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:
Hackwhackers and Alternet.org
RELATED:
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.
Discussion:
Futurism and The Independent
Politico:
Playbook: A make-or-break moment — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — Good morning. This is Eugene Daniels in the driver's seat on a consequential day for the House GOP, President Trump's legislative agenda, American health care, the FBI, India and all of Europe.
Discussion:
Punchbowl News and New York Times
Ryan Grim / Drop Site News:
“Armored Tesla” forecast to win $400 million State Department contract after Trump's election, government document shows
Jack Ewing / New York Times:
State Department Revises Plan to Buy Armored Teslas
State Department Revises Plan to Buy Armored Teslas
Discussion:
Alternet.org, Fortune and Raw Story
Financial Times:
Donald Trump opens the door to Vladimir Putin's grandest ambitions — Russian leader wants a new security architecture to give his country a sphere of influence in Europe — Vladimir Putin's initial plan to capture Ukraine in a few days ended in disaster.
RELATED:
Politico:
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?
Discussion:
Reuters, CBS News, Politico, Telegraph, The Guardian, Financial Times, Defense One, Responsible Statecraft, Bloomberg, The New European, New York Post, Foreign Policy and BBC
The Bulwark:
A Valentine for Vladimir — Plus: How did the federal government take $80 million out of a private bank account?
Discussion:
Gazette, The Defense Post, Writing from London, The Guardian, Politico and Grabien
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Hegseth's Ukraine bombshell and Trump's Putin call leave NATO reeling
Hegseth's Ukraine bombshell and Trump's Putin call leave NATO reeling
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, EADaily, ZeroHedge News, New York Times, Reuters, Raw Story, CNN, KFTC-TV, Chicago Tribune, HuffPost, Foreign Policy, Semafor, Al Jazeera, Daily Mail, Kyodo News+, Atlantic Council, Politico, Washington Post, Associated Press, ABC News, New York Post, The Guardian, Vox, Diplomatic,, The Independent, Roll Call, El País, One America News Network, U.S. Department of Defense, The Post Millennial, New Republic, NPR, Bloomberg, Baltimore Sun, Breitbart, San Diego Union-Tribune, Ace of Spades HQ, Scottie's Playtime, WTTG-TV, The American Conservative, Saywhat Politics and MPR News
Jakub Krupa / The Guardian:
Politicians weigh in on immigration debate after 28 injured as car hits crowd in Munich - Europe live
Politicians weigh in on immigration debate after 28 injured as car hits crowd in Munich - Europe live
Discussion:
Reuters, Politico, Global News, CBS News, New York Post, The National Pulse, Al Jazeera, Fortune, Metro.co.uk and Semafor
Politico:
Russia rejoices at Trump-Putin call as Zelenskyy rejects talks without Ukraine present
Russia rejoices at Trump-Putin call as Zelenskyy rejects talks without Ukraine present
Discussion:
Reuters, The Guardian, Daily Mail, The National Interest, ZeroHedge News, New York Post, The Daily Wire, Patterico's Pontifications, The Poke, Politico, Associated Press, Alternet.org, EADaily, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, The Economist, One America News Network, CBS News, New York Times, New York Daily News, NBC News, Forbes and New Jersey Online
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
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 …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Plain Dealer, Washington Examiner, Futurism, HuffPost, The Japan Times, Associated Press, New York Times, The Borowitz Report, USA Today and NPR
RELATED:
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump and Musk Hunt for Corruption, Very Selectively
Trump and Musk Hunt for Corruption, Very Selectively
Discussion:
The Independent and LewRockwell
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
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.
Discussion:
The Verge, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
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:
Associated Press and NBC News
RELATED:
Avery Lotz / Axios:
Linda McMahon auditions to lead Education Department Trump wants to eliminate
Linda McMahon auditions to lead Education Department Trump wants to eliminate
Discussion:
Reuters, Breitbart, NBC News, NPR, New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, CBS News, NOTUS, Carolina Journal and HuffPost
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 …
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, NPR, Hackwhackers, Digby's Hullabaloo, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, The Independent, Axios, USA Today and Mother Jones
RELATED:
Igor Bobic / HuffPost:
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 …
Discussion:
Fox News, Daily Kos, Associated Press, The Federalist, Washington Examiner, E&E News, Above the Law and NPR
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.
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, The Post Millennial, The Independent, New Republic, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, Daily Mail, New York Times, Townhall, Semafor, HotAir, WAGA-TV, Raw Story and Fox News
RELATED:
Shelby Talcott / Semafor:
75,000 workers accept Trump's buyout program
75,000 workers accept Trump's buyout program
Discussion:
Business Insider, NBC News, Associated Press, Breitbart, Reason, ZeroHedge News, Axios, USA Today, Bloomberg and Reuters
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
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.
Discussion:
Roll Call
Axios:
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 …
Discussion:
Punchbowl News
Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
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 …
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, GovExec.com, Business Insider, New Republic, Fortune and Bloomberg
Phelim Kine / Politico:
Elon Musk's attacks on a group long backed by the GOP prompt Republican shrugs — A funding freeze is pushing the National Endowment for Democracy and groups it supports toward shutdown. — One of Elon Musk's latest targets is a nonprofit dedicated to bolstering democracy overseas that has long been a darling of the GOP.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Drezner's World, Nudity and Nerdery and The National Pulse
RELATED:
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.
RELATED:
New York Times:
Lifesaving Aid Remains Halted Worldwide Despite Rubio's Promise — A new directive puts further exemptions on hold. Aid workers also say the U.S. government has made it impossible to pay partners around the world. — When Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last month …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Townhall and JURIST
RELATED:
Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
It's America That Suffers When We Cut Foreign Aid
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:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, ABC News, CBS News, Ars Technica and UPI
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
Washington Post:
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 …
Discussion:
New York Times, Axios, The Independent and Raw Story
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:
Associated Press and Breitbart


