Social media erupts after ‘terrified’ Dem senator lashes out at Kash Patel ahead of confirmation vote
A fierce attack on FBI director nominee Kash Patel by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, drew mockery from conservatives on social media ahead of an expected vote on Patel’s nomination Thursday afternoon. “Kash Patel, mark my words, will cause evil in this building behind us, and Republicans who vote for him will rue that day,” Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Thursday morning outside the FBI headquarters. He spoke hours before the final vote on Patel’s nomination. KASH PATEL’S CONFIRMATION AS TRUMP FBI PICK ‘WILL HAUNT YOU,’ SENATE DEMS WARN GOP AHEAD OF VOTE Whitehouse mentioned Patel’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment before a grand jury examining whether President Donald Trump mishandled national security secrets. “You are so cringe,” the Trump War Room said. “They are terrified,” White House rapid response director Greg Price said. “Did Sheldon Whitehouse come up with this pathetic line of attack at his all-white beach club?” asked conservative commentator and longtime Trump adviser Steve Cortes, referencing Whitehouse’s membership in an exclusive beach club that has a controversial history. Whitehouse’s office previously denied that the club was all-White. SUSAN COLLINS VOWS TO OPPOSE TRUMP FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL AHEAD OF CRITICAL VOTE “Democrat Sen. Whitehouse seems awfully scared of Kash Patel cleaning up the FBI…,” conservative commentator Benny Johnson said. “Senator, the evil is already inside the building,” Republican digital operative Alex Sears said. Whitehouse’s comments were one of a number of comments made about Patel by Democrats on the committee. “There’s no question here he is unqualified and unprepared,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said. “The only question is whether my Republican colleagues will do the right thing.” He warned that a vote in favor of Patel’s nomination “will haunt you.” FETTERMAN LOSES TWO TOP STAFFERS AS HE MAKES WAVES BY BUCKING DEMOCRATIC PARTY “You will rue the day of this vote if it’s in favor of Kash Patel, because the American people will hold you accountable, and we will make sure that the American people know about this vote,” he concluded. According to a senior transition team official for Patel, the nominee had departed the capital the night of his hearing, flying home to Las Vegas, where he had “been sitting there waiting for the process to play out.” In addition to his trip home to Vegas, Patel has also spent time hunting away from Washington, the official said, providing photographic evidence of Patel’s activities. Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX engineers deployed to FAA to help modernize air traffic control
Elon Musk’s SpaceX engineers have already descended on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to help modernize air traffic control under the Trump administration. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a post to X on Wednesday that the deadly Jan. 29 crash between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines flight landing at Reagan airport in Washington, D.C., served as “a heartbreaking wake-up call that improvements must be made.” “This is why I’ve enlisted the brightest minds, including SpaceX engineers, to help upgrade our aviation system,” Duffy wrote. “I am fully committed to transportation excellence, as well as transparency and honesty with the public.” A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation reportedly told Reuters that SpaceX engineers tapped as part of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team at the FAA are serving as special government employees and will be kept separate from the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation – which handles regulations for the company – to avoid any conflicts of interest. TRUMP ADMIN MOVES TO BLOCK NYC CONGESTION TOLL PROGRAM Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said in a Wednesday email to employees that the DOGE team would be visiting more FAA facilities – including FAA headquarters – after Monday stops at the Air Traffic Control Command Center and Potomac TRACON in Warrenton, Virginia, Reuters reported. “We are asking for their help to engineer solutions while we keep the airspace open and safe,” Rocheleau wrote. “They will contribute to our goal of continuous improvement, which is the key to making sure flying continues to be the safest mode of transportation. We will learn from them, and they will learn more about aviation safety from us.” Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was among critics to claim Musk’s team was inappropriately gaining special access to the FAA. Duffy told Fox News that the SpaceX engineers had gone to the FAA on Monday to “just observe” and would “craft a phased approach on how we might be able to fix the American system.” He added, “It’s not just SpaceX, we’re going to ask everyone else to come in that’s smart and bright and loves America to think through the process.” DUFFY BRINGS UP CLINTON WHILE NOTING SPACEX WORKERS WILL VISIT AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM COMMAND CENTER “We’re like using a rotary phone,” Duffy said. “We’re spending 90% of our money to keep the rotary phone working from back in the 1980s as opposed to thinking, well, we use cell phones today. We have such antiquated, old equipment that no one has fixed. Donald Trump has said, ‘Fix this system, make it work, keep people safe.’” Duffy said he planned on Wednesday to visit the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, but the trip was canceled due to bad weather and would be rescheduled. The secretary said he would go to the Air Traffic Control Command Center in Virginia on Wednesday to talk with FAA employees about “the critical need to upgrade our air traffic systems.” The D.C. crash, which killed all 67 people aboard both craft, happened nine days after President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president. It was the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster since 9/11. That crash was the first of several major North American aviation disasters within the last month. In Canada this week, a Delta flight from Minneapolis dramatically flipped upside down and burst into flames while landing at Toronto’s airport, but everyone aboard survived. In his post to X on Wednesday, Duffy rejected what he described as the “growing media narrative that there are more airplane crashes now in Trump’s presidency than under Biden.” He asserted that there were 57 aviation incidents in the U.S. during President Joe Biden’s first month in office, “compared to 35 under Trump,” adding that “the need for immediate improvement to our safety infrastructure is long overdue.”
‘GOOD RIDDANCE’: MAGA reacts to ‘RINO’ Mitch McConnell Senate exit
Many pro-Trump Republicans took to social media on Thursday to celebrate Republican Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell’s announcement that he would be leaving the Senate at the end of his term, with one commentator saying he has “done so much destruction” to the Republican Party. At 83 years old, McConnell has been in the Senate for 40 years. Known as a moderate conservative, he served as the leader of the Senate Republican Conference from 2007 until 2025, which makes him the longest-serving party leader in U.S. history. His seventh and final term will expire in January 2027. McConnell has at times been very critical of President Donald Trump. He recently voted against confirming some of Trump’s top Cabinet nominees, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., earning him the ire of many in the president’s sphere. He has also taken criticism for remaining in the Senate despite his advanced age and several frightening health episodes. Some conservatives have accused McConnell of being a “Republican in name only” (RINO). FBI NOMINEE KASH PATEL ADVANCES TO FINAL SENATE CONFIRMATION VOTE Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday morning, McConnell gave a heartfelt address in which he said: “Seven times my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate… Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last.” In response to McConnell’s announcement, Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, said, “It’s time for new blood from the great state of Kentucky” and that “exciting opportunities await” for the Republican Party. “GOOD RIDDANCE, RINO!” reacted conservative influencer Nick Sortor. “Mitch McConnell, whose birthday is today, will not be running for reelection in 2026. Good. The statement comes as McConnell has suffered multiple medical emergencies in the past few years. McConnell is 83 years old and has been a Senator in Kentucky since 1985,” said conservative media personality Collin Rugg. “Thank goodness. He has done so much destruction to this party,” he added. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER THUNE SAYS THIS IS THE REASON WHY HE AND TRUMP ARE WORKING WELL TOGETHER Another conservative influencer, Benny Johnson, who has previously criticized McConnell as being too old to remain in the Senate, described the retiring senator’s slow speech as an “absolutely brutal listen.” This prompted another political commentator, Mike Sperrazza, to suggest: “We still need term limits.” However, not everyone was so critical of McConnell. New Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., took to X to say, “McConnell’s legacy is one of remarkable service to the Senate, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and our nation.” “Over decades of tireless work, his mastery of Senate procedure, commitment to the institution, and dedication to the rule of law have shaped the course of American governance for generations to come,” said Thune. “His leadership has strengthened the Senate’s role as a deliberative body and delivered historic achievements, from advancing the judiciary to championing Kentucky’s interests.”
Bulldozers and trucks carrying mobile homes seen entering Gaza
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Bulldozers, building materials and housing units have been seen at the Rafah crossing.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025: India’s Gill steers nervy win against Bangladesh
Opener Shubman Gill carries his bat with a century to lead India to victory against spirited Bangladesh in Dubai. In-form Shubman Gill made an unbeaten 101 to anchor India’s nervy chase in a six-wicket win over Bangladesh as the two teams began their Champions Trophy campaign in Dubai. Needing a tricky 229 for victory on a seemingly tough pitch on Thursday, India rode on Gill’s second successive one-day international [ODI] ton to achieve their target with 21 balls to spare. Title favourites India are playing their matches in the 50-over tournament at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium after refusing to tour host nation Pakistan over political tensions. Pace spearhead Mohammed Shami set up victory with figures of 5-53, helping reduce Bangladesh to 35-5 in his opening spell before they recovered to manage 228 all out after electing to bat first. “With the bat, yes we were under pressure a bit,” India captain Rohit Sharma said. “But when you are playing a game like this, you are bound to be under pressure.” India’s Shubman Gill launches a six during his innings [Altaf Qadri/AP] Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, but was in trouble almost immediately. Advertisement Towhid Hridoy, who made 100 – his first ODI ton, and Jaker Ali (68) put on 154 runs for the sixth wicket to lift the total from the sticky start, albeit with some assistance from sloppy Indian fielding including two dropped catches. In reply, India started strongly as Rohit Sharma and Gill got going with regular boundaries. Rohit became just the 10th batsman – and fourth from India – to surpass 11,000 ODI runs. The India captain made 41 before he was dismissed by fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and Virat Kohli walked in to loud cheers from the crowd at a largely empty stadium. India’s captain Rohit Sharma looks skywards to watch the ball just before he was caught [Altaf Qadri/AP] Kohli took 10 balls to get his first run and made 22 before mistiming a late cut to backward point off leg-spinner Rishad Hossain. India lost two more wickets after Rishad and Mustafizur Rahman removed Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer to put India in trouble at 144-4. But vice-captain Gill, who was player of the series with 259 runs in India’s 3-0 ODI sweep of England last week, kept calm as he and KL Rahul took the team home in an unbeaten 87-run stand. Rahul finished 41 not out but was dropped early in his innings by Jaker at deep mid-wicket and India never faltered after that with Gill reaching his eighth ODI century. Shami was the bowling hero with his sixth five-wicket haul in 104 ODIs, stepping up in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury. Shami struck in the first over to get left-handed Soumya Sarkar caught behind for a five-ball duck. Advertisement Left-arm spinner Axar struck twice in two balls to send Tanzid Hasan (25) and Mushfiqur Rahim, for a duck, trudging back to the pavilion. It could have been six down had Rohit not dropped a catch at first slip, denying Axar a hat-trick and handing Jaker a reprieve on nought. Jaker, who survived another chance on 24 when wicketkeeper Rahul missed a stumping, and Towhid, dropped on 23 by Hardik Pandya at mid-off, combined to thwart the Indian charge. Bangladesh’s Towhid Hridoy celebrates after scoring a century [Altaf Qadri/AP] Jaker fell to Shami but Towhid kept up the fight until his 118-ball knock ended with six fours and two sixes. “In 10 overs, we lost five wickets,” Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto reflected. “It’s very hard to recover and so it cost us the game.” Shanto was also critical of his team’s effort in the field. “We made some mistakes on the field, a couple of dropped catches and a few runouts. If we could take those catches, it could be different,” he said. India next play archrivals Pakistan in a Sunday blockbuster, while Bangladesh face New Zealand – who opened their tournament by beating Pakistan on Wednesday – in Rawalpindi on Monday. Adblock test (Why?)
US switches stance on Ukraine war, seeking $500bn in payback
Ukraine’s diplomatic situation was upended during the past week, as its main ally, the United States, reversed several positions. US President Donald Trump announced on February 12 that he was beginning direct talks with Russia to end the war, overturning his predecessor’s promise that there would be “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine”. On the same day, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Russian diplomatic language invoking “realism”, when he told Ukraine Defence Contact Group partners in Brussels that “returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective,” and that “the United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.” Eventual NATO membership has been a US promise to Ukraine since 2008, and the US has, throughout the war, supported a restoration of the border Russia recognised with Ukraine in 1991. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius called the one-sided concessions “clumsy” and “a mistake”. Advertisement Worse was to come On Tuesday, as Trump’s negotiating team arrived in Riyadh to begin talks, Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war and implied it had stolen aid, provoking an angry response from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Today, I heard, ‘Oh, we weren’t invited’ [to talks in Riyadh]. Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it three years ago. You should have never started it,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago. The full-scale war started in February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. Trump said Zelenskyy’s approval rating was at 4 percent, and that he’d “never seen an accounting” of what he alleged was $350bn given by the US to Ukraine. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, which conducts nationwide surveys in Ukraine, polled Zelenskyy’s approval rating at 57 percent this month. According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the United States has donated $114bn and the European Union $132bn over three years. Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv the next day that Trump had been caught in “a web of disinformation”. Trump responded with more criticism of Zelenskyy, posting on X that a “modestly successful comedian”, had become “a dictator without elections” who had “done a terrible job”. Europe, too, has been shocked by the US government’s stance. Director of a local lyceum, Yurii Bilyk, walks next to its building destroyed by a recent Russian air strike in the village of Novopavlivka, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine on February 18, 2025 [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters] US Vice President JD Vance scolded Europeans for restricting free speech and curtailing democracy in an address to the Munich Security Conference on Friday, suggesting that extreme-right parties shunned by mainstream politicians were the true expression of the people’s will. Advertisement “We see in America a president who admires autocratic systems,” said Germany’s next chancellor-presumptive, Friedrich Merz, and a “vice president who tells us how to run our democracy”. “We are no longer sure if the Americans still stand by our side as they did after 1945,” he said. ‘Quick fix is a dirty deal’ Ukrainian politicians have also expressed reservations about NATO’s credibility as an alliance. Other European leaders slammed the Riyadh process as a sham. “Any quick fix is a dirty deal … any deal behind our backs won’t work,” said European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on X. “Peace will only come through strength,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. “This requires tough and long-term security guarantees for Ukraine, a strong NATO and progress in Ukraine’s accession negotiations with the European Union,” she said. Zelenskyy twice in the past week rejected US proposals to formalise US-Ukrainian economic relations because they lacked security guarantees. Hegseth presented him with a payback plan based on the exploitation of Ukraine’s mineral wealth on February 12, and Vance brought it back to Munich on Friday. That plan appeared to be based on what Trump said in an interview on February 10. “I told [Ukraine] that I want the equivalent of, like, $500bn worth of rare earth, and they’ve essentially agreed to do that,” Trump told Fox reporter Bret Baier. Zelenskyy estimated that Ukraine had received $98.5bn in US military and financial support. Advertisement “But one cannot count up to $500bn and say, ‘Give us back $500bn in minerals.’ That’s not a serious discussion,” Zelenskyy said on Wednesday. No seat for Ukraine Moscow has been bullish since the talks in Riyadh were announced. Deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev on February 12 upheld Moscow’s defiant stance against swapping any of the Russian land Ukraine holds in Kursk with any of the Ukrainian land Russia holds. “The proposals of Ukrainians about the ‘exchange of territories’ are nonsense, the only way to heal is to ‘feel like Russians again’, Dmitry Medvedev wrote in his Telegram channel,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov went a step further on Sunday, denying that Ukraine had any seat at the negotiating table because it lacked sovereignty. “That country cannot really answer for its words,” Peskov said in an interview on Russia Today. “Each time it is necessary to make a certain adjustment when negotiating with them, for their deficit of sovereignty and the deficit of trust in them. Which will not go anywhere.” On Monday, Russia’s permanent UN representative, Vasily Nebenzya, insisted on the terms for peace that Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined last June. Ukraine should surrender the parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson that Moscow doesn’t control, he said, because it had “irrevocably lost those regions, abjure NATO membership and remain neutral. Moscow currently controls an estimated two-thirds of Donetsk, three-quarters of Zaporizhia and Kherson, and 99 percent of Luhansk. Advertisement Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service declassified a report on February 11 saying Russia was rebuilding its military in preparation for a war against NATO, with the backing of China, Iran and North Korea. Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs published its annual intelligence report the following day, agreeing that Russia was preparing for a
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Senate trying to advance Trump’s agenda
You’ll likely need a universal translator to decipher the fiscal discourse emanating from Capitol Hill this week and next. You’ll hear a lot about budget reconciliation. “One bill/two bill.” And “vote-a-rama.” Let’s break down what the House and Senate Budget Committees completed last week. That will set the table for what the full Senate addresses this week – and what the House aims to tackle next week. Congressional Republicans intend to enact President Donald Trump’s core agenda of cutting taxes and reducing federal spending. Republicans have their own problems passing such a plan in the House of Representatives because of the GOP’s slim majority. Republicans must stick together. But in the Senate, Republicans have 53 seats. That’s not enough to crack a filibuster on legislation. The bar there is 60. However, there’s a way to overcome that obstacle: use a special process called “budget reconciliation” to bypass a filibuster and pass the bill. ‘WOKE IS THEIR GOD’: EX-DEM FUNDRAISER SAYS PARTY ‘IN SHAMBLES’ AFTER 2024 ELECTION LOSSES “Budget reconciliation” isn’t a trick or scheme. It’s a time-honored parliamentary method used by both parties to enact their agenda when they can’t vault the filibuster. Democrats used budget reconciliation to clear filibuster hurdles to approve Obamacare in 2009-2010. Republicans deployed the reconciliation gambit to try to undo Obamacare in 2017. However, Republicans were more successful in approving President Trump’s tax cuts later that year via reconciliation. The issue is that you must have a budget in place in order to use reconciliation in the Senate. And, the House and Senate must approve the same budget vehicle for reconciliation. Let me say that again: it has to be the same budget vehicle for reconciliation. That lays the groundwork. Here’s what unfolded last week. House Republicans initially struggled to assemble a budget chassis for their eventual legislative plan. What they had to do first was construct and approve the legislative structure for this in the Budget Committee. That took a Herculean lift, but after six weeks of meetings, House Republicans finally advanced their plan through committee. It cuts $4.5 trillion in taxes, $2 trillion in “mandatory” spending (like entitlements) and lifts the debt limit by $4 trillion. TRUMP FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL PICKS UP SUPPORT FROM KEY GOP SENATOR Republicans specifically designed this measure to make it out of the Budget Committee and appeal to conservatives. Hold that thought for a moment about whom the committee targeted the bill for. House Republicans could no longer dither. That’s because Senate Republicans were marching ahead with their own plan. It was slimmer and didn’t focus on some of the same priorities demanded by the House. The Senate Republican package didn’t touch tax cuts. Instead, it bolstered military spending and infused the Department of Homeland Security and other related agencies with $175 billion to finish the border wall. It also increased energy production. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., long argued that voters elected President Trump and awarded Congressional Republicans the House and Senate because their message about border security resonated with them. Graham believes it’s a fool’s errand to deal with tax and spending cuts first. He says the border should be up first. Then move to other things. You’ve undoubtedly heard the debate about, “one bill, two bill.” This is the crux of the debate between the House and Senate. The House wants to do one bill, or in the vernacular of the president, a “big, beautiful bill.” However, the Senate approach of focusing first on energy and the border – and leaving tax and spending cuts for later – naturally dictates doing two pieces of legislation. This is the parliamentary problem facing Republicans. It doesn’t matter if it’s one bill, two bill, red bill, blue bill. Yes. I know this sounds like Dr. Seuss. Passing one thing is a lot easier than approving two things in Congress. And it’s far from clear that House Republicans can even pass their sole bill that just came out of committee. Graham forged ahead with his bill in committee – the day before the House Budget Committee could even meet. That created the very real possibility that the Senate could jam the House with its “one bill” because the House may never approve its own framework on the floor. But, there’s a risk involved. What happens if Republicans are stymied by infighting and can never re-up the tax cuts? The Senate began its 50-hour debate on the budget framework Tuesday night. 4 OF THE BIGGEST CLASHES BETWEEN PATEL, SENATE DEMS AT HIS CONFIRMATION HEARING The budget process is lengthy and arduous. It culminates in a marathon vote series – known as a vote-a-rama Thursday, through Friday and perhaps into the wee hours of Saturday morning. This onerous exercise is to craft a legislative product which enables Republicans to bypass a Senate filibuster later. However, the proposal must be fiscal in nature and not add to the deficit over a ten-year period. Here’s something important to know. The mechanics just spelled out creates nothing more than a shell. This is the legislative chassis I referred to earlier. Both the House and Senate must have this in place to eventually debate substantive and “binding” provisions of legislation down the road – be it border security or massive tax cuts. No “chassis,” then no final bill. So, this is an important phase in moving the president’s agenda. But not the end result. Remember what I said about House Republicans writing their bill to appeal to conservatives on the Budget Committee? The maneuver by the GOP brass was to specifically pry a plan out of committee. But adopting that budget proposal on the House floor – let alone the final bill – is a challenge. Some conservatives don’t think the bill cuts enough. Some moderates worry about blowing a hole in the deficit with the tax cuts. High-tax state Republicans – like those from New York and California – may be loath to support the package if it fails
Riley Gaines featured in Trump HHS website that builds on ‘two sexes’ executive order
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released guidance Wednesday to implement sex-based definitions across the federal government and partners to expand President Donald Trump’s executive order signed last month titled, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” HHS announced the department will also be working “to implement policies protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” as well as developing a policy for women’s sports. As such, HHS also launched a new web page for the Office of Women’s Health featuring a video of former collegiate swimmer and activist Riley Gaines discussing keeping biological men out of women’s sports. 4 KEY WOMEN’S HEALTH ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED, DOCTOR SAYS “Thank you, President Trump and HHS for courageously defending truth, common sense and women,” Gaines said in the video. “The executive order ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ ensures the next generation of girls has a fair opportunity to compete with the safety, privacy and equal opportunity they’re entitled to,” Gaines said. “The clarity and decisiveness of the Trump administration sends a strong, clear message to women and girls across the country that we matter.” Other links on the new website include “Defending Women” and “Protecting Children.” A screenshot taken by Fox News Digital shows the difference between the new HHS web page on Thursday versus February 2024, under the Biden administration, when a purple “Know Your Rights: Reproductive Health Care” ticker can be seen on the Office of Women’s Health homepage. “This administration is bringing back common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “The prior administration’s policy of trying to engineer gender ideology into every aspect of public life is over.” TRUMP ADMIN ADMINISTRATION LAYS OUT WHO EXACTLY WAS CUT AT HHS IN FACE OF ‘DEMOCRAT HYSTERIA’ According to the guidance, “Sex” refers to a person’s immutable biological classification as either male or female. “Female” is defined as a person with a reproductive system designed to produce eggs, while “Male” refers to a person with a reproductive system designed to produce sperm. “Woman” and “Girl” represent adult and minor human females, respectively, while “Man” and “Boy” refer to adult and minor human males. The terms “Mother” and “Father” denote female and male parents, respectively. Wednesday’s announcement comes as the Trump administration has been seeking to restore “biological truth” to the public sector. The topic of gender was not included in the HHS guidance. MAHA CAUCUS MEMBER PLEDGES HEARINGS INTO ‘CORRUPTION’ OF A PUBLIC HEALTH SECTOR ‘CAPTURED BY BIG PHARMA’ Trump’s gender-related executive orders – which include banning biological men from women’s sports and transgender people from the military – have sparked legal challenges, with several lawsuits filed by progressive and LGBT advocacy groups arguing that the orders violate civil rights protections for transgender individuals.
National security advisor Michael Waltz says Ukraine should ‘tone down’ Trump criticism
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told Fox News that Ukraine needs to “tone down” its criticism of President Donald Trump and to sign an economic deal he believes would be the “best security guarantee they could ever hope for.” Waltz spoke on “Fox & Friends” a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested Trump is in a “disinformation space” regarding peace talks with Russia. Trump responded by calling Zelenskyy “A Dictator without Elections,” writing in a Truth Social post that “Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.” “Why we are getting this pushback and certainly this kind of – as the vice president said, badmouthing in the press — for all the administration has done in his first term as well and all the United States has done for Ukraine is just unacceptable. They need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal,” Waltz said about Ukraine on Thursday. “There is obviously a lot of frustration here,” he added. “Vice President Vance was very frustrated leaving [last week’s] Munich Security Conference. Our Secretary of Treasury who traveled all the way to Kyiv is also frustrated, all on top of the president, obviously, who makes his frustration well known and that is because we presented the Ukrainians really an incredible and historic opportunity to have the United States of America co-invest in Ukraine, invest in its economy, invest in its natural resources, and really become a partner in Ukraine’s future in a way that is sustainable, but also would be I think the best security guarantee they could ever hope for, much more than another pallet of ammunition.” TRUMP CALLS UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY A ‘DICTATOR WITHOUT ELECTIONS’ AS RIFT WIDENS The United States has sent billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion nearly three years ago. The Trump administration is now seeking to recoup the cost of aid sent to the war-torn country by gaining access to rare earth minerals like titanium, iron and uranium. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Zelenskyy a document when they met last week that reportedly proposed the United States being granted 50% ownership of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. REPUBLICAN SENATORS BACK TRUMP’S DEMAND FOR UKRAINE ELECTIONS, BUT WON’T CALL ZELENSKYY ‘DICTATOR’ However, Zelenskyy declined to sign the proposed agreement, telling the Associated Press in Munich that it didn’t provide enough security guarantees for his country. “The president also said how much he loves the Ukrainian people,” Waltz said Thursday. “He was the first to arm them back in his first term, we have done a lot for the security of Ukraine and to say that we are going to change the nature of our aid going forward, I don’t think should offend anyone.” Zelenskyy said Thursday that he had a “productive meeting” with Keith Kellogg, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Russia and Ukraine, in Kyiv. “I am grateful to the United States for all the assistance and bipartisan support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that “We had a detailed conversation about the battlefield situation, how to return our prisoners of war, and effective security guarantees.” Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.
Rand Paul endorses Trump 3 months after Election Day, admits ‘I was wrong’
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., endorsed President Donald Trump in a Wednesday post on X, making the unorthodox announcement more than three months after Election Day 2024. When making the announcement, Paul pointed to Trump’s cabinet picks and a Truth Social post in which the commander in chief blasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “A few people may have noticed that I resisted an enthusiastic endorsement of Donald Trump during the election. But now, I’m amazed by the Trump cabinet (many of whom I would have picked). I love his message to the Ukrainian warmongers, and along with his DOGE initiative shows I was wrong to withhold my endorsement,” Paul declared in the tweet. RAND PAUL RECOILS AT TRUMP’S GAZA TAKEOVER PLANS: ‘I THOUGHT WE VOTED FOR AMERICA FIRST’ “So today, admittedly a little tardy, I give Donald Trump my enthusiastic endorsement! (Too little too late some will say, but, you know, it is sincere, there is that.),” he added. “Don’t expect this endorsement to be fawning. I still think tariffs are a terrible idea, but Dios Mio, what courage, what tenacity. Go @realDonaldTrump Go!” The senator enthusiastically supported Trump’s choice to tap former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. RAND PAUL OPPOSES PRESIDENT TRUMP’S LABOR SECRETARY PICK LORI CHAVEZ-DEREMER But Paul has indicated that he will not support Trump’s pick for Labor Department secretary, former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Paul issued an anti-endorsement of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley ahead of the Iowa Republican caucuses last year. PRO-UNION TRUMP NOMINEE FACES SENATE GRILLING AS AT LEAST ONE REPUBLICAN VOWS TO OPPOSE HER While he stopped short of endorsing Trump ahead of the 2024 contest, he noted during an interview last year on “Honestly with Bari Weiss” that he would vote for Trump over then-Vice President Kamala Harris.