“The Agriculture Department will not require poultry companies to limit salmonella bacteria in their products, halting a Biden Administration effort to prevent food poisoning from contaminated meat,” the AP reports.
“The rule would have required poultry companies to keep levels of salmonella bacteria under a certain threshold and test for the presence of six strains most associated with illness, including three found in turkey and three in chicken.”
“Mr. Santos, words have consequences. You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.”
— Federal judge Joanna Seybert, quoted by the Daily Beast, while sentencing former Rep. George Santos (R-NY).
“Just three months into President Donald Trump’s second term, Americans’ confidence in the economy’s prospects is plunging,” Politico reports.
“The University of Michigan’s closely watched index for consumer expectations has dropped by 32 percent since January, the sharpest three-month decline since the U.S. was rocked by a recession in 1990.”
“The survey is the latest warning sign that the economy could enter a recession as Trump and top administration officials attempt to negotiate dozens of new trade agreements against a backdrop of sky-high tariffs. Polls taken by Gallup and Reuters/Ipsos have the president firmly underwater with regard to the economy, and economists say the trade war could simultaneously cause growth to stall and prices to soar.”
“Well, I said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration, because to make a point, and you know, it gets, of course, by the fake news. Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended.”
— President Trump, talking to Time magazine about his claim that he would end the war in Ukraine on Day One.
“George Santos, the former Republican congressman from New York whose outlandish fabrications and criminal schemes fueled an unforeseen rise and spectacular fall, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison on Friday,” the New York Times reports.
“His sentence will bring an end, or at least a pause, to a turbulent period in which Mr. Santos was catapulted from anonymity to political and pop cultural infamy, a national spotlight that, even when negative, he often relished more than rejected.”
Associated Press: “The New York Republican, who served in Congress for barely a year before his House colleagues ousted him in 2023, pleaded guilty last summer to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.”
President Trump was interviewed by Time magazine:
TIME: One final question. Mr. President, you were showing us the new paintings you have behind us. You put all these new portraits. One of them includes John Adams. John Adams said we’re a government ruled by laws, not by men. Do you agree with that?
TRUMP: John Adams said that? Where was the painting?
TIME: It’s right here.
TRUMP: We’re a government ruled by laws, not by men? Well, I think we’re a government ruled by law, but you know, somebody has to administer the law. So therefore men, certainly, men and women, certainly play a role in it. I wouldn’t agree with it 100%. We are a government where men are involved in the process of law, and ideally, you’re going to have honest men like me.
“The Trump administration has restored the student visa registrations of thousands of foreign students studying in the United States who had minor — and often dismissed — legal infractions,” Politico reports.
“The Justice Department announced the wholesale reversal in federal court Friday after weeks of intense scrutiny by courts and dozens of restraining orders issued by judges who deemed the mass termination of students from a federal database — used by universities and the federal government to track foreign students in the U.S. — as flagrantly illegal.”
President Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had “called” him, despite denials from Beijing that talks to ease trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies had started, the Financial Times reports.
Trump also said he had sealed “200 deals” on trade, even though no such pacts have been announced.
Said Trump: “You have to understand, I’m dealing with all the companies, very friendly countries. We’re meeting with China. We’re doing fine with everybody. But ultimately, I’ve made all the deals.”
“FBI Director Kash Patel said Friday that the bureau had arrested a Milwaukee judge and charged her with obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week — the first known instance of the Justice Department prosecuting a local official for allegedly interfering with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement,” the Washington Post reports.
“Patel announced the arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan in a post on the social media platform X, which he deleted moments after posting. The post accused Dugan of ‘intentionally misdirecting’ federal agents who arrived at the courthouse to detain an immigrant who was set to appear before her in an unrelated proceeding.”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Multiple Milwaukee County judges confirmed that the arrest took place at the courthouse.”
“Progressive groups, emboldened by the Democratic grassroots’ extreme dissatisfaction at their party’s older establishment, are preparing to go big in their efforts to unseat Democratic lawmakers,” Axios reports.
“Three months into the new Congress, more than half a dozen House Democrats already are facing primary challengers. That number is about to skyrocket.”
“President Donald Trump doubled down this week on his proposal to send American citizens to foreign prisons,” Politico reports.
Said Trump: “I would love to do that if it were permissible by law. We’re looking into that.”
“A senior Russian general has died in a car bombing in the Russian city of Balashikha on Friday, with news of the blast breaking just before President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow,” CNN reports.
“Former President Joe Biden, who maintained a close working and personal relationship with Pope Francis dating back to the late pontiff’s visit to the United States in 2015, will attend the papal funeral Saturday in Vatican City,” CBS News reports.
Time: “If Trump is making cosmetic changes to the White House, his effect on the presidency goes much deeper. The first 100 days of his second term have been among the most destabilizing in American history, a blitz of power grabs, strategic shifts, and direct attacks that have left opponents, global counterparts, and even many supporters stunned.”
“From deportations and tariffs to remaking America’s alliances and attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, Donald John Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States, is carrying out pledges to radically reshape America and its role in the world. He didn’t invent most of the problems he is aggressively going after, and supporters say he is doing more than predecessors from both parties to fix them….”
“It’s possible that Trump, 100 days in, is at the peak of his power. A resistance—if not one that resembles the first-term Resistance—is stirring to life.”
Germany downgraded its economic growth forecast to zero, the Financial Times reports.
President Donald Trump said he would “absolutely” sign a bill banning congressional stock trading, saying he was concerned lawmakers could be using insider information for an advantage, Bloomberg reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.