“President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday barring transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, fulfilling a key campaign promise that also could complicate the nation’s role as host of the next Summer Olympics,” The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “If you are coming into the country and you are claiming that you are a woman, but you are a male here to compete against women, we’re going to be reviewing that for fraud.”
“A group that played a key role in Donald Trump’s voter outreach to the Arab American community alongside his allies is rebranding itself after the president said that the U.S. would ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip,” the AP reports.
“Bishara Bahbah, chairman of the group formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump, said during a phone interview that the group would now be called Arab Americans for Peace.”
A new version of the virus is widespread in wild birds but had not previously been detected in cows, the New York Times reports.
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“New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) suggestion that he might harbor an immigrant at his home and daring the federal government to come get her handed an easy talking point to the Democrat’s foes looking to replace him and generated two days of headlines as the Trump administration tries to start mass deportations,” Politico reports.
“Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, said the governor’s ‘foolish’ comments could result in a prosecution if it turns out the governor was knowingly housing an undocumented immigrant.”
“A federal judge said Wednesday she’s prepared to issue an order that would temporarily block two of Elon Musk’s allies — now special employees of the Treasury Department — from sharing Treasury records with anyone outside the department, including Musk himself,” Politico reports.
New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado (D) “won’t commit to endorsing his own boss, Gov. Kathy Hochul, for reelection in 2026,” Politico reports.
Said Delgado: “My focus right now isn’t on the election. My focus is on governing right now. That’s the focus.”
“White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, responding Wednesday to a question about a right-wing conspiracy theory, announced that the federal government would cancel $8 million worth of Politico subscriptions,” CNN reports.
“Leavitt elevated a bogus claim spreading on social media that Politico and the Associated Press for years received millions of dollars from the US Agency for International Development, which President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have targeted by placing staff on leave.”
“In reality, the payments represented the whole of the federal government’s subscriptions to the news outlets’ services. All federal agencies combined spent $8.2 million last year on Politico Pro.”
Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei: “Chaos isn’t an accident. Trump and his aides know that the tsunami of ideas, executive orders and proclamations makes it hard for opponents to unite around a single message.”
“Think about you or your friends: Are you more intrigued or worked up by all his controversial nominees … or Greenland … or trade wars … or USAID … or Elon Musk … or Ukraine … or South Africa … or TikTok … or a new sovereign wealth fund … or Trump’s own crypto? No human can process this much he-did-what news this fast.”
“Government agencies are moving with lightning speed to implement President Trump’s directives to roll back transgender rights, prompting a series of lawsuits unfolding by the day,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Axios: All of the anti-trans executive orders Trump has signed.
“Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, publicly at least, are on good terms,” Wired reports.
“Yet when it comes to the staff in and around the new administration, it’s a different story. Just two-and-a-half weeks into Trump’s second term in office, a fissure has begun to emerge following Musk’s DOGE takeover of the US government.”
Said a GOP operative: “There could be a collision course coming here at some point. He’s getting too big for his britches.”
“The CIA sent the White House an unclassified email listing all employees hired by the spy agency over the last two years to comply with an executive order to shrink the federal work force, in a move that former officials say risked the list leaking to adversaries,” the New York Times reports.
One former agency officer called the reporting of the names in an unclassified email a “counterintelligence disaster.”
“Top Trump administration officials on Wednesday walked back elements of President Trump’s proposal to ‘take over’ Gaza and drive out the Palestinian population, insisting that he had not committed to using U.S. troops to clear the territory and that any relocation of Palestinians would be temporary,” the New York Times reports.
“Greenland on Tuesday passed a law banning foreign contributions to political parties, an assertion of self-governance amid concern over President Donald Trump’s calls for the United States to acquire the island,” the Washington Post reports.
“The move comes ahead of a general election, which Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede on Tuesday proposed would take place March 11.”
“Don’t be a dick.”
— Elon Musk, responding to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) for saying he would subpoena Musk to testify before Congress.
Katy Svitenko, the foreperson of the jury, told Variety that she would have awarded up to $100 million in damages for the network defaming a security contractor.
Said Svitenko: “The message the jury wanted to send was to not only CNN but to all media that the general public is fed up with fake news and partial truths.”
Wall Street Journal: “Banks wrapped up the sale of $5.5 billion in debt backed by Musk’s social-media company on Wednesday… The banks had originally planned to sell around $3 billion at around 95 cents on the dollar… They upsized the deal after seeing demand from investors.”
“Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, is raising alarms about the influence that billionaire Elon Musk is wielding inside the Trump administration and across federal agencies,” Politico reports.
Said Collins: “There’s no doubt that the president appears to have empowered Elon Musk far beyond what I think is appropriate. I think a lot of it is going to end up in court.”
She added: “I am concerned if the Trump administration is clawing back money that has been specifically appropriated for a particular purpose.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Elon Musk will “self-determine” when there is a conflict of interest involving his private business interests and his government efficiency role.
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.
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