What happened last Friday at the White House was unprecedented. Trump, supported by VP Vance and others, held an open meeting with a head of state discussing contested issues in front of media, with cameras rolling. That has never happened before, even with meetings with enemy heads of state like Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un or Vladimir Putin. In front of the cameras during photo ops, they shake hands and are all smiles, but hide the fact that strong disagreements happen behind closed doors. Most of the almost hour-long meeting was cordial and Zelensky took the opportunity to push back on the Russian narrative of being “forced into attacking Ukraine” that Trump has bought into, but the tone of the meeting changed when Vance accused Zelensky of ingratitude. The real disagreement came over Zelensky’s call for security guarantees in any peace deal with Russia, hinting at the existential danger Russia posed to the US, which Trump dismissed out of hand. After the press was sent away, Zelensky was “asked to leave.” Since then we’ve heard Trump repeat over and over before TV cameras that Zelensky “isn’t ready for peace.” But what Trump is really demanding is that Zelensky accept Trump’s version of “peace AT ANY COST” —without demanded any concessions at all from Russia who invaded Ukraine starting in 2014. This week I’ll walk you through all of the bad logic in Trump’s plans for “peace” with Russia. To receive a free one-time sample of the Brief, along with option on how to subscribe, click on Request a Sample on the left.
Perhaps demonstrating a lack of enthusiasm, of the approximate 400,000 Liberal Party members who registered to vote in the leadership contest, CTV reports that just 151,899 votes were actually cast.
Under Canada’s parliamentary system, Carney does not automatically become prime minister but will have to wait for Trudeau to officially tender his resignation to the governor-general. After that, Carney will be invited to form a new government. This process is expected to be carried out within the next week.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that a 25 percent surcharge would be applied to electricity exports to the United States, in response to President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
The street on Black Lives Plaza, renamed from Liberty Plaza by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2020 as riots following George Floyd’s death paralyzed the city, served as a divisive partisan message during the 2020 campaign season.
On March 3 Clyde reintroduced his bill to remove the message and rename the plaza – just one block from the White House – which Breitbart News reported exclusively.
The United States has “just about” lifted the intelligence sharing ban on Ukraine, introduced last week to remind Kyiv of the importance of following the peace path, President Donald Trump said overnight.
The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States.
In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping (approximately 1000) to now be administered more effectively under the State Department.
Gabbard also revokes clearance for 51 former intelligence officials who signed a letter alleging the Hunter Biden laptop story to be Russian disinformation.
Ukraine says any peace agreement would require a robust force on the ground to provide security guarantees; Moscow has rejected any deployment of NATO member forces, although U.S. President Donald Trump says he believes Russia might agree.
Fresh reports say that over 10,000 Syrians have entered the Lebanese region of Akkar as nearly 20 villages have opened up to the displaced. More are said to be headed further south to the large Lebanese city of Tripoli.
Thanks in large part to Barrett splitting from her conservative colleagues (who signed onto a scathing dissent penned by Justice Samuel Alito), the Trump administration is now on the hook for that $2 billion, which will be paid for work already completed.
According to DeepStateMAP.live, an interactive map of the war run by Ukrainian military bloggers, their country's forces in Kursk are nearly cleaved into two, with roughly three-quarters of Ukraine's forces in Russia almost entirely surrounded on Friday. Their last connection between the two forces was a kilometer long and under 500 meters wide at its thinnest section.
In a fresh report in Le Monde Ukrainian military expert Ievhen Dyky has described that "The total ban on intelligence sharing is effective, both directly from the US to [Ukraine], but it is also a ban on NATO allies transferring data received from the US to us." He specified that the ban "applies to all forms of intelligence."
the truth has been summarized by a priest of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is the predominant Christian faith of Syria and the Middle East. "As you see the unfolding tragedy in Syria, keep in mind, this is your tax dollars at work. This was brought to you by the US government, the State of Israel, and Turkey. They said Assad was bad. This is what they replaced Assad with,"
Not unexpectedly, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has ruled that unelected bureaucrat, Hampton Dellinger, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel head has more unilateral power within the executive branch of government than President Donald Trump.
Large enough to fit 10 Pentagons, the new super large facility should not be a surprise—it is the logical next step of the Chinese regime’s long program of underground facilities. The command center is on the western outskirts of Beijing.
Automakers will be exempted from tariffs on Canada and Mexico for one month. The request was made by the leaders of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.
“It’s pretty bad,” one source familiar with the arrangement said. “Combined with the stopping of military assistance and foreign aid, it pretty much guarantees a Russian victory without there needing to be a peace deal.”
The dissent by Justices Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh was extremely strongly worded:
Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars?
The answer to that question should be an emphatic “No,” but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise.
The attack was first officially verified on Monday but it happened Saturday, involving a Russian ballistic missile strike on "an army training ground near the village of Cherkaske" outside the city of Dnipro, APF reports based on a military source.
"The enemy used an Iskander-M Ballistic missile with a cluster munition," the military source said, adding that "elements of destruction were scattered over a large area." Cluster bomblets typically fall over a very large area.
Fast-forward to Tuesday morning. Trump's 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada took effect, prompting Canada to retaliate with 25% tariffs on $100 billion worth of US imports. Mexico is expected to respond later.
A significant number of tankers loaded with Russian oil, particularly from Sakhalin Island, are experiencing prolonged sea voyages.
Buyers, especially India, are avoiding sanctioned tankers, leading to logistical challenges and a reshuffling of the supply chain.
After last week's botched Epstein files release, many are calling for Attorney General Pam Bondi to be fired over the lame binders given to right-wing influencers and journalists that contained old information.
"The sanctions offices are now drawing up a proposal for lifting sanctions on select entities and individuals, including some Russian oligarchs, according to the sources," Reuters continues. And more:
Under orders from the Trump administration, the Pentagon is deploying 3,000 more troops and armored Stryker vehicles to the U.S. border with Mexico. The orders expand current operations and to “seal the border and protect the territorial integrity of the United States,” officials said.
Gun owners in the nation’s capital are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the District of Columbia’s ban on magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Trump stated that the DOJ has “just returned the boxes that Deranged Jack Smith made such a big deal about,” referring to the former special counsel who led the investigations into Trump’s alleged retention of classified documents from his first presidential term and his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
U.S. President Donald Trump clashes with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Feb. 28. Trump accused Zelenskyy of being disrespectful in an Oval Office meeting, then abruptly called off the signing of a minerals deal that Trump said would have moved Ukraine closer to ending its war with Russia.
Both sides were meant to sign a natural resources deal on Feb. 28, but that was called off after the open clash during which the U.S. leaders took issue with Zelenkyy’s public insistence for security guarantees.
Vance, responding to Zelenskyy said, “It’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”
