“The Trump administration is planning to transport a group of immigrants to Libya on a U.S. military plane, another sharp escalation in a deportation program that has sparked widespread legal challenges and intense political debate,” the New York Times reports.
“The nationalities of the migrants were not immediately clear, but a flight to Libya carrying the deportees could leave as soon as Wednesday.”
“Members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet said Tuesday that while they look forward to the United States’ co-hosting next year’s FIFA World Cup, they want to make sure foreign visitors don’t stay longer than they’re allowed,” NBC News reports.
“The quadrennial tournament, which the United States will host alongside Mexico and Canada, is expected to attract millions of fans from dozens of countries. The Department of Homeland Security has indicated it’s ready to handle the influx of international travelers.”
“Former president George W. Bush is not expected to attend a Thursday event at the White House honoring his late mother,” the Washington Post reports.
“First lady Melania Trump is hosting the event in the East Room, where she will unveil a postage stamp honoring former first lady Barbara Bush, the wife of President George H.W. Bush. Other Bush family members and friends are expected to attend.”
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland this week to discuss economic and trade matters,“ CNBC reports.
“The meetings appear to be a major step toward Washington and Beijing beginning negotiations to potentially resolve an ongoing trade war ignited by President Donald Trump.”
Bloomberg: “It will be the first confirmed trade talks between the countries since President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs, led by punishing levies on China.”
“The U.S. is stepping up its intelligence-gathering efforts regarding Greenland, drawing America’s spying apparatus into President Trump’s campaign to take over the island,“ the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Several high-ranking officials under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a ‘collection emphasis message’ to intelligence-agency heads last week. They were directed to learn more about Greenland’s independence movement and attitudes on American resource extraction on the island.”
“Everyone says ‘When, when, when are you going to sign deals?’ We don’t have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now if we wanted to. We don’t have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us. They want our market. We don’t want a piece of their market. We don’t care about their market.”
— President Trump, quoted by the New York Times, on trade deals his administration is supposedly negotiating.
CNBC: “58 wallets have made over $10 million each from President Donald Trump’s meme coin, totaling $1.1 billion in profits, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said.”
“764,000 wallets of mostly small holders have lost money on $TRUMP.”
“Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) on Tuesday dismissed concerns a former top staffer raised about his mental health as he managed depression and recovered from a stroke he suffered during his 2022 Senate campaign,” NBC News reports.
Said Fetterman: “It’s a one-source story, with a couple anonymous sources, hit piece from a very left publication. There’s really nothing more to say about it.”
“President Donald Trump is set to headline a fundraiser for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts next month, for which the top sponsorship level is selling for $2 million,” ABC News reports.
“India said early Wednesday it had launched a military operation against Pakistan, hitting ‘terrorist infrastructure’ in both Pakistan and Pakistan administered-Kashmir, in a major escalation of tensions between the two neighbors,” CNN reports.
BBC: “Relations between India and Pakistan have declined sharply following a deadly militant attack on tourists in Kashmir last month.”
“The Trump administration earlier this year urged the Ukrainian government to accept an unspecified number of U.S. deportees who are citizens of other countries, an extraordinary request of a nation at war and dependent on American military and financial support for its survival,” the Washington Post reports.
“The documents do not indicate how officials in Kyiv responded to the late-January proposal… that called for sending third-country nationals to Ukraine amid Russia’s deadly, devastating invasion — and despite the absence of a functioning airport there due to continual air attacks.”
CNN: “Ships now pulling into U.S. harbors from China are the first to be subject to the massive tariffs that America is imposing on most Chinese imports. That means, in a matter of weeks, consumers will face higher prices and shortages of certain items…”
“The drop-off in imports from China on the boats now coming into port is more than 50%… Many importers have canceled previous orders because U.S. businesses aren’t interested in paying the steep tariff, which can more than double the price of Chinese goods.”
“Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, used the same easily cracked password for different online accounts over a period of years,” Wired reports.
“Following her participation in a Signal group chat in which sensitive details of a military operation were unwittingly shared with a journalist, the revelation raises further questions about the security practices of the U.S. spy chief.”
Nate Silver: “On Feb. 1, essentially the same number of Americans strongly approved and disapproved of Trump. Now, strong disapprovers outnumber strong approvers by about a 3-to-2 ratio. It’s hard not to see this as bearish for Trump: his negatives are more entrenched than his positives.”
Multiple House Republicans told Fox News they were frustrated by House GOP leaders’ decision to spend time voting on what they saw as a largely symbolic gesture in an otherwise light legislative week.
“A federal judge on Tuesday refused to withdraw her order requiring the Trump administration to seek the return of a Venezuelan man deported to a notorious high-security prison in El Salvador in violation of a legal settlement,” Politico reports.
President Trump repeatedly talked up a future announcement, “one of the most important announcements that have been made in many years about a certain subject,” the New York Times reports.
He never said what he could be talking about, or what “very important” subject he is referring to, only suggesting it would be made before he leaves for a trip to the Middle East next week.
But even the timing of the big announcement wandered, with Mr. Trump saying it “will be made either Thursday or Friday or Monday.”
President Trump took shots at former President Barack Obama’s Presidential Center in Chicago, calling it “a disaster” and blaming “woke” construction workers, CBS News 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.