Trump administration briefing: US president to speak to Putin this week; Democrats train fire on Musk
US president Donald Trumpās envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that he expected the US president to speak with Vladimir Putin this week, adding that the Russian president āaccepts the philosophyā of Trumpās ceasefire and peace terms.
Witkoff told CNN that discussions with Putin over several hours last week were āpositiveā and āsolution-basedā. He declined to confirm when asked whether Putinās demands included the surrender of Ukrainian forces in Kursk; international recognition of Ukrainian territory seized by Russia as Russian; limits on Ukraineās ability to mobilise; a halt to western military aid; and a ban on foreign peacekeepers.
Here are the key Trump administration stories from Sunday:
Trump and Putin expected to speak this week about ceasefire terms, envoy says
As Trump and Putin prepare to speak, there have been concerns that the settlement being pushed for by the Trump administration would look a lot like an outright Russian victory, at the expense of Ukraine and its allies in Europe.
Trump and Putin last week set off further alarm bells in Kyiv by exchanging friendly words, as the new US administration cosies up to Moscow while attacking Ukraine with threatening language and the withdrawal of some military support.
Democrats train fire on Musk as unelected billionaire dips in popularity
For weeks, Donald Trump and Republicans have insisted that social security, Medicaid or Medicare would not ābe touchedā. Now Musk has suggested the programs would be a primary target. Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, Democrats pounced.
āThe average social security recipient in this country receives $65 a day. They have to survive on $65 a day. But you want to take a chainsaw to social security, when Elon Musk and his tens of billions of dollars of government contracts essentially makes at least $8m a day from the taxpayers,ā Hakeem Jeffries, the US House minority leader, said in a floor speech the following day. āIf you want to uncover waste, fraud or abuse, start there.ā
US deports 250 alleged gang members to El Salvador despite court ruling to halt flights
The US deported more than 250 mainly Venezuelan alleged gang members to El Salvador despite a US judgeās ruling to halt the flights on Saturday after Donald Trump controversially invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law meant only to be used in wartime.
Mercenary mogul Erik Prince pushes to privatize Trump deportation plans
Another familiar face in the Maga-verse is beginning to emerge: businessman Erik Prince, often described by his critics as a living āBond villainā. Prince is the most famous mercenary of the contemporary era and the founder of the now defunct private military company Blackwater. Now he is a central figure among a web of other contractors trying to sell Trump advisers on a $25bn deal to privatize the mass deportations of 12 million migrants.
US defense department webpage celebrating Black Medal of Honor recipient removed
The US defense department webpage celebrating an army general who served in the Vietnam war and was awarded the countryās highest military decoration has been removed and the letters āDEIā added to the siteās address.
On Saturday, US army Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogersās Medal of Honor webpage led to a ā404ā error message. The URL was also changed, with the word āmedalā changed to ādeimedalā.
How an obscure US government office has become a target of Elon Musk
Federal employees in a little-known office dedicated to tech and consulting services were at work on the afternoon of 3 February when Elon Musk tweeted about their agency for the first time.
āThat group has been deleted,ā Musk wrote.
Pete Hegseth is pushing his beliefs onto the defense department
More than 50 days into Donald Trumpās second administration and his Department of Defense is already rapidly transforming into the image of its secretary, Pete Hegseth.
Now, many of the rants and opinions common during Hegsethās Fox News career are coming to policy fruition in his new Pentagon.
Analysis: Trump says the economy āwent to hellā under Biden. The opposite is true
Donald Trump keeps saying he inherited a terrible economy from Joe Biden and many Americans believe him, even though thatās not true. But the truth is that by standard economic measures, the US economy was in excellent shape when Biden turned over the White House keys to Trump, even though most Americans, upset about inflation, told pollsters the economy was in poor shape.
Michael Lewis and John Lanchester: āTrump is a trust-destroying machineā
Before the 2024 election, the two authors tried to stop Donald Trumpās plan to gut the US federal government with an investigation that transformed the image of civil servants from bureaucrats to superheroes. Now their worst fears have been realised:
What else happened on Sunday:
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Trumpās administration is being accused by activists of a quid pro quo as it attempts to fast-track a controversial fossil fuel pipeline proposal in Michigan that would in part be built by a donor with deep financial ties to the president.
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Trumpās second term is more direct, determined and intentional, and includes the cultural equivalent of precision airstrikes against the mostly liberal residents of Washington DC, the Guardianās David Smith writes.
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Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since the second world war, granting himself sweeping powers under a centuries-old law to deport people associated with a Venezuelan gang. Hours later, a federal judge halted deportations under the US presidentās order. What is the Alien Enemies Act and can Trump use it to deport gang members?
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