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      Trump Marks Black History Month, Even as He Slams the Value of Diversity

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      The Black History Month reception held at the White House on Thursday had all of the pomp of celebrations past. Guests sipped champagne and snacked on lamb chops and collard greens. The crowd delighted in their invitations, snapping selfies. And when President Trump walked out alongside one of the greatest Black athletes in the world, Tiger Woods, the crowd roared with their phones in the air.But the dissonance in the East Room was jarring.Mr. Trump may have praised the contributions of Black Americans on Thursday, but he has spent the weeks since his inauguration eviscerating federal programs aimed at combating inequality in America. He has suggested that efforts spurred by the civil rights movement had made victims out of white people. He blamed a deadly plane crash over the Potomac River on diversity programs in the Federal Aviation Administration.On Thursday, Mr. Trump tried to show appreciation to the Black community by extolling those he sees as representative of Black American progress.“Let me ask you,” Mr. Trump said as he began his remarks, “is there anybody like our Tiger?”Mr. Trump and Mr. Woods are actively engaged in negotiations in search of a lucrative golf merger deal, and the president referred to Mr. Woods repeatedly during his roughly 20-minute address a crowd of several hundred guests. Mr. Woods wasn’t the only Black athlete to get a shout-out; Mr. Trump also heralded Muhammad Ali and Kobe Bryant.During his remarks, Mr. Trump made little reference to issues that have historically plagued the Black community, such as elevated poverty rates, the wage and wealth gap between Black and white Americans, and gun violence. He promised to put statues of Black Americans in a new “National Garden of American Heroes.”Among those to be honored was Prince Estabrook, an enslaved man and the first Black American to spill blood in the Revolutionary War, along with Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin — and maybe Mr. Woods one day, Mr. Trump said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Costa Rica Receives First Flight of Trump Deportees From Faraway Countries

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      Migrants from around the world — including dozens of children — landed on Thursday evening in San José, Costa Rica’s capital, after having been deported from the United States for illegally crossing the southern border.Their plane was the first such flight to arrive in Costa Rica and carried the latest group of migrants from countries in the Eastern Hemisphere to be deported by the United States to Central America — a new tactic in the Trump administration’s crackdown on migration.Last week, three flights were sent to Panama with people from countries such as China and Iran, where arranging deportations is more complicated for the United States because of a lack of diplomatic relations with their governments or other roadblocks.In Panama, the migrants managed to communicate with reporters from The New York Times while being held in a hotel, drawing attention to their uncertain situation. Some said they had left their countries to escape persecution and feared for their safety if they were to be sent back.Thursday, when the plane landed at Juan Santamaría International Airport outside San José, a group of reporters that had gathered on the tarmac captured images of the migrants on board.They held their cellphones to the windows, revealing both that they were not in handcuffs and had not had their devices taken away.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      What 11 Black Voters Think About Trump’s Actions in His First Month

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      Many Black Americans were frustrated by the Trump administration’s targeting of D.E.I. programs. But others embraced the speed at which he moved.The first few weeks of President Trump’s frenetic second term, including sweeping actions to end federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs, have mostly unfurled during the month of February, when the nation recognizes and celebrates Black history each year.For Black Americans around the country, the new administration’s actions to undo diversity programs — while vowing to celebrate Black history — have felt swift, if not entirely unexpected.Some Black voters interviewed on Thursday said they had anticipated that President Trump’s actions would be destabilizing. Those who supported him embraced his quick changes. Those who voted against him — and some who stayed home last November — were aghast. Most were paying close attention, though some said they felt the need to look away.Veronica McCloud in Burke High School’s library in Charleston, S.C.Nora Williams for The New York TimesVeronica McCloud, 63Retired English teacher in Charleston, S.C.“As a person who was born in the 1960s in the heart of the civil rights movement, what we are seeing feels like an attempt to return to a different era,” Ms. McCloud said. “I am talking about a time when Black Americans were without civil rights in their own country and women had to ask their husbands for permission to join the work force.”She was surprised by the speed with which Mr. Trump signed the sweeping executive order that upended diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Musk and His Millions Enter Wisconsin Supreme Court Race

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      Elon Musk’s super PAC has spent $1 million on canvassing operations supporting the conservative candidate in the race, his first election spending after the 2024 campaign.Elon Musk’s super PAC is back.Mr. Musk, the country’s largest donor during the 2024 election, is returning to campaigns by funding a new effort to help elect Brad Schimel, the conservative candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. It is Mr. Musk’s first public political spending after Election Day.America PAC spent $1 million on canvassing operations in the state, according to a new campaign finance filing that became public Thursday. Pamphlets distributed to some Wisconsin homes read, “President Trump needs you to get out and vote,” and included a link to a website where voters could register to vote and learn about how to cast ballots early.A nonprofit organization that has historically been backed by Mr. Musk, Building America’s Future, this week began a $1.6 million-and-counting television campaign to bolster Judge Schimel, a former state attorney general who is now a judge in Waukesha County. But that group has other major donors and is not as directly tied to Mr. Musk as is America PAC, which is funded almost entirely by the billionaire.Wisconsin Supreme Court elections are officially nonpartisan, but Judge Schimel has been endorsed by the Republican Party of Wisconsin, which is allowed by state campaign finance law to transfer unlimited sums to his campaign. The liberal candidate, Susan Crawford, has been endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Judge Crawford sits on a court in Dane County, Wisconsin’s most Democratic county, which includes Madison.The April 1 election for a 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court carries higher stakes than any election this year until the November contests for governor of New Jersey and Virginia. There is now a four-to-three liberal majority on the court, but Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, a liberal who has sat on the court since 1995, is retiring, putting the court’s majority on the ballot.The state’s abortion laws, as well as its legislative and congressional district lines, are likely to be determined by whichever faction controls the state high court in coming months.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Read the Letter From Fani T. Willis to Representative Jim Jordan

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      OFFICE OF THE FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
      ATLANTA JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
      136 PRYOR STREET SW, 3RD FLOOR
      ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303
      Fani T. Willis
      District Attorney
      Congressman Jim Jordan
      Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary
      United States House of Representatives
      2138 Rayburn House Office Building
      Washington, DC 20515
      February 20, 2025
      Dear Mr. Jordan:
      Yet again, I am writing to you in my official capacity as District Attorney of Fulton County and on
      behalf of my office regarding requests made by the House Judiciary Committee (‘Committee’) to
      several Fulton County employees, asking for documents and testimony relating to their work for
      the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office (‘FCDA’ or ‘Office’).’
      Over the course of several years now, I have explained to you that the core of your requests—
      information about an active criminal investigation-threatens the integrity of an ongoing criminal
      matter, ignores centuries of precedent about the limits of Congressional power, and tramples over
      foundational principles of state sovereignty and federalism.²
      Let us speak plainly, Mr. Jordan. Your so-called ‘investigation’ into the Office’s contacts with the
      House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol has
      never been anything more than a dangerous attempt, performed at the behest of those under
      1 Letter from Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary, to Ms. Trina Swanson-Lucas, Assistant Chief
      Investigator, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off. (Feb. 6, 2025); Letter from Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the
      Judiciary, to Mr. Michael Hill, Assistant Chief Investigator, Major Crimes Div., Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off. (Feb. 6,
      2025); Letter from Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary, to Mr. Will Wooten, Deputy Dist. Att’y,
      Major Crimes Div., Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off. (Feb. 6, 2025); Letter from Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm.
      on the Judiciary, to Mr. Donald Wakeford, Chief Senior Dist. Att’y, Anti-Corruption Div., Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y
      Off. (Feb. 6, 2025).
      2 See, e.g., Letter from Dist. Att’y Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off., to Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H.
      Comm. on the Judiciary (Sept. 7, 2023); Letter from Dist. Att’y Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off., to Rep.
      Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Oct. 11, 2023); Letter from Dist. Att’y Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty.
      Dist. Att’y Off., to Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Dec. 19, 2023); Letter from Dist. Att’y
      Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off., to Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Jan. 26,
      2024); Letter from Letter from Dist. Att’y Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off., to Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman,
      H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Oct. 11, 2024); Letter from Dist. Att’y Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off., to
      Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Dec. 12, 2024).
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      Multiple Bus Explosions in Israel Put Country on Terrorism Alert

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      The attempted attacks on Thursday, which injured no one but shut down buses and trains across the country, came amid Israel’s ongoing raids in the West Bank and as its cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza nears its end.Three buses exploded in Tel Aviv area parking lots on Thursday night, raising suspicions of an attempted, coordinated terrorist attack and prompting the Israeli authorities to halt all buses and trains nationwide. There were no injuries reported.After the explosions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that he had instructed the military to carry out “a massive operation” in the West Bank targeting militant hubs and had ordered the police and intelligence forces to step up preventive measures in Israeli cities to thwart any subsequent attempted attacks.The three buses were parked at different depots in Bat Yam, a city south of Tel Aviv, Tzvika Brot, the city’s mayor, said in a statement. Unexploded bombs were also found in parking lots in the nearby city of Holon, the mayor noted.Mr. Brot said he had ordered additional security patrols throughout Bat Yam. “The city will remain on high alert throughout the weekend,” he added. “However, the city’s routine continues as usual. There is no change to school tomorrow or any other activities.”Ofir Karni, director of the Dan bus company, told Israeli news media that the last passenger on one of the buses that exploded had noticed a suspicious bag on a back seat and had alerted the driver. They drove into the depot, got off the bus and it exploded after they exited, he added.The series of explosions in central Israel came on what was already a difficult day for Israelis and for the country’s tenuous truce with Hamas.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Elon Musk Is Focused on DOGE. What About Tesla?

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      Mr. Musk, one of President Trump’s main advisers, has not outlined a plan to reverse falling sales at the electric car company of which he is chief executive.Elon Musk’s role as President Trump’s cost-cutting czar and his immersion in right-wing politics appears to be diverting his attention from Tesla at a perilous moment for the electric car company.Tesla’s car sales fell 1 percent last year even as the global market for electric vehicles grew 25 percent. Mr. Musk has not addressed that underperformance, and he has offered no concrete plan to revive sales. He has also provided no details about a more affordable model Tesla says it will start producing this year. In the past, Mr. Musk spent months or years promoting vehicles before they appeared in showrooms.And he has spent much of his time since the election in Washington and at Mr. Trump’s home in Florida — far from Austin, Texas, where Tesla has its corporate headquarters and a factory, or the San Francisco Bay Area, where it has a factory and engineering offices.In the past decade or so, Tesla went from a struggling start-up to upending the global auto industry. The company sold millions of electric cars and generated huge profits, forcing established automakers to invest billions of dollars to catch up. Tesla’s success has been reflected in its soaring stock price, which helped make Mr. Musk the world’s richest person.But now, he seems to have lost interest in the grinding business of developing, producing and selling cars, investors and analysts say. That could have serious ramifications for his company and the auto industry, which employs millions of people worldwide.Even before he joined the Trump administration as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Mr. Musk’s running multiple companies had led investors and corporate governance experts to wonder whether he was spread too thin. Besides Tesla, Mr. Musk controls and runs SpaceX, whose rockets carry astronauts and satellites for NASA and others; X, the social media site; and xAI, which is developing artificial intelligence. And he wants to colonize Mars.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A.I. Is Changing How Silicon Valley Builds Start-Ups

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      Tech start-ups typically raised huge sums to hire armies of workers and grow fast. Now artificial intelligence tools are making workers more productive and spurring tales of “tiny team” success.Almost every day, Grant Lee, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, hears from investors who try to persuade him to take their money. Some have even sent him and his co-founders personalized gift baskets.Mr. Lee, 41, would normally be flattered. In the past, a fast-growing start-up like Gamma, the artificial intelligence start-up he helped establish in 2020, would have constantly looked out for more funding.But like many young start-ups in Silicon Valley today, Gamma is pursuing a different strategy. It is using artificial intelligence tools to increase its employees’ productivity in everything from customer service and marketing to coding and customer research.That means Gamma, which makes software that lets people create presentations and websites, has no need for more cash, Mr. Lee said. His company has hired only 28 people to get “tens of millions” in annual recurring revenue and nearly 50 million users. Gamma is also profitable.“If we were from the generation before, we would easily be at 200 employees,” Mr. Lee said. “We get a chance to rethink that, basically rewrite the playbook.”The old Silicon Valley model dictated that start-ups should raise a huge sum of money from venture capital investors and spend it hiring an army of employees to scale up fast. Profits would come much later. Until then, head count and fund-raising were badges of honor among founders, who philosophized that bigger was better.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More