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      Even rightwingers are mocking the ‘Epstein files’ as a lot of redacted nothing

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      The Epstein files fiascoDrum roll, please: the “most transparent administration in American history” is declassifying shocking new information about Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. After years of speculation that powerful people have been concealing information related to the late financier and convicted sex offender, the Trump administration said earlier this week that it would release unseen details about the case.“Breaking news right now, you’re going to see some Epstein information being released by my office,” Pam Bondi, the attorney general, told Fox News on Wednesday night. “This will make you sick.”Apparently intent on treating this “new” Epstein information like an album drop rather than a horrific sex-trafficking case involving the abuse of young girls, the White House gave a bunch of influencers a first look at the information. On Thursday, Bondi’s team handed out big white binders labelled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” and “The Most Transparent Administration in History” to a group of 15 rightwing activists and self-styled “citizen journalists” visiting the White House. Grinning gleefully, these influencers proceeded to pose for the press with the binders like they were trophies from a school sports day.So what was in those binders? A whole lot of heavily redacted nothing, basically. A bunch of people at Bondi’s office appear to have hastily printed out Epstein’s contact book, which was published by the (now shuttered) website Gawker a decade ago, along with other information that has been in the public domain for years. They then shoved 200 pages of printouts into binders and gave them to a handpicked collection of useful idiots. Being as they’re the most transparent administration in American history, the justice department also made the information available on its website later that day – along with a note acknowledging that there wasn’t actually much to see. “The first phase of declassified files largely contains documents that have been previously leaked but never released in a formal capacity by the U.S. Government,” the note said.“This isn’t a news story, it’s a publicity stunt,” the Palm Beach lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who has worked on the case since 2005, representing nine victims, told the Miami Herald. He added that he feared that the Trump administration was using Epstein’s victims for political purposes. But then what do you expect from Trump – a guy who, in 2002 said of Epstein: “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It’s even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do. And many of them are on the younger side.”In short, this whole big “reveal” was an embarrassing flop – so much so that it was mocked by people on the right. Even Laura Loomer, a white nationalist conspiracy theorist, thought the stunt was distasteful.“I hate to say it, but the American people can’t trust the validity of the Epstein files released today. It was released in an unprofessional manner with paid, partisan social media influencers to curate their binders for us,” Loomer tweeted on Thursday. She later added: “Sorry I won’t celebrate dancing like a school girl with a binder full of pedophile names.” When even Loomer thinks you’ve gone low, you’ve gone very low indeed.Ultimately, however, while nothing new may have been revealed in Bondi’s “Epstein files”, this grotesque stunt was very revealing. It was yet another reminder that there is nothing – not even the sex trafficking of minors – that Donald Trump and his associates won’t cynically turn into a self-serving photo opportunity. Or, I should add, an opportunity to “Rickroll” people: midday Thursday, while people were waiting for the documents to be published online, the House judiciary GOP account on X posted in all-caps: “#BREAKING: EPSTEIN FILES RELEASED.” This then redirected users to the YouTube music video for Rick Astley’s 1987 hit Never Gonna Give You Up. Classy.Also revealing was who the White House thought should get a first look at documents involving sex trafficking. Among the influencers assembled was Mike Cernovich. Who is he? Just a rightwing manosphere influencer who has said things like “rape via an alpha male is different from other forms of rape” and told men that women exist “for your sexual pleasure”.The reaction to the backlash over the Epstein files fiasco also shows how, when anything goes wrong, people in Trump’s orbit are quick to point fingers and turn on each other rather than take responsibility. Bondi, for example, responded to all the criticism by accusing the FBI of withholding information from her. Meanwhile, some of the conservative influencers who got the binders full of nothing accused the southern district of New York of hiding information.“These swamp creatures at SDNY deceived Bondi, Kash, and YOU,” the conservative media personality Liz Wheeler tweeted. “Be outraged that the binder is boring. You should be. Because the evil deep state LIED TO YOUR FACE.”Perhaps what is most revealing about this fiasco, however, is that it is a stark reminder of how justice still hasn’t been served when it comes to Epstein’s many victims. Apart from Ghislaine Maxwell, none of Epstein’s many enablers and associates have faced any real consequences. A lot of rich and powerful people have got away with disgraceful things. And that’s not a conspiracy theory; that’s just our legal system.Andrew Tate and brother land in US from Romania after travel ban liftedSpeaking of predators evading accountability, the Tate brothers, who are charged with human trafficking in Romania, landed in the US on Thursday. This comes after it was reported last week that the Trump administration had asked Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on the pair.View image in fullscreen‘Pro-lifers’ are demanding women face the death penaltySelf-described “abortion abolitionists” – who oppose all abortions without any exceptions and want to criminalize the procedure and ban IVF – used to be at the fringes of the anti-abortion movement. Now, people who believe that the death penalty should be considered for women who have abortions are slowly moving into the US mainstream. Mother Jones looks at how some of these abolitionist men have turned on women in the anti-abortion movement. “We need Christian men leading the fight against abortion, not feminist women,” one of those “TheoBros” recently wrote.At least six children die of hypothermia amid freezing conditions in GazaI haven’t heard any pro-lifers get upset about this.Jeff Bezos is sending Katy Perry to spaceLast year, Perry came out with Woman’s World, her first solo single in three years and, she said, “the first contribution I have given since becoming a mother and since feeling really connected to my feminine divine”. Unfortunately, her contribution was panned so mercilessly that Perry is now taking her feminine divine as far away from the world as possible: the singer will fly to space during Blue Origin’s next (all-female) crewed mission, the Jeff Bezos-owned space company has announced. Rumour has it that if you work at the Washington Post and have any opinions that have the temerity to clash with Bezos’s, then you’ll get shot into space, too.The pill hasn’t been improved in years – no wonder women are giving up on itMisinformation from wellness influencers along with a conservative backlash against birth control is causing more people to stop taking the pill. “But there’s another, underlying problem when it comes to contraception,” writes Martha Gill. “It needs to improve … It’s common for women to be using the same methods as their mothers – or even their grandmothers. Why aren’t contraceptives getting better?”The week in porktriarchyBig news for anyone with a small child: Peppa Pig’s mother (Mummy Pig) is having a new little piglet. Not sure how they can afford three children in this day and age but maybe Mummy Pig has been trading meme coins. While I’m sure Elon “have more babies” Musk is thrilled by the baby announcement, it is not clear how Cardi B feels. The rapper has been in a feud with Peppa since 2020, ever since her daughter started ruining her Uggs by jumping in muddy puddles. More

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      ‘Erased generations of talent’: US public land stewards decry firings and loss of knowledge

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      It’s become known as the Valentine’s Day massacre.On 14 February, tens of thousands of civil servants were fired, as the Trump administration hacked away indiscriminately at the federal government.Among them, roughly 3,400 from the US Forest Service, 2,300 at the Department of Interior, including 1,000 from the National Parks Service, and thousands more who study the country’s soils, seas and skies.For those who steward more than 640m acres of US public lands, the sweeping firings left behind gaping holes in an already short-staffed workforce and deep uncertainty about their livelihoods.More than a dozen federal workers, some of whom are still employed and some of whom lost their jobs, spoke to the Guardian this week, sharing stories of proud sacrifice; careers dedicated to the public good and the public lands that were abruptly ended with emails decrying that their work wasn’t in “the public interest”.The rhetoric built into the president’s firing spree builds on a widening disconnect in the public’s understanding of the work being done on their behalf, they say, work that’s expected to be sharply felt when it stops being done.Toilets, trash and overgrown trails tend to spark notice when they are not maintained. The smoldering campsites that would have been extinguished could now create the next catastrophe. Trampled conservation areas will not regrow, strategies that kept endangered plants and animals from extinction may not be studied or implemented, and vital weather warnings may not make it into forecasts.“It seems like a lot of voters have been fed this idea that they are going to fire the fat cats, the bureaucrats who live on government cheese and never do any real work,” said Ben Vizzachero, who lost his position at California’s Los Padres national forest last week. “The people they are firing are hardworking everyday folk.”As a wildlife biologist for the United States Forest Service, Vizzachero’s role was focused on ensuring the federal government was following its own laws, put in place to protect the environment.Tasked with complex missions to open the lands for recreation or resource development while securing their preservation and conservation into the future, agencies rely on expertise like Vizzachero’s to achieve difficult to balance aims. “I think we live in an age where people take that for granted,” he said.A biologist at another forest who asked not to be named as they appeal to get their job back echoed Vizzachero’s concerns. They were just days away from the end of their probationary period with a promotion being processed when they were fired. Now, their projects have slowed or stopped.It’s affected not just the forest but also local businesses, tribes and other partners deeply involved in the complex and integrated work.“The targets agencies are asking us to hit for timber harvests, mineral extractions, restoration projects – they have all come to a halt,” they said.When done right this work isn’t often noted by the public, even those who have long enjoyed its outcomes.“We get to see pelicans flying along our coast and bald eagles nesting at our lakes and reservoirs,” said Vizzachero. “It’s easy to forget that when our parents were young those birds were on the brink of extinction.”‘People are really struggling’The firing spree has also taken an exacting toll on the workers themselves, many of whom have long borne the brunt of tight budgets and ever-expanding workloads. Some said they had just settled into housing after spending years living out of their cars to accommodate low pay and remote work. Others said they’d lose access to medical coverage, including one employee in the midst of a cancer diagnosis. Most have been grappling with an uncertain future, looking to the few private-sector options available for the specialized roles they once filled.“If you’re doing, say, vegetation sampling and prescribed fire as your main work, there aren’t many jobs,” said Eric Anderson, 48, of Chicago, who was fired 14 February from his job as a biological science technician at Indiana Dunes national park.All the years of work Anderson put in – the master’s degree, the urban forestry classes, the wildfire deployments – seemed to disappear in a single email dismissing him.“I have worked so hard for so many years to get to this point,” said a scientist at fish and wildlife service who asked to remain anonymous, noting how much work it takes just to land a position in the federal government as a scientist. “They erased whole generations of talent.”Many of the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal government are being challenged in court, and some have been brought temporarily to a halt.But the firings are just the beginning of a broader mission to dismantle civil service across the US, and federal workers are bracing for more.A memo from the office of management and budget issued this week outlines instructions for a widespread “reduction in force”. Department heads have been asked to draft plans for the severe drawdown, according to documents reviewed by the Guardian, including identifying high, medium and low priority layoffs for the next round. The administration has ordered that only one person can be hired for every four people let go.The holes will be further exacerbated by the thousands more who took resignation deals pushed by the administration and hiring freezes that left departments unable to fill old vacancies. Even if new hires are approved, onboarding them is going to be slow: the HR systems are already struggling to keep up with the firings and appeals.Experts say the cuts could leave some departments with staffing levels typically seen during government shutdowns just as public appreciation of public lands and the reliance on science has continued to grow.Visitation to parks and recreation in forests has surged in recent years, adding new strains on aging infrastructure and more opportunities for injuries and wildlife conflicts, and increasing dangers from extreme conditions fueled by the climate crisis.Joel Hathaway, a public affairs specialist who was among those fired from Beaverhead-Deerlodge national forest said that even before the firings, there was always more work to do than any one person could handle in each position. “These are complex tasks that are usually thankless – but always worthy.”The small town in Montana that he calls home is host to many federal employees, with forest headquarters and a Bureau of Land Management office nearby. With the wide scale cuts, there won’t be enough job options to go around, he said.“There isn’t enough private sector work,” he said. “People are already cutting back on their spending and will be forced to relocate. That has a trickle-down effect on every business in town from the brewery to the hardware store.”Hathaway is among those worried he will not be able to afford his mortgage. “My partner and I will likely have to sell our home and relocate – we will have to start over,” he said. But he’s distressed about more than having his life upended.“Right now people are really struggling not only because of the financial aspect of it but because of the cold, callous nature in which it was undertaken,” he said of Trump’s firing spree.“People are struggling with their mental health, frankly. It is a really difficult thing to be the target of people who are so powerful and also hold you in so little regard.”The Associated Press contributed reporting More

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      Pardoned January 6 rioter said ‘I’m shooting myself’ before Indiana deputy fatally shot him

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      The pardoned US Capitol attacker who was shot to death by an Indiana sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop in January had first told the officer: “I’m shooting myself,” before attempting to retrieve a gun from his car, according to officials as well as newly released video of the encounter.Matthew Huttle’s killing by the deputy – whose body-worn and dashboard cameras captured video of the traffic stop – was “legally justified” and would not lead to any criminal charges, prosecutors said in a statement published on Thursday.Huttle, 42, had traveled to Washington DC with his uncle, Dale, when a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on 6 January 2021 in a desperate attempt to prolong his presidency despite his losing the 2020 White House election to Joe Biden, according to federal prosecutors. Matthew Huttle entered the Capitol for about 15 minutes – recording it on video – and agreed to a plea deal that resulted in about six months of prison for him.Dale Huttle, meanwhile, received 30 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to using a long flagpole to jab a police officer protecting the Capitol.The Huttles were among more than 1,500 Capitol attackers who were pardoned by Trump on 20 January, his first day back in the Oval Office after retaking it by defeating Kamala Harris in November’s election.Six days after Trump’s mass clemency, a deputy stopped Matthew Huttle as he drove at 70mph (113km/h) in a 55mph zone near the line between the north-west Indiana counties of Jasper and Pulaski. The deputy told Huttle he would be arrested for being a habitual traffic offender, which prompted the motorist – who had been ordered out of his car – to say: “No, I can’t go to jail for this.”Huttle later sprinted for his car as the deputy shouted: “No, don’t you do it buddy! No, no, no, no, no!”The deputy and Huttle struggled in the latter man’s car. Video captured Huttle shouting: “I’m shooting myself”, and investigators said he “reached in a manner consistent with retrieving a weapon”.Prosecutors said the deputy fired multiple shots at Huttle – mortally wounding him – after seeing him raise a gun. Investigators subsequently found a loaded 9mm pistol as well as additional ammunition inside Huttle’s car, prosecutors also said.“Based on the evidence … the deputy’s actions were legally justified under Indiana law,” said the statement signed by prosecutor Chris Vawter, which called Huttle’s killing a case of self-defense. “This investigation is now closed, and no charges will be filed.”Attempts to contact an attorney for Huttle were not immediately successful. In court filings pertaining to the case against him in the January 6 attack, Huttle’s attorney, Andrew Hemmer, claimed that his client was “not a believer in any political cause” and only went to the Capitol that day “because he thought it would be a historic moment”.“He had nothing better to do after getting out of jail” in connection with a driving violation, Hemmer wrote of Huttle.Those who criticized the clemency that Trump granted the Capitol attackers included the US’s largest police union, which had endorsed him over Harris, a former prosecutor.The Fraternal Order of Police said in a joint statement with the International Association of Chiefs of Police: “Crimes against law enforcement are not just attacks on individuals or public safety – they are attacks on society and undermine the rule of law.”Huttle was one of multiple pardoned Capitol attackers who have since landed in news headlines over other legal issues.That group included a man left facing unresolved charges in Texas of having solicited a minor.Another pardoned January 6 participant was rearrested on federal gun charges. And yet another was handed a 10-year prison sentence for killing a woman in a 2022 drunk-driving crash, according to authorities. More

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      Trump’s ‘bald power grab’ could set US on path to dictatorship, critics fear

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      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.“It has big implications. The order basically says, ‘The law is determined by my will, period, and anyone who disagrees either has to fall in line or, by implication, we can fire you because you’re not permitted to express opinions about the law contrary to mine.’ So welcome to either monarchy or dictatorship.”The order ostensibly seeks to enhance transparency and accountability within those federal agencies that act with a degree of independence, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, by bringing them under more direct oversight by the White House.“Previous administrations have allowed so-called ‘independent regulatory agencies’ to operate with minimal presidential supervision. These regulatory agencies currently exercise substantial executive authority without sufficient accountability to the president, and through him, to the American people. Moreover, these regulatory agencies have been permitted to promulgate significant regulations without review by the president,” the order said.But the detail of the order gives the president powers far beyond mere oversight.Joe Morelle, the top congressional Democrat on the committee on house administration, wrote to Trump on Wednesday denouncing the order as “an unprecedented violation of American rule of law” that “opens the floodgates to political corruption and immeasurable money in politics”.View image in fullscreenIf the order stands, it potentially opens the way for Trump to serve his political and business interests by favouring funders and allies, such as Musk – for example, by ruling that they are not bound by financial regulations, or that immigration judge rulings are invalid.But critics have further warned that, taken with other measures, the directive poses a more fundamental threat to democracy as it advances the Republican right’s “unitary executive theory”, which casts aside the constitution’s checks and balances in favour of a claim that the president’s authority is paramount.The executive order seeks to exploit the complexities of modern government. In the 1930s, Congress delegated the setting of detailed regulations for agencies that require particular expertise – such as finance and technology – to officials with specialist knowledge. The legislature still set broad parameters, but officials were charged with deciding the detail of administrative law.Congress made these regulatory agencies a step removed from the presidency to protect their independence. It only permitted the president to dismiss those leading the agencies under specified circumstances.Although most modern governments have similar systems, Trump has characterised the process as a usurpation of presidential powers and therefore unconstitutional.Trump’s executive order stripped agencies of their independence by making them directly accountable to a part of the presidency: the office of management and budget (OMB). The OMB is led by Russell Vought, founder of the rightwing Center for Renewing America (CRA) thinktank and one of the primary authors of the Project 2025 plan for an authoritarian takeover of government.Vought is behind other measures to enhance Trump’s control on the basis of unitary executive theory, including a move to allow the president to override Congress’s spending decisions by blocking or reallocating funds, a dramatic shift in power if it is allowed to stand. Vought has also spoken about driving civil servants out of work by so traumatising them that they do “not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains”.Bowman said the true intent of the order was revealed by the president’s decision to exempt some actions of the Federal Reserve from OMB oversight.“The reason plainly is that he is afraid that if he were to simply declare that the Federal Reserve is no longer independent, that would drive the markets crazy and risk a financial panic,” he said.“But it puts the lie to the notion that this is some sort of constitutionally based declaration, because if independent agencies are in their nature unconstitutional then, if you’re the president, you don’t get to pick and choose which ones you’re going to leave independent. Either it’s constitutional to have independent agencies, or it’s not.”Even some conservatives who support some of Trump’s measures are alarmed by a provision in the executive order that declares that the president, or the attorney general under the president’s control, shall make the final interpretation of the law for the executive branch in everything from issuing regulations to positions on litigation.Gregg Nunziata, executive director of the conservative Society for the Rule of Law which has been strongly critical of some of Trump’s actions, said the president had a point about the constitutional legality of the independent agencies, even if he questioned his motives in wanting to take control of them.But Nunziata is disturbed by “the increasing suggestions from the White House that the law is what the president says it is”.“The law is what Congress passes and the supreme court interprets, and the president has an obligation to obey the law. He has an obligation to hire lawyers who make a good faith efforts to interpret what the law requires, not to hire lawyers who are going to be writing him permission slips to do whatever he might like,” he said.Bowman said the section amounted to a declaration that the president’s opinion on the law overrides everyone else in government.“That’s just crazy stuff because, in essence, what it’s saying is if the president wakes up one morning and says, ‘I think all these statutes that criminalise bribery really shouldn’t apply to me, my family, my friends or executive branch officials at all, and that’s my legal opinion,’ the justice department would have to adopt an interpretation of federal bribery laws that is completely at odds with their obvious meaning,” he said.Yet again, Trump’s actions raise the question of whether the executive order will stand. Bowman is not confident that the other pillars of the US’s system of checks and balances will do their job to protect democracy.He said conservatives on the supreme court have already demonstrated their sympathy for the unitary executive theory by ruling that the president has immunity for acts in his official capacity.“The principal check against executive overreach is the power of Congress, but right now he has utterly squelched Republicans in Congress. They have a plethora of tools they could use to stop this but, at present, they are utterly terrified of using them,” he said.“The normal checks against dictatorial actions have already been suppressed or are in the process of being so.” More

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      How JD Vance emerged as the chief saboteur of the transatlantic alliance

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      JD Vance was supposed to be the inconsequential vice-president.But his starring role in Friday’s blowup between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy – where he played a cross between Trump’s bulldog and tech bro Iago – may mark the moment that the postwar alliance between Europe and America finally collapsed.Trump and Vance teamed up to goad Zelenskyy into a feud in the Oval Office. But it was Vance that snaked his way in first, riling up the Ukrainian president by telling him that he was leading “propaganda tours” of the destruction wrought by Russia’s invasion.“I think it’s disrespectful to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance said, his voice rising. “You bring people on a propaganda tour, Mr President … Do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”“During the war, everyone has problems,” Zelenskyy replied. “But you have nice ocean and don’t feel now. But you will feel it in the future.”“You don’t know that,” Trump interjected angrily. “You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.”The rest, as Trump would later call it, was “great television”. By design, it was disastrous for Ukraine.This was Vance’s second great intervention this month. His Eurosceptic worldview came into focus in Munich, where he accused shocked European leaders of stifling free speech telling them that “if you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you”.At the time, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said: “Listening to that speech … they try to pick a fight with us and we don’t want to a pick a fight with our friends”.But on Friday, Vance finally got his fight. The US vice-president is quietly assembling a foreign policy team with a deeply skeptical view of Kyiv’s value as a future ally. And European officials have lined up to back Zelenskyy, saying that the Trump team’s performance in the Oval Office indicated that the US was truly siding with Vladimir Putin in the war.“Now is the moment to stay calm, but not carry on,” wrote Camille Grand, a distinguished policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and former assistant secretary general for defense investment at Nato. “The US ally has now officially decided to take a stance inconsistent with our traditionally shared interests and values. This might be temporary or lasting but this will have profound and enduring consequences.”There is a thing in Washington that many people understand but that few will say: that the Trump administration was looking for a pretext to ruin its relationship with Ukraine, and that the canned messaging that followed the Oval Office feels oddly coordinated and premeditated.“That was a train wreck by design,” said Sam Greene, a professor of Russian politics at King’s College London. “The quiet conversation since Munich has been about setting Ukraine up for a fall. If a real deal was going to be unattainable, right, that somebody would need to take the blame for it, and it would likely be the Ukrainians, right?”By Friday afternoon, the Trump administration was briefing reporters that it was so offended by Zelenskyy’s conduct that it would consider cutting all military aid to Ukraine, including ammunition, vehicles and missiles awaiting shipment. The official told the Washington Post that the conflict with Zelenskyy had not been premeditated.But the commentary from party allies was oddly formulaic and repetitive. Lindsey Graham, who had posed for a photo with Zelenskyy just hours earlier, tweeted: “America was disrespected and the deal is off. I have never been more proud of President @realDonaldTrump and Vice President @JDVance for standing up for America First.”Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, who has been one of Ukraine’s strongest backers up until his confirmation, tweeted: “Thank you @POTUS for standing up for America in a way that no President has ever had the courage to do before. Thank you for putting America First. America is with you!”Keith Kellogg, Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, tweeted: “Was honored to be with @POTUS, @VP, and [Rubio] in the Oval today during the bi-lateral with President Zelensky. As the President has ALWAYS done-he stood for America….America First.”It is difficult to know who is more contemptible: those who wanted this or those who merely went along with it. There is a picture in the Oval Office of Rubio and Vance sitting side by side as Trump rips into Zelenskyy. Rubio looks deeply uncomfortable, his hands clasped and his face downcast. Vance looks ecstatic. He finally got the fight he wanted to pick. More

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      Zelenskyy admits Trump White House meeting ‘not good for both sides’

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      Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed regret that an Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump devolved into a shocking display of acrimony between the leaders of two historically allied nations, while insisting that their relationship could be salvaged.Hours after the public confrontation in which Trump and Vice-President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy, accusing him of “gambling with world war three,” the Ukrainian leader defended himself during an in-studio interview on Fox News, while also agreeing that the dispute was “not good for both sides”.Asked by the host, Bret Baier, if he felt like he owed the US president an apology, as many of Trump’s Republican allies have demanded, Zelenskyy did not directly answer. Baier pressed, and asked again whether he owes Trump an apology. Zelenskyy again did not answer, saying instead: “I think that we have to be very open and very honest. And I’m not sure that we did something bad.”Zelenskyy was in Washington for a high-stakes meeting with Trump to discuss a controversial minerals deal the Ukrainians hoped would be a step toward unlocking security guarantees from the US as part of a ceasefire agreement to end the grueling war, which began three years ago when Russia invaded.But after the disastrous on-camera dispute, Zelenskyy left the White House early, and a press conference to announce the minerals deal was scrapped. The appearance on Trump’s preferred network was scheduled before the Oval Office meeting deteriorated, and Baier announced on Twitter that Zelenskyy intended to sit for the 30-minute interview despite cancelling his other engagements in Washington.European leaders rallied around Zelenskyy, pledging their continued support for Ukraine while Trump’s allies applauded the US president for what they described as a display of “America First”.During the Fox interview, Zelenskyy repeatedly thanked the American people for supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia. “From the very beginning, during three years of full-scale innovation, you helped us to survive,” he said.Asked if he believed the meeting was an ambush, as some Democrats have suggested, Zelenskyy said he did not know. “It was just a really tough situation,” he said. Appearing on the network, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, said it was “absolutely not true” that the Oval Office spat was pre-planned by Trump or Vance.Before departing the White House for his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump kept up the pressure on Zelenskyy. “All of a sudden he’s a big shot because he has the US on his side,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Either we’re going to end it or let him fight it out, and if he fights it out, it’s not going to be pretty. Because without us, he doesn’t win.”Zelenskyy concluded the interview with an appeal to the American people. “We are thankful and sorry for this,” he said, adding that he was confident he could salvage his relationship with Trump. More

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      Federal workers might get email requiring response after Trump and Musk praise efforts to investigate workforce – live

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      This report is from the Associated Press.Federal employees could get another email on Saturday requiring them to explain their recent accomplishments, a renewed attempt by Donald Trump and Elon Musk to demand answers from the government workforce.The plan, first reported by the Washington Post (paywall), was disclosed to AP by a person with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.The first email, which was distributed a week ago, asked employees “what did you do last week?” and prompted them to list five tasks that they completed. Musk, who empowered by Trump is aiming to downsize agencies and eliminate thousands of federal jobs, said anyone who didn’t respond would be fired. Many agencies, meanwhile, told their workforces not to respond or issued conflicting guidance.The second email will be delivered in a different way, according to the person with knowledge of the situation, potentially making it easier to discipline employees for noncompliance.Instead of being sent by the Office of Personnel Management, which functions as a human resources agency for the federal government but doesn’t have the power to hire or fire, the email will come from individual agencies that have direct oversight of career officials.It’s unclear how national security agencies will handle the second email. After the first one, they directed employees not to write back because much of the agencies’ work is sensitive or classified. Less than half of federal workers responded, according to the White House.The Office of Personnel Management ultimately told agency leaders shortly before the Monday deadline for responses that the request was optional, although it left the door open for similar demands going forward.On Wednesday, at Trump’s first cabinet meeting of his second term, Musk argued that his request was a “pulse check” to ensure that those working for the government have “a pulse and two neurons”.Both Musk and Trump have claimed that some workers are either dead or fictional, and the president has publicly backed Musk’s approach.Trump said that people who didn’t respond to the first email “ are on the bubble”, adding that he wasn’t “thrilled” about them not responding.“Now, maybe they don’t exist,” he claimed without providing evidence. “Maybe we’re paying people that don’t exist.”The White House communications team just sent reporters a lengthy round up of statements of support from Republican lawmakers and cabinet members for what many Ukrainians see as the Oval office ambush of Zelesnkyy by Donald Trump and JD Vance.Perhaps concerned that the press corps is not closely following Republicans on X, the social-media platform that has tilted right since Elon Musk’s takeover, or Fox, the email includes quotes praising Trump and Vance from 45 Republican lawmakers and eight cabinet secretaries.Among them was this, from Senator Lindsey Graham: “I’ve never been more proud of President Trump for showing the American people — and the world — you don’t trifle with this man … He wanted to get a ceasefire. He wants to end the war and Zelenskyy felt like he needed to bait Trump in the Oval Office”.Graham’s comment, made to Fox, is curious because he told reporters earlier that he had spoken with Zelenskyy this morning, before the meeting, and warned him, “don’t take the bait”. That seems to suggest that he had cautioned Zelenskyy against being baited into an argument. Then, after Zelenskyy did respond to insults from Vance and Trump by arguing back, Graham accused him of “baiting” Trump.Graham then said that he was proud of both Trump and Vance.“What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelenskyy again”, Graham said. “He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with or he needs to change”.Here is video of Graham’s earlier comments, to a group of non-partisan reporters outside the White House after the meeting.David Smith, the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief, in his ‘US politics sketch’, has more on the historic and histrionic Trump-Zelenskyy Oval office showdown.For American readers unfamiliar with the term, political sketch writing is a British newspaper genre, described as “a form of verbal cartooning” akin to the kind of satirical truth-telling we more commonly get from late-night comedians.Here is how David’s latest sketch begins, but please do read it all:
      This is going to be great television,” Donald Trump remarked at the end. Sure. And the captain of the Titanic probably assured his passengers that this would make a great movie some day.
      Trump has just presided over one of the greatest diplomatic disasters in modern history. Tempers flared, voices were raised and protocol was shredded in the once hallowed Oval Office. As Trump got into a shouting match Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a horrified Europe watched the post-second world war order crumble before its eyes.
      Never before has a US president bullied and berated an adversary, never mind an ally, in such a public way. Of course reality TV star and wrestling fan turned US president had it all play out on television for the benefit of his populist support base – and a certain bare-chested chum in the Kremlin.
      Zelenskyy had come to the White House to sign a deal for US involvement in Ukraine’s mineral industry to pave the way for an end to three-year war in Russia. There was a hint of trouble to come when he arrived at the West Wing, wearing black – not a suit – and Trump greeted him with a handshake and sarcasm: “Wow, look, you’re all dressed up!”

      Donald Trump cut talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy short following heated exchanges in the Oval Office during which the US president and his vice-president JD Vance falsely accused Zelenskyy of being “disrespectful” and not thanking the US for its support. European leaders promptly rallied behind the Ukrainian president in a show of unity after the joint press conference was canceled and he left the White House early. No mineral deal was signed. More on that here.

      Federal employees could get another email on Saturday requiring them to explain their recent accomplishments, a renewed attempt by Trump and Elon Musk to demand answers from the government workforce. The second email will come from individual agencies that have direct oversight of career officials, rather than being sent by the office of personnel management as was the first email. It’s unclear how national security agencies will handle the second email.

      Trump was sued by the Democratic party over a recent executive order it says violates federal election law by giving him too much power over the independent federal election commission. The lawsuit objects to an 18 February order giving the White House more control over the election commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other traditionally independent agencies that normally operate day-to-day at arm’s length from the president. Critics have called the order an unprecedented power grab. The Democrats said it would effectively substitute Trump’s views on election-related disputes for those of the bipartisan election commission, and let him dictate outcomes.

      The US government’s “severe” cuts to USAid will make the world less healthy, less safe and less prosperous, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, said. Imploring the US to reverse its decision to cut funding for life-saving initiatives across the world, Guterres said America’s retreat from its humanitarian role and influence will run counter to its influence globally and its own interests. He said: “America’s generosity and compassion have not only saved lives, built peace and improved the state of the world; they have contributed to the stability and prosperity that Americans depend on.” In South Africa alone, the US shutdown of HIV/AIDs funding could lead to 500,000 deaths over the next ten years, modelling suggests.

      The Social Security Administration is preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000, AP reported. The workforce reduction could be as high as 50%.

      Trump wants to also radically shrink the state department – leaving it with fewer diplomats, a smaller number of embassies and a narrower remit that critics argue could hand China wins across the world, Politico reported.

      Meanwhile around 800 employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Assocation (Noaa), the US’s preeminent climate research agency, have been tapped for termination, according to ABC7 NewYork.

      Five former US defense secretaries have demanded congressional hearings on Trump’s firings of several military commanders, including the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, saying it was done for “purely partisan reasons” and weakens national security.
      This report is from Reuters.Donald Trump was sued on Friday by the Democratic Party over a recent executive order it says violates federal election law by giving him too much power over the independent federal election commission.The lawsuit filed in the Washington DC federal court by three national Democratic committees is the party’s first against Trump during his second term.It comes as Democrats, outnumbered in Congress, seek an effective means to counteract far-reaching changes from Trump’s first six weeks in office, including many steps to lessen government oversight and eliminate internal dissent.Several dozen lawsuits have challenged other actions taken by Trump since his inauguration last month.Friday’s lawsuit objects to a February 18 order giving the White House more control over the election commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other traditionally independent agencies that normally operate day-to-day at arm’s length from the president.Other defendants include attorney general Pam Bondi, the election commission and three commissioners.The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the election commission said that agency does not discuss litigation.Trump’s order, “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies,” makes his and Bondi’s opinions on questions of law “controlling” for all federal employees performing their official duties, and bans executive branch employees from advancing contrary views.Critics have called the order an unprecedented power grab.The Democrats said it would effectively substitute Trump’s views on election-related disputes for those of the bipartisan election commission, and let him dictate outcomes.According to the complaint, letting Trump micromanage the commission would undermine that purpose, by allowing a “single partisan political figure” to rig campaign rules and resolve disputes against his opponents.The plaintiffs include the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.They said Trump’s order is already causing irreparable harm, by making it harder for the Senate committee to defend against a complaint by the 2024 reelection campaign of Republican US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas over his opponent’s advertisements.The lawsuit seeks a declaration that a federal law shielding the election commission from “presidential coercion and control” is constitutional, and to block Trump’s February 18 order.US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has confirmed a report by CBS that the Trump administration has moved to ease restrictions on American commanders carrying out raids and ordering airstrikes outside battlefields.CBS reported that Hegseth changed the rules of engagement for the US army during a meeting with members of the US Africa Command (Africom) last month. In a post on social media above a hyperlink to the story, Hegseth wrote: “Correct.”The change gives greater latitude to American commanders to choose their targets and move against them.Biden initially tightened restrictions around airstrikes outside traditional conflict zone in 2022 after Trump loosened them. Under Biden’s guidance the president would have had to approve the drone strike himself, whereas Trump has moved decision making power further down the chain of command. Trump ordered his first airstrikes against IS-Somalia targets earlier this month.The state department this week terminated a USAid initiative that has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to help restore Ukraine’s energy grid from attacks by the Russian military, two USAid officials working on the agency’s Ukraine mission have told NBC News.According to NBC’s report, power outages have been applied overnight in some regions of Ukraine due to the attacks on energy facilities. Ukraine’s systems have been systematically targeted by Russia since its full-scale invasion three years ago.“It significantly undercuts this administration’s abilities to negotiate on the ceasefire, and it’d signal to Russia that we don’t care about Ukraine or our past investments,” one USAid official involved in the Ukraine mission said.The official continued:
      Russia is fighting a two-pronged war in Ukraine: A military one but also an economic one. They’re trying to crush the economy, but USAid has played a central role in helping it be resilient, [including] shoring up the energy grid … We’ve provided vast amount of support to the Ukrainian government to avoid a macro economic crisis.
      In addition to ending the Ukraine Energy Security Project, USAid is also dramatically downsizing its presence in Ukraine.Before the Trump administration’s latest moves, 64 American government employees and contractors were serving on the ground in Ukraine for the agency. Just eight of those personnel are slated to remain on the ground in the war-torn country after the Trump administration placed its remaining global workforce on administrative leave and ordered those workers not deemed “critical” to return to the US.The two officials warned that USAid withdrawing from Ukraine would leave its energy grid vulnerable in the heart of the winter as it endures assaults from further Russian missiles.You can read NBC’s report here.From Reuters:House Democrats demanded answers on Friday from health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr on the exact number of employees fired from the health agencies he oversees and warned the dismissals could undermine public health.Hundreds of workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health have been forced out as the Trump administration overhauls government agencies.In three letters sent on Wednesday, one each for the CDC, the FDA, and the NIH, energy and commerce committee senior Democrat Frank Pallone Jr, and the top Democrat on the health subcommittee, Diana DeGette, pressed Kennedy to disclose not only how many workers were terminated at each agency, but also how many more layoffs are expected.They also asked how many of the currently vacant positions would be left unfilled and how many of those fired were responsible for responding to outbreaks of diseases like bird flu, measles, and mpox.Kennedy had pledged “radical transparency” and accountability including an “unprecedented level of collaboration” with Congress during his confirmation hearings.HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Kennedy intended to provide the information.Pallone and DeGette also asked whether HHS conducted any assessment of how these firings would impact the country’s ability to respond to public health threats. They wrote:
      We are deeply concerned these widespread terminations took place without any review of these employees’ work history or without any analysis of the impacts these job losses would have on the Department’s ability to protect the health and well-being of the American people.
      The letters come just a day after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s directives, which led to the mass firings, were illegal and ordered them to be rescinded.Pallone and DeGette warned that failing to restore these positions could put Americans at greater risk from foodborne illnesses, infectious disease outbreaks, and delays in medical research.
      The impending impact of these terminations, including exposing Americans to greater death and illness due to outbreaks of foodborne illness and infectious disease, will fall on your shoulders.
      The S&P 500 dipped slightly in choppy trading on Friday after talks between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy ended in disaster.Trump and Zelenskyy traded verbal blows at the White House before the world’s media, adding fresh uncertainty for investors already worried about sticky US inflation and a tepid economy.The S&P 500 was last down 0.07% at 5,857.40 points. The Nasdaq declined 0.22% to 18,504.02 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.01% at 43,236.40 points.Earlier, a Commerce Department report showed inflation rose in line with expectations in the previous month. However, consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, dropped 0.2% after an upwardly revised 0.8% increase in December.Not that there was any ambiguity, but the White House has confirmed that Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not sign a minerals deal on Friday.Trump has not ruled out an agreement, but not until Ukraine is ready to have a constructive conversation, a senior US official told Reuters.It was up to the Ukrainians if the leaders’ canceled joint news conference could be rescheduled while Zelenskyy remained in the US, the official said.Following furiously heated talks earlier, during which Donald Trump shouted at the Ukrainian president, the joint press conference has been canceled, the White House said.A White House source confirmed to Reuters that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is leaving the White House early.Trump posted on Truth Social that Zelenskyy was “not ready for peace”. He claimed Zelenskyy had “disrespected” the US (as did his vice-president, JD Vance, who also accused Zelenskyy during the meeting of apparently not thanking the US enough for its support thus far).Trump added:
      He can come back when he’s ready for peace.
      For all the details head to over Europe live blog:This report is from the Associated Press.Federal employees could get another email on Saturday requiring them to explain their recent accomplishments, a renewed attempt by Donald Trump and Elon Musk to demand answers from the government workforce.The plan, first reported by the Washington Post (paywall), was disclosed to AP by a person with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.The first email, which was distributed a week ago, asked employees “what did you do last week?” and prompted them to list five tasks that they completed. Musk, who empowered by Trump is aiming to downsize agencies and eliminate thousands of federal jobs, said anyone who didn’t respond would be fired. Many agencies, meanwhile, told their workforces not to respond or issued conflicting guidance.The second email will be delivered in a different way, according to the person with knowledge of the situation, potentially making it easier to discipline employees for noncompliance.Instead of being sent by the Office of Personnel Management, which functions as a human resources agency for the federal government but doesn’t have the power to hire or fire, the email will come from individual agencies that have direct oversight of career officials.It’s unclear how national security agencies will handle the second email. After the first one, they directed employees not to write back because much of the agencies’ work is sensitive or classified. Less than half of federal workers responded, according to the White House.The Office of Personnel Management ultimately told agency leaders shortly before the Monday deadline for responses that the request was optional, although it left the door open for similar demands going forward.On Wednesday, at Trump’s first cabinet meeting of his second term, Musk argued that his request was a “pulse check” to ensure that those working for the government have “a pulse and two neurons”.Both Musk and Trump have claimed that some workers are either dead or fictional, and the president has publicly backed Musk’s approach.Trump said that people who didn’t respond to the first email “ are on the bubble”, adding that he wasn’t “thrilled” about them not responding.“Now, maybe they don’t exist,” he claimed without providing evidence. “Maybe we’re paying people that don’t exist.”Florida first lady Casey DeSantis doesn’t rule out running for governor alongside her husband.At an event at the Florida International University Academic Health Center on Friday, after reporters asked if she could confirm if she was considering a run, DeSantis said: “Well, I would say one thing. To quote the late, great Yogi Berra, ‘when you come to a fork in the road, take.’”Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, said of his wife that people have been approaching him “for years, begging to get her in the fray”. More

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      Trump’s explosive clash with Zelenskyy: read the full transcript

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      A meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy veered sharply off track in front of the television cameras as the US president berated his Ukrainian counterpart then abruptly called off a minerals deal with that he had said would be the first step towards a ceasefire with Russia.Here are the highlights, word-for-word, of the conversation between Trump, Zelenskyy and Vice-President JD Vance in the Oval Office.Zelenskyy: What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you are asking about? What do you mean?Vance: I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country.Zelenskyy: Yes, but if you …Vance: Mr President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the frontlines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president.Zelenskyy: Have you ever been to Ukraine to see the problems we have?Vance: I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people on a propaganda tour, Mr President.Do you disagree that you’ve had problems with bringing people in your military, and do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?Zelenskyy: First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you. You have nice solutions and don’t feel [it] now, but you will feel it in the future.Trump: You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.Zelenskyy: I am not telling you, I am answering …Vance: That’s exactly what you’re doing …Trump, raising his voice: You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. We’re going to feel very good and very strong.Zelenskyy tries to speak.Trump: You right now are not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position. You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having the cards.You’re gambling with lives of millions of people, you’re gambling with world war three and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to this country.Vance: Have you said thank you once?Zelenskyy: A lot of times.Vance: No, in this meeting, this entire meeting? Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country.Zelenskyy: Yes, you think that if you will speak very loudly about the war …Trump: He’s not speaking loud. Your country is in big trouble. No, no, you’ve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.Zelenskyy: I know, I know.Trump: You’re not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out OK, because of us.Zelenskyy: We are staying strong from the very beginning of the war, we have been alone, and we are saying, I said, thanks.Trump, speaking over Zelenskyy: You haven’t been alone … We gave you military equipment. Your men are brave, but they had our military. If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.Zelenskyy: I heard it from Putin in three days.Trump: It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this.Vance: Just say thank you.Zelenskyy: I said it a lot of times.Vance: Accept that there are disagreements and let’s go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it in the American media, when you’re wrong. We know that you’re wrong.Trump: You’re buried there. Your people are dying. You’re running low on soldiers. No, listen … And then you tell us, ‘I don’t want a ceasefire. I don’t want a ceasefire. I want to go and I want this.’Trump: You’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest, that’s not a nice thing.All right, I think we’ve seen enough. What do you think? Great television. I will say that. More