Trump Stuff

NY Times - Top Trump administration officials on Wednesday walked back elements of President Trump’s proposal to “take over” Gaza and drive out the Palestinian population, insisting that he had not committed to using U.S. troops to clear the territory and that any relocation of Palestinians would be temporary.Mr. Trump’s brazen proposal to move as many as two million Palestinians out of Gaza and seize and redevelop it as a U.S. territory met with immediate opposition on Wednesday from key American partners and officials around the world, with many expressing support for a Palestinian state, and experts calling the idea a breach of international law. Less than 24 hours after Mr. Trump floated the plan, top administration officials sought to soften it.

Newsweek - Trump has expressed skepticism about student loan forgiveness, criticizing broad debt cancellation as unfair to those who have already paid off their loans. In 2023, Trump said that student loan forgiveness "would have been very unfair to the millions and millions of people who have paid their debt through hard work and diligence." 

"Trump has a strong disdain for student loans and believes that borrowers should be responsible for repaying what they owe," Kevin Thompson, a finance expert and founder and CEO of 9i Capital Group, told Newsweek. "He holds the view that if you take out a loan, you are obligated to pay it back—an ironic stance given his six separate bankruptcy filings." 

CNN - On the campaign trail in 2020, Joe Biden made a bold pledge that he would end the federal use of private prisons, where inmates often complain of abusive treatment. That didn’t happen, and now the industry is ready to cash in big under President Donald Trump.

Justice Dept. sues Illinois and Chicago over immigration enforcement

Lever News -  Pam Bondi. In her first official act, foreign-agent-turned-Attorney-General Pam Bondi is disbanding the Justice Department’s Foreign Influence Task Force and limiting enforcement of statutes regulating foreign government lobbyists. Bondi was previously a registered lobbyist for Qatar as part of the country’s $115,000-per-month contract with her lobbying firm, Ballard Partners. That firm has also been registered to lobby for Japan, Guatemala, Congo, Liberia, and Sudan.

NBC - President Donald Trump's administration evicted former Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan from her home with three hours notice on Tuesday — not even enough time to gather her personal effects — according to two people familiar with the incident. Fagan, a four-star admiral and the first woman to lead a branch of the military, was removed from her post as the Coast Guard’s top officer on Trump’s second day in office. Officials at the Homeland Security Department — which oversees the Coast Guard — cited border security issues and an “excessive focus” on diversity, equity and inclusion among the reasons for her dismissal.

NBC News - Attorneys for the Justice Department agreed to temporarily restrict staffers associated with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing information in the Treasury Department’s payment system. The agreement, which would allow "read only" access, comes after a group of union members and retirees filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department alleging that unrestricted access to the federal government’s massive payment and collections system — and the personal data housed in it — violated federal privacy laws.

CNN - Panama denied a claim made by the State Department on Wednesday that the Central American nation had agreed to no longer charge fees for US government ships to transit the country’s famous canal.

“In response to a publication released by the United States Department of State, the Panama Canal Authority, which is authorized to set tolls and other fees for transiting the Canal, reports that it has not made any adjustments to them,” the authority said in a statement, adding that it stood ready to establish a dialogue with the US

NBC - Top officials at the Department of Education told staff that if they accept the Trump administration’s deferred resignation package, it could later be canceled and employees would not have any recourse.

NBC - Trump signed an executive order prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in female sports.

NBC -  Attorneys for the Justice Department have agreed to restrict DOGE access to information in the Treasury Department’s payment system.