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Trump Admin Slashes 1,600 Positions From Embattled Agency as President Starts Fifth Week in Office

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The Trump administration is eliminating over a thousand positions at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), while also placing the majority of the remaining staff members on administration leave globally, just before midnight Sunday.

The Associated Press reported that it learned from the Trump administration that 1,600 posts would be eliminated after reviewing notices that were sent to USAID workers.

“As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally,” the notices read.

The Trump administration intends on leaving fewer than 300 staffers on the job, out of the current 8,000 contractors and direct hires.

The less than 300 remaining staff, along with an unknown number of the 5,000 locally hired international staff members abroad, will run the few life-saving programs that the administration said it intends to keep in place for the time being. (Read more from “Trump Admin Slashes 1,600 Positions From Embattled Agency as President Starts Fifth Week in Office” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Trump DOE Opens Investigation After Maine Gov Defies Prez on Trans Athletes — Putting $250M in School Funds at Risk

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The Trump administration launched an investigation Friday that could result in Maine schools losing $250 million in annual federal funding, The Post has learned — hours after a fiery clash between Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and President Trump over transgender athletic policies.

“You better comply! Because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding,” Trump told Mills during an afternoon White House governor’s summit — as she vowed instead to see him in court.

Shortly after, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights dispatched letters to Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin and the superintendent of a local school district announcing a formal inquiry into how a transgender pole-vault champion was awarded a state championship earlier this week.

The investigation will review whether state and local policies are in compliance with Title IX federal protections for female athletes, which under an executive order signed by Trump Feb. 5 bars the participation of trans women in girls sports.

“Dear Commissioner Makin: The United States Department of Education’s (Department) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) writes to inform you that it is initiating a directed investigation of the Maine Department of Education,” says the letter from Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

(Read more from “Trump DOE Opens Investigation After Maine Gov Defies Prez on Trans Athletes — Putting $250M in School Funds at Risk” HERE)

Trump Floats Merging ‘Tremendous Loser’ Postal Service With Commerce Department

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President Trump revealed Friday that he’s considering merging the US Postal Service with the Commerce Department.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that his administration is looking at a “merger” of the two government institutions to increase efficiency.

“We want to have a post office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money, and we’re thinking about doing that, and will be a form of a merger, but it’ll remain the Postal Service, and I think it’ll operate a lot better than it has been over the years,” Trump said.

He had floated the consideration back in December after learning that the USPS lost $9.5 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, according to the Washington Post. The astounding loss was up from $6.5 billion the previous year.

The Postal Service has blamed its increase in losses on a jump in worker compensation and pension liabilities. (Read more from “Trump Floats Merging ‘Tremendous Loser’ Postal Service With Commerce Department” HERE)

White House Warns Zelensky to ‘Tone Down’ Trump Criticism and Sign Rare-Earths Deal as Peace Talk Tensions Simmer; Zelensky Praises ‘Productive Meeting’ With Trump Envoy

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By New York Post. National security adviser Mike Waltz warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday to “tone it down” when it came to his “unacceptable” criticism of President Trump.

Zelensky, 47, has lashed out at Trump, 78, for excluding Kyiv from US-Russia talks held in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and batted down a reported offer for Washington to take 50% ownership of Ukraine’s rare-earth deposits valued at $500 billion.

“For all the administration has done in his first term … and all the United States has done for Ukraine — is just, it’s unacceptable,” Waltz said in a morning appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

“They need to tone it down,” the former Florida Republican congressman added, “and take a hard look and sign that deal.”

In an afternoon White House press briefing, Waltz said Zelensky had lobbed “insults” at the American president.

Waltz also claimed that the proposed rare-earths deal had included “the best security guarantee that they [Ukrainians] could hope for, much more than another pallet of ammunition.” (Read more from “White House Warns Zelensky to ‘Tone Down’ Trump Criticism and Sign Rare-Earths Deal as Peace Talk Tensions Simmer” HERE)

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Zelensky Praises ‘Productive Meeting’ With Trump Envoy Keith Kellogg

By Breitbart. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he had a “productive meeting” with retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who was acting as President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

The upbeat meeting seemed to scale back a growing confrontation between Zelensky and Trump over bilateral U.S. peace negotiations with Russia.

“I had a productive meeting with Special Envoy Kellogg – a good discussion, many important details. I am grateful to the United States for all the assistance and bipartisan support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” Zelensky said on social media Thursday afternoon.

“It’s important for us – and for the entire free world – that American strength is felt,” the Ukrainian president said.

“We had a detailed conversation about the battlefield situation, how to return our prisoners of war, and effective security guarantees,” he said. (Read more from “Zelensky Praises ‘Productive Meeting’ With Trump Envoy Keith Kellogg” HERE)

Trump Targets Taxpayers’ Money Used to ‘Incentivize or Support’ Illegals

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A new executive order from President Donald Trump, among the latest in his long list of dozens of actions he’s taken to protect America from illegal aliens and the transgender ideology, and to cut government waste and fraud, puts a bull’s-eye on the taxpayer money being used to “incentivize or support” illegal immigration.

The idea is to make certain “taxpayer resources are used to protect the interests of American citizens, not illegal aliens,” said the order, which also cited statistics from the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

That group said American taxpayers are being forced to pay at least $182 billion a year to cover the expenses of 20 million illegal aliens and their children, including more than $66 billion in federal expenses and $115 billion paid by states and local governments.

Further, the Center for Immigration Studies reported 1 million illegal aliens could cost American taxpayers $3 billion a year through welfare programs to which they are not supposed to have access under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

But illegal aliens who are granted parole become “qualified aliens,” allowing access to various benefits. (Read more from “Trump Targets Taxpayers’ Money Used to ‘Incentivize or Support’ Illegals” HERE)

Inside Trump’s ‘Goal’ to Abolish the IRS, Utilize Tariffs So ‘Whole Economy Explodes’ — And How It’ll Affect Your Wallet

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One of President Trump’s objectives over the next four years is to have US revenues from tariffs become so massive that the Internal Revenue Service is no longer needed, his commerce secretary revealed Wednesday.

“His goal is to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and let all the outsiders pay,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime.”

The former CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald expanded a day later on his belief that Trump’s sweeping tariff plan will be a boon for the US economy.

“As the president said, reciprocal tariffs, either you bring yours down or we’re going to bring ours up. If we go to their level, it will earn us $700 billion a year to be equal to everybody else,” Lutnick said Thursday, during an appearance on FNC’s “America’s Newsroom.”

“And there goes our deficit. And interest rates come smashing down, and the whole economy explodes higher.” (Read more from “Inside Trump’s ‘Goal’ to Abolish the IRS, Utilize Tariffs So ‘Whole Economy Explodes’ — And How It’ll Affect Your Wallet” HERE)

‘Good Riddance’: Trump Fires ‘Biden Era’ Prosecutors

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In his effort to purge the federal government of political corruption, President Donald Trump is firing all prosecutors hired by his predecessor. On Tuesday evening, Trump announced via Truth Social that he is dismissing U.S. attorneys appointed by former President Joe Biden.

“Over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicized like never before,” Trump began. He continued, “Therefore, I have instructed the termination of ALL remaining ‘Biden Era’ U.S. Attorneys. We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence.” The president added, “America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System—THAT BEGINS TODAY!”

According to a report from Reuters, U.S. attorneys were informed last week that they were being dismissed. Trent Morse, Trump’s deputy director for the Office of Presidential Personnel, sent an email Thursday to Biden administration prosecutors, saying, “At the direction of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as U.S. Attorney is terminated, effective immediately.”

In comments to The Washington Stand, Article III Project Founder and Trump legal ally Mike Davis explained, “President Trump had to fire every remaining Biden-era U.S. attorney to remove partisan political actors from the justice system.” He added, “For too long, the DOJ was weaponized against half of the country. That changed yesterday. Good riddance.”

Already, Trump has begun staffing U.S. attorneys’ offices across the country with his own nominees. For example, Edward R. Martin, Jr. has been appointed as Trump’s U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Martin’s predecessor in the role, Matthew M. Graves, enacted a host of prosecutions against Jan. 6 protestors but largely refused to prosecute rising crimes in D.C. During his tenure, Graves declined to prosecute 67% of crimes in the nation’s capital, including 72% of misdemeanor crimes and 53% of felony arrests. Martin, meanwhile, served as a defense attorney for many of the Jan. 6 protestors targeted by Graves. Upon taking office, Martin fired over two dozen federal prosecutors involved in Jan. 6 cases and implemented a hiring and promotions freeze on the office. (Read more from “‘Good Riddance’: Trump Fires ‘Biden Era’ Prosecutors” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Trump Torches ’Dictator’ Zelensky For Opposing Peace Push; President Doubles Down After Zelensky Responds to His Criticism

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By Breitbart. President Donald Trump slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “Dictator without Elections” a day after Zelensky complained about Ukraine not having a seat at diplomatic talks Tuesday between the United States and Russia.

Trump ripped into Zelensky in a lengthy Truth Social post, first addressing him as “a modestly successful comedian” rather than president.

“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle,” Trump wrote.

Trump added that the United States has spent hundreds of billions more on the war than Europe has:

The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back. Why didn’t Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us — We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation.

(Read more from “Trump Torches ’Dictator’ Zelensky For Opposing Peace Push” HERE)
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President Doubles Down After Zelensky Responds to His Criticism

By Breitbart. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has found himself exactly where he does not want to be: In a war of words with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump addressed complaints on Tuesday coming from Ukraine about it being left out of recent peace talks with Russia while addressing reporters at Mar-a-Lago. A brought up Russia’s insistence that Ukraine hold new elections for president to potentially sign a new peace deal and asked whether Trump would support this idea.

“Well, we have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine. Where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4% approval rating, and where a country has been blown to smithereens,” the president replied.

Trump referred to the damage Ukraine sustained after Russia’s invasion began in 2022. “You have cities that are absolutely decimated,” he said, comparing it to the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s war against terrorist group Hamas.

The president asserted that the Ukrainian people “are tired of it” and that they “want to see something happen.” He criticized Zelensky over reports suggesting he could not locate half of the financial aid the U.S. had sent Ukraine. (Read more from “Trump Doubles Down After Zelensky Responds to His Criticism” HERE)

Surprising New Poll Numbers Released on Trump’s Performance So Far in the White House

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Three new national polls released on Wednesday indicate President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are edging down slightly since taking over the White House one month ago.

Forty-five percent of voters questioned in a Quinnipiac University survey said they approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, with 49% disapproving.

That’s down from a 46%-43% approval/disapproval in a Quinnipiac poll conducted in late January, during the president’s first week back in office following his inauguration.

A new national poll from Gallup indicated the president at 45% approval and 51% disapproval, down from 47%-48% approval/disapproval late last month.

And according to a Reuters/Ipsos national survey also released on Wednesday, the president stood at 44% approval and 51% disapproval. Trump registered at 45%-46% approval/disapproval in the previous poll by Reuters/Ipsos, which was conducted late last month during the first week of the president’s second administration. (Read more from “Surprising New Poll Numbers Released on Trump’s Performance So Far in the White House” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Trump Administration Vows To Fight Any Schools That Defy Order To End DEI

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The left-wing American education establishment is clutching its pearls at the thought of dropping its push for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideology after the Department of Education threatened its federal funding, but the Trump administration is calling its bluff.

“The Department of Education will no longer allow education entities to discriminate on the basis of race,” Department of Education Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor told The Federalist. “This isn’t complicated. When in doubt, every school should consult the SFFA [Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard] legal test contained in the [“Dear Colleague” letter]: if an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates law.”

The Trump administration distributed a “Dear Colleague” letter last Friday telling schools to shut down their DEI programs for training, teaching, and hiring or face the loss of their federal funding. The memo uses the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action from SFFA to set up guidance for schools to shut down their racially discriminatory DEI programs that have “toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism’ and advanced discriminatory policies and practices.”

The Department of Education said that additional guidance on implementation is forthcoming.

However, as The Federalist reported, The School Superintendents Association (AASA), which represents the leaders of school districts across the country, sent a memo to its members to ignore the guidance. (Read more from “Trump Administration Vows To Fight Any Schools That Defy Order To End DEI” HERE)