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8:40 AM ET, February 3, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Bloomberg:
Musk Says DOGE Halting Treasury Payments to US Contractors  — Musk Calls USAID ‘a criminal organization’ that should ‘die’  — Billionaire expanding his reach across government spending  —  Elon Musk said his “DOGE team” of government efficiency enforcers is shutting down payments …
RELATED:
Vittoria Elliott / Wired:
The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover  —  Engineers between 19 and 24, most linked to Musk's companies, are playing a key role as he seizes control of federal infrastructure.  —  Elon Musk's takeover of federal government infrastructure is ongoing …
Margaret Sullivan / American Crisis:
The split personality of Big Journalism in covering this nightmare  —  On Friday, three reporters at the Washington Post broke a huge story.  It might have sounded like some kind of bureaucratic development inside the federal government, but it was much more important than that.
Discussion: CNN and New York Times
Lauren Kent / CNN:
USAID workers at Washington HQ told to stay home on Monday in unexpected, early-morning email  —  The main office of the US Agency for International Development in Washington was unexpectedly closed Monday and workers were emailed shortly after midnight that they should not come in …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
USAID staffers told to stay out of Washington headquarters after Musk said Trump agreed to close it  —  Staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development were instructed to stay out of the agency's Washington headquarters on Monday, according to a notice distributed to them …
Ellen Knickmeyer / Associated Press:
Elon Musk says President Donald Trump has ‘agreed’ USAID should be shut down
Punchbowl News:   2/3/25 ☀️ AM: … It is said that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
CNN:
Senior USAID security officials put on leave after refusing Musk's DOGE access to agency systems
David McAfee / Raw Story:   ‘This is a five-alarm fire’: Experts pounce on Musk's new ‘grave national security threat’
ABC News:   Turmoil inside USAID: DOGE reps take over offices, senior officials placed on leave
Pia Singh / CNBC:
Dow futures drop more than 450 points after Trump hits U.S. trading partners with tariffs: Live updates  —  Stock futures tumbled Sunday night to kick off a new trading month, as investors weighed new U.S. tariffs on goods from key trade partners and their potential impact on the economy and corporate profits.
RELATED:
Brian Mann / NPR:
Trump used fentanyl to justify tariffs, but the crisis was already easing  —  President Trump says illegal street fentanyl is one of the main justifications for sweeping trade tariffs he plans to impose against Canada, China and Mexico on Tuesday.  A statement issued by the White House describes …
Lindsay Wise / Wall Street Journal:
Trump's Move to Put Tariff Hikes Ahead of Tax Cuts Has Spooked Almost Everyone  —  The president has an ambitious economic plan, starting with trade, and doesn't appear interested in negotiations—yet  —  WASHINGTON—President Trump's aggressive move to place tariffs on hundreds of billions …
Discussion: New Republic and Grabien
Jack Blanchard / Politico:   Playbook: Some unholy (trade) war
Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Trump Tariffs Threaten to Upend Global Economic Order
Skylar Woodhouse / Bloomberg:
Trump Ramps Up EU Tariff Threat, Plans Calls With Canada, Mexico
New York Times:
Trudeau Announces Retaliatory Tariffs Against the U.S.
Ben Smith / Semafor:
MAGA intellectual Darren Beattie will fill key State Department role  —  The Scoop  —  Secretary of State Marco Rubio will appoint Darren Beattie, a speechwriter in President Donald Trump's first term, acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, two people briefed on the plans said.
Discussion: Mediaite
RELATED:
ABC News:
Trump administration taps controversial conservative journalist for top job
New York Times:
Top F.B.I. Agent in New York Vows to ‘Dig In’ After Removals at Agency  —  James E. Dennehy, the highly respected leader of the largest and most important field office in the bureau, said in an email to staff that the F.B.I. was in a “battle of our own.”  —  The top agent at the F.B.I.'s …
Discussion: Mediaite and DNyuz
RELATED:
Politico:
FBI agents, officials asked to detail their work on Jan. 6 cases
Discussion: DNyuz
Bloomberg:
Trump Vows to Punish South Africa Over Expropriation Law  — Ramaphosa enacted new expropriation policy last month  — Rand weakened as much as 2% against dollar after Trump comment  —  President Donald Trump said the US would halt all future funding to South Africa because of its new land-expropriation law.
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CBS News:
Sen. McConnell on what he'll do as President Trump shakes up Washington with an onslaught of executive orders  —  Sen. Mitch McConnell, after stepping down from his Senate leadership position, bucked President Trump and was one of only three Republicans to vote against the president's nominee for defense secretary.
Discussion: Raw Story, Breitbart and Mediaite
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Follow the Money  —  Hey guys, I'm sending out Monday's Triad on Sunday night for reasons that will be clear when you read it.  So you won't get another Triad in your inbox on Monday—but keep your eyes on the Bulwark homepage, YouTube channel, and podcasts.  The team is doing great work making sense of the chaos monkeys.
Discussion: NPR, more at Mediagazer »
John Zangas / DCMediaGroup:
Federal Workers Block Doors of Admin Building Over Elon Musk Data Breach  —  Nearly 100 Federal employees took part in a protest now into its second day of a takeover by Elon Musk surrogates of the high administration arm of the Federal government.  Photo: DCMediaGroup
Los Angeles Times:
Thousands rally in downtown Los Angeles, shut down 101 Freeway to protest Trump's immigration policies  —  Thousands of demonstrators rallied in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday and shut down a section of the 101 Freeway to protest President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration and his aggressive deportation policies.
Michelle Myers / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
ICE raided his family's North Philly car wash. Here is Jeffrey Lee's account of what happened.  —  Jeffrey Lee, 35, was en route to his family's business, Complete Autowash Philly, when a call came through his car's speaker.  The caller ID read “Dad” but there was an ICE agent on the other end …
Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:
Senate urged to recall Kash Patel and put him under oath over FBI purge  —  During an appearance on Sunday afternoon, a very agitated former FBI official urged members of the U.S. Senate to drag Donald Trump's nominee to head up the department, put him under oath, and grill him over the ongoing purge …
Discussion: CBS News
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 More Items: 
David French / New York Times:
Kash Patel Is a Warning Shot
David Folkenflik / NPR:
LA Times owner boosts RFK Jr. online, as writer says paper cut his critique
Joshua Keating / Vox:
Are America's four main adversaries really in cahoots?
Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
Trump's mobster media shakedowns
Washington Post:
Trump, Musk wage two-front war as donor does president's ‘dirty work’
Matt Viser / Washington Post:
Two weeks in, Donald Trump can't stop talking about Joe Biden
Washington Post:
Key Trump Cabinet members refuse to acknowledge Trump lost in 2020
Discussion: Grabien
 Earlier Items: 
Chris Lunday / Politico:
German election: AfD's Weidel doubles down on Holocaust comments
Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech / The Hill:
Confusion over federal funding freeze prompts public health concerns
Jared Gans / The Hill:
Paxton weighs Cornyn challenge as Texas GOP rift deepens
Samuel Bagenstos / Inside/Outside:
Why Write About the Illegality of What Trump and Musk are Doing?
Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Newsquest's editorial development director says it now employs 36 “AI-assisted” reporters, freeing up the rest of the newsroom to “be out pounding the beat”

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
A look at CBS' bet on its massive overhaul of the Evening News, with greater emphasis on in-depth reporting on the ground from places beyond NYC, DC, and LA

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
Tortoise Media names Times journalist Rachel Sylvester as The Observer's political editor; a source says 50%+ of Observer staff have decided to leave

 
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