writes.

⏸️ Driving the news: Roughly 40,000 federal workers have accepted President Trump's deferred resignation offer ahead of a midnight deadline.

• But a judge in Boston today blocked the federal government from executing the plan at least until Monday, when he hears arguments over whether the buyout program is legal.
• The specific terms of the arrangement have always been somewhat murky. Education Department staffers were told today that if they took the deal, it could be canceled at any time and workers would have no recourse, NBC News reported.

?️ Earlier today, the Treasury Department reportedly agreed to limit DOGE workers' access to certain sensitive systems, in response to a lawsuit alleging privacy violations.

? What we're watching: None of these are final rulings on the merits of any of the Trump administration's actions. Trump may ultimately prevail in many of these legal battles.

• But lawsuits and preliminary court rulings are already weakening or holding up some of Trump's top early priorities.

Go deeper: Trump vs. the courts

[phkrause]

Rubio planning first Middle East trip in mid-February

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is planning to visit the Middle East in mid-February, two Israeli officials and two sources with knowledge told Axios.

https://www.axios.com/2025/02/06/marco-rubio-israel-middle-east-trip?

[phkrause]

Death of American soft power

Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios. Photo: Fine Art/Getty Images

President Trump is taking a sledgehammer to a bedrock of U.S. foreign policy, ripping up decades of "soft power" in favor of a highly personalized, transactional, coercive style of dealmaking. For Trump, results speak loudest, Axios' Zachary Basu and David Lawler write. Less than three weeks into office, his administration has already struck deals of varying substance with Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala and even Venezuela. But the headlines obscure a longer-term risk. Trump is gutting key aspects of America's global influence and the workforce that promotes it — leaving a vacuum that U.S. adversaries are eager to fill. As David Ignatius, Washington Post foreign affairs columnist, said on "Morning Joe" yesterday: "We call it 'soft power.' But it's power." ? Daniel Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel who also held senior roles at the Pentagon and National Security Council, told us: "There's really no better gift to Putin and Xi than for the world to see that the United States is a completely unreliable friend and partner." "People will obviously treat us as just one more transactional great power." ? Zoom in: Trump and Elon Musk's rapid dismemberment of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — by far the world's largest provider of foreign aid — has stunned diplomats and NGOs around the globe. In an instant, the most impoverished and unstable regions of the world have seen funding dry up for basic food supplies, water, medicine, education and disaster relief — affecting the lives of millions of people. ? Trump and his "America First" allies argue the money should be spent at home, and that USAID is a Trojan horse for spreading destructive leftist ideologies. The New York Times reports (gift link) that Trump is slashing the number of USAID jobs worldwide from over 10,000 to 290, while canceling about 800 grants and contracts. Go deeper.

[phkrause]

✂️ Trump's next targets

The White House is working on an executive order to begin culling thousands of workers from HHS, including the FDA and CDC, The Wall Street Journal reports (gift link).

• ?️ FEC Commissioner and Chair Ellen Weintraub said last night that President Trump has moved to fire her, but she indicated she won't be removed from office without a fight.
• ? Executive orders to begin the years-long process of dismantling the Education Department are expected after Linda McMahon, nominee for Education secretary, is confirmed. "I want Linda to put herself out of a job," Trump said this week.
• ? Several thousand private-sector workers have lost their jobs as cuts to federal agencies spill over into the contractors and nonprofits that worked with those agencies, per The Washington Post (gift link).
• ? NOAA, the federal weather forecasting agency, and the Social Security Administration are also reportedly in the DOGE team's sights for significant cuts.

Federal data disappears

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

The new administration's handling of government data is fueling concerns — in business, academia, newsrooms and beyond — that critical information may be unreliable, if it exists at all, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick reports. Why it matters: Everything from how we allocate Congressional seats to the weather app on your phone relies at least in part on accurate government data. A wide array of government data and reports have been inaccessible through normal channels since Trump directed federal agencies to cull certain topics from agency websites, documents, etc. Trump's primary focus was to quash gender and transgender language. But the order appears to have swept up, or chilled, plenty of other information, including previously released census data and economic reports. ? Between the lines: Researchers, journalists and public data advocates have been working round-the-clock to archive existing government datasets for fear they'll be taken down — perhaps forever. But that preserves only previously released data. It does nothing to ensure the government keeps collecting new information, or that it won't tamper with the records it collects and shares. Go deeper.

[phkrause]

?️ 1,000 words

Photo illustration by TIME. Source photos: Chip Somodevilla, Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Elon Musk sure looks like the president on TIME's new cover. DOGE staffers have been feeding reams of federal data, including personally identifying information, into cloud-based AI systems to identify potential cuts, The Washington Post reports (gift link).   USAID Around 10,000 employees of the US Agency for International Development are the targets of President Donald Trump's job cuts today. Multiple sources tell CNN that nearly all but around 300 USAID personnel deemed essential are expected to be fired, furloughed or put on leave in the coming hours. USAID is charged with delivering humanitarian assistance overseas, but critics say its programs are wasteful and promote a liberal agenda. The Trump administration says dismantling the agency is grounded in efforts to save government money, though some some experts have warned that freezing its funds will intensify global humanitarian crises. ps:Really?? This is not to save money, this is so he can give his billionaire buddies tax breaks!!!! Like they need anymore tax breaks!!!!!!!!!! Elon Musk’s Hostile Takeover Elon Musk and his allies have been sowing chaos in the civil service and hijacking government infrastructure. Journalist Nathan Tankus explains why. https://www.levernews.com/elon-musks-hostile-takeover/

[phkrause]

What is USAID and why are Musk and Trump shutting it down?

On Friday, President Trump directly called for the elimination of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — America’s main global provider of humanitarian aid — just hours before nearly all of its 10,000 staffers were set to be let go or suspended. (At the last minute, a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from placing 2,200 USAID employees on paid leave.)

“THE CORRUPTION IS AT LEVELS RARELY SEEN BEFORE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network. “CLOSE IT DOWN!”

For weeks, Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is leading Trump’s cost-cutting, bureaucracy-slashing Department of Government Efficiency, have been attacking USAID as (in Musk’s words) “a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America” — then using those attacks to justify halting its overseas programs, shuttering its website and laying off its workforce.

The onslaught has shocked those who have long seen USAID in less heated terms: as an agency that, say, provides nutritional assistance to malnourished children in developing countries and supports democratic governance.

So what does USAID actually do? And where do Trump and Musk’s accusations of corruption and conspiracy come from? A quick guide.

• Why does USAID exist?

• What does USAID do?

• Why do Trump and Musk oppose USAID?

• Is there evidence of corruption at USAID?

• How much money could the government save by shutting down USAID?

Why does USAID exist?

President John F. Kennedy launched USAID in 1961 as a more nimble way of countering Soviet influence abroad while improving American security at home. The idea was simple: The more we help other countries achieve stability and economic prosperity through foreign assistance, the less likely they’ll be to side against us.

Six decades later, supporters of USAID argue that it still serves the same vital purpose — especially as China’s power continues to grow.

“For much of the world population, the investments and work of U.S.A.I.D. make up the primary (and often only) contact with the United States,” former USAID Administrator Samantha Power wrote Thursday in the New York Times. “U.S.A.I.D. has generated vast stores of political capital in the more than 100 countries where it works, making it more likely that when the United States makes hard requests of their leaders — for example, to send peacekeepers to a war zone, to help a U.S. company enter a new market, or to extradite a criminal to the United States — that they say yes.”

What does USAID do?

Using funds appropriated by Congress, USAID works alongside various nongovernmental organizations and other private partners to address pressing global issues. Until recently, some of these included:

• Dispensing medicine to 500,000 children with HIV.

• Monitoring bird flu in 49 countries.

• Working with at-risk youth in Central America to prevent gang violence that spurs migration.

• Cleaning up land poisoned by Agent Orange in Vietnam.

• Collaborating with communities in countries like Syria, Morocco and Kazakhstan to reduce vulnerability to radicalization.

Last year, USAID managed more than $40 billion and assisted in about 130 countries.

Why do Trump and Musk oppose USAID?

Criticizing foreign aid programs on political grounds is nothing new — particularly for “America First” Republicans.

Earlier this year, the Trump Administration released a statement titled “At USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs Deep,” claiming that USAID “has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight.”

Of the 12 “pet projects” mentioned, however, just one was characterized accurately, according to a Washington Post review.

Instead, what the programs had in common — “$1.5 million to advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities” and “$2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam” — is that they didn’t align with Trump’s political preferences.

Is there evidence of corruption at USAID?

In recent years, both critics and supporters of USAID have agreed with calls for transparency and accountability.

“Foreign Aid is not charity,” then-Sen. Marco Rubio wrote on social media in 2017. “We must make sure it is well spent.”

But the agency is also “critical to our national security,” he added.

A few years later, Rubio sponsored a bill that would have required USAID to provide more information about its partner organizations.

Rubio’s earlier, reformist approach differs significantly from the one he’s implementing now as Trump’s Secretary of State. As evidence of why USAID should be systematically dismantled and folded into the State Department, Trump this week cited a report that the D.C. news website Politico “seems to have received $8,000,000” from USAID as proof that “billions of dollars have been stollen [sic],” with “much of it going to the fake news media as a ‘payoff’ for creating good stories about the Democrats.”

 

“THIS COULD BE THE BIGGEST SCANDAL OF THEM ALL,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “PERHAPS THE BIGGEST IN HISTORY!”

The only problem? USAID did not award Politico $8 million in exchange for positive coverage. Instead, over two years, the agency spent $44,000 on staff subscriptions to E&E News, Politico’s paywalled energy-policy publication.

How much money could the government save by shutting down USAID?

Polling has repeatedly shown that Americans vastly overestimate how much the U.S. spends on foreign aid. According to surveys by the Kaiser Family Foundation, respondents believe that it makes up about 25% to 30% of the budget, on average.

As a result, most Americans think the U.S. spends too much money overseas.

 

But in reality, USAID’s $40 billion budget represents less than 1% of federal spending, according to the Washington Post.

Or as Rubio himself put it in 2019: "Anybody who tells you that we can slash foreign aid and that will bring us to balance is lying to you."