If you can spare any sympathy these days, spare some for the people tasked with writing President Donald Trump's national security strategy. They probably sought the job thinking, "I'll help America take on China." Instead, Trump has started his second term looking like the U.S. president Beijing has long wanted. In less than three weeks, using everything from threats of war against allies to freezing foreign aid, Trump has arguably done more to weaken America's standing in the world than in his entire first term. He has given China's communist regime a chance to strengthen itself just as it was facing economic headwinds.
The FAA banned its employees from attending advisory panels set up to explore how to make air travel safer. "It appears that safety is being forced to take a back seat due to fear of retribution, which means we all lose." Trumpf has separately come under criticism for forcing out key aviation safety officials in the days before the Ronald Reagan Airport crash, at the recommendation of tech billionaire oligarch Elon Musk. Read more
Musk's actions may be unconstitutional but "nobody should bellyache about that," Sen. Thom Tillis said.
Anand Giridharadas: But what Musk and Co. are up to is the unraveling of the constitutional order itself"the system that makes all these other choices possible. It is of supreme importance, and you need to keep your eye on that ball. More importantly, the media that serves you do
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall points to DEI hiring policies as factor in crash of flight from Wichita Sixty-four people on commercial flight died in midair collision with Army helicopter
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a fiery response to Tucker Carlson, slamming the former Fox News host for calling him a "dictator" and accusing him of crushing democracy. In an interview with Piers Morgan on Tuesday, Zelensky said Carlson should "stop licking" Vladimir Putin's "a**" and "stop working" for the Russian president. Zelensky's comments came after Carlson appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored last week, where he made several accusations against the Ukrainian leader. Carlson claimed that Zelensky wasn't elected, had banned religious groups, killed his political opponents, and banned certain languages"all traits, according to Carlson, of a dictator. Carlson also accused the U.S. and U.K. governments of supporting Zelensky.
President Donald Trump has nominated Neil Jacobs to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, turning to the man who was his acting NOAA chief in 2019 when Trump altered an expected hurricane impact map in what became known as the "Sharpiegate" scandal. After Alabama meteorologists had contradicted an earlier Trump tweet warning of Alabama being in a storm's path, the Jacobs-led agency chastised them. That eventually drew criticism of Jacobs and his political higher-ups in a Department of Commerce inspector general's report on Sharpiegate. NOAA oversees the National Weather Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Ocean Service and other offices. Along with many other federal agencies, NOAA was targeted in Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for change in a second Trump administration.
President Trump on Tuesday said that he has left instructions that if Iran were to assassination him, the country should be destroyed. The president made the remark after signing an executive order in the Oval Office that reiterates applying maximum pressure on Tehran by giving him all the possible tools to engage with its government, calling the action "very tough on Iran."
President Trump on Tuesday cited inaccurate figures of autism diagnoses as a reason why the Senate should confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr., his controversial pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
The U.S. Postal Service said it would temporarily suspend parcels from China and Hong Kong, after President Donald Trump ended a trade provision this week used by retailers including Temu and Shein to ship low-value packages duty-free to the U.S.
CIA offered buyouts to its entire workforce, citing an aim to bring the agency in line with Trumpf's priorities. CIA is also freezing the hiring of job applicants already given a conditional offer. Some of those frozen offers are likely to be rescinded if the applicants do not have the right background for the agency's new goals, which include targeting drug cartels, Trumpf's trade war, and undermining China. Read more
The FBI is hitting back after Donald Trump's January 6 revenge crusade.
A 56-year-old Californian man has agreed to plead guilty to operating the drone that crashed into a Quebec water bomber plane fighting the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles earlier this month. The CL-415 plane was grounded after the small remote-controlled aircraft flew into it on Jan. 9, leaving a "sizable hole in its wing," Christopher Thomas, a spokesperson with the California state firefighting agency, Cal Fire, said at the time. The incident downed all aircraft fighting the fire for nearly half an hour that day while officials made sure the skies were clear, he said. Read more
February 4, 2025 7:53 PM ET
The State Department has started the process to withdraw all United States Agency for International Development personnel stationed overseas by this weekend, according to three sources with knowledge of internal planning.
U.S. President Donald Trump will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, his top trade adviser Peter Navarro told a Politico Live event, as new 10% tariffs on Chinese imports took effect, spurring retaliatory tariffs announced by Beijing. Asked how U.S. consumers and companies should understand the China tariffs, Navarro told Politico: "Let's see what happens with the call today."
Accounts connected with a gambling ring that is under federal investigation for its participation in two NBA betting cases have been tied to "unusual wagering activity" on at least three men's college basketball programs this season. The three schools -- North Carolina A&T, Mississippi Valley State and Eastern Michigan -- were all reportedly bet against by the gambling ring and flagged by betting integrity monitors at various points this season, according to ESPN. North Carolina A&T recently suspended three basketball players -- including the top two scorers on the season for "violating team rules" last week -- though it's unclear if the indefinite suspensions are tied to the betting case. Read more
