Tuesday, February 25, 2025

February 25, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Macron gets platitudes but nothing concrete from Trump on Ukraine . . . the pleasantries hardly papered over the gulf that separates the U.S. president from his French counterpart.

Trump didn't call Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator" during Macron's lightning visit to Washington — but he also refused to call Vladimir Putin one. While the French president argued for solid security guarantees to backstop any peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow, Trump said Europe "wouldn't need much backing" on Ukraine. Politico

Politics

Musk renews his '5 things' demand with Trump's apparent support . . . An emboldened Elon Musk is once again directing federal employees to justify their existence in writing — or face dismissal. Musk made his renewed demand in a social media post Monday after President Donald Trump seemed to contradict other senior administration officials and approve the directive that the billionaire initially sent out to workers over the weekend. "Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance," Musk wrote on X. "Failure to respond a second time will result in termination." Politico

Karoline Leavitt scores major victory over haters in the press . . . White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt scored an early victory in the Trump administration's fight over a lawsuit brought by the Associated Press. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden declined to temporarily restore the news outlet's access to some of President Donald Trump's events, as well as the Oval Office and Air Force One. Daily Mail

Sarah Huckabee, America's Most Conservative Governor Delivers on Promises

Ron DeSantis talks up his wife as next Florida governor and takes a shot at Trump's pick . . . As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis approaches the end of his second term in office, he's talking up one potential heir to succeed him in 2026: his wife, Casey DeSantis. And he's taking a shot at President Donald Trump 's pick to be the next governor. DeSantis touted his wife as a staunch conservative who would build on his legacy and argued that the state's first lady could pull in even more voters than he did. DeSantis won a dominant reelection victory in 2022 with a nearly 20-point margin. Associated Press

Ramaswamy kicks off Ohio run for governor, doesn't mention DOGE

Culture

'That Is Evil': Fox News Host Erupts Over Child Rapists Released in 'Sanctuary' Cities . . . Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt said Monday that Massachusetts officials who released child rapists instead of turning them over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be "punished by God." The House Oversight Committee announced probes into Boston, Denver, Chicago, and New York City in January over "sanctuary city" policies in January, while Attorney General Pam Bondi announced lawsuits against Illinois and New York over sanctuary policies since taking office. Daily Caller

Affirmative Action Plans Remain in Iowa Public Schools Despite Trump Order . . . Scores of Iowa public school districts now have affirmative action plans that encourage race-based hiring and other diversity initiatives, according to a new report by Parents Defending Education, potentially imperiling their federal funding under new guidance issued by the Trump administration. The plans, which are required by state law, include hiring goals for minority teachers, courses on "equity in mathematics," and bonuses for teachers who specialize in "culturally responsive leadership." Washington Free Beacon

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers blasted for replacing 'mother' with 'inseminated person' . . . The Democratic governor sparked an outcry by introducing a biennial budget proposal last week that replaces sex-specific words in state code with gender-neutral alternatives, including "inseminated person" for "mother" and "person" for "man." The section of the bill dealing with challenges to a child's paternity also substitutes "parentage" for "paternity," and replaces the word "father" with terms like "natural parent" more than 100 times. Washington Times

National Security

7X Deported Suspected MS-13 Gang Member Arrested for Murder in East Texas Migrant Colony . . . A multi-agency manhunt for a seven-time deported Salvadoran illegal alien wanted for murder came to a head Monday night, with the subject taken safely into custody. The suspected MS-13 gang member took off on Monday after allegedly stabbing a neighbor in the Colony Ridge subdivision. Colony Ridge is reported to be Texas' largest migrant colony.

International

An unknown illness kills over 50 people in part of Congo with hours between symptoms and death . . . An unknown illness has killed over 50 people in northwestern Congo, according to doctors on the ground and the World Health Organization on Monday. The interval between the onset of symptoms and death has been 48 hours in the majority of cases, and "that's what's really worrying," Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital. The latest disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo began on Jan. 21, and 419 cases have been recorded including 53 deaths. Associated Press

Money

Major Asian bank will cut 4,000 roles as AI replaces humans . . . Singapore's biggest bank says it expects to cut 4,000 roles over the next three years as artificial intelligence takes on more work currently done by humans. "The reduction in workforce will come from natural attrition as temporary and contract roles roll off over the next few years," a DBS spokesperson told the BBC. Permanent staff are not expected to be affected by the cuts. The bank's outgoing chief executive Piyush Gupta also said it expects to create around 1,000 new AI-related jobs. BBC

This is just the start. Get ready. The wholesale replacement of jobs by AI is coming.

You should also know

Clint Hill, Secret Service agent who jumped onto JFK's car after the president was shot, dies at 93 . . . Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who leaped onto the back of President John F. Kennedy's limousine after the president was shot, then was forced to retire early because he remained haunted by memories of the assassination, died Friday. He was 93. Hill received Secret Service awards and was promoted for his actions that day but for decades blamed himself for Kennedy's death, saying he didn't react quickly enough and would gladly have given his life to save the president. "If I had reacted just a little bit quicker. And I could have, I guess," a weeping Hill told Mike Wallace on CBS' "60 Minutes" in 1975, shortly after he retired at age 43 at the urging of his doctors. CBS News

He eventually came to blame himself a little less. Of course, he was not at fault.

Guilty Pleasures

Too Big To Fail: Trump Must Act To Save Hooters From Bankruptcy . . . The storied franchise has been struggling to overcome financial difficulties such as mounting debt and declining foot traffic at its nearly 300 locations across the United States, and recently engaged a law firm to explore a potential Chapter 11 filing, though no final decision has been made. Valuable assets at risk after four years of Democratic attacks on male camaraderie and female attractiveness. Washington Free Beacon

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