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.

Europe braces for a future without the US as a reliable 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?

Trump and Musk can't seem to locate much evidence of fraud  —  They keep justifying their bold moves as combating fraud, but they have been unable so far to point to much of anything specific that's actually fraudulent.  —  President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's efforts to disrupt …

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 …

How to stop Trump's power grab  —  At this point, there is little doubt that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are engaged in a fundamentally unlawful effort to rewrite the American constitutional order.  Their efforts to redirect federal spending are attempts to seize Congress's power of the purse …

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 …

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 …

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman: 'There Isn't A Constitutional Crisis'  —  Everyone needs to cool it on the rhetoric, the Pennsylvania senator said Wednesday.  —  LOADING  —  Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) urged everyone to tone down the rhetoric about President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk moving …

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.

Trump nominations loom over Senate's cherished Munich trip … - In an email to senators, Thune warned they may have to stay in town to vote on President Trump's nominations on Friday, sources familiar with the matter told Axios.  — That would delay, and potentially cancel …

Trump executive order leads to $100 energy bill hike for hundreds in Alabama  —  Donald Trump promised that, as president, he would drastically lower Americans' energy bills.  “[W]e're going to make it a much — a much different place,” Trump said during a November 14 speech at Mar-a-Lago.

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

Trump administration sues NY over ‘Green Light’ law  —  The 2019 law lets undocumented immigrants get driver's licenses and prevents federal immigration authorities from accessing DMV data without a warrant.  —  U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announces a lawsuit against New York state on Feb. 12, 2025.

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.

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 …

The White House Is Now Running The Justice Department  —  A lot of things happened.  Here are some of the things.  This is TPM's Morning Memo.  Sign up for the email version.  —  As Bad As It Gets  —  The dangerous co-optation of the Justice Department by the Trump White House continues in ways both substantive and symbolic.

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.

Apple Resumes Advertising on X  —  Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year.  The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk.

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 …

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 …

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.

Musk team kicks off federal layoffs as White House eyes big cuts  —  The Trump administration's plan for shrinking the civilian workforce is coming into increasingly clear view.  —  Billionaire Elon Musk's team has initiated sweeping layoffs of federal employees, as the Trump administration races …

Musk Claims To Know The Net Worths Of Federal Employees - But How?  —  His Oval Office remark suggests a remarkable invasion of privacy of potentially millions of federal employees.  —  LOADING  —  WASHINGTON - Elon Musk suggests he has obtained access to the personal financial records …

Jayapal Introduces Constitutional Amendment to Reverse Citizens United  —  WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) introduced an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would end corporate personhood, reverse Citizens United, put power back into the hands of people, and make it clear that money does not equal speech.