Trump’s imperialist shakedown of Panama hits a raw nerve in Latin America

Trump’s imperialist shakedown of Panama hits a raw nerve in Latin America

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes: The president of Panama is a brave man. José Raúl Mulino has continued to defy the White House with open contempt even after watching the punishment beating of Ukraine. “Donald Trump is lying again. In the name of Panama and all its people I reject this fresh assault on the truth and the dignity of our nation,” he said, in response to Trump’s latest outrage, a fresh set of fabrications and threats to retake the Panama Canal….

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What happens if Trump defies the courts?

What happens if Trump defies the courts?

Erwin Chemerinsky writes: It is not hyperbole to say that the future of American constitutional democracy now rests on a single question: Will President Trump and his administration defy court orders? Federal judges have issued more than a dozen temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions against Trump administration actions. But it is unclear whether the government will comply, and in at least two cases, judges have said their orders were ignored. The Trump administration is already facing at least 100…

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Trump allies launch a bid to take control of Washington D.C. Bar Association

Trump allies launch a bid to take control of Washington D.C. Bar Association

NBC News reports: Two of President Donald Trump’s allies have launched bids for leadership roles with the D.C. Bar Association, an under-the-radar effort that would give them more control over the influential legal group. The push comes amid bar associations’ confrontations with the Trump administration, and some federal attorneys have looked to their state groups for ethical guidance amid Trump’s rapid reshaping of government. Bradley Bondi — a lawyer who is Attorney General Pam Bondi’s brother — and Alicia Long…

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White House cuts $400 million in grants for Columbia — ‘this is just the beginning’

White House cuts $400 million in grants for Columbia — ‘this is just the beginning’

Politico reports: Columbia University faces the immediate loss of grants and contracts totaling about $400 million for failing to address antisemitism, a Trump administration task force said Friday. The Justice Department task force to combat antisemitism, led by Leo Terrell, has been probing 10 institutions because of their responses to antisemitic incidents on campuses since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. But Columbia, which faced intense scrutiny for its students’ high-profile antiwar encampment and building occupations last spring,…

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Voice of America Ukrainian correspondent fired in DOGE crackdown

Voice of America Ukrainian correspondent fired in DOGE crackdown

The Kyiv Independent reports: Ostap Yarysh, a Ukrainian correspondent at Voice of America (VoA), was dismissed on March 7, reportedly following an inspection by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE is an unofficial cost-cutting group that U.S. President Donald Trump has granted broad authority to reduce government spending and dismiss employees. DOGE’s head, U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, has previously called for the shutdown of U.S.-funded media outlets Radio Free Europe and Voice of America. Yarysh joined the VOA’s Ukrainian…

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Election officials say cuts to federal cybersecurity agency (CISA) are affecting operations

Election officials say cuts to federal cybersecurity agency (CISA) are affecting operations

Democracy Docket reports: Ever since President Donald Trump’s victory in November, election officials at every level and voting rights advocates have worried that he would gut the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) — the little-known federal agency responsible for the nation’s cybersecurity and protecting critical infrastructure from digital threats. And now that those cuts have come to fruition, election officials are already experiencing the loss of crucial CISA resources they said are integral to voting security. In the seven…

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Trump’s imperial designs on Canada trigger a surge of patriotism

Trump’s imperial designs on Canada trigger a surge of patriotism

The New York Times reports: In candid remarks to a group of business leaders last month that was captured by a microphone, Mr. Trudeau offered a theory for Mr. Trump’s Canada obsession that is widely shared in the country. “Not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have, but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state,” Mr. Trudeau told the gathering in Toronto. “They’re very aware…

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In ‘a watershed moment for Europe,’ EU leaders agree on plan for huge rise in defense spending

In ‘a watershed moment for Europe,’ EU leaders agree on plan for huge rise in defense spending

The Guardian reports: European leaders holding emergency talks in Brussels have agreed on a massive increase to defence spending, amid a drive to shore up support for Ukraine after Donald Trump halted US military aid and intelligence sharing. But the show of unity was marred by Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, failing to endorse an EU statement on Ukraine pushing back against Trump’s Russia-friendly negotiating stance. The 26 other EU leaders, including Orbán’s ally Robert Fico, the Slovakian prime minister,…

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Timothy Snyder: Trump’s message to Ukraine — ‘concede to Russia now in exchange for nothing at all’

Timothy Snyder: Trump’s message to Ukraine — ‘concede to Russia now in exchange for nothing at all’

  Donald Trump has read out a letter from Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying Ukraine is ready to negotiate and the president says he’s getting strong signals from Russia that it is also ready for peace, but – if that deal boils down to Ukraine surrendering territory, American mining companies extracting minerals from Ukraine, and no security guarantee – is that real peace? And would a deal like that hold? In this new world of strong man politics, has Ukraine been bullied…

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Top Trump allies interfere in Ukraine’s domestic politics through secret talks with Zelenskyy’s opponents

Top Trump allies interfere in Ukraine’s domestic politics through secret talks with Zelenskyy’s opponents

Politico reports: Four senior members of Donald Trump’s entourage have held secret discussions with some of Kyiv’s top political opponents to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, just as Washington aligns with Moscow in seeking to lever the Ukrainian president out of his job. The senior Trump allies held talks with Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, a remorselessly ambitious former prime minister, and senior members of the party of Petro Poroshenko, Zelenskyy’s immediate predecessor as president, according to three Ukrainian parliamentarians and a U.S….

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Facing Trump’s threats, Columbia inquisition targets students critical of Israel

Facing Trump’s threats, Columbia inquisition targets students critical of Israel

The Associated Press reports: Columbia University senior Maryam Alwan was visiting family in Jordan over winter break when she received an email from the school accusing her of harassment. Her supposed top offense: writing an op-ed in the student newspaper calling for divestment from Israel. The probe is part of a flurry of recent cases brought by a new university disciplinary committee — the Office of Institutional Equity — against Columbia students who have expressed criticism of Israel, according to…

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Wall Street is turning its back on Elon Musk

Wall Street is turning its back on Elon Musk

CNN reports: Liberals and government employees aren’t the only people angry with Elon Musk. Tesla’s plunging share price means many investors are angry, too. Shares of Tesla shot up 91% after election day, peaking just before Christmas, as investors anticipated Musk and his car company would be big winners as a result of Donald Trump’s second term as president. Musk was Trump’s largest financial supporter during the campaign, and has since become the highest-profile member of his administration, by far….

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‘Rapid unscheduled disassembly’ of SpaceX Starship results in flight halts at several Florida airports

‘Rapid unscheduled disassembly’ of SpaceX Starship results in flight halts at several Florida airports

CNBC reports: The Federal Aviation Administration briefly halted flights to several Florida airports on Thursday night after a SpaceX Starship testing failure. The incident marks the second time this year that SpaceX experienced a mishap during a flight test of Starship resulting in debris raining down and commercial flights disrupted. Affected airports included Miami International Airport, which is an American Airlines hub, and airports serving Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando, Florida. The regulator said, in a statement on…

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Trump and Musk’s vengeful nihilism

Trump and Musk’s vengeful nihilism

George Monbiot writes: Vengeful nihilism, the destruction of what they do not love, know or understand, is a major theme in Maga politics. It is applied as viciously to culture and science as it is to the natural world. It is hard to avoid the thought that environmental destruction is not just a means by which Trump serves his corporate backers, but an end in itself. At the same time, Trump enthusiastically (albeit vaguely) boosts Musk’s plans to send people…

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