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3:15 PM ET, February 28, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Trump ends talks with Zelensky, accuses him of not being ‘ready for peace’  —  President Trump on Friday called off negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to end the conflict in Ukraine after a fiery Oval Office meeting in which the two leaders sparred over U.S. support for Kyiv.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Trump cancels news conference with Zelensky after contentious Oval Office meeting  —  President Donald Trump on Friday canceled a planned news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a contentious meeting in the White House.  During the meeting, Trump …
Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing / Politico:
Russian state media briefly enters Oval Office during Zelenskyy meeting  —  The White House did not address how the unapproved reporter was able to gain access to the Oval Office.  —  The White House last week announced that “all journalists deserve a seat” in the Oval Office press pool.
Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:
Democrats Are About to Eat Their Own  —  Expect a bizarre scene at the White House today, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is showing up to sign an agreement pledging some Ukrainian rare-mineral rights to the United States—theoretically in exchange for further U.S. opposition to Vladimir Putin engulfing his country.
Discussion: Off Message, The Hill and Vanity Fair
Washington Post:
Trump-Zelensky meeting cut short after contentious Oval Office exchange  —  The Ukrainian leader came to Washington to prevent Trump from abandoning Kyiv in favor of Moscow three years into Russia's war on his country, but was met with vocal anger from the American president.
NPR:
Trump and Zelenskyy's meeting turns into a heated argument
BBC:
Trump tells Zelensky 'make a deal or we're out' in angry White House meeting
CBS News:
Zelenskyy to visit Trump and finish negotiation over Ukraine's minerals
Meridith McGraw / Wall Street Journal:
Trump to Sign Executive Order Making English Official U.S. Language  —  The U.S. has never had a national language in its nearly 250-year history  —  WASHINGTON—President Trump is planning to sign an executive order that would for the first time make English the official language of the U.S., according to White House officials.
RELATED:
Michelle L. Price / Associated Press:
Trump to sign order Friday designating English as the official language of the US
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Bezos' changes at ‘Washington Post’ lead to mass subscription cancellations — again  —  More than 75,000 digital subscribers to The Washington Post have cancelled since its owner, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced on Wednesday that he would radically overhaul the paper's opinion pages …
New York Times:
How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy  —  The operation was driven with a frenetic focus by the billionaire, who channeled his resentment of regulatory oversight into a drastic overhaul of government agencies.  —  On the last Friday of September 2023 …
RELATED:
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Two Good Reads.  —  There are two good, big feature pieces out from the Times and the Journal …
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
CNN:
Exclusive: US intel shows Russia and China are attempting to recruit disgruntled federal employees, sources say  —  Foreign adversaries including Russia and China have recently directed their intelligence services to ramp up recruiting of US federal employees working in national security …
Discussion: RedState and DefenseScoop
Pamela Herd / Can We Still Govern?:
Trump's Assault on Social Security  —  Social Security is our biggest and most successful safety net program.  The annual $1.6 trillion in benefits constitutes 21% of federal spending and 40% of older adults' income.  It lifts more people out of poverty than any other government program.
RELATED:
Isabella Cueto / STAT:
RFK Jr. moves to eliminate public comment on HHS decisions  —  In notice to Federal Register, health agency says public participation is not needed in many decisions  —  Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  —  Friday proposing to strip public participation from much of the business his department conducts.
Discussion: Law Dork
Politico:
DOJ demotes top prosecutors of Jan. 6 defendants, Trump allies  —  The veteran lawyers who were reassigned include those who prosecuted Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro and leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.  —  The Justice Department has demoted some of the most senior federal prosecutors …
RELATED:
William Vaillancourt / The Daily Beast:
Musk Makes Big Mistake While Trying to Smear CNN Legal Analyst Norm Eisen  —  CARELESS  —  The billionaire DOGE chief found a woman with the same last name as a lawyer he hates.  Cue the conspiracy.
Discussion: emptywheel and Electrek
ProPublica:
Speaker Mike Johnson Is Living in a D.C. House That Is the Center of a Pastor's Secretive Influence Campaign  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  In 2021, Steve Berger …
Jared Gans / The Hill:
Ex-Biden staffer: Campaign was ‘gaslighting’ public with ‘denial’ of age, ability concerns  —  A former staffer for the Biden White House argued that then-President Biden's campaign was “gaslighting” the public by denying concerns about his cognitive fitness for office.
RELATED:
Tara Palmeri / Puck:
A Biden Family Insider Tells All
Seth Borenstein / Associated Press:
Hundreds of weather forecasters fired in latest wave of DOGE cuts  —  Hundreds of weather forecasters and other federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees on probationary status were fired Thursday, lawmakers and weather experts said.  Federal workers who were not let …
RELATED:
CNN:
NOAA fires about 800 employees, with more possible Friday
Stephen Robinson / Public Notice:
MAGA's Orwellian notion of “free speech”  —  🗣️ 💬 📣 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.
RELATED:
Garry Kasparov / The Atlantic:   The Putinization of America  —  Trump's deference to the Russian dictator has become full-blown imitation.
Washington Post:
Feds to start getting weekly emails asking what they did.  Bosses will see if it fits Trump goals.  —  The new strategy is in part meant to allow supervisors and agency heads to check whether employees' work fits into the Trump administration's goals and priorities, according to people familiar with it and records obtained by The Post.
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Here's the real threat to ‘personal liberties and free markets’  —  The rapidly spreading authoritarianism coming from this administration threatens all of our freedoms.  —  Over the last 48 hours, I've been receiving from readers and friends the sort of notes one gets upon losing a loved one …
Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Republicans consider major budget change to obscure deficit impact of extending Trump's tax cuts  —  GOP leaders argue that extending Trump's expiring 2017 tax cuts shouldn't be treated as costing any money.  Democrats compare the tactic to nuking the 60-vote filibuster rule.
Ed Morrissey / HotAir:
(Not) New: These Are Not the Epstein Files You're Looking For  —  One of the most important rules in politics is: Don't set expectations you can't meet.  But even before that, there's this: make sure you have the goods you claim before, y'know, making a big deal about releasing them.
RELATED:
Rachel Treisman / NPR:
What to know about the Epstein files release, from redactions to ‘Rickrolling’
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
AOC wants answers from DOJ after Trump officials threaten investigation  —  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is pressing the Justice Department to reveal whether she — or her office — is under federal investigation.  In a letter to newly confirmed attorney general Pam Bondi …
RELATED:
Steve Inskeep / NPR:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells NPR: ‘Everything feels increasingly like a scam’
Stephanie Kirchgaessner / The Guardian:
Trump administration retreats in fight against Russian cyber threats  —  Recent incidents indicate US is no longer characterizing Russia as a cybersecurity threat, marking a radical departure: ‘Putin is on the inside now’  — Don't let a billionaire's algorithm control what you read.
ProPublica:
A Study of Mint Plants.  A Device to Stop Bleeding.  This Is the Scientific Research Ted Cruz Calls “Woke.”  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  A few months ago …
Washington Post:
FBI takes up EPA probe amid pushback from judge, prosecutors  —  While career prosecutors in two U.S. attorney offices and a U.S. judge balked at a court-ordered freeze, Citibank has locked down billions without explanation  —  FBI agents this week questioned Environmental Protection Agency …
Discussion: E&E News, IJR and Talking Points Memo
Ann Telnaes / Open Windows:
Bezos' offering  —  The owner of the Washington Post serves up the Free Press  —  Read:  —  https://www.theguardian.com/media/ 2025/feb/26/jeff-bezos-washington-post- opinion  —  https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/26/jeff- bezos-washington-post-opinion-markets- liberties-editor-resigns.html  —  2,382
William Shoki / New York Times:
Elon Musk Is South African.  It Explains a Lot.  —  Elon Musk is everywhere.  —  He is firing federal employees, gaining access to important government data, popping into the Oval Office, appearing on Fox News alongside President Trump and even attending a White House cabinet meeting.
NBC News:
A top DOJ spokesperson says he is resigning due to a ‘hostile and toxic work environment’  —  Sarah Fitzpatrick  —  Michael Kosnar  —  Ken Dilanian and Rebecca Shabad  —  One of the Justice Department's highest-ranking spokespeople, Joshua Stueve, submitted a resignation letter today, citing a “hostile and toxic work environment.”
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Pressed at the Pentagon  —  Inside a tense off-the-record meeting, the Pentagon's new press chief confronted reporters and indicated they will do away with the regular travel pool, doubling down on Pete Hegseth's anti-media approach.  —  Inside the Pentagon on Thursday afternoon …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Vaughn Hillyard / NBC News:
State Department terminates U.S. support of Ukraine energy grid restoration
Discussion: Fox Business and CBS News
Rebecca Carballo / Politico:
Education Department offers employees up to $25K to quit
Discussion: New York Times
Will Selber / The Bulwark:
Transgender Service Members Aren't the Problem
Discussion: NPR
NBC News:
Trump administration and Musk's DOGE plan to fire nearly all CFPB staff and wind down agency, employees say
Kanishka Singh / Reuters:
US launches ‘end DEI’ portal for public complaints about diversity in schools
Adam Bonica / On Data and Democracy:
The DOGE Purge: Empirical Evidence of Politically Motivated Firings
 Earlier Items: 
Joe Kovac / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
USAID cancels large contracts of Georgia peanut butter supplier
Discussion: Raw Story
Jason Leopold / Bloomberg:
The Story Behind FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's Role in Project 2025
Noah Shachtman / New York Times:
Dead Athletes. Empty Stands. Why Are We Paying Billions to Keep This Sport Alive?
Garrett M. Graff / Doomsday Scenario:
Patel, Ratcliffe Set Up U.S. for a National Catastrophe
New York Times:
The MAGA War on Speech
Discussion: Instapundit
 

 
From Techmeme:

CNBC:
OpenAI closes a $40B funding round, the most ever raised by a private tech company, at a $300B post-money valuation; SoftBank led the round with $30B

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
OpenAI's new GPT-4o-powered image generator is now available to all users; Sam Altman last week mentioned a limit of three images per day for free-tier users

Ian King / Bloomberg:
At the Intel Vision conference, CEO Lip-Bu Tan says Intel plans to spin off non-core assets, create new products including custom semiconductors, and more
 
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