President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels. Anna Ross/dpa
The European Union has sent Ukraine another €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in financial support, the European Commission announced on Wednesday.
The money is a loan, which is to be repaid with proceeds from frozen Russian assets in the EU.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the payment as an “investment in a shared common future.”
“We are backing Ukraine’s impressive reform efforts and deepening our ties — from space, security and defence to building a thriving business environment,” she said in a statement.
The support is part of an initiative by the Group of Seven (G7) economically developed Western countries, which provides for a total of around €45 billion in new aid payments by 2027.
The EU is to provide €18.1 billion in total, with €5 billion already disbursed, including the new payment.
Trump and his MAGA movement are conspiring with oligarchs to turn the U.S. into a rightwing authoritarian state. The labor movement can play a key role in fighting back.
Bill Fletcher Jr. – April 8, 2025
Letter carriers across the country rally to stop the Trump administration from stripping the U.S. Postal Service of its independence and possibly privatizing it.(PHOTO BY: JIM WEST/UCG/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES)
One of the principal difficulties facing the Democratic Party establishment and most leaders of organized labor is a failure to accept a fundamental reality: there is no normality. The failure to grasp this state of affairs has led to strategic paralysis and a tendency to believe that by being the “adults in the room,” the Democrats — or the trade union leadership — can embarrass the Republicans and force them to engage in good faith behavior. That is not the case.
The rise of President Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement has represented the morphing of a broad, rightwing populist movement into a fascist movement that seeks to destroy constitutional democracy. The current purging of the federal government, through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), aims at both opening the doors to a kleptocracy as well as ensuring loyalty to the MAGA vision and its retrograde goals.
Yet while MAGA can be defined as fascist (or postfascist), what we do not yet see is full fascism in power. Rather what we are now witnessing appears to be something along the lines of Viktor Orbán’s regime in Hungary and, ultimately, a Putinesque regime, i.e., increased rightwing authoritarianism. Still, the aim of the Trump regime remains to destabilize all real and potential opposition.
MAGA, as a movement, has converged with the objectives of that segment of the capitalist class often referenced as “oligarchs.” Particularly situated in high tech, this group of capitalists has become very influential through their control over critical online and communications systems. Initially aligned, for the most part, with Democrats, the oligarchs appear to have decided that they are nothing short of superior beings that must seize the reins of government in order to operate it much like a business, and for their own ends. This includes expanding their wealth, but also for those, such as Musk, who have a quasi-science fiction vision of a future where the elite abandon Earth and settle Mars or some artificial satellite, there is the need for direct governmental involvement in such projects. Along with the oligarchs are those in the business class who simply wish to ravage the federal kitty, leading to the emergence of kleptocracy.
In earlier eras the expression “offensive of capital” would be used for moments when the capitalist class would move to reverse the victories that working people had won. We are now experiencing something more dramatic than that. This is a ‘blitzkrieg’ of segments of capital in alignment with a mass rightwing movement, making the current attack especially dangerous. To put it another way, the millions of diehard MAGA supporters are not just observers but have become the foot-soldiers for Trump even when they may have an ambivalence about the objectives of the oligarchs.
Organized labor has been divided over whether and how to respond to this offensive. Roughly speaking, there are three general categories: the collaborators, the ostriches and the resisters. The “collaborators” are those unions that are going along with Trump’s agenda. The “ostriches” are those that are attempting to avoid conflict and hoping to simply last out the next four years. The “resisters” are those that seek to reject MAGA and the current offensive. Each of these categories are quite uneven and their approaches have their own limits. The resisters, for instance, are prepared to ally with other groups to a certain extent, but have a tendency to work on their own. The federal sector unions that are being forced to resist are mainly relying on litigation and lobbying, for instance, appearing to be largely uncomfortable with, or unprepared for, more mass actions, such as work stoppages. This dynamic may soon shift as a result of Trump attempting to obliterate collective bargaining for nearly one million federal workers.
The difference in approach among sections of organized labor is not, primarily, a disagreement over tactics. Rather, it reflects differences over how to understand the nature of the moment and, as a result, the question of what is the necessary strategy. The reality is that we are living through a time when forces of fascism are on the march. This means that confronting MAGA solely on the grounds of deteriorating working (or living) conditions is insufficient. The Trump regime is aiming to roll back all of the progress made throughout the 20th century, and is targeting political opposition wherever it arises. This requires an all-hands-on-deck response. This is not a moment for faux bipartisanship; it is a moment for resistance and obstruction to block the Trump administration from carrying out its far-right objectives.
Rank-and-file members of our unions should be won over to fully appreciate the nature of the danger facing us, and all that it implies. This begins with a major education effort among the membership coinciding with mobilizing against the specific attacks workers are facing, be they loss of jobs, loss of union recognition, moves against migrants, further attacks on the social safety net, failure to respond to increasing natural disasters or a dragnet on political speech. The job of working-class leaders is to link these threats together into a story about how Trump’s allies and the oligarchs are conspiring to steal from the majority, and institute a white, Christian nationalist authoritarian state, i.e., minority rule. Workers must be convinced of the possibility of beating back the darkness and winning.
Taking on MAGA will need to involve, but not be limited to, labor militancy. Accompanying shrewd and creative tactical actions must be a proactive vision regarding an alternative to rightwing authoritarianism, an alternative many of us summarize as the fight for a “Third Reconstruction” — a political realignment carried out through a multiracial democratic movement from below. This is a challenging but essential task since many in this country have not only lost faith in constitutional democracy, but they have lost faith in the ability to bring about lasting progressive change.
Reversing this sense of pessimism is key to the survival of the labor movement, both among established trade unions as well as more nontraditional forms of labor organizing. Workers must be convinced of the possibility of beating back the darkness and winning. Indeed, our work must be guided by the notion that we are fighting for a future without fear.
BILL FLETCHER, JR. is a talk show host, writer, activist, and trade unionist. The Man Who Changed Colors is his latest novel. His first novel is The Man Who Fell From the Sky. He is also co-author (with Fernando Gapasin) of Solitary Divided, and the author of “They’re Bankrupting Us” — Twenty Other Myths about Unions. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook and at www.billfletcherjr.com.
Some fund managers worry Trump ‘might be insane,’ analyst says
Kevin Williams – April 9, 2025
Photo: Anna Moneymaker (Getty Images)
The worldwide ripple effects from President Donald Trump’s tariffs have been so widespread that one analyst says some in the business world fear the issue may go beyond Trump simply taking a political stand.
Thomas Lee, a managing partner and the head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, sent a memo Wednesday that painted a picture of the fallout from the president’s trade war. Lee wrote that he has had “many conversations” with macro fund managers who are expressing concern that those in the White House aren’t acting rationally — and who worry the tariffs go beyond politics and policy.
“Some even fear that this may not even be ideology,” Lee wrote. “A few have quietly wondered if the President might be insane.”
Lee’s report came before Trump issued an unexpected 90-day pause on tariffs Wednesday afternoon that sent markets rallying after a days of losses and volatility.
In his report, Lee said the tariffs could still go one of two ways. The first possibility is that everyone tires of a grinding trade war, sues for peace, and reaches new bilateral agreements. But Lee said that, while he still thinks this is the likely outcome, with each passing day the tariffs remain in place, the odds decrease.
The second way the trade war could go, Lee said, is that tariffs stay in place for an extended period, which results in the government effectively “freezing” the economy. Then, companies would be so pummeled by the tariffs that the “shock” to the economy would ripple, leading to a cascade of slowing economic activity and the very real risk of a recession.
Ultimately, though, Lee said there is one variable — and only one — that will determine these tariffs’ endgame:
“This path is determined by a single person, President Donald Trump.”
J.P. Donleavy clocks the absurdities of human conduct in his satirical advice guide, “The Unexpurgated Code.”
By Dwight Garner – April 7, 2025
Turn to J.P. Donleavy for tips on everything from social climbing to assassination.Credit…Derek Speirs for The New York Times
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Books of advice come in many forms: financial, spiritual, physical, philosophical. Novels too are books of advice, if read in a certain light. Eve Babitz understood, for example, that part of Colette’s greatness is that you can open her novels anywhere and “brush up on what to do.”
There are only two advice books I’ve read more than once. One is Tom Hodgkinson’s “How to Be Idle” (2004). Its title is self-explanatory. The other is J.P. Donleavy’s “The Unexpurgated Code” (1975). Its title is less so. Donleavy’s book is a sendup of the form that happens to be, possibly, the funniest book ever written.
“The Unexpurgated Code” turns 50 this year. It has dropped from sight, and yet here we are at a moment when the world could use it. It’s a book to turn to when you need a little pick-me-up. It is Bolivian marching powder for the spirit. The table of contents alone is more happily anarchic than most books in their entireties. Here are a few of Donleavy’s 270 topics:
“Upon Placing the Blame for Venereal Infection,” “Upon Embellishing Your Background,” “Upon Being Unflatteringly Dressed in an Emergency,” “Upon Your Spit Landing on Another,” “Upon Fouling the Footpath,” “Upon Heaping Abuse on the High and Mighty,” “Upon Being Exorcised” and “Upon the Nearby Arrival of a Flying Saucer.”
Donleavy is best known as the author of “The Ginger Man,” his tumultuous 1955 comic novel about Sebastian Dangerfield, an American student living in Dublin. (Sample sentence: “All I want is one break which is not my neck.”) He is also the author of many other novels, plays and books of stories. His novel “A Fairy Tale of New York” (1973) inspired the title of the song by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl that helps make Christmastime bearable.
Donleavy was born in Brooklyn, to Irish immigrants, and grew up in the Bronx. He was the son of a firefighter. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he spent the rest of his life in Ireland. He was rarely photographed in anything other than layers of tweeds, so that he resembled a walking advertisement for 18-year-old Tullamore Dew.
Battered copies of “The Unexpurgated Code” pass among admirers like samizdat. The reason isn’t merely that it’s funny. The book clocks the absurdities of human conduct like few others. It takes note of the chutes and trapdoors and ladders and ejection seats involved in all human discourse. It says: We’re all miserable bipeds struggling for a bit of breathing room, so you might as well have a sense of humor about it all.
If you have been excluded from parties you wish you’d had the chance to boycott, if you lack long shanks, if you dine too often at low tables at bad addresses, if you feel as dented as a discarded ping pong ball, if you are not a member of the dividend-drawing classes, well, recall that Philip Larkin advised in a 1941 letter that “stupid ills need stupid remedies,” and turn to Donleavy.
A few weeks ago, in a restaurant, I was snubbed — in front of my family! I found out later that it was an entirely accidental snubbing, and all is well, but it stung at the time. When I got home that night, still smarting, I consulted Donleavy. Here is a bit of his advice in “Upon Being Snubbed,” which cheered me up instantly: “Take solace from the fact that it is unlikely that you will ever be kidnapped.” You will not find such counsel in Miss Manners.
You can flip to almost any page in “The Unexpurgated Code” and be reduced to helpless laughter. If you are not to the manor born and feel the need to defend your lineage, Donleavy writes, rummage around in your past: “Someone must have been something once.” He adds: “If you have received a Red Cross Life Saving Certificate, riposte pronto with this information.”
If you are stranded at a party with no one to talk to, “this is a time to laugh lightly for no reason at all. Or for the reason that you have dumped your champagne in a flower pot and the plant keeled over. Ignore any askance looks.”
A section titled “Upon Making the Contract for the Rubout” is a favorite. Here is Donleavy:
Give clear directions to your roughnecks as to the area of your chap’s anatomy you want broken as this directly affects the duration of incapacitation. To stop him writing checks or his memoirs, the wrists can be smashed. In preventing him preparing his own favorite spaghettis, clean break fractures above the elbow keep him away from his chopping board.
One of his imagined heavies is named “One Fingered Legs Apart Vinnie.”
Donleavy covers a good deal of standard etiquette-book topics — how to behave at the table, the hair salon, the theater, the class reunion, the bank and while sick. (“Sneezing is one of the best ways of widely spreading your germs if this is what the people around you deserve.”) But it gets risqué. There are sections on orgies and masturbation and voyeurism and how to behave in a porno theater.
There are also discourses on flatulence, notably as a method of communication between spies, on nose-picking and on the squeezing of pimples and blackheads. The latter maneuvers should be confined to people you know well, he writes, “although it is also one of the fastest ways to get to know someone better.” There are many strange chambers in this nautilus spiral of a book.
Some of the finest sections are on suicide, execution (“Relax and wait. Most things will be taken care of for you”) and death in general. He recommends that, if you learn you have but a short time to live, you “do not rush out to a night club or the latest celebrity joint and scare the hell out of everybody.”
In your grief, do not jump onto coffins that are being lowered because “with some of the cheaper materials they are using these days, your feet could go right through the lid and your possibly muddy shoes land with the most grossly embarrassing results on the corpse.”
Donleavy’s book is a subversive companion piece, of sorts, to Nancy Mitford’s 1955 essay “The English Aristocracy,” which alerted the terrified world to the distinctions between “U” (upper class) and “non-U” language. Donleavy’s book feels Anglocentric, yet he told The Paris Review that Americans are snobbier than Brits.
Donleavy’s book is one for the world’s underdogs, its confirmed pullers of social boners, those who sense they are too often taking a worsting from reality. It might make you indescribably happy. Indeed, there is a section titled “Upon Encountering Happiness.” It reads, in full: “Be wary at such times because most of life’s blows fall then.”
Dwight Garner has been a book critic for The Times since 2008, and before that was an editor at the Book Review for a decade.
Trump, Elon Musk ‘Hands Off’ protest in Palm Beach Gardens
Maya Washburn and Jennifer Sangalang – April 4, 2025
More than one thousand people lined the north and south side of PGA Boulevard near Kew Gardens Avenue with handmade signs as part of the national Hands Off! protests in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on April 5, 2025.
PALM BEACH GARDENS – People are taking to the streets to make one message clear to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk: “Hands off!”
According to USA TODAY, there are more than 1,000 protests across the nation against Trump and Musk scheduled for Saturday, April 5, 2025. Three of those protests are in Palm Beach County, including one in Palm Beach Gardens.
Trump returned to Florida on Thursday, April 3, with trips to three of his golf courses (including one in Jupiter) high on his agenda for his weekend trip to the Sunshine State – the same weekend that the nationwide protests are planned against him. Some will happen just down the road from his private club, Mar-a-Lago.
Many of these Hands Off Mass Mobilization rallies have “Hands Off!” plus the name of the city and state and “fight back!” in their titles. They are happening just days after April 2, what Trump called “Liberation Day,” when he imposed sweeping tariffs affecting all U.S. trading partners and imports.
Where is the Trump, Musk protest in northern Palm Beach County? Intersection near Barnes & Noble
There will be a Hands Off rally in Palm Beach Gardens on April 5 from 10 a.m. to noon at Campus Drive and PGA Boulevard near Barnes & Noble and Palm Beach County Library.
According to the Hands Off Mass Mobilization website, handsoff2025.com, Florida will host 45 rallies − including at least one in Spanish − on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at various times and locations.
Where are Trump, Musk protests in Palm Beach County?
There are three Hands Off rallies this weekend in Palm Beach County:
Boca Raton, Florida: Hands Off! Boca Raton Indivisible Fights Back rally will be from 1 to 2:30 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 5, 2025, at City Hall, 201 W. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, near the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Brightline Boca Raton Station and Ichiyami Buffet and Sushi.
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida: Hands Off! Palm Beach County Fights Back rally will be from 10 a.m. to noon EDT Saturday, April 5, 2025, at Campus Drive and PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens near Barnes & Noble and Palm Beach County Library.
West Palm Beach, Florida: Hands Off! Palm Beach Fights Back rally will be from 3 to 5 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 5, 2025, at Palm Beach County Courthouse, 205 N. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, near Clematis Street, Elisabetta’s Ristorante and West Palm Beach GreenMarket.
Hands Off is the title, filter and group behind the “mass mobilization” nationwide rallies and protests aimed at Trump and Musk, SpaceX and Tesla CEO who is leading the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE for short.
Most of the Hands Off Fight Back rallies on Saturday, April 5, 2025, have this message online: “Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them. We are fighting back! They’re taking everything they can get their hands on — our health care, our data, our jobs, our services — and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now. On Saturday, April 5th, we’re taking to the streets to fight back with a clear message: Hands off!
“This mass mobilization day is our message to the world that we do not consent to the destruction of our government and our economy for the benefit of Trump and his billionaire allies. Alongside Americans across the country, we are marching, rallying, and protesting to demand a stop the chaos and build an opposition movement against the looting of our country.
“A core principle behind all Hands Off! events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values. Check out handsoff2025.com for more information.”
Why are people protesting Trump and Musk at Hands Off rallies?
Topics and signs will likely include:
Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, jobs, abortion, fair elections, personal data, public lands, veteran services, cancer research, NATO, consumer protections, clean air, clean energy, schools, libraries, free speech, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrants and courts, the rally site states.
The theme of the “fight back,” nonviolent, peaceful protest rallies are, “We must stop Trump and Musk’s illegal, billionaire power grab.”
Maya Washburn covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network.
Countries boost recruitment of American scientists amid cuts to scientific funding
Chandelis Duster – March 29, 2025
People walk past the faculty of economy of the Aix-Marseille University in Marseille on Oct. 4, 2023.Christophe Simon/AFP via Getty Images
As the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE seek to reduce the federal workforce and cut spending, some European countries are looking to capitalize on the opportunity by recruiting talent from the scientific community.
The administration’s actions, including eliminating programs and funding for scientific research, are prompting some researchers and scientists to consider leaving the U.S. to live in other countries, such as France, to continue their work.
According to a survey released by the journal Nature on Thursday, more than 1,200 respondents who identified as scientists said they were considering leaving the U.S. and relocating to Europe or Canada because of President Trump’s actions. Approximately 1,650 people completed the survey, which was posted on the journal’s website, social media and an e-mailed newsletter, according to the journal.
Jennifer Jones, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, tells NPR that she has spoken with scientists, some of whom currently work at federal agencies and others who have been fired. Many of them say they are looking for opportunities abroad due to a lack of options for conducting their research with the government or at universities, Jones says.
“There’s another bucket of folks as well, and those are folks who are just worried in general about the intimidation, fear and harassment that they are facing,” she says. “This could be a result of the kind of work that they’re doing. They might be doing work around issues of diversity, equity, [and] inclusion, trying to broaden participation in our STEM or science, technology, engineering, math fields. These could be folks working on issues of climate change, of vaccine safety.”
Jones also says she has spoken with scientists who said after the 2024 presidential election, they “began seeking and have acquired positions overseas.”
“They would have started that process before inauguration and before the last few weeks,” Jones says.
Helping as many scientists as possible
The U.S. has historically been viewed as a leading country for research, having actively recruited scientists from around the world for significant projects and studies. For example, when the Manhattan Project began in December 1941, it was a top-secret research initiative by the U.S. government that ultimately led to the development of the first atomic bombs. Scientists from Europe were specifically sought out to help with the project. Many of these European scientists were already living in the U.S. after being displaced because of the turmoil of WWII or fleeing from Nazism and fascism.Sponsor Message
American scientists conducting research in other countries is not a new phenomenon, and there are programs where American students and scientists can study abroad, Sudip Parikh, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, tells NPR. But the growing number of American scientists considering leaving the U.S. due to uncertainty in the U.S. is not normal, he says.
“It’s something that’s ramped up and it has a different messaging, which is saying, ‘There’s uncertainty there. Come to us,’ ” Parikh says of efforts by other countries to recruit scientists and researchers from the United States.
In response to these recent developments, schools in France, including the prestigious CentraleSupélec, have established funds to support American scientists. The engineering school announced last week that it has allocated 3 million euros (around $3.2 million) to finance research projects that can no longer continue in the U.S. Additionally, earlier this month, Aix-Marseille Université — one of the oldest and largest universities in France, with roots tracing back to1409 and approximately 80,000 students — announced it is accepting applications for its Safe Place For Science program.
The program aims to offer “a safe and stimulating environment for scientists wishing to pursue their research in complete freedom” and will support about 15 American scientists with a total fund of up to 15 million euros (around $16.2 million) over three years. The university has already received more than 150 applications, according to a public relations agency representing the university.
“We are witnessing a new brain drain. We will do everything in our power to help as many scientists as possible continue their research,” Éric Berton, president of the university, said in a statement. “However, we cannot meet all demands on our own. The Ministry of Education and Research is fully supporting and assisting us in this effort, which is intended to expand at both national and European levels.”
Other countries are also actively seeking to attract American scientists. For instance, the Netherlands is also launching a fund to support American scientists as well as those from other countries. Minister of Education, Culture and Science Eppo Bruins informed the parliament in a letter last week that he requested the country’s science financier to set up a fund aimed at bringing top international scientists to the Netherlands as soon as possible.
“The world is changing. Tensions are increasing. We see that more and more scientists are looking for another place to do their work,” Bruins wrote in the letter. “I want more international top scientists to come and do that here. After all, top scientists are worth their weight in gold for our country and for Europe.”
While it remains unclear what funding will be available for scientific research from the U.S. government and for universities, Parikh says he is encouraging scientists working here not to leave.
“Over the last 80 years, we have built the greatest innovation engine that the world’s ever seen and it’s delivered cures and treatments for disease. It has delivered economic growth and jobs. And the other countries have paid attention and they wanna copy it and we shouldn’t make it easy for them,” he says.
Wednesday is Liberation Day, and one person might be even more excited about it than Donald Trump is: Elon Musk. While much of what the president will announce from the Rose Garden on April 2 remains a mystery, Trump has alreadydeclared that 25 percent tariffs will kick in this week on imported cars and light trucks—to be followed by tariffs on auto parts as well. Economists, car dealers, and consumers are sounding the alarm, and rightly so. “If the taxes are fully passed onto consumers,” the AP reports, “the average auto price on an imported vehicle could jump by $12,500.” But Trump said he “couldn’t care less” if that happens because then “people are gonna buy American-made cars. We have plenty.”
Well, not really. There is no such thing as a truly American-made car, if you take into account the origin of the parts. And even “American” brands, like General Motors and Ford, assemble a significant amount of their vehicles abroad. But when looking for the most American-made vehicles, one manufacturer stands out: Tesla. Its fleet is 100 percent assembled in the United States.
This is just the latest of many examples—almost too many to count—of Trump’s policies redounding directly to Musk’s benefit. From executive orders to foreign misadventures, much of what crosses Trump’s desk or flits through his birdbrain is in Musk’s material interest. Even Trump’s own political interests are taking a back seat to enriching Musk, who donated nearly $300 million last year to help Trump and his MAGA minions get elected. The generous (albeit still damning) interpretation is that the president is merely returning that favor; less favorably, he’s in Musk’s back pocket. Either way, the great con man Trump has met his match—now he’s the one being conned.
The Tesla CEO claimed last week that his company will also be significantly impacted by the tariffs because it imports some of its auto parts. But because Tesla’s vehicles are made in California and Texas, and it imports fewer parts by value than other manufacturers, it will have a tremendous competitive advantage.
And even if the tariffs do ding Tesla, well, Musk can take heart that he’s making off like a bandit in so many other respects under the Trump administration.
Last week, Trump sent JD Vance to Greenland, where the vice president said the territory’s mother country, Denmark, had “underinvested” in the island’s people and its “beautiful landmass.” It’s the latter that so intrigues Musk and others in Silicon Valley, since the resources there—an abundance of rare earth elements needed for lithium-ion batteries, on which Teslas run—could represent a major windfall for the tech industry. No wonder Musk tweeted earlier this year, “If the people of Greenland want to be part of America, which I hope they do, they would be most welcome!”
Of course, Trump’s obsession with critical minerals has also played a major role in the batshit negotiations over ending Russia’s war on Ukraine. The president twice mentioned the embattled country’s “rare earth” when he proposed a “deal” to end the war that was really more of an extortion attempt—asking Ukraine to pay the U.S. $500 billion in minerals in exchange for continued American aid. This eventually led to Trump and Vance’s embarrassing Oval Office ambush of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for which Musk had helped set the stage by laying accusations against the Ukrainian president and repeatedly suggesting he be removed.
Other proposals have Musk’s fingerprints all over them as well. As Paul Waldman pointed out for TNR, a Biden-era program to improve broadband access and service in areas of the country that lack high-speed internet is now being revised in a way that will allow Musk’s satellite internet provider, Starlink, to underbid competitors and secure $20 billion in government funding—while also providing service that is inferior to the fiber connections that the program favored. Unsurprisingly, the advantages that Musk will receive have been presented as a win for the American people. The former head of the program hit the nail on the head: “Stranding all or part of rural America with worse internet so that we can make the world’s richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington.”
In fact, Starlink keeps showing up these days. What explains Musk’s animosity toward USAID, which his Department of Government Efficiency has been busy dismantling? Perhaps it stems from the agency’s investigation of its contract with the company to provide Ukraine with internet access. Starlink has also been installed throughout the White House campus and at the DOGE-allied General Services Administration.
Nothing Musk does runs contrary to his own ambition. Starlink is a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX, which Musk founded. He didn’t appreciate the Federal Aviation Administration’s probe of his company, so he launched an online campaign pressuring its head, Michael Whitaker, to resign and then axed many others at the agency—exacerbating a staffing crisis that has coincided with several deadly collisions. Not to worry: The FAA is going to be using Starlink for its soon-to-be upgraded technology networks. You can be sure the competition for the contract was fierce.
Must be a coincidence, too, that SpaceX engineer Theodore Malaska happens to be just the right person to serve at the FAA, where he’s been granted an ethics waiver to oversee projects that directly impact the company he works for. Ordinarily such a situation might raise ethics concerns, given the clear conflict of interest and lack of governmental impartiality, but it’s alright because we all know Musk wouldn’t engage in anything unethical, right? Otherwise we might also be suspicious of the fact that, while DOGE is going around infiltrating and cutting agencies, it’s essentially suggested no spending cuts to NASA or the Pentagon, both of which have massively increased their investments in SpaceX.ADVERTISEMENTAdvertisement
That wasn’t the case with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has seen a 10 percent workforce reduction, possibly impeding the six investigations it was conducting into Tesla’s self-driving technology.
But we can trust Musk to oversee himself, we’re told. Just last week, he negotiated with himself so that his xAI company could purchase his X social media platform, claiming respective valuations of $80 billion and $33 billion—both undoubtedly inflated figures. In fairness, all that really matters in such an arrangement is the stock ratio for investors, but Reuters did note that it was “unclear … whether there would be regulatory scrutiny.” Such scrutiny would come from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which Musk’s DOGE team has invaded.
Similarly, Trump is attempting to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which, if successful, would eliminate the government agency that had planned to regulate Musk’s proposed mobile payments service on X. Yet Musk’s ambitions go well beyond digital payments. Combining xAI with X and its Grok service will position him well to embark on an even bolder agenda that will leave the federal government more dependent on him and his companies than ever: Musk has instituted an AI takeover of government data, potentially making him and xAI indispensable to future government operations.
Even before Musk fully sinks his AI claws into our government, it’s hard to overstate the leverage Musk now has. Through his effective control of both the General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management, Musk oversees hirings and firings, data systems, federal buildings, and government vehicles. Perhaps that explains why the State Department is expected to spend around $400 million to purchase Teslas to transport diplomats. The question is whether any foreign representatives will want to be seen being shepherded around town in a vehicle that has become synonymous with cruelty and douchebaggery.
In fact, the one thing Musk didn’t seem to plan on when he spun his big con of Trump was the blowback he’d receive. The resistance, declared dead by many as Trump took office for his second term, has shown signs of life of late, as growing anti-Musk sentiment has been directed in part at Teslas—including large protests at its dealerships across the country. I guess that recent Tesla infomercial on the White House lawn, yet another example of Trump doing Musk a solid, has backfired.
The key to pulling off a big con, Henry Gondorff tells Johnny Hooker in 1973’s The Sting, is maintaining the façade: “He can’t know you took him.” Right now, that’s exactly what Musk is doing with Trump. For the low price of $288 million—chump change when you’re the world’s richest person, valued at $350 billion—Musk has been handed the keys to the U.S. government and given the run of the place, while Trump seems to have convinced himself that he’s still in charge. Meanwhile, angrycrowds are storming Republican town halls, furious that DOGE is killing jobs, destroying vital services, and attacking the social safety net while enriching Musk. Elections are turning in Democrats’ favor, potentially imperiling Trump’s power to enact his agenda. And yet, there sits the duped president behind the Resolute Desk, grinning like a senile old lady who’s happily given out her bank card and Social Security number to a cunning younger man with an accent.
McConnell warns of ‘embarrassing naivete’ in Trump admin’s dealings with Putin while sharply criticizing Ukraine policy
Morgan Rimmer and Manu Raju, CNN – March 28, 2025
Sen. Mitch McConnell arrives prior to the Senate Republicans weekly policy luncheon, in the US Capitol on March 25 in Washington, DC. – Al Drago/Getty Images
Former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell sharply criticized the Trump administration’s Ukraine policy and pivot toward isolationism Thursday night, accusing President Donald Trump’s advisers of showing “their embarrassing naivete” in dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
McConnell, a staunch supporter of Ukraine who delivered remarks while being awarded the US-Ukraine Foundation’s highest honor, warned that “some of the president’s advisers” are urging Trump to pull back from supporting the war-torn nation, and argued that such a move would be a sign of “weakness.”
“This war is a reminder that what happens in one region has implications in another. That weakness in the face of one adversary would invite aggression from another even closer to home. That our credibility was not divisible,” McConnell said. “Allies half a world away in Asia have told us the same – that Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression matters to those who live in China’s shadow.”
“America can’t afford to ignore these lessons. But that’s exactly what some of the president’s advisers are urging him to do.”
The pointed remarks from McConnell come as Trump has spoken with Putin twice since taking office – breaking a sustained period of silence between the White House and the Kremlin – and follow the president’s fiery Oval Office meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky late last month.
McConnell’s desire for an active US role in deterring aggression from Russia in Ukraine has put him at odds with a growing share of the Republican electorate, which has embraced Trump’s more isolationist view. And while the Kentucky Republican has largely voted with Trump during his tenure, he recently put himself at odds with nearly all Senate Republicans when he cast a trio of votes against Trump’s Cabinet nominees – including for the critical defense secretary and director of national intelligence roles.
In turn, McConnell, the longest-serving leader in Senate history when he stepped down from the role in November, has drawn Trump’s ire.
McConnell on Thursday noted that the US’ allies and adversaries are watching closely as the administration praises Putin.
“When the president’s envoys trumpet the magnanimity of a thuggish autocrat, they do so under the watchful eyes of his friends in Beijing, Tehran, and Pyongyang. When his representatives in negotiations masquerade as neutral arbiters, or legitimize sham elections, or treat aggressor and victim as morally equivalent, they do so in full view of longtime partners across the globe – some who know the taste of aggression, and some who have good reason to fear its imminent arrival,” McConnell said.
“When American officials court the favor of an adversary at the expense of allies. When they mock our friends to impress an enemy. They reveal their embarrassing naivete.”
The former GOP leader pointed to former President Ronald Reagan’s military buildup and the end of the Cold War, and specifically what he said is “the most popular phrase in Washington today: peace through strength.”
“But too many of those who use it – particularly among the president’s advisers – don’t seem ready to summon the resources and national will it requires,” he argued.
McConnell ended with a stark warning: “To cut off Ukraine is to stab ourselves in the back. So is the denigration of allies who have fought and died alongside us.”
Ukraine’s spy agency says Russia believes it must end the war by 2026 or risk falling far behind the US and China
Matthew Loh – March 28, 2025
The deputy head of Ukraine’s GUR said the Kremlin forecasts a need to end the war by 2026.
Vadym Skibitsky said Moscow is likely concerned about its long-term ability to compete with the US.
If the war drags on, its relevance could be relegated just to Eastern Europe, Skibitsky said.
Ukraine’s intelligence agency said on Tuesday that Russia likely believes it must resolve its war with Kyiv by 2026, or eventually lose its chances of competing with the US and China on the world stage.
Maj. Gen. Vadym Skibitsky, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency GUR, referenced forecast documents from the Kremlin at a press event in Kyiv about European security.
Business Insider could not independently verify the existence and authenticity of these documents.
“We can say that the Russian Federation has clearly defined in these documents that the Ukrainian issue must be resolved by 2026,” said Skibitsky, who is also deputy head of GUR.
Skibitsky, pictured here during a separate January 2024 interview, is deputy head of the GUR.Global Images Ukraine/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
“Because if the war continues for another five to 10 years, Russia will never be able to catch up and reach the same level as the United States and China,” he added.
Should this happen, Russia could stand to “forever remain a regional player” in Eastern Europe, Skibitsky said.
“And the Russian Federation clearly understands this today. That is why it foresees this in the future,” he said.
Skibitsky said such Russian forecasts typically combine work from government ministries, federal agencies, and research institutions, and that the Kremlin’s plans had described war scenarios as far in the future as 2045. These included conflict scenarios with Northern European states, Poland, and the Baltics, Skibitsky said.
The deputy spy chief’s comments come as the White House has sought to push Ukraine and Russia toward a cease-fire. The effort has surfaced new questions about how long the war will last — and concerns in Ukraine that the resulting peace might only be achieved by giving Russia outsize concessions.
In early March, The Washington Post reported that an influential think tank in Moscow had assessed that a “peaceful resolution” to the war by 2026 would be impossible.
According to the Post, the analysis recommended a hardline, maximalist stance toward negotiations with the US and Ukraine. However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the outlet that the federal government “was not aware of such recommendations” and was working with “more considered options.”
Ukraine thinks Russia’s costs are too high
The head of GUR, Kyrylo Budanov, recently voiced a similar assessment of Moscow needing a 2026 deadline.
“If they don’t end this war by 2026, they lose even a chance for global leadership,” he told state broadcaster Ukrinform on February 27. “They will be left with, at most, a regional leadership level, which is absolutely unacceptable to them.”
Budanov said that a protracted war would undermine Russia’s ability to innovate in tech and compete with the US on the world stage, especially with its ability to contest the Arctic regions.
“The cost of the war is too high — the financial cost,” he told Ukrinform.
Washington’s leaders consider Russia as one of two near-peer competitors or potential adversaries, meaning that it has a chance of being comparable to US military might.
The other is China, which leaders in both the Biden and Trump administrations have repeatedly said is the Pentagon’s main priority for preparing against threats.
The Russian Defense Ministry and the Kremlin’s press office did not respond to requests for comment sent by BI.
Vance accuses Denmark of underinvesting in Greenland as Trump presses for US takeover of the island
Philip Crowther, Kirsten Grieshaber and Aamer Madhani – March 27, 2025
Vice President JD Vance arrives at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)Vice President JD Vance, from right, and second lady Usha Vance, speak with soldiers at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)Vice President JD Vance, right, and second lady Usha Vance arrive at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)
NUUK, Greenland (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Friday that Denmark has “underinvested” in Greenland’s security and demanded that Denmark change its approach as President Donald Trump pushes to take over the Danish territory.
The pointed remarks came as Vance visited U.S. troops on Pituffik Space Base on the mineral-rich, strategically critical island alongside his wife and other senior U.S. officials for a trip that was ultimately scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were not consulted about the original itinerary.
“Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance said. “You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change.”
Vance said the U.S. has “no option” but to take a significant position to ensure the security of Greenland as he encouraged a push in Greenland for independence from Denmark.
“I think that they ultimately will partner with the United States,” Vance said. “We could make them much more secure. We could do a lot more protection. And I think they’d fare a lot better economically as well.”
The reaction by members of Greenland’s parliament and residents has rendered that unlikely, with anger erupting over the Trump administration’s attempts to annex the vast Arctic island. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pushed back on Vance’s claim that Denmark isn’t doing enough for defense in the Arctic, calling her country “a good and strong ally.”
Soon after arriving, Vance briefly addressed U.S. troops stationed at the base as he and his wife sat down to lunch with them, saying that the Trump administration is very interested in “Arctic security.” He and his entourage, including national security adviser Mike Waltz, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, later received briefings from military officials.
It was minus-3 degrees F (minus-19 degrees C) when the delegation landed at the remote base 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) north of the Arctic Circle. “It’s cold as s—- here. Nobody told me,” Vance said, prompting laughs.
The revised trip to the semi-autonomous Danish territory comes as relations between the U.S. and the Nordic country, a traditional U.S. ally and NATO member, have soured. Trump had repeatedly suggested that the United States should in some form control the island.
During his remarks at the end of the brief visit, Vance underscored that he did not think military force was ever going to be necessary as he pressed the idea of a dramatically enhanced American position on the island.
“Because we think the people of Greenland are rational and good, we think we’re going to have to cut a deal, Donald Trump style, to ensure the security of this territory but also the United States of America,” Vance said while adding that the people of Greenland had the right to determine their own future.
In Washington, Trump on Friday said the U.S. “needs Greenland for international security.”
Trump, speaking to reporters soon after Vance’s arrival, alluded to the rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have opened up because of climate change.
“Greenland’s very important for the peace of the world,” Trump said. “And I think Denmark understands, and I think the European Union understands it. And if they don’t, we’re going to have to explain it to them.”
After Vance’s speech, Frederiksen said Denmark was increasing its defense capabilities in the region, including new Arctic ships and long-range drones.
With Greenland part of NATO, she also emphasized the collective responsibility of the alliance to defend the Arctic in response to the Russian threat. After Denmark stood “side by side with Americans” in its war against terror, she said it was “not a fair way” for Vance to refer to Denmark.
Denmark’s ambassador to the U.S., Jesper Møller Sørensen, thanked Vance “for taking a closer look at Arctic security” and said both countries agree more could be done.
“Greenland & Denmark share a desire to strengthen our already incredibly close ties with our friend & ally,” he wrote on social media.
Ahead of Vance’s arrival, four of the five parties elected to Greenland’s parliament earlier this month signed an agreement to form a new, broad-based coalition government. The parties banded together in the face of Trump’s designs on the territory.
“It is a time when we as a population are under pressure,” the prime minister-designate, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said before the accord was signed to applause and cheers in the capital, Nuuk.
He added that “we must stick together. Together we are strongest,” Greenland broadcaster KNR reported.
In a post on Instagram, Frederiksen congratulated Nielsen and his incoming government, and said, “I look forward to close cooperation in an unnecessarily conflict-filled time.”
Frederiksen said Tuesday that the U.S. visit, which was originally set for three days, created “unacceptable pressure.” She has said Denmark wants to work with the U.S. on defense and security, but Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.
Initially, Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, had announced a solo trip to the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut. The vice president subsequently said he would join her on that trip, only to change that itinerary again — after protests from Greenland and Denmark — to a one-day visit to the military post only.
Inhabitants of Nuuk, which is about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) south of Pituffik, voiced concern about Vance’s visit and the U.S. interest in their island.
Cora Høy, 22, said Vance was “welcome if he wants to see it but of course Greenland is not for sale.” She added that “it’s not normal around here” with all the attention Greenland is getting. “I feel now every day is about (Trump) and I just want to get away from it.”
“It’s all a bit crazy. Of course the population here is a bit shook up,” said 30-year-old Inuk Kristensen. “My opinion is the same as everyone’s: Of course you don’t do things this way. You don’t just come here and say that you want to buy the place.”
As the nautical gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America, Greenland has broader strategic value as both China and Russia seek access to its waterways and natural resources.
“We need to ensure that America is leading in the Arctic, because we know that if America doesn’t, other nations will fill the gap where we fall behind,” Vance said.
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Grieshaber reported from Berlin and Madhani from Washington. Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.
