Week 67 — The Return

I wanted to start this week by noting the cruelty we have normalized. During Trump’s first regime, after widespread protests and condemnation over his “zero-tolerance” policy of separating families, he rolled it back. During the second regime, the repugnant acts of cruelty and lawlessness far outdo those of Trump’s first regime, yet the public outcry is sporadic and hushed. Almost as if the country is too exhausted to keep up the fight on so many fronts, and is instead choosing to wait out the clock until Trump’s departure. In fact, it seems that on immigration, the only thing holding Trump back from his worst impulses is his sinking polling on what was once his strongest issue. This week, the regime claimed they were leaving their wildly unpopular and lawless occupation of Minneapolis.

As Trump’s popularity continues to deteriorate, and has now fallen even lower than during his first regime (which was already a record low), Trump and his Republican lawmakers have amplified a new strategy of trying to suppress the vote, while at the same time sowing doubt over the outcome of the midterm elections. All of this is happening in the light of day, which makes it all the more alarming.

This week we see a continuation of trends that have been unfolding, including the shifting world order; Trump’s branding and renaming, and using the power of the government to enrich himself; the slow degradation of our country’s advancement towards equality; incompetence at Health and Human Services threatening our country’s well being; and the DOJ and FBI acting more as an appendage of Trump’s Oval Office than independent agencies.

In summary, the country is just about done with Trump, except his really hardcore supporters. As one media pundit put it, there does not seem to be a floor anymore for his approval. Yet Trump, surrounded by loyalists and yes men, seems unbothered — instead sharpening the tools used by dictators to strangle democracy.

1. Gallup polling said it would stop tracking presidential approval ratings, which it had been doing since the 1930s. The Gallup poll had been a top barometer used by media outlets. Trump’s approval at Gallup had fallen from 47 in February to 37 in December, a new low.
2. Trump’s approval hit a new low with several pollsters this week, with analysts noting that for the first time he was less popular during his second regime than at the same time during his first regime, when he had already set record lows.
3. Reuters reported that a review of court records found that more than 400 judges around the country have ruled in more than 4,400 cases that the Trump regime’s ICE had detained people illegally. The regime is continuing detentions, despite the rulings.
4. Reuters analysis also found that more than 700 DOJ attorneys had been diverted to represent the regime in immigration cases, amid a spike of more than 20,000 cases since October. Because of the logjam, the regime left people locked up even after judges ordered their release.
5. On Thursday, a federal judge blocked Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth from taking action against Sen. Mark Kelly over the illegal orders video, saying, the “Defendants have trampled” on Kelly’s “First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees.”
6. CBS News reported that the Trump regime had sought to charge the six Democratic lawmakers in the video with criminal statute 18 U.S.C. § 2387, which includes a 10-year maximum prison sentence if found guilty, before the grand jury declined criminal charges in Week 66.
7. NYT reported the sudden closure of El Paso’s airspace in Week 66 was caused by Customs and Border Protection officials firing an anti-drone laser, on loan from the Pentagon, targeting what they thought was a drug cartel drone, but turned out to be a party balloon.
8. CBP did not give notice to the FAA, so officials could assess the risk to commercial aircraft, necessitating the closure. Regime officials had baselessly blamed Mexican drug cartels, including Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy who posted on X, “the threat has been neutralized.”
9. The annual National Governors Association meeting at the White House was canceled, after Trump excluded Democrats. GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt wrote in a letter, “Because NGA’s mission is to represent all 55 governors,” the event “is no longer included in our official program.”
10. After Stitt’s announcement, he spoke to Trump and said all governors would be welcome, attributing it to a “misunderstanding in scheduling.” Shortly after, Trump blamed Stitt on Truth Social, posting “as usual with him, Stitt got it WRONG!” and called him a “RINO Governor.”
11. Adding to the confusion, Trump later posted on Truth Social, “The invitations were sent to ALL Governors, other than two, who I feel are not worthy of being there.” The two were Wes Moore, who is Black and Jared Polis, whose state refused to pardon Trump ally Tina Peters.
12. On Thursday, Trump continued to attack Stitt, posting on Truth Social that he was “a wiseguy” who “tried to get some cheap publicity by stating otherwise,” and took credit for his last win, saying he “was massively behind’ and “called me to ask for help.”
13. On Wednesday, the House voted 219–211 to rescind tariffs on Canada that Trump imposed last year, citing there was no national emergency, with six Republicans joining Democrats in the rebuke. The vote was symbolic as Trump would be able to veto the measure.
14. During the vote, Trump had threatened on Truth Social, “Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!”
15. On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before the House Judiciary Committee in a contentious hearing, filled with shouting matches, during which she went off topic to attack Democrats and praise Trump as the “greatest president in American history.”
16. Seated behind Bondi were Epstein survivors and their families, who stood and raised their hands when she spoke. Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal told Bondi to apologize. Bondi said, “You all should be apologizing to Trump” for “past impeachment efforts.”
17. A Reuters photo taken during the hearing showed Bondi holding a document labeled “Jayapal Pramila Search History,” listing Epstein files that she searched from the unredacted files. The DOJ had told lawmakers it would “keep a log of the dates and times,” but not search history.
18. Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin called the “spying” on members of Congress “Orwellian,” adding that he would “open an inquiry into this outrageous abuse of power,” and called on the DOJ to stop tracking.
19. NYT Editorial Board wrote, “Bondi’s performance was more than just political theater. It was a final indignity in a process that has victimized Epstein’s victims all over again,” and the process “stripped the victims of their privacy while wrapping perpetrators in a cloak of state secrecy.”
20. CBS News reported Trump’s close ally Tom Barrack, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, kept in regular, close contact with Epstein for years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction. Epstein appeared to view Barrack as a conduit to pass information to Trump.
21. Recent files also showed that Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, had emailed Epstein an invitation to a Valentine’s Day party in 2016. Oz appeared in several other places in the files.
22. Ohio Sen. Jon Husted received a $3,500 donation from Les Wexner a month before voting against the release of the Epstein files, and more than $116,000 since 2001. Wexner, a potential co-conspirator, was one of the six powerful men whose names were redacted in the latest files.
23. NBC News reported that more than a dozen top Trump regime officials appear in the Epstein files, including Barrack, Oz, Deputy Defense Sec. Stephen Feinberg, Kennedy, Steve Bannon, Howard Lutnick, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, Fed nominee Kevin Warsh, and Elon Musk.
24. On Saturday, Bondi claimed in a letter to Congress that the regime had “released all ‘records, documents, communications and investigative materials’” related to Epstein as required by law, although millions of files had yet to be released.
25. Bondi also included a list of what she termed 130 “politically exposed persons,” which included multiple dead celebrities. Rep. Ro Khanna said the list was to muddy the water. Rep. Thomas Massie said he had no confidence in Bondi, citing her embattled and off-topic testimony.
26. On Wednesday, the Times Union reported a federal judge in upstate New York appointed Donald Kinsella to fill the position of U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York, to replace John Sarcone III, who a judge found was serving in the position unlawfully.
27. Shortly after, deputy AG Todd Blanche fired Kinsella, posting on X, “Judges don’t pick U.S. Attorneys, @POTUS does.” The White House also emailed Kinsella to say he was fired. Kinsella told NYT that he did not know if the White House email carried the force of law.
28. On Wednesday, the House passed a strict voter ID bill, the SAVE Act, 218–213, that would require proof of citizenship to vote and would allow the DHS to seize voter rolls in any state. The measure had little chance of advancing in the Senate, where 60 votes were needed.
29. Republicans baselessly claim that Democrats were trying to get a massive number of undocumented immigrants to vote and sway the elections in their favor, amplifying Trump’s claims. The passage laid the groundwork for Trump and the GOP to sow doubt about the outcome of midterms.
30. Punchbowl News reported that Republican Rep. Byron Daniels may have had someone else cast his vote for the SAVE Act, as he was not present in D.C., a violation of Congressional ethics.
31. NYT reported that Trump was ramping up his attacks on U.S. elections, including his loss in 2020. In the first half of February, he used words such as “fraudulent,” “stolen,” “crooked,” and “rigged” more than twice as much as in all of January or any other month of the second regime.
32. On Wednesday, the Albuquerque Journal reported all four Republicans vying for the New Mexico senate seat in midterms were disqualified after failing to meet the ballot requirement, marking the first time in modern history that only one major party would be on the ballot.
33. On Friday, during a visit to the Fort Bragg U.S. Army base, Trump said if Congress does not pass voter ID legislation, he will issue an executive order, baselessly claiming Democrats are not in favor of voter ID laws because they “want to continue to cheat in Elections.”
34. On Friday, at a press conference in swing state Arizona to promote the SAVE Act, DHS sec. Kristi Noem claimed, “When it gets to Election Day, we’ve been proactive to make sure we have the right people voting,” and elect “the right leaders.” Her remarks drew condemnation from Democrats.
35. On Friday, the State Department ordered non-profit public libraries to stop processing passport applications, which communities had relied on for decades. The regime cited regulations prohibit non-governmental organizations “from collecting and retaining fees.”
36. Members from both parties in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland pushed back, saying most of their libraries are organized as non-profit. The American Library Association said about 1,400 or 15% of public libraries nationwide could be affected.
37. On Monday, the NAACP and other organizations filed a motion urging a judge to protect voter information by ordering “reasonable limits on the government’s use” of the data seized in Fulton County, and to prohibit the regime from using the data for purposes other than the criminal investigation.
38. The Brennan Center reported at least 10 states have handed over voter rolls to the Trump regime under “confidential memorandums,” which will allow the DOJ to “test, analyze, and assess states’ [voter rolls],” and tell each state who should be removed within 45 days.
39. NYT reported as polling showed Republicans at risk for losing control of the House and possibly the Senate in midterms, GOP lawmakers were echoing Trump’s falsehoods, with Rep. Tim Burchett saying the SAVE Act must pass because if “we lose the midterms…we lose the country.”
40. House Speaker Mike Johnson also baselessly questioned some House seats in California, lying that Republicans saw their leads “magically whittled away” when more mail-in ballots came in. Notably, Republicans also won races in California as mail-in ballots came in.
41. GOP Rep. Bryan Steil planned to put forward the “Make Elections Great Again Act,” which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register, allow the DHS to have access to voter rolls, and also ban mail-in voting and prohibit the counting of ballots received after Election Day.
42. On Wednesday, the FDA rejected Moderna’s application for approval of a flu mRNA shot, despite late-stage trials showing it was safe and effective. Moderna announced it would no longer invest in new Phase 3 vaccine trials, citing inability to make a return without the U.S. market.
43. Amid blowback, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary backtracked, telling Fox News that the agency might eventually approve the vaccine. Within the agency, Makary clashed with the head of the agency’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review over the decision.
44. WSJ reported Vinay Prasad, the regime’s top vaccine regulator at the FDA, overruled agency scientists in rejecting the Moderna vaccine. WSJ Editorial Board called Prasad’s rejection “without even a cursory review,” which happens 4% of time, “arbitrary government at its worst.”
45. NYT reported that longtime allies of Robert Kennedy Jr. from 15 non-profit organizations launched a new effort to end what they call medical mandates, which require children to be vaccinated against measles, polio, and other diseases before they enter daycare or kindergarten.
46. NYT reported that as a result of Kennedy’s policies that are hostile to vaccines, numerous large and small manufacturers have pulled back from vaccine studies, canceled plans to build factories and laid off workers. Companies are also reporting a decline in sales of vaccines.
47. ABC News reported the Trump regime’s Department of Health and Human Services will cut $600 million in grants for HIV and STD prevention, and HIV surveillance in California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota, “because they do not reflect agency priorities.”
48. On Tuesday, Dr. Mehmet Oz pledged continued insurance coverage for all vaccines, and urged people to get the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, including a push for parents to vaccinate their children.
49. Oz’s push came as measles infections skyrocketed, with more than 900 cases in 24 states as of Feb. 13, on track to surpass 2,280 infections in 2025, which was the most since 1992.
50. On Wednesday, Moderna announced the FDA had reversed its decision, and agreed to review its flu vaccine. Regulators in Europe, Canada, and Australia are also reviewing Moderna’s vaccine.
51. On Thursday, the Trump regime fired Abigail Slater, the DOJ’s antitrust division head for nearly a year. Slater had been at odds with Bondi and other senior regime members, over her push to be aggressive with tech companies, some of Trump’s biggest donors, and over Trump’s pardons.
52. CNN reported Trump met with David Ellison last week at the White House, amid Paramount’s battle with Netflix to buy Warner Bros. When asked by NBC News in Week 66 about the battle, Trump lied that “I haven’t been involved. The Justice Department will handle it.”
53. On Sunday, Bloomberg reported Warner Bros was considering reopening sale talks with Ellison’s Paramount, after receiving its amended offer. Warner Bros did reopen deal talks with Paramount on Tuesday.
54. On Monday, “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert said in a biting monologue that Paramount-owned CBS did not air his Monday interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who is running for the U.S. Senate in November, out of fear of the FCC’s equal time rules.
55. Colbert said, “He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers…we could not have him on the broadcast,” adding, and “I was told in some uncertain terms…I could not mention me not having him on.”
56. On Monday, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, called out Paramount for “corporate capitulation,” saying, “CBS is fully protected under the First Amendment to determine what interviews it airs” making its decision to “all the more disappointing.”
57. On Tuesday, Colbert blasted CBS on his show, after the network denied in a statement that he was prohibited from airing the interview, calling it “crap.” Colbert urged Paramount to stand up to the “bullies” in the Trump regime.
58. NYT reported that U.S. embassies and consulates are soliciting donations for lavish July Fourth parties around the world, echoing Trump’s message that America’s 250th birthday would be “the most spectacular birthday party the world has ever seen.”
59. On Friday, Trump looked to fast-track his White House ballroom, submitting a final plan to the National Capital Planning Commission. Trump posted on Truth Social, “When completed, it will be the finest Ballroom ever built anywhere in the World.”
60. On Friday, a non-profit organization and two residents in D.C. sued the Trump regime to stop it from overhauling three public golf courses in D.C., citing per a 1897 congressional act, they should be “forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people.”
61. On Tuesday, attorneys for Trump filed a trademark for the phrase “Donald J. Trump International Airport,” as Republican lawmakers in Florida moved to rename the Palm Beach airport in his honor.
62. On Tuesday, Republican lawmakers blocked an amendment by Democrats put into the controversial bill that would have stopped Trump from profiting off of the airport renaming.
63. Trump will repaint the Air Force One jets to his preferred colors, a break from the tradition of the colors used since John F. Kennedy was in office.
64. WSJ reported that under Noem’s leadership of DHS, along with her top aide and reported romantic partner Corey Lewandowski, 80% of ICE’s field leadership had been demoted or fired and the agency is in chaos.
65. In one incident, after a Coast Guard pilot did not transfer Noem’s blanket on a connecting flight, he was fired. He was later reinstated when they realized there was no one else to fly them home. Noem and Lewandowski have been using a luxury 737 MAX jet, with a private cabin in back.
66. NBC News reported that the Coast Guard’s relationship with Noem has also become increasingly strained after she had reallocated Coast Guard resources to immigrant deportations, including diverting a search and rescue for a missing service member to deport immigrants.
67. An AP-NORC poll found 62% say Trump’s deployment of federal immigration agents into U.S. cities has gone too far, and 60% view ICE unfavorably. Just 38% approve of Trump’s handling of immigration, and 36% approve of the way he is handling the presidency.
68. NYT reported DHS is issuing subpoenas to social media sites like Google, Reddit, Discord, and Meta, demanding that they reveal names, email addresses, telephone numbers, and other identifying data behind social media accounts that track or criticize the agency.
69. Axios reported that Hegseth threatened to cut business ties with artificial intelligence company Anthropic, and to designate it as a “supply chain risk,” a category usually reserved for foreign adversaries, over the company limiting the regime’s use of its product Claude.
70. Anthropic asked that its tools not be used to spy on the American people, or to develop weapons that fire with no human involvement. The Pentagon said those terms are too restrictive, and wanted to be able to use their tools for “all lawful purposes.”
71. Axios also reported that Anthropic’s model was used during the operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. If Hegseth followed through with the threatened designation, anyone who wants to do business with the U.S. military would have to cut ties with Anthropic.
72. WSJ reported in Anthropic’s latest funding round, 1789 Capital, a pro-Trump fund where Donald Jr. is a partner, had refused to participate, citing some of the company’s leaders publicly criticizing Trump, and the company hiring former Biden administration officials.
73. Hegseth ordered that senior Army spokesperson Col. David Butler be fired, after passing him over for promotion months ago and holding up his colleagues while doing so. Far-right activist Laura Loomer had been critical of Butler, who previously worked for Gen. Mark Milley.
74. On Thursday, ‘border czar’ Tom Homan told reporters in Minneapolis, “I have proposed and President Trump has concurred that this surge operation conclude.” Gov. Tim Walz noted a “long road to recovery,” citing the impact on “our economy, our schools, and people’s lives.”
75. On Thursday, Congress departed Washington without passing a funding bill for DHS, as Democrats gave a list of demands for reining in ICE, and Trump and Republicans refused to negotiate, leading to another partial government shutdown as of Saturday morning.
76. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump regime to return the Venezuelan migrants who were deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison last year, citing “the flagrancy of the Government’s violations of the deportees’ due-process rights.”
77. On Thursday, a federal judge rebuked the Trump regime for committing a mass violation of ICE detainees’ rights by denying them access to legal counsel while held at the Whipple federal building in Minneapolis.
78. On Thursday, Trump regime prosecutors asked a federal court to dismiss criminal charges against two men it claimed had attacked ICE officers. The two ICE officers had lied under oath, telling a court they were struck with a shovel and broom handle before shooting.
79. The reversal came after regime prosecutors had tried to keep the two immigrants locked up, even after a federal judge ordered their release. The judge ordered ICE not to deport any witnesses before they could testify in the matter.
80. On Friday, WAPO reported video evidence contradicted key parts of the Trump regime’s federal indictment of Don Lemon, including indicating he was an “agitator,” rather than a journalist, and that the protesters “entered the Church in a coordinated takeover-style attack,” which was also not true.
81. The indictment also falsely claimed Lemon and others “oppressed, threatened, and intimidated” parishioners, which was not true; that he trying to “oppress and intimidate” a pastor who he just asked questions; and lied that that he “obstructed” congregants from leaving.
82. On Friday, a federal judge ordered the regime to facilitate the return of Any Lucia López Belloza, a college student who was deported to Honduras, saying, “the government commendably admits that it did wrong. Now it is time for the government to make amends.”
83. On Friday, Chicago teen Ofelia Torres, whose father was detained by ICE in October as she battled a rare, aggressive cancer, died. Torres posted a video on Instagram shortly after her father’s arrest, with pictures of him with his family, saying he was a hardworking immigrant.
84. On Friday, DHS revoked a decades-old program that had given temporary protections for more than a thousand migrants from Yemen. Noem claimed after reviewing conditions in Yemen, she determined it “no longer meets the law’s requirements to be designated” for TPS.
85. The Guardian reported that the Trump regime paid $32 million to five foreign governments which include some of the most corrupt regimes in Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, Palau, Eswatini, and El Salvador, to accept about 300 deportees into the countries where they had no connection.
86. NYT reported the Trump regime secretly deported nine migrants to Cameroon in January. None were from Cameroon, and all had court orders granting protections from being sent back to their home countries. Some said returning would amount to a death sentence.
87. Immigration advocates said the regime was circumventing court orders by sending detainees to third countries in an effort to bypass the court requirement not to return them to their home country. Often the third country has forced them back to their home country.
88. On Monday, the FBI formally notified the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension that it would not provide BCA with any information or evidence it has collected in the shooting death of Alex Pretti. The BCA called the FBI’s refusal “concerning and unprecedented.”
89. The San Antonio Current reported Juan Nicolás, a two month old baby detained at Dilley’s South Texas Family ICE Detention Center, choked on his own vomit. Rep. Joaquin Castro said the child fell ill after spending almost a month in the center, and that his life was in danger.
90. Propublica published heartbreaking letters from children detained at ICE’s Dilley facility, where 750 families, including half with children, were held. After the letters were published, staff raided dormitories to confiscate and destroy letters from the children.
91. On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that ICE cannot re-detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia, after Garcia agreed to go to Costa Rica, and the country said it would accept him, but the Trump regime has continued to try to deport him to a third country where he does not have ties or want to go.
92. On Tuesday, Politico reported DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, an outspoken and confrontational defender of Trump’s immigration agenda, was leaving the agency, as public opinion turned against the regime’s hardline policies.
93. On Friday, U.S. Southern Command announced it had struck another alleged drug vessel in the Caribbean, killing three, and bringing the total number of deaths to at least 133. Legal experts continued to say the boat strikes were illegal extrajudicial killings.
94. On Tuesday, U.S. Southern Command announced it had struck three alleged drug vessels overnight in both the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, killing 11 men, and bringing the death total to at least 144.
95. On Friday, in a memo, Hegseth ordered the Pentagon to evaluate military programs for active-duty members “at Ivy League universities and any other universities that similarly diminish critical thinking.” The move could abruptly cut off tuition assistance for student service members.
96. On Friday, the Trump regime sued Harvard University, claiming the school failed to comply with a federal investigation seeking documents to determine whether it had illegally considered race in its admissions process. Harvard said it had complied, and called the suit retaliatory.
97. WSJ reported the whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was related to a conversation on allegations against Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Senior Trump regime officials said the claims about Kushner were demonstrably false.
98. Venture-backed Axiom Space, which makes spacesuits for NASA, raised $350 million backed by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner.
99. Two Democratic senators on the Senate Banking Committee asked Treasury Department Sec. Scott Bessent to examine the national security implications of the UAE’s $500 million stake in the Trump family’s World Liberty Finanical.
100. On Friday, Jeremy Carl, Trump’s nominee to be an Assistant Secretary of State, faced intense scrutiny at a Senate confirmation hearing over comments like “white Americans are increasingly second-class citizens,” and that “the Jews love to see themselves as oppressed.”
101. Carl defended himself on X, posting, “White culture was simply the culture of the overwhelming majority of Americans who lived here” before the 1965 immigration reform “radically transformed American demographics.” The White House stood by Carl on Friday evening.
102. The University of North Texas abruptly closed an art exhibit that featured anti-ICE artwork, which was supposed to run for three months. Faculty members asked the university for an explanation. Republicans in Texas have restricted what can be taught at public universities
103. On Monday, a federal judge ordered the Trump regime to restore displays about George Washington’s ownership of enslaved people at a monument at his former home in Philadelphia, saying the regime’s efforts to erase history at monuments echoed George Orwell’s “1984.”
104. On Tuesday, the Trump regime filed an appeal of the order to restore the exhibit, claiming the Trump regime alone can decide what stories are told at National Park Service properties.
105. On Tuesday, a group of non-profits sued the Trump regime over its removal of the pride flag from Stonewall National Monument, saying the removal violated a federal law that allows national parks and monuments to fly Confederate flags.
106. WSJ reported Goldman Sachs moved to scrap race, gender identity, sexual orientation and other diversity factors as one of the four factors in candidates for its board, after a behind the scenes request from the conservative activist nonprofit National Legal and Policy Center.
107. On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke at the Munich Security Conference. While more diplomatic than JD Vance last year, Rubio barely mentioned Russia, and did not mention news earlier that day that the Kremlin used a banned toxin to kill Aleksei Navalny.
108. European leaders warned one another of being too dependent on the U.S., and spoke of “de-risking” from the U.S., citing Trump’s unpredictability. Europeans viewed Russia as their greatest threat, and believed President Vladimir Putin had ambitions beyond Ukraine.
109. Europeans also expressed concern that Trump would agree to any kind of deal between Russia and Ukraine in order to take credit, even if it sets up European countries for future attacks by Russia.
110. FT reported Rubio also cancelled his attendance at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and key European allies at the last minute, due to “scheduling conflicts.” One European official called it “insanity.” Rubio left instead for Budapest.
111. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Rubio said of Europe, “the alliance has to change,” and claimed that danger of a Western decline was Europe’s fault, citing the “climate cult” and “an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies.”
112. On Saturday, in a joint statement, Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands said Navalny’s body “conclusively” confirmed the presence of epibatidine, a toxin not found naturally in Russia. The U.S. did not join their statement, with Rubio saying this was their endeavor.
113. On Sunday, Rubio met with the autocratic leader of Hungary, Viktor Orban, praising him, offering financial assistance if needed, and saying Trump is “deeply committed to your success,” ahead of the country’s April 12 election. Orban’s party was trailing in opinion polls.
114. The Kiel Institute found U.S. support of Ukraine dropped by 99% in 2025 to almost nothing, with Europe left to pick up almost all the slack.
115. Politico reported Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is spearheading talks between the European Union and a 12-nation Indo-Pacific bloc to form one of the largest global economic alliances, bypassing Trump and the U.S.
116. Four descendants of Teddy Roosevelt, in a rare letter to GOP senators, urged them to protect public lands, saying Roosevelt would have been “appalled” by House Republicans attempting to allow mining upstream from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.