BREAKING: Trump is now saying that tariffs on Mexico and Canada could go higher than the 25% rate briefly imposed earlier this week.

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— More Perfect Union (@moreperfectunion.bsky.social) 7 March 2025 at 15:08

❗️🇺🇸 Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy got into a heated exchange with Musk during a Cabinet meeting. Both Rubio and Duffy accused Musk of lying, — NYT

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— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 7 March 2025 at 17:53

Marco Rubio was incensed. Here he was in the Cabinet Room of the White House, the secretary of state, seated beside the president and listening to a litany of attacks from the richest man in the world.

Seated diagonally opposite, across the elliptical mahogany table, Elon Musk was letting Mr. Rubio have it, accusing him of failing to slash his staff.

You have fired "nobody," Mr. Musk told Mr. Rubio, then scornfully added that perhaps the only person he had fired was a staff member from his Department of Government Efficiency.

Mr. Rubio had been privately furious with Mr. Musk for weeks, ever since his DOGE team effectively shuttered an entire agency that was supposedly under Mr. Rubio's control: the United States Agency for International Development. But, in the extraordinary cabinet meeting in front of the president and around 20 others — details of which have not been reported before — Mr. Rubio got his grievances off his chest.

Mr. Musk was not being truthful, Mr. Rubio said. What about the more than 1,500 State Department officials who took early retirement in buyouts? Didn't they count as layoffs? He asked, sarcastically, whether Mr. Musk wanted him to rehire all those people just so he could make a show of firing them again. Then he laid out his detailed plans for reorganizing the State Department.

Mr. Musk was unimpressed. He told Mr. Rubio he was "good on TV," with the clear subtext being that he wasn't good for much else. Throughout all of this, the president sat back in his chair, arms folded, as if he were watching a tennis match.

After the argument dragged on for an uncomfortable time, Mr. Trump finally intervened to defend Mr. Rubio as doing a "great job." Mr. Rubio has a lot to deal with, the president said. He is very busy, he is always traveling and on TV, and he has an agency to run. So everyone just needs to work together.

The meeting was a potential turning point after the frenetic first weeks of Mr. Trump's second term. It yielded the first significant indication that Mr. Trump is willing to put some limits on Mr. Musk, whose efforts have become the subject of several lawsuits and prompted concerns from Republican lawmakers, some of whom have complained directly to the president.

Cabinet officials almost uniformly like the concept of what Mr. Musk set out to do — reducing waste, fraud and abuse in government — but have been frustrated by the chain saw approach to upending the government and the lack of consistent coordination. Thursday's meeting, which was abruptly scheduled on Wednesday evening, was a sign that Mr. Trump is mindful of the growing complaints. He tried to offer each side something by praising both Mr. Musk and his cabinet secretaries. (At least one, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has had tense encounters related to Mr. Musk's team, was not present.)

The president made clear he still supported DOGE's mission. But now was the time, he said, to be a bit more refined in its approach. From now on, he said, the secretaries would be in charge; the Musk team would only advise. It is unclear what the long-term impact of the meeting will be. Mr. Musk remains Mr. Trump's biggest political financial supporter — just this week his super PAC aired $1 million worth of ads that said, "Thank you, President Trump" — and Mr. Musk's control of the social media website X has made administration staff members and cabinet secretaries alike fearful that he will target them in public.

But if nothing else, the session laid bare the tensions within Mr. Trump's team, and news of the sharp clashes spread quickly through senior ranks of cabinet agencies after it was over. This account is based on interviews with five people with knowledge of the events.

In a post on social media after the meeting, Mr. Trump said the next phase of his plan to cut the federal work force would be conducted with a "scalpel" rather than a "hatchet" — a clear reference to Mr. Musk's scorched-earth approach. Mr. Musk, who wore a suit and tie to Thursday's meeting instead of his usual T-shirt after Mr. Trump publicly ribbed him about his sloppy appearance, defended himself by saying that he has three companies with a market cap of tens of billions of dollars, and that his results speak for themselves.

But he was soon clashing with members of the cabinet. Just moments before the blowup with Mr. Rubio, Mr. Musk and the transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, went back and forth about the state of the Federal Aviation Administration's equipment for tracking airplanes and what kind of fix is needed. Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, jumped in to support Mr. Musk.

Mr. Duffy said the young staff of DOGE was trying to lay off air traffic controllers. What am I supposed to do? Mr. Duffy said. I have multiple plane crashes to deal with now, and your people want me to fire air traffic controllers?

Mr. Musk told Mr. Duffy that his assertion was a "lie." Mr. Duffy insisted it was not; he had heard it from them directly. Mr. Musk, asking who had been fired, said: Give me their names. Tell me their names.

Mr. Duffy said there were not any names, because he had stopped them from being fired. At another point, Mr. Musk insisted that people hired under diversity, equity and inclusion programs were working in control towers. Mr. Duffy pushed back and Mr. Musk did not add details, but said during the longer back and forth that Mr. Duffy had his phone number and should call him if he had any issues to raise.

The exchange ended with Mr. Trump telling Mr. Duffy that he had to hire people from M.I.T. as air traffic controllers. These air traffic controllers need to be "geniuses," he said.

The secretary of veterans affairs, Doug Collins, has been dealing with one of the most politically sensitive challenges of all the cabinet secretaries. Mr. Musk's cuts will affect thousands of veterans — a powerful constituency and a core part of the Trump base. Mr. Collins made the point that they should not wield a blunt instrument and cleave off everyone from the V.A. They needed to be strategic about it. Mr. Trump agreed with Mr. Collins, saying they ought to retain the smart ones and get rid of the bad ones.

In response to a request for comment from The New York Times, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a statement: "As President Trump said, this was a great and productive meeting amongst members of his team to discuss cost-cutting measures and staffing across the federal government. Everyone is working as one team to help President Trump deliver on his promise to make our government more efficient."

Tammy Bruce, a spokeswoman for the State Department, responded, "Secretary Rubio considered the meeting an open and productive discussion with a dynamic team that is united in achieving the same goal: making America great again." A Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman said, "As President Trump has said, it's important to increase efficiency and reduce bureaucracy while keeping in place the best and most productive federal employees. V.A. is working with DOGE and the rest of the administration to do just that."

A Transportation Department official would not comment. Mr. Musk, who later claimed on X that the cabinet meeting was "very productive," seemed far less enthused inside the room. He aggressively defended himself, reminding the cabinet secretaries that he had built multiple billion-dollar companies from the ground up and knew something about hiring good people.

Most cabinet members did not join the fray. Mr. Musk's anger directed at Mr. Rubio in particular seemed to catch people in the room by surprise, one person with knowledge of the meeting said. Another person said Mr. Musk's caustic responses to Mr. Duffy and Mr. Rubio seemed to deter other cabinet members, many of whom have privately complained about DOGE, from speaking.

But it remains to be seen how long this new arrangement will last.

Inside the Explosive Meeting Where Trump Officials Clashed With Elon Musk - The New York Times

Trump confirms a ‘digital Fort Knox’ for government-owned cryptocurrency

A day after he signed an executive order announcing the government would establish a digital currency reserve, Trump has held a meeting he dubbed the “ first-ever White House Digital Assets Summit”.

“Last year I promised to make America the Bitcoin superpower of the world and the crypto capital of the planet, and we’re taking historic action to deliver on that promise,” Trump said.

He also explained that the US would acquire more cryptocurrency, which would be managed by the Treasury.

“This will be a virtual Fort Knox for digital gold to be housed within the United States Treasury. That’s a big thing,” Trump said.


_{President Donald Trump sits next to ‘crypto czar’ David Sacks at the White House Crypto Summit on March 7}

US Senator Fetterman backs withholding funds from Columbia

John Fetterman, a staunchly pro-Israel Democrat, has welcomed the Trump administration’s decision to cancel $400m in funding to Columbia University over pro-Palestine student protests.

Fetterman claimed that Columbia, which deployed officers to forcibly disperse the demonstrations last year, let anti-Semitism “run amok to cater to lunatic fringe”.

In a social media post, the senator also asserted without evidence that some of the protesters were “paid provocateurs” and used an expletive to describe the activists.

“Now, Columbia pays for its failure and I support that,” he wrote.

Anti-Trump protesters rally in Prague

_{People attend an anti-Trump protest called ‘Europe, it’s your turn!’ in Prague, Czech Republic, March 7}

Canada’s Conservative leader calls on Trump to end ‘economic chaos’

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has said Trump must stop “attacking American and Canadian workers with unjustified tariffs”.

“My message for President Trump is, stop harming your own economy,” Poilievre told reporters in French during a news conference in Toronto.

“The chaos of each month must stop for the well-being of workers on both sides of the border,” he said, pledging that Canada would defend itself and “respond each time President Trump attacks us”.

“We will defend our workers and our citizens, and we will become more sovereign and independent from the United States.”

Ethnic minority Afrikaners, there's some history behind that....

Trump touts shift away from cryptocurrency regulation

At a White House cryptocurrency summit, Trump has signalled a shift away from the regulations of his predecessor Joe Biden when it comes to digital currencies.

Advocates in the cryptocurrency industry have long accused Biden of over-regulation, in a campaign they have informally dubbed “Operation Choke Point 2.0”.

That name is a reference to a previous initiative under President Barack Obama to investigate banks that are suspected of fraud or other misdealings.

Since taking office, Trump has moved to close investigations into at least seven financial firms with dealings in digital currency. He has also named a “crypto tsar”, David Sacks, to build up the government’s investments.

On Friday, Trump slammed Biden for Operation Choke Point 2.0 – though no such initiative was ever opened under Biden’s administration.

“They strong-armed banks into closing the accounts of crypto businesses and entrepreneurs, effectively blocking some money transfers to and from exchanges, and they weaponised government against the entire industry,” Trump said.

“I know that feeling also, maybe better than you do. All of that will soon be over, and we are ending Operation Choke Point 2.0.”

At a hearing for the House Committee on Financial Services last month, Representative Al Green described Operation Choke Point 2.0 as a “fake programme, never initiated by the Biden administration”.

“The Biden administration did not prohibit banks from dealing with cryptocurrency companies,” Green said. “Regulators asking banks to consider the risks associated with the cryptocurrency industry does not amount to de-banking.”

The US president’s actions are “a wake-up call for us to unite and design our own centre of gravity”, Fidan told the Financial Times, adding that Turkey would want to be part of any new European security architecture if Nato unravels. “The genie is out of the bottle and there is no way to put it back,” he said of European security. “Even if President Trump decides not to withdraw from Europe at this time, it is possible that in the future someone with similar views and political ideas might consider reducing America’s contributions to European security.”

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan Says in Rare Interview That Ankara Would Join Post-NATO European Security Pact

America handing Türkiye more soft-power on a silver platter as well. Like all the China gifts.

‘He Betrayed Every One Of Us’ – US Soldiers in Ukraine Speak Out After Trump’s Military Aid Halt

On those calls, President Trump laid out a long list of grievances he had with the trade relationship between the two countries…He also brought up something much more fundamental. He told Mr. Trudeau that he did not believe that the treaty that demarcates the border between the two countries was valid and that he wants to revise the boundary. He offered no further explanation.

He wanted to tear up the Great Lakes agreements and conventions between the two nations that lay out how they share and manage Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. Canadian officials took Mr. Trump's comments seriously, not least because he had already publicly said he wanted to bring Canada to its knees. In a news conference on Jan. 7, before being inaugurated, Mr. Trump, responding to a question by a New York Times reporter about whether he was planning to use military force to annex Canada, said he planned to use "economic force."

How Trump’s ‘51st State’ Canada Talk Came to Be Seen as Deadly Serious - The New York Times

I'm 100% convinced that the Republican cult would support Trump annexing Canada.

wow. they're like actually braindead

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— ghosts of nomads past (@ghosts.bsky.social) 7 March 2025 at 17:31

Texas and New Mexico on Friday reported an additional 69 cases of measles, bringing the total in those two states to 228 as the outbreak spread further after causing the first U.S. measles deaths in a decade. In Texas, site of the largest U.S. outbreak, measles cases grew to 198 on March 4, up 39. These included 30 new cases in Gaines County, center of the outbreak, which now has a total of 137. Measles has claimed the life of one unvaccinated child who had no underlying health concerns.

Texas, New Mexico Report Increase in Measles Cases | Reuters

The Trump administration on Friday announced that it would cancel approximately $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University "due to the school's continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students."

Trump Administration Cancels $400 million in Grants for Columbia University

President Trump is offering an expedited pathway to U.S. citizenship to some South African farmers, calling their treatment in the country "terrible."

"They are confiscating their LAND and FARMS, and MUCH WORSE THAN THAT," he wrote in a Friday morning post on Truth Social. Trump signed an executive order last month halting federal aid to South Africa over property laws he said impose "unjust racial discrimination" against white Afrikaner farmers. "To go a step further, any Farmer (with family!) from South Africa, seeking to flee that country for reasons of safety, will be invited into the United States of America with a rapid pathway to Citizenship," he wrote Friday. "This process will begin immediately!"

Donald Trump Offers Expedited Citizenship to South African Farmers

MAGA activists have turned against one of President Donald Trump's own appointees to the Supreme Court: Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Appointed by Trump in 2020, Barrett is a staunch conservative who has joined major rulings in which the court has moved U.S. law to the right, including on abortion and affirmative action.

But that's not enough for some of Trump's most aggressive supporters, who think the former Notre Dame Law School professor has been a disappointment. MAGA supporters see what some call an independent streak as a sign she isn't sufficiently aligned with or loyal to Trump.

"She is a rattled law professor with her head up her ass", said Mike Davis, who once clerked at the Supreme Court for Justice Neil Gorsuch and described Barrett as "weak and timid."

The anger from Davis and other right-wing personalities with large online followings stems mostly from a couple of recent high-profile, 5-4 decisions in which Barrett has been the deciding vote against Trump's side.

"DEI judge," influencer Jack Posobiec posted on X, suggesting that Barrett was a "diversity, equity and inclusion" hire, presumably because she is a woman.

Trump at the time promised to pick a woman to replace liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

"Amy Coney Barrett was a DEI appointee," another far-right influencer, Laura Loomer, wrote.

One law professor, Josh Blackman at South Texas College of Law Houston, suggested that Barrett should step down from her lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court so that Trump can pick a replacement.

MAGA World Turns Against Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett

The United States is planning to charge fees for docking at U.S. ports on any ship that is part of a fleet that includes Chinese-built or Chinese-flagged vessels and will push allies to act similarly or face retaliation, a draft executive order stated. The draft executive order also calls on U.S. officials to engage allies and partners to enact similar measures or risk retaliation.

Exclusive: US to Levy Fees on China-Linked Ships, Push Allies to do Likewise, Draft Executive Order Says | Reuters

I don't think Russia is going to levy fees on China and I think you should have maybe asked your allies to help you out before you spat in all our faces, Lol.

Donald Trump is considering pulling US troops from Germany and redeploying them to Eastern Europe, The Telegraph can reveal.

Mr Trump is weighing up withdrawing some 35,000 active personnel out of Germany in a move that would further sour US-Europe relations.

"Trump is angry that they [Europe] appear to be pushing for war," a source close to the White House said.

Brian Hughes, a US national security spokesman, said: "While no specific announcement is imminent, the US military is always considering the redeployment of troops around the world to best address current threats to our interests."

The Telegraph understands that the president is considering redeploying troops from Germany to Hungary, which has maintained a close relationship with Russia.

At an emergency EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, vetoed a commitment to bolster support for Ukraine which was signed by all other member states.

Mr Orbán has maintained a relatively close relationship with Russia, often opposing EU sanctions on Moscow.

Mr Trump is said to be considering repositioning some US troops in Europe so they are focused around Nato countries that have upped their defence spending to meet GDP targets.

Donald Trump Considers Pulling Troops Out of Germany and Relocating to Hungary

Let me get this straight, Trump says Russia has legit concerns about NATO, and therefore Ukraine isn't allowed to join NATO because Russia doesn't want NATO on their border, despite having multiple NATO countries on their border already but Trump's idea is to move American troops out of Germany and into Hungary which is even closer to Russia than Germany.

He wants to reposition some US troops in Europe to NATO countries that have upped their defence spending to meet NATO targets. Well, Donald Trump, Poland meets that 2% and is actually the highest spender in GDP % in NATO, even higher than America itself. The Baltic States have always met the 2%, Czech Republic and Romania also meet the 2%. As does Finland, all of these countries are either bordering with Russia or close to Russia, so I suppose that means America will be putting all their troops in these countries, right?

Or will America just be putting their troops in the pro-Russian country, Hungary?

I mean, 23/32 already meet the 2% target and that was because of Russia's invasion.

In some cases, photos seemed to be flagged for removal simply because their file included the word "gay," including service members with that last name and an image of the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.

Several photos of an Army Corps of Engineers dredging project in California were marked for deletion, apparently because a local engineer in the photo had the last name Gay. And a photo of Army Corps biologists was on the list, seemingly because it mentioned they were recording data about fish — including their weight, size, hatchery and gender.

War heroes and military firsts are among 26,000 images flagged for removal in Pentagon's DEI purge | AP News