President Trump’s move to abolish the U.S. Agency for International Development, whose programs have helped people deal with humanitarian crises in more than 100 countries, is troubling—both because the agency does critically important work and because the president’s threat to shut it down exceeds his authority and usurps congressional powers.
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Trump Campaigned on Ending Foreign Entanglements. Now He Wants to Own Gaza.
President Trump campaigned on shrinking America’s role abroad. But since taking office, he has articulated a worldview that is at times closer to expansionism than isolationism.
USPS suspends package service from China as Trump’s tariffs kick in
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/04/usps-suspends-china-packages-shein-temu/
The U.S. Postal Service abruptly suspended inbound package shipments from China and Hong Kong on Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s trade war began in earnest.
“The one consistency of Trump’s trade war is the lack of foresight. This would be easily avoidable if anyone knew what they were doing and proves yet again why our trade policy must come from the Congress,” Rep. Richard E. Neal (Massachusetts), the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, told The Post.
Trump Unveils Bonkers Plan to ‘Take Over’ Gaza With U.S. Troops
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-latest-bombshell-us-will-take-over-the-gaza-strip/
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said the plan was not “the best use of United States resources to spend a bunch of money in Gaza,” adding that he would “prefer that to be spent in the United States first.”
Trump to 'Post': Gazan relocation plan will happen, Egypt and Jordan won't say no
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-840712
US President Donald Trump told The Jerusalem Post that he believed Jordan and Egypt "won’t tell [him] no" when asked to welcome Gazan refugees during his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
"They won’t tell me no. I want to remove all the residents of Gaza," he responded, "It will happen.".
Countering Trump, Saudi Arabia says no Israel normalization without Palestinian state
Riyadh says its ‘firm and unwavering’ stance has been relayed to administration; PA envoy rejects Trump’s call for permanent relocation of Gazans: ‘Our homeland is our homeland’
Gaza-ruling Hamas also condemned Trump’s calls for Gazans to leave as “expulsion from their land.”
“We consider them a recipe for generating chaos and tension in the region because the people of Gaza will not allow such plans to pass,” senior Hamas member Sami Abu Zuhri said.
Trump’s Gaza ‘Riviera’ plan is the most outlandish idea in the history of US Middle East peacemaking
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/05/politics/trump-gaza-takeover-analysis/index.html
To see an American president endorse what would be the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from their home, in an exodus that would subvert decades of US policy, international law and basic humanity, was breathtaking.
Trump followed up with the most imperialist reflex yet of a second term in which he’s already threatened to annex the Panama Canal, Greenland and Canada. He envisaged a real estate deal whereby he’d assume responsibility for Gaza and mastermind a job-creating urban regeneration project. He called it an American “ownership position.” A better phrase would be colonialism for the 21st century.
Trump’s plan was greeted with huge skepticism by Republican senators. And Democratic Sen. Chris Coons put his face in his hand and rubbed his temples. “I’m speechless. That’s insane,” the man from Delaware said.
But while his proposal, which would perhaps be the world’s largest ever real estate development deal, is unlikely to ever happen, it’s quintessential Trump.
“You say things others refuse to say,” Netanyahu said. “And after the jaws drop, people scratch their heads and they say, ‘You know, he’s right.’”
The first sentence is undoubtably true. The second one, not so much.
Trump floats US taking over Gaza Strip
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5127021-trump-us-takeover-gaza/
President Trump on Tuesday floated the idea of the U.S. taking over the Gaza Strip, saying America should be responsible for clearing the territory of rubble and unexploded bombs and proposing an “economic development.”
“I think you’ll make that into an international, unbelievable place… I don’t want to be cute, I don’t want to be a wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East… this could be so magnificent.”
Asked about the possibility of sending U.S. troops to Gaza, Trump said the U.S. will “do what is necessary” as he laid out plans for the U.S. to take the area over, and suggested he would visit the territory.
“As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that,” Trump said.
Donald Trump Ally Pam Bondi Confirmed as US Attorney General
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-ally-pam-bondi-confirmed-us-attorney-general-2026270
Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and corporate lobbyist, was confirmed as the U.S. Attorney General, placing a staunch ally of President Donald Trump at the helm of the Justice Department (DOJ).
After the 54-46 vote, including a "yes" vote from Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Bondi's appointment comes amidst a DOJ already troubled by the dismissals of career employees perceived as disloyal to Trump. Bondi will be responsible for overseeing the FBI, which is currently experiencing turmoil due to scrutiny of agents involved in Trump investigations.
Bondi, a longstanding figure in Trump's orbit, has been a vocal defender of the president on various news programs. In a 2023 Fox News appearance, she suggested bad Justice Department prosecutors would face investigation under the Trump administration.
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Donald Trump Impeachment Petition Gets 100,000 Signatures
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-impeachment-petition-signatures-free-speech-2023990
The nonprofit Free Speech for People launched the petition on the day Trump returned to the White House.
It calls on Congress to launch an impeachment investigation into alleged violations of the Emoluments Clauses that prohibit a president from profiting from the United States, individual states, or foreign governments, his "unlawful" and "corrupt" conduct during his campaign and his pardoning of those who took part in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The campaign on Thursday added what it said were new grounds for an impeachment inquiry based on other actions Trump has taken since returning to office, including his executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for certain children born in the U.S. It also alleges that he unlawfully fired inspector generals and members of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board and is abusing his power to "seek retribution against perceived enemies."
Yes, It’s a Coup and Yes, It’s Targeting You
https://www.thedailybeast.com/yes-its-a-coup-and-yes-its-targeting-you/
The efforts by the Trump team to supplant the role and authorities assigned to Congress, to illegally shutdown whole federal agencies, to oust government employees en masse and to champion culture war witch hunts are little different from attempts to use violence to stop the transition of power in 2021.
The reason the law protects civil servants from arbitrary, partisan termination is because our elected representatives determined it was in our interests to immunize them from the ebbs and flows, passions and stupidities of American politics. When they are systematically fired or forced out of office—as is happening this week across the government—our voice as an electorate is being ignored.
So, too are our basic interests as people. Was it in our interest for the head of the Federal Aviation Administration to be forced out of office, just days before the horrific crash that sent a passenger jet and a military helicopter plunging into the D.C.‘s Potomac River? Is it in our interests for Trump to fire FBI officials simply because they were enforcing laws our representatives put in place to protect us? Simply because they were doing their duty?
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