Trump Corruption

Axios reports: A federal district court judge on Tuesday granted a motion to enforce his temporary restraining order against the Trump administration over its foreign aid freeze. It comes days after U.S. District Court Judge Amir Ali said the administration had “not complied” fully with his order pausing the freeze on foreign aid. Ali ordered the Trump administration to pay …

CNN reports: The Federal Aviation Administration has agreed to use SpaceX’s Starlink internet system to upgrade the information technology networks it uses to manage US airspace, raising new concerns about conflicts of interest for CEO Elon Musk in one of his other roles, that of recommending funding cuts at federal agencies, including the FAA. The size of this contract was …

Politico reports: The White House announced on Tuesday that the administration — not an independent group of journalists — will determine which outlets have access to the president as part of a pool allowed into the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One and into other meetings. The decision comes a day after the administration won a temporary ruling allowing it …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump voiced support for Elon Musk’s demand that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments by the end of Monday or risk getting fired, an edict that has spawned new litigation and added to turmoil within the government workforce. “What he’s doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?’” Trump said in the Oval Office during …

TMZ reports: Rudy Giuliani’s taking his time picking a new hair dye … eyeing the ingredients on the back with suspicion — and, he’s got good reason to be cautious. The former mayor of New York City hit up a Walmart in Secaucus, New Jersey Saturday afternoon pulling up in a mobility scooter with an aide by his side. The …

CNN’s Brian Stelter writes in today’s newsletter: Reporters usually have to rely on anonymous sources, background interviews and documents (sometimes obtained years after the fact) to divine what a president was really thinking and feeling. But not with the Trump administration. President Trump names his enemies and signals what “should” happen to them on Truth Social, where everyone can see, …

The Daily Beast reports: President Donald Trump shared a SpongeBob Squarepants meme mocking federal workers for allegedly subpar productivity and taking issue with his administration’s Elon Musk-led efforts to lay off tens of thousands of people within their ranks. The image, posted to the president’s Truth Social account on Sunday afternoon, contains an edited screenshot from an episode of the …

Politico Europe reports: After spending the past two weeks trashing European politicians and ripping up America’s commitments to the continent’s security, the president of the United States offered warm congratulations to Germany’s election winners on Sunday. And somehow, he also managed to claim some credit for himself. After two weeks of repeated attacks from the White House on European politicians, …

The Washington Post reports: The first nationwide database tracking misconduct by federal police officers has been shut down by President Donald Trump, the Justice Department confirmed, deleting a resource that experts said improved public safety by helping to prevent bad officers from jumping to new agencies and starting over with clean records. The database was first proposed by Trump in …

San Francisco’s ABC affiliate reports: The White House is looking to sell the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building on 7th Street. The Trump administration says it will save money by avoiding maintenance on the building, selling the property, then leasing office space for federal workers. Former Congresswoman Jackie Speier says it’s just about vengeance. “It’s another example of how he is …

The New York Times reports: President Trump, furious about delays in delivering two new Air Force One jets, has empowered Elon Musk to explore drastic options to prod Boeing to move faster, including relaxing security clearance standards for some who work on the presidential planes. His administration has even discussed whether a luxury jet could be acquired and refitted during the …

“He [Biden] had this incredible ability. He could barely walk in the sand. Somebody thought he looked great in a bathing suit. And he’d walk in the sand, pulling a thing that weighed about six ounces. You know those aluminums? The aluminum is very good. It’s meant for children and very old people to lift, right? So he would put …

The Associated Press reports: Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team is eliminating jobs at the vehicle safety agency that oversees Tesla and has launched investigations into deadly crashes involving his company’s cars. Musk has accused the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of holding back progress on self-driving technology with its investigations and recalls. In addition to investigations into Tesla’s partially automated vehicles, …

Mediaite reports: Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday and posted about CPAC, the southern border, and Elon Musk needing to be “more aggressive” in his role as head of DOGE. The president also blasted MSNBC once again, using his past nickname for them: “MSNBC, COMMONLY KNOWN AS MSDNC, IS A THREAT TO OUR DEMOCRACY. SUCH LYING AND MISREPRESENTATION. BAD …

Politico reports: A federal judge late on Friday extended an order keeping Elon Musk’s DOGE team out of Treasury Department payment systems, ruling that the Trump administration’s process for granting access to the sensitive data was so flawed and haphazard that it was likely illegal. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas ruled that Democratic attorneys general were likely to prevail in …

The Washington Post reports: Leaders of the Social Security Administration had just opened an investigation into a career employee they believed was improperly sharing information with Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team when President Donald Trump elevated the employee this week to acting commissioner. The agency’s leadership team became aware in recent weeks that Leland Dudek, a data analyst working in a …

Reuters reports: The United States has threatened to cut off Ukraine’s access to Starlink satellite internet terminals if Kyiv does not reach a deal with the U.S. regarding critical mineral resources, Reuters reported on Feb. 21, citing three sources familiar with the negotiations. U.S. and Ukrainian officials are currently negotiating the terms of a revised minerals deal after President Volodymyr …

“Let me just tell you that I have today the highest poll numbers I’ve ever had. I have today the highest poll numbers of any Republican president ever. We haven’t even checked the Democrats, but that’s what I was just told. And they like the job that we’re doing. They like the job that Elon’s doing. He’s doing something that …

The Washington Post reports: A federal judge in Maryland on Friday temporarily blocked key portions of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the federal government and corporate America. U.S. District Judge Adam B. Abelson granted a preliminary injunction, blocking portions of Trump’s orders to cancel federal contracts concerning DEI and make government contractors …

The New York Times reports: The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that President Trump cannot, for now, remove a government lawyer who leads a watchdog agency while the lawyer’s challenge to his firing moves forward. But the court’s brief, unsigned order indicated that it may soon return to the issue, noting that a trial judge’s temporary restraining order is set …