The Guardian is monitoring Donald Trump and his administration’s newest strikes with a number of tales, options and analyses every day. Listed here are a few of the largest tales in US politics that occurred Wednesday, 19 February.
Trump calls Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’
The US and Ukraine look like heading in the direction of an irreconcilable rift after Donald Trump escalated his assaults on Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling the Ukrainian president “a dictator” and warning that he “higher transfer quick” or he “gained’t have a rustic left”.
The US chief’s feedback on Wednesday, which had been rife with falsehoods, got here after Zelenskyy mentioned Trump was “trapped” in a Russian “disinformation bubble,” following Trump’s claims that Ukraine was responsible for Russia’s 2022 invasion, remarks that echoed the Kremlin’s narrative.
Guardian reporters additionally fact-checked Trump’s claims in regards to the warfare in Ukraine – together with blaming Zelenskyy.
Trump endorses Home finances plan
Donald Trump has derailed Senate Republicans’ finances technique by endorsing a competing Home choice, leaving GOP leaders scrambling to avoid wasting their agenda simply weeks earlier than a possible authorities shutdown.
The president’s shock intervention got here simply hours after Senate Republicans moved to advance their very own two-track proposal, as he declared as an alternative that he needs “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL” by means of the Home’s reconciliation course of.
Trump orders DoJ to fireside Biden-era US attorneys
Donald Trump has mentioned that he has instructed the justice division to fireside any remaining US attorneys put in by the earlier administration, in an obvious transfer to stamp out political appointees of Joe Biden who may resist having Trump’s agenda information prosecutorial selections. Writing on Fact Social, Trump mentioned: “We should ‘clear home’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence.”
The dismissal of US attorneys after a change in administration is typical, though the Trump administration has been unusually aggressive in pushing for mass firings throughout the board
Trump expands impartial regulators’ energy
Donald Trump has prolonged his energy over impartial regulatory companies – by signing an govt order making companies established by Congress accountable to the White Home. Some consultants mentioned the transfer clashed with mainstream interpretations of the structure.
Trump group sues Brazil justice concerned in Bolsonaro case
Trump’s media group and the video platform Rumble have collectively filed a lawsuit towards a Brazilian supreme court docket justice, claiming he violated the appropriate to free speech of a far-right Brazilian influencer residing within the US.
The swimsuit towards justice Alexandre de Moraes was filed in Florida hours after the indictment of Brazil’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro for main a plot to cling to energy after shedding the 2022 election.
Final 12 months, Moraes was concerned in a months-long confrontation with Elon Musk, after ordering Musk’s social platform X to dam accounts sharing far-right misinformation and anti-democratic content material.
Decide refuses to dam Doge’s entry to US knowledge
A federal decide refused to right away block Elon Musk and the so-called “division of presidency effectivity” (Doge) from accessing authorities knowledge techniques or taking part in employee layoffs. The US district decide Tanya Chutkan discovered there have been respectable questions in regards to the billionaire’s authority however mentioned there was not sufficient proof of grave authorized hurt to justify a short lived restraining order.
Trump strikes to fast-track fossil gas initiatives
Environmentalists had been outraged on Wednesday after the Trump administration moved to fast-track fossil gas initiatives by means of the allowing course of, with activists describing it as an try to sidestep environmental legal guidelines that might hurt waterways and wetlands.
The state division has reportedly ordered its outposts all over the world to cancel all subscriptions to information and media shops which might be supposedly “non-mission crucial” in one other extraordinary Trump administration crackdown on regular info channels.
Trump calls himself king to widespread backlash
There was backlash from Democrats after Trump likened himself to a “king” on social media following his administration’s determination to rescind New York Metropolis’s congestion pricing program. On Wednesday Trump wrote on Fact Social: “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” The White Home then proceeded to share Trump’s quote on social media, accompanied with a computer-generated picture of Trump grinning on a faux Time journal cowl whereas donning a golden crown, behind him the skyline of New York Metropolis.
What else occurred right now:
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Talking on the Future Funding Initiative, a world finance convention in Miami organized by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Trump mentioned the USA is “again and open for enterprise” and that the “darkish days of excessive taxes, crushing laws, rampant inflation, flagrant corruption, authorities weaponization … and complete incompetence will likely be gone for ever.”
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Illinois governor JB Pritzker delivered a searing state-of-the-state handle, likening Trump’s beautiful energy grabs to the rise of Nazism in Thirties Germany.
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In a blistering assertion after asking a federal decide to dismiss the corruption case towards New York mayor Eric Adams, the appearing deputy lawyer normal Emil Bove invited justice division officers and prosecutors who disagreed with the choice to stop.
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The Inside Income Service will fireplace 6,700 individuals as early as Thursday, kicking off mass layoffs simply as tax season begins. Additional reductions within the dimension of the company are anticipated.
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