In first month, Trump upends century-old approach to the world

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/23/trump-world-putin-ukraine/

He appears to be turning back the clock to a time in world history when countries with the biggest militaries constructed empires, demanded tribute from weaker nations and expanded their territories through coercion, analysts say.

“This is classic geopolitics, actually: influence on the areas that are closest to you geographically,” said Rosa Balfour, the director of the Brussels office of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank. “If you pair that up with this conversation with Putin, then you see the potential emergence of a worldview where the world is carved up by different powers. This fits in very well with a Russian view of things.”

“We are in a new era where, by and large, international relations aren’t going to be determined by rules and multilateral institutions. They’re going to be determined by strongmen and deals,” Alex Younger, the former chief of Britain’s foreign intelligence service, MI6, told the BBC’s “Newsnight” last week. “That’s Donald Trump’s mindset, certainly Putin’s mindset. It’s [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s mindset … I don’t think we’re going back to the one we had before.”

“This is basically a classic reversal of the role of perpetrator and victim,” Merz told a German radio station. “This is the Russian narrative, and this is how Putin has been portraying it for years. And I am honestly somewhat shocked that Donald Trump has now apparently made it his own.”

Trump appointees appear to contradict Musk for first time in pushback to OPM email

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/23/politics/opm-federal-agencies-pushback-doge-musk/index.html

A rift appeared to open Sunday between some of President Donald Trump’s agency heads and Elon Musk, the billionaire tasked with reforming the federal government, over Musk’s demand that all federal employees state their weekly accomplishments or risk termination.

By Sunday evening, leaders at the Pentagon, Federal Bureau of Investigation, State Department, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Energy had all instructed their staff not to reply to an email that federal workers received from the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday afternoon with the subject line: “What did you do last week?”

By Sunday, even some Republicans had voiced opposition to Trump’s plan.

“If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it’s, ‘Please put a dose of compassion in this. These are real people. These are real lives,’” Sen. John Curtis of Utah said in a Sunday interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “It’s a false narrative to say we have to cut, and you have to be cruel to do it, as well. We can do both.”

Supreme court justice calls out lawyer for citing AI-generated 'phantom rulings'

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-843442

Supreme Court Justice Kanfi-Steinitz exposes a lawyer's use of artificial intelligence to fabricate legal precedents, highlighting growing concerns about AI's misuse in Israel's legal system.

Germany's Far-Right AfD Party Surges In Election After Elon Musk Support

 https://www.newsweek.com/german-election-latest-exit-poll-cdu-wins-afd-best-result-spd-olaf-scholz-friedrich-merz-alice-weidl-2035013

President Donald Trump on Truth Social wrote: "LOOKS LIKE THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN GERMANY HAS WON THE VERY BIG AND HIGHLY ANTICIPATED ELECTION. MUCH LIKE THE USA, THE PEOPLE OF GERMANY GOT TIRED OF THE NO COMMON SENSE AGENDA, ESPECIALLY ON ENERGY AND IMMIGRATION, THAT HAS PREVAILED FOR SO MANY YEARS. THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR GERMANY, AND FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF A GENTLEMAN NAMED DONALD J. TRUMP. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL — MANY MORE VICTORIES TO FOLLOW!!!"

After three years of war in Ukraine, Europe’s security guarantees face the abyss

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/24/europe/ukraine-war-anniversary-europe-security-intl-latam/index.html

The Kremlin will have heard about the weakness in the transatlantic alliance and will be plotting accordingly. In one sentence, Hegseth turned a conflict, in which Moscow had been roundly diminished and humiliated for three years, into the chaotic re-ordering of continental security, in which Moscow may somehow dominate to its west.

Europe has taken American security guarantees as a given for decades and is now scrambling to imagine a world without it while appearing firmly behind Ukraine and insisting that any peace be just. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told CNN on Sunday that rushing to a bad deal would “would only serve to embolden tyrants worldwide.” She said NATO membership was a “the strongest and cheapest security guarantee” and that “Ukraine aid is not charity, it’s an investment in our security.”

Evil neighbors like Hamas cannot be tolerated - editorial

 https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-843411

What is shattering is not Hamas’ depravity. What is shocking, and disheartening, is that this inhumanity has cheerleaders in major cities and at elite universities in the US and around the world.

A Brief History of Broken Russian Promises to Ukraine

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-brief-history-of-russian-broken-promises-ukraine-war-cease-fire-6a725544?mod=hp_opin_pos_0

Here’s why Ukrainians want security guarantees in a cease-fire deal.

Monday marks the third anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the Kremlin marked the weekend with the largest drone attack of the war. President Trump says Vladimir Putin wants “peace,” but Ukrainians have hard experience about what such a promise means in practice. The anniversary is a good moment to recall the post-Cold War history of Russia’s broken promises.

They began with the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 amid the illusion of the “end of history.” Ukraine yielded its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees from the U.S., U.K. and Russia. Moscow explicitly promised to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and refrain from economic coercion. So much for that, and here’s a trail of Russia’s other broken commitments.

Pentagon Tells Staff to Disregard Elon Musk's Demand

 https://www.newsweek.com/pentagon-tells-staff-disregard-elon-musks-demand-2035027

The Department of Defense posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, telling Pentagon staff to disregard an email from billionaire Elon Musk that asked government employees to document in an email what they'd done in the last week.

The Pentagon is now led by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who was appointed by Trump and confirmed by the Senate in late January. Sunday's message suggests the Trump appointee is not fully on board with Musk's efforts. Trump's FBI director Kash Patel previously sent a similar message to his staff telling them not to respond to Musk's email.

Germany’s rising far-right AfD is split over Israel. Jews call party ‘a danger’ either way

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/germanys-rising-far-right-afd-is-split-over-israel-jews-call-party-a-danger-either-way/

As millions of German voters head for the polls on Sunday, pollsters predict historic success for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party. Since its inception in 2013, the AfD has been plagued by antisemitic incidents and the leadership appears to be split over its attitude towards Israel and the war in Gaza.

This struggle within the AfD came to light in October last year, when parliamentarian and AfD co-chair Tino Chrupalla criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his ongoing support for Israel in the form of weapons exports to the Jewish state.

Trump exposed as cuts help Musk's Tesla & deportation 'cruelty' decoded: Geraldo x Ari

The Observer view of US foreign policy: A dangerous new international order is unfolding

 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/22/the-observer-view-of-us-foreign-policy-a-dangerous-new-international-order-is-unfolding

The incoherence and disdain for facts that characterises Trump’s approach is seen again in his handling of Ukraine. He says he wants to end the war with Russia – a laudable aim that most people share. But instead of supporting impartial, independent mediation, the US president has turned against Ukraine’s leader, Volodymr Zelenskyy, labelling him a dictator, and falsely implying that he profits from the war. Such projection is revealing. Trump’s ire stems in large part from Zelenskyy’s rejection of a $500bn minerals deal Trump wants as “repayment” for US aid. He seemed at one point to issue a de facto ultimatum: “Give me the cash, or I’ll back Russia.” Facing a loss of US support, Kyiv is reconsidering the deal under duress. But the war is no closer to ending.

Race policies or Israel - what's really driving Trump's fury with South Africa?

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn04lpe38rwo

One job is to work out what is really driving Donald Trump. Nomvula Mokonyane, Deputy Secretary General of the ANC, does not believe this is solely about the issue of land and thinks South Africa's position over Israel may well be the driver.

She says: "Our view is that we need to let our government engage the American administration, so that then we understand whether are we dealing with the issue of the expropriation of land, or are we dealing with many other issues… related to Palestine and so on and so forth."

Hungarians will decide whether Ukraine can join the European Union, Orbán says

 https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-international/ap-hungarians-will-decide-whether-ukraine-can-join-the-european-union-orban-says/?usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%253D&amp_kit=1&tbref=hp

Orbán, considered the Kremlin’s closest partner among EU leaders, has been the bloc’s primary impediment in its efforts to assist Ukraine in the country’s struggle to defend against Russia’s full-scale invasion. He has frequently criticized, and threatened to veto, EU sanctions against Russia over its aggression, but has ultimately always voted for them.

Orbán, a Trump ally, has applauded the U.S. administration’s actions to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, claiming, with no evidence, that the agency was used to fund liberal causes in Hungary aimed at toppling his government.

Israel delays release of Palestinian prisoners, citing ‘humiliating’ handovers of hostages

 https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-international/ap-family-confirms-body-handed-over-by-militants-overnight-was-israeli-mother-shiri-bibas/?tbref=hp

Families and others rallied again Saturday night in Tel Aviv to pressure Netanyahu’s government for a deal.

“How is it possible that President Trump and special envoy (Steven) Witkoff are more committed to the return of Israeli hostages than you are?” said Naama Weinberg, cousin of deceased hostage Itay Svirsky. “Netanyahu, these are your citizens who were abandoned on your watch!”

Hamas later released a video showing two hostages still held, Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa Dallal, as they sat in a vehicle and spoke under duress at the handover for Shem Tov, Cohen and Wenkert. A group representing hostages’ families called the video “sickening.”