MAYOR RAS J. BARAKA'S STATEMENT ON ICE RAID ON NEWARK BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENT  —  “Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided a local establishment in the City of Newark, detaining undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant.

Trump staff ‘furious’ after Musk trashes AI project  —  “It's clear he has abused the proximity to the president,” said one ally of the president.  —  Some of President Donald Trump's key aides and allies are furious with Elon Musk for publicly trashing his $500 billion artificial intelligence mega-deal.

Johnson aide discouraged Hutchinson subpoena over concerns about lawmakers' ‘sexual texts’  —  The move was intended in part to prevent the release of sexually explicit texts that lawmakers sent Cassidy Hutchinson.

Tennessee Republican proposes amendment to allow Trump to serve third term  —  Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow President Trump to serve a third term in the White House so that the country “can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”

Hegseth told senator he paid $50,000 to woman who accused him of 2017 sex assault  —  Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary, paid $50,000 to the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017, according to answers he provided to a senator during his confirmation process …

Trump will visit disaster zones in North Carolina and California on the first trip of second term  —  President Donald Trump is heading to hurricane-battered western North Carolina and wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles on Friday, using the first trip of his second administration to tour areas …

Republicans shoot down Democratic request to ditch party-line immigration push and write a bipartisan bill instead  —  Senate Republicans are making clear they will pursue a border package without Democratic input, despite the obstacles they face in going their own way.

Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations  —  OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY, SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY, AND THE REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.  —  EXECUTIVE ORDER  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

The AP establishes style guidance on the Gulf of Mexico and Mount McKinley  —  President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday shortly after his inauguration calling for the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed the Gulf of America, and Denali, the tallest peak in the United States, to revert to the name Mount McKinley.

Instagram and Facebook Blocked and Hid Abortion Pill Providers' Posts  —  Some posts related to obtaining abortion pills were recently hidden on Instagram and Facebook and some accounts were suspended, before being later restored.  —  Instagram and Facebook have recently blurred …

Costco shareholders overwhelmingly reject anti-DEI measure … - Costco grabbed headlines over the holidays when its board of directors put out a robust defense of its DEI efforts in response to the anti-DEI proposal.  — The board had voted unanimously to ask shareholders to reject the motion.

Newsom plans to crash Trump's LA wildfire visit  —  The Democratic governor and the Republican president have not spoken since Trump left office in 2020.  —  SACRAMENTO, California — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he had yet to hear from Donald Trump on the eve of the president's planned tour …

Paul Krugman on Leaving the New York Times  —  The paper wanted to take away his newsletter or make him write less frequently, he says.  —  For two and a half decades, Paul Krugman's columns in the New York Times were beacons of intelligence and common sense.

“A pact with the devil”  —  David de Jong on oligarchs getting in bed with fascists.  —  ∙ Paid  —  Donald Trump now has many of the country's richest and most powerful executives explicitly on his side.  That was evident this week as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos …

Hegseth's divorce agreement with his second wife includes a non-disparagement clause  —  Pete and Samantha Hegseth's 2018 divorce decree prohibits each of them from engaging in “any public discourse ... disparaging the other party.”  —  Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth testified during …

Trump's budget pick, Russ Vought, is starting to upend Washington  —  The president's nominee for the Office of Management and Budget aims to slash spending and regulation — and push the limits of presidential power to achieve Trump's agenda.  —  Even before he takes the reins …

Trump's White House Press Secretary Reveals Her Failed Campaign Spent $200K in Illicit Contributions  —  On Thursday, Karoline Leavitt's failed congressional campaign amended every FEC filing it had ever made to reveal that she failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars …

Elon Musk doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt  —  Elon Musk's Nazi trolling exposes the collapse of America's guardrails against some of history's foulest ideas. … Since Donald Trump's rise to power, some liberals have developed a bad habit of seeing secret Nazi imagery everywhere on the right.

Exclusive: U.S. whistleblower says Mastercard, Visa failed to stop payments for child sex abuse material on OnlyFans  —  Mastercard and Visa failed to stop their payment networks from laundering proceeds from child sexual abuse material and sex trafficking on the popular website OnlyFans …

DOJ orders federally funded legal service providers to stop providing support at immigration courts  —  Legal service providers help individuals navigate immigration court proceedings.  —  The seal of the U.S. Justice Department is seen on the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room …

“Excluding Indians”: Trump admin questions Native Americans' birthright citizenship in court  —  The Trump admin is leaning on a pre-14th Amendment law in its fight to redefine birthright citizenship  —  In the Trump administration's arguments defending his order to suspend birthright citizenship …

Trump Pardons Anti-Abortion Activists Who Blockaded Clinic  —  The move came ahead of the March for Life, the annual anti-abortion rally in Washington where Vice President JD Vance is expected to address attendees.  —  President Trump signed orders on Thursday granting pardons …

Health researchers alarmed as Trump administration pauses travel, communications  —  The halt has frozen research grants, meetings and key health updates.  “Everything is basically in chaos,” said one cancer researcher.  —  No meetings of cancer researchers to discuss issuing new federal grants.

Ex-POLITICO Journalists: Editors Killed Hunter Biden Stories  —  Expect a LOT of “now it can be told” stories over the next few months and years.  —  Now that the Biden administration is in the rear-view mirror, the urge to tell juicy stories—and tell them first or with the most details …