The Guardian: “After Trump instructed his advisers that he wanted the prosecutors gone, the White House presidential personnel office, led by longtime Trump ally Sergio Gor, issued a memo that directed the justice department to proceed and gave the move a degree of legal cover.”

“The memo was then sent to the acting attorney general’s office, which issued the actual termination notices to those still at the department. The precise number is unclear because the department did not release names, but the trial team consisted of at least 18 lawyers.”

“Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of U.S. President Donald Trump, broke Italian and European Union environmental protection laws when he hunted ducks near Venice in December,” USA Today reports.

Charlie Warzel: “Elon Musk is not the president, but it does appear that he—a foreign-born, unelected billionaire who was not confirmed by Congress—is exercising profound influence over the federal government of the United States, seizing control of information, payments systems, and personnel management.”

“It is nothing short of an administrative coup.”

“About 20,000 federal workers have accepted the ‘buyout’ offer put forward by the Trump administration last week,” Axios reports.

“It’s a significant number of people — about 1% of the federal workforce — but still substantially less than the White House’s target of 5% to 10%.”

Elon Musk called Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) accusation that “an unelected shadow government” is taking over the government “hysterical.”

He added: “This is the one shot the American people have to defeat BUREAUcracy, rule of the bureaucrats, and restore DEMOcracy, rule of the people. We’re never going to get another chance like this. It’s now or never. Your support is crucial to the success of the revolution of the people.”

Peter Baker: “President Trump in just two weeks back in office has moved with astonishing speed and boundless ambition to overturn the existing political, economic, cultural and international order in an even more far-reaching way than many of his supporters or critics had imagined possible.”

“Mr. Trump has thrown the nation’s capital into turmoil by purging enemies at home, attacking allies abroad, shuttering one agency while targeting others, handing the tools of government to an unelected billionaire, ignoring multiple laws, trying to rewrite the Constitution and even flirting with staying in power beyond his two-term limit.”

Axios: “Trump’s vanishing guardrails challenge Washington”