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12:00 PM ET, February 13, 2025

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 Top Items: 
Bobby Allyn / NPR:
Trump administration set to purchase $400 million worth of armored Teslas  —  The Trump administration is expected to purchase $400 million worth of armored Tesla vehicles, according to a new State Department document detailing procurement for fiscal year 2025.
Discussion: Hackwhackers and Alternet.org
RELATED:
Chad De Guzman / Time:
Mention of Tesla Removed From $400 Million State Dept. Contract Amid Scrutiny of Musk  —  The State Department was planning to buy $400 million worth of “Armored Tesla” later this year, according to its 2025 procurement forecast, a document outlining projections of anticipated contracts, which was published in December.
Discussion: Crooks and Liars
Oliver Willis / Daily Kos:
State Department buries massive payout to Tesla after public outcry  —  The Trump administration is trying to hide plans to hand off $400 million in taxpayer funds to Tesla, the electric car company owned by the world's richest man—Trump supporter Elon Musk.
Discussion: The Daily Beast, YouGov and Townhall
Jack Ewing / New York Times:
State Dept. Plans $400 Million Purchase of Armored Tesla Cybertrucks  —  The department plans to buy armored Tesla vehicles.  Elon Musk, who is leading efforts to cut government spending, has won more than $13 billion in government contracts in the past five years.
Discussion: Futurism and The Independent
Politico:
Playbook: A make-or-break moment
Discussion: Punchbowl News and New York Times
Politico:
Johnson's budget dare
Discussion: E&E News and Semafor
Ryan Grim / Drop Site News:
“Armored Tesla” (was) forecast to win $400 million State Department contract after Trump's election
Politico:
Europe braces for a future without the US as a reliable ally  —  European defense leaders are preparing for a tense gathering with the Trump team.  —  MUNICH — European allies are bracing this week for the answer to a question they've been dreading to ask: Can they really count on the United States?
RELATED:
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
A Valentine for Vladimir  —  After January's inflation numbers, published yesterday, seemed to indicate expectations of more price hikes under Trump, the Wall Street Journal editorial page has a warning for the president that the policies he's been doggedly committed to for decades could be bad for the economy.
Financial Times:
Donald Trump opens the door to Vladimir Putin's grandest ambitions  —  Russian leader wants a new security architecture to give his country a sphere of influence in Europe  —  Vladimir Putin's initial plan to capture Ukraine in a few days ended in disaster.
Jakub Krupa / The Guardian:
Politicians weigh in on immigration debate after 28 injured as car hits crowd in Munich - Europe live
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Hegseth's Ukraine bombshell and Trump's Putin call leave NATO reeling
Aamer Madhani / Associated Press:
VP Vance is visiting the Dachau concentration camp memorial on eve of his big meeting with Zelenskyy
Politico:
Russia rejoices at Trump-Putin call as Zelenskyy rejects talks without Ukraine present
Noah Keate / Politico:
Ukraine's Brit allies cry ‘appeasement’ as Trump talks to Putin
Discussion: The Guardian, Metro.co.uk and Politico
Bloomberg:
Trump Pushes Fading Zelenskiy Toward Risky Ukraine Election
Discussion: Reuters and El País
Paul Krugman:
Elon Musk Is Faking It  —  The fraudster who cried “fraud”  —  Did you hear the one about how USAID spent $50 million — or was it $100 million? — providing condoms to Hamas?  This claim played a big role in the public relations campaign to rationalize the sudden, illegal dismantling …
RELATED:
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump and Musk can't seem to locate much evidence of fraud  —  They keep justifying their bold moves as combating fraud, but they have been unable so far to point to much of anything specific that's actually fraudulent.  —  President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's efforts to disrupt …
New York Times:
Some Migrants Sent by Trump to Guantánamo Are Being Held by Military Guards  —  The Times has obtained a list of 53 Venezuelan men the Trump administration has put in a wartime prison built to hold Al Qaeda suspects.  —  Dozens of Venezuelan migrants sent by the Trump administration …
RELATED:
Brittany Gibson / Axios:
Trump's mass deportation plan hits its own wall
Discussion: NBC News
David Bixenspan / Public Notice:
Linda McMahon is much worse than you think  —  💭 🤔 💥 With corporate outlets obeying in advance, supporting independent political media is more important right now than ever.  Public Notice is possible thanks to paid subscribers.  If you aren't one already …
Discussion: The Independent and NBC News
RELATED:
Avery Lotz / Axios:
Linda McMahon auditions to lead Education Department Trump wants to eliminate
Washington Post:
Justice, FBI ousters remove longtime experts from daily threats meeting  —  Trump administration shake-ups at the Justice Department and FBI have eroded continuity on national security matters, people familiar with the situation said.  —  Every morning at 9:45, top FBI and Justice Department officials meet …
Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
How to stop Trump's power grab  —  At this point, there is little doubt that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are engaged in a fundamentally unlawful effort to rewrite the American constitutional order.  Their efforts to redirect federal spending are attempts to seize Congress's power of the purse …
Igor Bobic / HuffPost:
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman: 'There Isn't A Constitutional Crisis'  —  Everyone needs to cool it on the rhetoric, the Pennsylvania senator said Wednesday.  —  LOADING  —  Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) urged everyone to tone down the rhetoric about President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk moving …
Sadanand Dhume / Wall Street Journal:
If Indians and Pakistanis Can Relocate, Why Can't Gazans?  —  Population transfers aren't a Trump innovation.  There are plenty of examples from the 20th century.  —  President Trump's idea that the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and relocate two million Palestinians has elicited outrage and derision.
Rene Marsh / CNN:
Mass firings have begun at federal agencies  —  Mass firings have begun at federal agencies, with terminations of probationary employees underway at the Department of Education and the Small Business Administration, federal employees and union sources told CNN Wednesday.
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Trump executive order leads to $100 energy bill hike for hundreds in Alabama  —  Donald Trump promised that, as president, he would drastically lower Americans' energy bills.  “[W]e're going to make it a much — a much different place,” Trump said during a November 14 speech at Mar-a-Lago.
Axios:
Trump nominations loom over Senate's cherished Munich trip … - In an email to senators, Thune warned they may have to stay in town to vote on President Trump's nominations on Friday, sources familiar with the matter told Axios.  — That would delay, and potentially cancel …
Discussion: Punchbowl News
Teddy Rosenbluth / New York Times:
Measles Outbreak Hits Town in Texas  —  As of Tuesday, 22 children and two adults had been infected, all of whom were unvaccinated, local officials said.  —  A worsening measles outbreak has taken root in Texas, sickening two dozen and hospitalizing nine on the western edge of the state …
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
Senate panel votes ‘yes’ on Trump's pick to lead the FBI  —  Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's controversial pick to lead the FBI, was voted out of committee along party lines on Thursday morning.  The 12-10 vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee paves the way for Patel to be confirmed …
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple Resumes Advertising on X  —  Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year.  The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk.
Michael Embrich / Rolling Stone:
Trump and Musk Are Going to War Against Military Veterans  —  The president's new exec order gives Musk and DOGE carte blanche and sets limits on hiring veterans and transitioning active duty military personnel … This executive order seeks to impose severe hiring restrictions …
Christopher F. Schuetze / New York Times:
Dozens Injured as Driver Crashes Car Into Munich Protest  —  The authorities believe the crash, into a union's strike-day demonstration, was a deliberate attack carried out by a 24-year-old man who was known to the police.  —  More than two dozen people were injured when a car crashed …
Discussion: Associated Press and Breitbart
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
The White House Is Now Running The Justice Department  —  A lot of things happened.  Here are some of the things.  This is TPM's Morning Memo.  Sign up for the email version.  —  As Bad As It Gets  —  The dangerous co-optation of the Justice Department by the Trump White House continues in ways both substantive and symbolic.
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Hegseth's rough start: Pentagon chief faces protest at U.S. base abroad  —  The question isn't why the defense secretary faced pushback at U.S. European Command headquarters; the question is whether he'll see more protests soon.  —  Though it still seems hard to believe, a couple of weeks ago …
Discussion: RedState and The War Zone
Washington Post:
Musk team kicks off federal layoffs as White House eyes big cuts  —  The Trump administration's plan for shrinking the civilian workforce is coming into increasingly clear view.  —  Billionaire Elon Musk's team has initiated sweeping layoffs of federal employees, as the Trump administration races …
Luis Ferré-Sadurní / New York Times:
New York Got $80 Million for Migrants.  The White House Took It Back.  —  The New York City comptroller's office, which first noticed the missing money, said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had unilaterally taken the funds from the city's accounts.
Miles Klee / Rolling Stone:
Republicans Confirm Anti-Vax Conspiracy Theorist to Run Nation's Health Systems  —  Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services had been in doubt — but the GOP once again caved to Trump … The position will allow him to inflict untold damage …
S.V. Date / HuffPost:
Musk Claims To Know The Net Worths Of Federal Employees - But How?  —  His Oval Office remark suggests a remarkable invasion of privacy of potentially millions of federal employees.  —  LOADING  —  WASHINGTON - Elon Musk suggests he has obtained access to the personal financial records …
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal:
Jayapal Introduces Constitutional Amendment to Reverse Citizens United  —  WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) introduced an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would end corporate personhood, reverse Citizens United, put power back into the hands of people, and make it clear that money does not equal speech.
Andrew Howard / Politico:
Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith says she is not running for reelection  —  The Minnesotda Democrat has served in the Senate since 2018 and won reelection in 2020 by five points.  —  Minnesota Democratic Sen. Tina Smith will not seek reelection in 2026, setting up an open race in the blue-leaning battleground state.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Joey McFadden / The Daily Beast:
Ex-Trump Adviser: Putin Swigging Vodka to Celebrate Gabbard
U.S. Department of Education:
U.S. Department of Education Launches Title IX Investigations into Two Athletic Associations
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
China's Salt Typhoon Spies Are Still Hacking Telecoms—Now by Exploiting Cisco Routers
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
Musk took all their power, so Republicans remake Congress into a ministry of disinformation
Sergio Hernández / ProPublica:
ProPublica Updates Supreme Connections Database With Previously Missing Disclosures
 Earlier Items: 
Jonathan Lambert / NPR:
Sen. Ted Cruz's list of ‘woke’ science includes self-driving cars and solar eclipses
Megan Brenan / Gallup:
More Democrats Favor Party Moderation Than in Past
Discussion: The Hill and Semafor
Axios:
Behind the Curtain: Masculine maximalism
Zoe Tillman / Bloomberg:
Trump Removal of Whistleblower Agency Head Blocked by Judge
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit
Washington Post:
Trump closes down federal worker buyout offer after judge lifts hold
Dan Froomkin / Heads Up News:
What you can do to fight the Trump agenda
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Elon Musk's X to pay about $10 million to settle Trump lawsuit over account suspension
 

 
From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
Sources detail Apple's AI efforts, including John Giannandrea's tenure, Craig Federighi's initial lack of interest in LLMs, and its acquisitions, including Siri

David Mack / Slate:
Viral TikTok videos of AI bots interviewing job candidates and sometimes glitching are bringing focus to a practice more companies have embraced since 2023

Bloomberg:
Nvidia unveils NVLink Fusion, letting customers use its NVLink to pair non-Nvidia CPUs or accelerators with Nvidia's products in their own rack-scale setups
 
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