Top Items:
Bobby Allyn / NPR:
Trump administration set to purchase $400 million worth of armored Teslas — The Trump administration is expected to purchase $400 million worth of armored Tesla vehicles, according to a new State Department document detailing procurement for fiscal year 2025.
Discussion:
Alternet.org, Raw Story and Business Insider
RELATED:
Ryan Grim / Drop Site News:
“Armored Tesla” forecast to win $400 million State Department contract after Trump's election, government document shows — The State Department's procurement forecast, revised as of late December 2024, lists Tesla as the recipient of the largest expected contract, with Marco Rubio's department planning …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Heatmap News, The Independent, Alternet.org, Fortune, The Democracy Labs, Raw Story, Mediaite, Electrek, Mock Paper Scissors, New Republic and Bloomberg
Chad De Guzman / Time:
Mention of Tesla Removed From $400 Million State Dept. Contract Amid Scrutiny of Musk — The State Department was planning to buy $400 million worth of “Armored Tesla” later this year, according to its 2025 procurement forecast, a document outlining projections of anticipated contracts, which was published in December.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars
Jack Ewing / New York Times:
State Dept. Plans $400 Million Purchase of Armored Tesla Cybertrucks — The department plans to buy armored Tesla vehicles. Elon Musk, who is leading efforts to cut government spending, has won more than $13 billion in government contracts in the past five years.
Miles Klee / Rolling Stone:
The Trump Administration Might Just Spend $400 Million on ‘Armored’ Teslas
The Trump Administration Might Just Spend $400 Million on ‘Armored’ Teslas
Discussion:
Hackwhackers, The Independent, El País and ABC News
Washington Post:
Trump closes down federal worker buyout offer after judge lifts hold — The administration moved to close the buyout program Wednesday evening after a federal judge in Massachusetts rejected a call from several labor groups that sued to block the initiative
Discussion:
Reuters, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, New Republic, Daily Mail, HotAir, Semafor, Townhall, New York Times, Raw Story and Fox News
RELATED:
Zoe Tillman / Bloomberg:
Trump Removal of Whistleblower Agency Head Blocked by Judge — Judge held Trump's firing of Hampton Dellinger likely unlawful — Other independent agency officials are suing over removals — A federal judge in Washington blocked for now President Donald Trump from removing the head …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
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Bloomberg:
Trump Pushes a Fading Zelenskiy Toward a Risky Ukraine Election — The comedian-turned-wartime president is at a crossroads — Trump is pressing for a vote that plays into Putin's hands — Volodymyr Zelenskiy knows a thing or two about wearing different guises. As a comedian, humor was his armor.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Atlantic Council, Politico, The Poke, Raw Story, The Economist, El País, EADaily, New York Times and Reuters
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The Moscow Times:
Trump-Putin Meeting Should Be Organized ‘Promptly,’ Kremlin Says
Discussion:
Axios, Reuters, Politico, ZeroHedge News, The Atlantic, EADaily, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, New York Daily News, NBC News, Bloomberg, Scottie's Playtime and HuffPost
Washington Post:
New Kennedy Center board elects Trump as chair. Rutter departs as president.
New Kennedy Center board elects Trump as chair. Rutter departs as president.
Discussion:
Law Dork, New York Times, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Hill, Townhall, Twitchy, Politico, Time, Axios, Daily Caller News Foundation, CBS News, One America News Network, The Independent, NPR, Mediaite, New York Daily News, The Post Millennial, WRIC ABC 8News, Forbes and Fox News
J.D. Wolf / MeidasTouch News:
Pro-Hitler Ad Runs on Elon Musk's X Amid His Growing Ties to Trump — Why won't Musk tell Nazis to shush their mouths? — MeidasTouch has uncovered a pro-Hitler ad being served on social network X, the platform currently owned by Elon Musk. The unelected head of the Department of Government Efficiency …
Discussion:
MacRumors and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
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Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Elon Musk's X to pay about $10 million to settle Trump lawsuit over account suspension … Social media company X has agreed to pay about $10 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump, who has put X's billionaire owner Elon Musk in charge of a major government cost- and staff-cutting effort.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Raw Story, CBS News, Forbes, Lawyers, Guns & Money, TechCrunch, Deadline, Reuters, Mediaite and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »
New York Times:
Some Migrants Sent by Trump to Guantánamo Are Being Held by Military Guards — The Times has obtained a list of 53 Venezuelan men the Trump administration has put in a wartime prison built to hold Al Qaeda suspects. — Dozens of Venezuelan migrants sent by the Trump administration …
Discussion:
CNN, Digby's Hullabaloo, Townhall, NPR, The Independent, Axios, USA Today and Mother Jones
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Rene Marsh / CNN:
Mass firings have begun at federal agencies — Mass firings have begun at federal agencies, with terminations of probationary employees underway at the Department of Education and the Small Business Administration, federal employees and union sources told CNN Wednesday.
Discussion:
Nextgov/FCW, Wired, NPR, Business Insider, GovExec.com, New Republic, Fortune and Bloomberg
Luis Ferré-Sadurní / New York Times:
New York Got $80 Million for Migrants. The White House Took It Back. — The New York City comptroller's office, which first noticed the missing money, said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had unilaterally taken the funds from the city's accounts.
Discussion:
The Bulwark, Associated Press, The City, Law and Chaos, Daily Mail, The Independent, New York Daily News, Above the Law, Politico, New York Magazine, abc7NY and Forbes
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Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump and Musk Hunt for Corruption, Very Selectively — Spending that the White House does not like is being labeled fraudulent. At the same time, President Trump is rolling back anticorruption efforts and ethical standards for himself and allies like Elon Musk.
Discussion:
LewRockwell
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Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump and Musk can't seem to locate much evidence of fraud
Trump and Musk can't seem to locate much evidence of fraud
Discussion:
Plain Dealer, Washington Examiner, Futurism, Raw Story, HuffPost, The Japan Times, Associated Press, NPR, New York Times, The Borowitz Report, USA Today, TMZ.com, The Hill and Reuters
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Hegseth's rough start: Pentagon chief faces protest at U.S. base abroad — The question isn't why the defense secretary faced pushback at U.S. European Command headquarters; the question is whether he'll see more protests soon. — Though it still seems hard to believe, a couple of weeks ago …
Discussion:
RedState, The War Zone and Washington Post
Teddy Rosenbluth / New York Times:
Measles Outbreak Hits Town in Texas — As of Tuesday, 22 children and two adults had been infected, all of whom were unvaccinated, local officials said. — A worsening measles outbreak has taken root in Texas, sickening two dozen and hospitalizing nine on the western edge of the state …
Discussion:
ABC News, Ars Technica, CBS News and UPI
Eliot Chen / The Wire China:
DOGE's Latest Target is Seen as a Gift to the CCP … The Treasury Department has frozen funding disbursements to the National Endowment for Democracy, a U.S.-government funded organization that promotes democracy around the world and is a longtime bugbear of the Chinese Communist Party.
RELATED:
Phelim Kine / Politico:
The National Endowment for Democracy was a GOP darling. Musk is changing that.
The National Endowment for Democracy was a GOP darling. Musk is changing that.
Discussion:
Drezner's World, The National Pulse and The Free Press
Washington Post:
Justice, FBI ousters remove longtime experts from daily threats meeting — Trump administration shake-ups at the Justice Department and FBI have eroded continuity on national security matters, people familiar with the situation said. — Every morning at 9:45, top FBI and Justice Department officials meet …
Reuters:
US sues New York state officials over immigration enforcement, attorney general says — The U.S. Justice Department has sued New York State officials over alleged failures to enforce federal immigration law, Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters on Wednesday.
Sadanand Dhume / Wall Street Journal:
If Indians and Pakistanis Can Relocate, Why Can't Gazans? — Population transfers aren't a Trump innovation. There are plenty of examples from the 20th century. — President Trump's idea that the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and relocate two million Palestinians has elicited outrage and derision.
David Bixenspan / Public Notice:
Linda McMahon is much worse than you think — 💭 🤔 💥 With corporate outlets obeying in advance, supporting independent political media is more important right now than ever. Public Notice is possible thanks to paid subscribers. If you aren't one already …
Discussion:
NBC News and Associated Press
Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
Eric Adams Discussed Possible Republican Primary Run With G.O.P. Leader — The mayor discussed options to run for re-election in the Republican contest as recently as Monday. Asked for comment, he said he was running as a Democrat. — Mayor Eric Adams of New York City has quietly explored running …
Discussion:
The Independent, USA Today, Politico and San Diego Union-Tribune
Noah Weiland / New York Times:
Trump Tests Legal Limits in Pushing out Federal Employees — President Trump and Elon Musk, who is leading the administration's downsizing efforts, are pushing for quick and widespread layoffs. But the blitz has run into a complicated set of restrictions.
Discussion:
Washington Post
Politico:
‘The rules of the game have changed’: Europe fears an unreliable US ally — European defense leaders are preparing for a tense gathering with the Trump team. — MUNICH — European allies are bracing this week for the answer to a question they've been dreading to ask: Can they really count on the United States?
Abby Vesoulis / Mother Jones:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Two-Word Plan to Save the CFPB From Elon Musk — “Banks hated this agency from the first time I ever talked about it.” — Following the 2008 global financial crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was established by Congress to reign …
Discussion:
The Independent, Accountable US, Rolling Stone and Bloomberg
Christopher F. Schuetze / New York Times:
Dozens Injured as Driver Crashes Car Into Munich Protest — The authorities believe the crash, into a union's strike-day demonstration, was a deliberate attack carried out by a 24-year-old man who was known to the police. — More than two dozen people were injured when a car crashed …
Discussion:
CBS News, Reuters and Los Angeles Times
Rachel Pannett / Washington Post:
Disney scales back content warnings on classic films amid DEI shift — Classic films including “Dumbo” and “Peter Pan” will no longer autoplay warnings about racial stereotypes. It comes as Trump cracks down on diversity initiatives. — Disney is reducing content warnings that caution viewers …
Discussion:
Fox News, Breitbart, ZeroHedge News, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, HotAir and WGSO 990AM
Josh Funk / Associated Press:
US eggs prices hit a record high of $4.95 and are likely to keep climbing — Egg prices hit a record high as the U.S. contends with an ongoing bird flu outbreak, but consumers didn't need government figures released Wednesday to tell them eggs are terribly expensive and hard to find at times because of an ongoing.
Discussion:
New York Times, CBS News, KFTC-TV, Bangor Daily News, Associated Press, Mercury News and MPR News
Megan Brenan / Gallup:
More Democrats Favor Party Moderation Than in Past — Plurality of Republicans favor status quo for their party; fewer say it should be more conservative — WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the wake of the 2024 election and Donald Trump's inauguration for a second term as president …
Discussion:
Semafor
Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Bernie Sanders launches high-profile offensive against ‘the oligarchy’ — “He likes spreading his message, and likes being adored,” a former aide said. — Bernie Sanders, the two-time presidential candidate, is barnstorming Iowa and Nebraska to rally voters against what he calls …
Dan Froomkin / Heads Up News:
What you can do to fight the Trump agenda — “What can I do?” — That's the question a lot of you are asking. — I've spent the last week exploring that question. And the overarching answer, based on my research, is that you should reach out and make connections with others …
Jonathan Lambert / NPR:
Sen. Ted Cruz's list of “woke” science includes self-driving cars, solar eclipses — There is nothing like being in the path of totality during a total solar eclipse. — “For just a few minutes, it feels like the whole world stands still and yet everything changes,” says Corinne Brevik …
Discussion:
The 74 and Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
“Largest data breach in US history”: Three more lawsuits try to stop DOGE … The US DOGE Service's access to the private data of ordinary Americans and federal employees is being challenged in several lawsuits filed this week. — Three new complaints seek court orders that would stop …
Discussion:
UPI, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Wired and Forbes



