Top Items:
NBC News:
House Speaker Mike Johnson's chief of staff arrested on DUI charge after Trump speech — Hayden Haynes is a longtime top aide to Mike Johnson, both in the speaker's office and his personal office. — WASHINGTON — Hayden Haynes, the chief of staff to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill, USA Today, The Independent, The National Pulse and CBS News
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court rejects Trump administration's bid to avoid paying USAID contractors — The Trump administration's efforts to effectively dismantle the foreign aid agency led contractors to file suit claiming they are owed money. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday endorsed …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, CBS News, NPR, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, The Post Millennial, Axios, IJR and New Republic
RELATED:
John Fritze / CNN:
Supreme Court rejects Trump's request to keep billions in foreign aid frozen
Discussion:
Politico, ABC News, New York Times, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fox News, New Republic, Townhall, Raw Story, Mediaite, Washington Times, Daily Kos, UPI, The National Pulse and USA Today
Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
Supreme Court reinstates order for the Trump administration to un-freeze foreign aid
Supreme Court reinstates order for the Trump administration to un-freeze foreign aid
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: Supreme Court Denies Bid to Freeze Nearly $2 Billion in Foreign Aid
Trump Administration Live Updates: Supreme Court Denies Bid to Freeze Nearly $2 Billion in Foreign Aid
Discussion:
SCOTUSblog, The Independent, The Federalist, Fox News, New York Post, JONATHAN TURLEY and The American Conservative
Steve Vladeck / One First:
129. Untangling the Foreign Aid Ruling
129. Untangling the Foreign Aid Ruling
Discussion:
Reason, Washington Examiner, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times and Business Insider
Doug Palmer / Politico:
Trump pauses Canada, Mexico auto tariffs — “We spoke with the big three auto dealers,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through [the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.” — President Donald Trump has decided …
Discussion:
Associated Press, New Republic, Washington Post, Reuters, Raw Story, The Hill, Forbes, Al Jazeera, TechCrunch, The Verge, WHDH-TV, New York Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Fox Business and Washington Times
RELATED:
Brian Platt / Bloomberg:
Canada Won't Scrap Tariffs Unless All US Levies Are Lifted, Official Says
Discussion:
Reuters, CNBC, New York Times, The Hill, New Republic, Canadian Press, Associated Press, Global News, Fox Business, Fox News, Daily Mail, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, The Week and Total Telecom
Robert Kuttner / American Prospect:
The Trump Depression — Donald Trump is on track to be the first president to deliberately engineer a severe depression.
The Trump Depression — Donald Trump is on track to be the first president to deliberately engineer a severe depression.
Discussion:
Raw Story and BNN Bloomberg
Washington Post:
Musk promises better communication between Republican lawmakers, DOGE — “With all due respect to Mr. Musk, he doesn't have a vote up here,” one lawmaker said. — Billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk stepped up his congressional outreach on Wednesday, taking questions from Republican lawmakers …
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Republican Senators Warn Musk DOGE Cuts at Risk Without Congress — Republican senators told Elon Musk Wednesday that billionaire needs congressional approval for controversial spending cuts or they risk being overturned in court. — Elon Musk huddled privately with Republican senators Wednesday …
Stephen Groves / Associated Press:
Trump administration plans to cut 80,000 employees from Veterans Affairs, according to internal memo — The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning an “aggressive” reorganization that includes cutting 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care for retired military members …
RELATED:
Rebecca Kheel / Military.com:
83,000 VA Employees Slated to Be Fired This Year by Musk's DOGE, Memo Says
83,000 VA Employees Slated to Be Fired This Year by Musk's DOGE, Memo Says
Discussion:
GovExec.com, USA Today, The Guardian and New Republic
Miles Klee / Rolling Stone:
Trump Decried Millions Spent ‘Making Mice Transgender.’ It Was Cancer and Asthma Research — The president's State of the Union address included a line designed to go viral in the right-wing misinformation machine … The chief executive of the United States told the country …
Discussion:
CNN, The White House, IJR, Breitbart, PinkNews and Fox Business
RELATED:
Joyce Vance / Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
Let's Be Honest About The State Of The Union — It wasn't necessary to watch all of Trump's speech last night to understand where we are as a country. The state of our union, as I noted Sunday night, is compromised. And that comes as no surprise to any of us.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Megan Lebowitz / NBC News:
Lawyer submits ‘new evidence’ in case against DOGE, using Trump's own words
Lawyer submits ‘new evidence’ in case against DOGE, using Trump's own words
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, New Jersey Online, UPI, Business Insider, The Hill and The Daily Wire
Jonathan Chait / The Atlantic:
The Simple Explanation for Why Trump Turned Against Ukraine — Donald Trump's highly public schism with Volodymyr Zelensky has yielded the kind of doublethink that is common in personality cults. Those believers who approve of the policy hail the great leader's strategic genius.
Discussion:
Politico, Digby's Hullabaloo and YouGov /Research Reality
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Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
The American Century is Over — President in Name Only Donald Trump delivered remarks …
Telegraph:
Starmer and Macron consider accompanying Zelensky to White House
Starmer and Macron consider accompanying Zelensky to White House
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Associated Press, Daily Mail and The Kyiv Independent
Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:
The Rise of the Brutal American
The Rise of the Brutal American
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal and Digby's Hullabaloo
Anna Merlan / Mother Jones:
This Pentagon Press Secretary Has a Long History of Bigoted and Xenophobic Posts — “Be unapologetically right-wing. It will pay off.” — On Donald Trump's first day in office, the Department of Defense announced a spate of hires, including 26-year-old Kingsley Wilson, who will serve as the Pentagon's deputy press secretary.
Discussion:
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
RELATED:
Sareen Habeshian / Axios:
White House accuses Panama of being unaware of situation at canal … - His comments were regarding BlackRock's agreement to acquire two ports serving the canal from a Chinese group, CK Hutchinson, as part of a larger $22.8 billion deal. … - “I reject in the name of Panama and all Panamanians …
Discussion:
US Department of State, Fox News, Associated Press, Gizmodo, Reuters, IJR, New York Magazine and RTÉ
RELATED:
Michael D McDonald / Bloomberg:
Panama Leader Accuses Trump of Lying to Congress Over Canal
Panama Leader Accuses Trump of Lying to Congress Over Canal
Discussion:
The Guardian, Associated Press, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, UPI, Fortune, The Week and Financial Times
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Suspends Costly Deportation Flights Using Military Aircraft — Trump administration had used C-17s to fly migrants abroad and to Guantanamo Bay — The Trump administration has stopped using military aircraft to fly migrants who entered the U.S. illegally to Guantanamo Bay or other countries, defense officials said.
Discussion:
NBC News
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Freshman Rep. Sylvester Turner dies at 70 … - “We were on the floor together last night. … - Turner's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
RELATED:
Jaime E. Galvan / KHOU-TV:
Sylvester Turner, former Houston mayor and current Congressman, dead at age 70
Clay Risen / New York Times:
Sylvester Turner, Sworn In as U.S. Representative in January, Dies at 70
Sylvester Turner, Sworn In as U.S. Representative in January, Dies at 70
Discussion:
NBC News, KHOU-TV, Roll Call, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Associated Press and CBS News
Zach Everson / Forbes:
Trading Volume In This Nasdaq-Listed Firm Soared Before Don Jr. And Eric Trump Were Announced As Board Members—'Suspicious,' Experts Say — Trading in Dominari Holdings Inc. soared ahead of the February announcement that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump had taken stakes in the company …
Barak Ravid / Axios:
Exclusive: U.S. holding secret talks with Hamas … - While the Trump administration consulted with Israel about the possibility of engaging with Hamas, Israel learned about aspects of the talks through other channels, one source said. — The sources spoke with Axios on the condition …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Reuters, NBC News, HotAir, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Fox News, Bloomberg, Mediaite, Al Jazeera, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Forbes, The Daily Caller, The Forward, The Daily Wire, NPR, Townhall, New York Times, New York Post, israelhayom.com and WTOP News
Reuters:
US civil service board reinstates thousands of fired USDA employees — A U.S. board that reviews the firings of federal employees on Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to temporarily reinstate thousands of workers who lost their jobs as part of President Donald Trump's layoffs of the federal workforce.
Discussion:
The Guardian and Talking Points Memo
RELATED:
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Trump administration ordered to reinstate thousands of fired USDA workers
Trump administration ordered to reinstate thousands of fired USDA workers
Discussion:
NPR, GovExec.com, CNN, USA Today, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Axios, Federal News Network, The Independent, WUSA and Reuters
CBS News:
Poll on Trump's 2025 joint address to Congress finds large majority of viewers approve — A large majority of speech watchers approved of what they heard from President Trump's joint address to Congress Tuesday night. — The viewership was heavily Republican — historically a president's party draws more of their own partisans.
Discussion:
CNN, Scripps News, TVLine, The Hill, Deadline, Ace of Spades HQ, New York Post, One America News Network, The American Conservative, The Daily Wire, Breitbart, Townhall, Human Events, The Post Millennial, Bloomberg, The Independent, Blaze Media, Daily Mail, Twitchy, New York Daily News, HotAir, RedState, Megyn Kelly, Washington Examiner, New Republic and Louder With Crowder
RELATED:
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Trump's Golden Age of Bunk
Trump's Golden Age of Bunk
Discussion:
The Colorado Sun and New York Times
Savyata Mishra / Reuters:
Jack Daniel's maker says Canada pulling U.S. alcohol off store shelves is ‘worse than a tariff’ — /business/business/business// businessJack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman Corp.'s CEO Lawson Whiting said on Wednesday Canadian provinces taking American liquor off store shelves was “worse than a tariff” …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Independent, Raw Story and Oregonian
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
Why Trump Thanked John Roberts — The conservative justices are frequently accomplices to Trump's assault on democracy. — The exchange was so awkward, it should have been followed by the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song. While President Donald Trump was shaking hands down the aisle …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Ace of Spades HQ, CNN, Mother Jones and The Daily Wire
Financial Times:
US cuts off intelligence sharing with Ukraine — Fresh blow to embattled government in Kyiv as Trump administration shifts on conflict — The US has cut off intelligence-sharing with Kyiv in a move that could seriously hamper the Ukrainian military's ability to target Russian forces, according to officials familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, CNN, New York Times, Scripps News, Reuters, Washington Post, NBC News, Axios, Daily Mail, Associated Press, Metro.co.uk, Euromaidan Press, TechCrunch, The Kyiv Independent, The Post Millennial, UPI, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, MeidasTouch News, The Independent, Semafor and One America News Network
NBC News:
Elon Musk suggests the U.S. should privatize the Postal Service and Amtrak — During a remote appearance at a technology conference in San Francisco, Musk told attendees the U.S. should privatize “as much as possible.” — Trump adviser and tech mogul Elon Musk suggested Wednesday …
Discussion:
Business Insider
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump's Rage Over “Low” Deportations Suddenly Gets More Unnerving — For weeks now, President Donald Trump's propagandists have relentlessly glorified his mass-deportations, even posting images of defeated-looking migrants getting frog-marched onto shiny military planes.
Reuters:
Exclusive: Judges face rise in threats as Musk blasts them over rulings — U.S. Marshals have warned federal judges of unusually high threat levels as tech billionaire Elon Musk and other Trump administration allies ramp up efforts to discredit judges who stand in the way of White House efforts …
Quinnipiac University Poll:
Mayor Adams' Job Approval Rating Drops To All-Time Low Of 20%, Quinnipiac University New York City Poll Finds; 56% Of Voters Say Adams Should Resign From Office — mail_outline — As New York City Mayor Eric Adams faces legal uncertainty over federal corruption charges, as well as a re-election bid …
Discussion:
The Hill, Bloomberg, New York Daily News and New York Post
Associated Press:
Trump says no one has heard of Lesotho. But Musk is trying to do business in the African nation — U.S. President Donald Trump says no one has ever heard of Lesotho. The foreign minister of the small African kingdom tells The Associated Press that Trump should “speak for himself.”

