After McConnell opposes RFK Jr., Trump says he has ‘no idea’ if senator had polio

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/13/trump-mcconnell-kennedy-vote/

President Donald Trump insulted Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and cast doubt on the senator’s battle with polio on Thursday after he voted against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation to serve as health and human services secretary.

Trump has ranted online about McConnell, repeatedly called the senator’s Taiwan-born wife, Elaine Chao, a racist nickname, and called for the Republican Party to dump him as its leader, claiming McConnell is responsible for GOP division.

JD VANCE HUMILIATES AMERICA At Munich Security Conference!

Trump Just Fired the Most Important Person You've Never Heard Of

'Not well received': Hegseth, Vance embarrass themselves on international stage - Gross incompetence or doing his Best?

Vance takes MAGA to Munich with speech scolding European leaders

 https://www.axios.com/2025/02/14/vance-munich-speech-free-speech-afd

Munich - Vice President JD Vance shocked many European leaders who came to his speech at the Munich Security Conference expecting to hear about Ukraine, when he instead focused on what he called "the threat from within" Europe.

Vance dove headfirst into the politics of America's European allies, lambasting what he described a "retreat" from shared democratic values when it comes to issues like abortion, social media censorship and immigration.

"If American democracy survived 10 years of scolding from Gretta Thunberg, Europe can survive several months of Elon Musk," Vance joked. Almost nobody in the room laughed.

 Many European officials hoped to hear from Vance about the Trump administration's strategy for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Vance said only one sentence on that issue, before lecturing his audience over mass immigration and free speech.

A senior German politician who listened to Vance speech summed it up with one sentence: "It was a big boost to the far right in Germany and in Europe".

Trump officials fired nuclear staff not realizing they oversee the country’s weapons stockpile, sources say

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/14/climate/nuclear-nnsa-firings-trump/index.html

Trump administration officials fired more than 300 staffers Thursday night at the National Nuclear Security Administration — the agency tasked with managing the nation’s nuclear stockpile — as part of broader Energy Department layoffs, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

Sources told CNN the officials did not seem to know this agency oversees America’s nuclear weapons.

Ukraine rejects Trump request for half its rare mineral wealth

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/15/ukraine-rejects-trump-administration-request-half-its-mineral-wealth/

The offer and Ukraine’s consideration of it rippled through European diplomatic circles not only for its audacity but because the war-ravaged country appeared to be seriously considering how to reach a deal.

Ukraine has value. Literally has value,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said Saturday in Munich at an event sponsored by Politico.

“Trump now sees Ukraine differently,” he said. “These people are sitting on literally a gold mine … I showed him a map.”

If the United States is granted Ukraine’s mineral wealth, Graham said, “we will have something to defend. We will have an economic interest in Ukraine we’ve never had. And that’s a nightmare for Putin.”

Blumenthal presses Rubio for answers on $400M Tesla Cybertruck deal

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5146578-blumenthal-presses-rubio-for-answers-400m-telsa-cybertruck-deal/?tbref=hp

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to explain the department’s plan to purchase $400 million in armored Tesla Cybertruck vehicles, calling out tech billionaire Elon Musk’s “glaring conflict of interests.”

In a letter to Rubio Thursday, Blumenthal sought information on the steps the State Department has taken to address concerns surrounding Musk’s involvement in the purchase.

“In the 15 months since it was released, the Cybertruck has been widely derided and subject to at least six separate recalls,” he said.

“Indeed, Tesla has reportedly had ‘disastrous’ sales numbers for the Cybertruck. It hardly seems like the type of reliable vehicle the State Department would choose for this contract absent a heavy thumb on the scale,” the letter reads.

“In the weeks since DOGE was established, it has run roughshod over the Constitution, dismantling agencies on a whim based on inaccurate information while gaining access to the government’s most sensitive systems,” Blumenthal wrote in his letter to Rubio, referring Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

How Trump Got His Unorthodox Cabinet in Place

 https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/donald-trump-cabinet-confirmed-27c91227?mod=hp_lead_pos1

Mock hearings, last-minute deals and primary threats helped move controversial nominees through the Senate

Firestorm grows over Trump DOJ’s deal to drop charges against Eric Adams

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5146646-trump-adams-case-backlash/

The Trump administration, which has been moving like a juggernaut across the political landscape, has hit a land mine.

The decision by Trump’s Justice Department to halt the prosecution of New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) has caused uproar.

Adams had been due to stand trial in April on charges of bribery, wire fraud and soliciting illegal campaign contributions.

But the mayor has become an unlikely political bedfellow of the new president. Adams journeyed to Mar-a-Lago in Florida for lunch with Trump just before the inauguration, attended the inauguration and — just as importantly — has been echoing Trump’s language about weaponized and politically motivated prosecutions.

On Monday, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove told prosecutors they were being “directed to dismiss” the charges against Adams. Bove previously served as one of the personal lawyers defending Trump during the Stormy Daniels hush money trial.

His directive over Adams was the spark that lit a much bigger fire than expected. And it came at a time when Trump has seemed to be at the apex of his power.

Tariffs can be useful, harmful, and as we may all soon learn, catastrophic

 https://www.jpost.com/international/article-842090

It follows that President Donald Trump’s idea of hiking tariffs is neither novel nor scandalous. That doesn’t mean what he is up to is economically workable, or politically sane.

‘Highway robbery’: Musk, Trump yank $80m from NYC bank account over migrant lies

President Elon Musk Issues Major Social Security Warning

 https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-major-social-security-warning-fraud-billion-week-lost-2029244

Billionaire Elon Musk has said there is widespread fraud taking place in the payment of "federal entitlements" like Social Security.

Musk wrote on X on February 11: "At this point, I am 100% certain that the magnitude of the fraud in federal entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Disability, etc) exceeds the combined sum of every private scam you've ever heard by FAR. It's not even close."

For now, DOGE's ability to do much about the supposed fraud taking place is limited, after New York Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued a preliminary injunction to stop Musk and DOGE from accessing the personal financial data of millions of Americans in Treasury Department records, something Musk described as "absolutely insane."

The conditions will remain in place until the next court hearing on February 14.

Netanyahu spokesman was reportedly paid by Qatar to plant puff pieces in Israeli media

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-spokesman-was-reportedly-paid-by-qatar-to-plant-puff-pieces-in-israeli-media/

Eli Feldstein, indicted for leaking stolen IDF intel, was reportedly hired by Doha-employed US strategist; prime minister’s critics demand probe of Qatari influence at his office