Week 16 — The Return

Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.

It’s just one giant grift! Color me not surprised that in this second regime Trump has almost completely blended his personal businesses interests with U.S. interests, as continues in this week’s list. Trump has always pushed boundaries until he faces pushback, and with a largely neutered Legislative Branch, ethics has become an afterthought. The notion of conflicts of interest has seemingly disappeared from our radar, not only for him, but also for his broligarchs.

However, what is truly stunning this week is even after Trump betrayed our alliances of nearly a century, and is in the process of changing the world order and conducting U.S. foreign policy like Tony Soprano, still there is nary a peep from the Grand Old Party! The implications for the U.S., with the loss of our global leadership, are stark in the medium- to long-term, but Trump doesn’t care — he’ll be rich, rich, rich right now! But others SHOULD and must care about our place in the world, and our country’s future.

This week marks another notable shift in this project: for the first time since Trump’s inauguration, he is slowing down his actions. I know it doesn’t feel that way with the constant assault of news stories, but he has. This may or may not be a pattern, but he and his regime have suffered a number of setbacks this week (I listed some of them here). He is also encountering a myriad of lawsuits, including his first Supreme Court loss, that have slowed his roll. And Democrats continue to wake from slumber, in some cases joined by Independents and Republicans, in showing their displeasure with the regime’s policies at town hall and protests. This week the two things Trump cares about the most — the stock market as a barometer of how his policies are received, and the polling of his approval and that of his polices — have both turned against him.

Also notable this week is the mass confusion and chaos in the federal government. Elon Musk sent a late Saturday directive to all federal employees to “reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week” or get fired. Mass confusion ensued, with contradictory instructions, and massive infighting within the regime. All this reminded me of Trump 1.0, where Trump fueled the flames of infighting amid gross incompetence. A reminder that even if Trump came prepared this time with a roadmap care of Project 2025, he still has to execute, and early signs in this week’s list show he is not. As I wrote about in my Substack, Trump 2.0 is regressing to Trump 1.0.

A P.S. note — keep an eye on what’s happens with the U.S. Postal Service. Trump is up to something. I wrote more about What Trump is really up to at the USPS on Substack. We’ll also discuss in this week’s podcast how his actions with the USPS, and his efforts to declaw federal government’s watch over foreign interference in elections, could forebode Trump attempting to stay in power beyond two terms, on which he continues to muse this week.

1. On Thursday, a Post-Ipsos poll found 57% of Americans believe Trump has exceeded his authority, and that many of his early actions are unpopular. His approval fell to 45%, 53% disapprove.
2. Other findings include: 8 in 10 oppose Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 violent actors; 2 in 3 say he should get approval from Congress before freezing funds; 2 in 3 disapprove of Musk shutting down agencies; 6 in 10 oppose shutting down USAID; 62% say Trump is not “honest and trustworthy.”
3. On Thursday, 40 major news organizations, including conservative news outlets Fox News and Newsmax, urged the White House in a letter to drop the ban on The Associated Press, calling it “an escalation of a dispute that does not serve the presidency or the public.”
4. On Monday, a federal judge heard arguments in a lawsuit filed by the AP against three Trump regime officials, alleging the regime’s banning of AP reporters strikes at the very core of the First Amendment. The court declined to intervene.
5. On Tuesday, following the court ruling in their favor, the White House announced the regime would decide which outlets have access to Trump as part of the pool allowed in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and other events.
6. In response to the AP lawsuit, the U.S. attorney in Washington Ed Martin posted on X, “As President Trump’s lawyers, we are proud to fight to protect his leadership,” a highly unusual statement as it indicated the DOJ are Trump’s lawyers.
7. Vanity Fair reported elected Republicans are facing threats of violence for not going along with Trump’s agenda. Sen. Thom Tillis reportedly told people the FBI warned him about “credible death threats” for voting against Pete Hegseth’s nomination for defense secretary.
8. NYT reported that Trump is working to dismantle the federal government’s fight against foreign influence operations in U.S. elections, despite concerns that these operations are ongoing.
9. AG Pam Bondi reassigned several dozen officials working on the issue at the FBI. A dozen official at DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were fired. Experts were alarmed the cuts could leave the U.S. defenseless, and encourage future interference.
10. On Wednesday, in one of his first moves as secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. issued public guidance that a person’s sex is “unchangeable,” and launched a website which promotes orders against transgender people.
11. On Wednesday, NBC News reported that an event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts featuring the Gay Men’s Chorus, set to take place in May ahead of Pride Month, was canceled.
12. WAPO reported that in the week since Trump’s takeover of The Kennedy Center, ticket sales dropped by roughly 50 percent compared to the previous week, a “stunning aberration,” according to staff members.
13. NYT reported three book events scheduled to take place at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta were abruptly canceled. It was unclear if leadership changes at the National Archives were impacting programming. No response was given to media inquiry.
14. On Wednesday, the Trump regime’s Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy revoked federal approval of New York City’s congestion pricing program, the first of its kind in the nation enacted by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
15. Trump posted on Truth Social, “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD…all of New York, is SAVED,” adding, “LONG LIVE THE KING!” apparently referring to himself. Hochul responded in a statement, “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. We’ll see you in court.”
16. The White House reinforced Trump’s message of his being a king on Instagram and X, posting an image of Trump wearing a crown on the cover a magazine that looks like Time, but was called “TRUMP.”
17. On Wednesday, acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove argued the dismissal of the case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams is justified if a public official is helping Trump carry out his agenda.
18. On Friday, Judge Dale Ho said he would not immediately dismiss the charges, and ordered a review, appointing former US Solicitor General Paul Clement, a conservative, to consider arguments in the motion.
19. Ho cited there have been no test cases for the government’s position on dismissing the case, and noted “the public importance of this case, which calls for careful deliberation.”
20. On Wednesday, WAPO reported as a result of Trump and Musk’s DOGE’s purge of federal workers, national parks are in chaos, included long lines, reservations canceled and parks closed, as well as issues with safety and sanitation.
21. On Friday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the National Park Service will hire more than 5,000 seasonal park rangers, after the regime fired more than 1,000 full-time park employees. “Go apply. Apply for a job,” Burgum said on Fox News.
22. On Wednesday, WIRED reported SpaceX engineers, who Duffy claimed were being given a tour of the Federal Aviation Administration, had already been onboarded as Schedule A, reserved for people with disabilities. None had been fully vetted as of their start date.
23. On Wednesday, WIRED reported Anne Marshall, director of data science and engineering for U.S. Digital Service, rebranded as DOGE, resigned, posting that DOGE fired one third of her teammates, and “I do not believe that DOGE can continue to deliver the work of USDS.”
24. On Wednesday, ABC News reported that Social Security policy experts and economists say that Musk’s repeated claims that millions of dead people are getting benefits is a lie, saying he is misreading the data. Trump has also amplified Musk’s false claim.
25. On Thursday, Trump said Musk would be let into the Fort Knox depository to make sure all the gold is there, adding, “I don’t want to open it and the cupboards are bare.” Musk had pushed an unfounded claim that gold reserves are missing.
26. On Wednesday, NBC News reported Defense Sec. Hegseth is preparing to fire a slate of generals and senior officers, most of whom were associated with former Sec. Lloyd Austin, have worked on DEI initiatives, or have voiced opinions out of line with Trump’s agenda.
27. On Friday, the Pentagon said it would fire 5,400 civilian employees next week, in an “initial” purge of its workforce, starting with probationary employees, with an ultimate goal is culling 5 to 8 percent of the 900,000 civilian employees (45,000 to 72,000).
28. Late Friday, in an unprecedented Pentagon shakeup, Trump fired Gen. Charles Brown Jr., a four-star fighter pilot who became only the second African American to hold the chairman’s job, saying the military is too mired in diversity. He will be replaced by a three-star white man.
29. Late Friday, Hegseth fired Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first female officer to rise to the Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations. The firing of a service chief is extremely rare, but Trump also fired Adm. Linda Fagan shortly after his inauguration.
30. Trump also fired the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy, and Air Force, critical positions for ensuring enforcement of military justice. Notably, uniformed members of the military are meant to be apolitical, and serve out their term regardless of the party in the White House.
31. WAPO reported Trump’s Friday night military purge put the military in uncharted territory. Typically high ranking officials were only replaced over battlefield related issues. Trump’s objective seemed to counter anything related to diversity.
32. On Wednesday, Trump continued to bash Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine and Europe, posting on X, Ukraine is “far more important to Europe than it is to us,” and “we have a big, beautiful ocean as a separation,” and adding Europe had “failed to bring peace” to the region.
33. On Wednesday, speaking at an investment conference in Miami hosted by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Trump attacked Ukrainian President Zelensky, calling him a “modestly successful comedian,” and claiming he prolonged the war to “keep the gravy train going.”
34. WAPO reported within 24 hours, Trump attended the conference and hosted Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who runs the Saudi fund and oversees LIV Golf, at the White House, mixing government business with his family’s business interests.
35. Trump also said he is considering paying out 20% of what DOGE saves as a dividend to Americans. Trump claimed Musk’s DOGE had already found “hundreds of billions” in savings, while the website claimed $55 billion, and the actual number was closer to $16.6 billion.
36. Further analysis by the Times showed that the DOGE website was riddled with mistakes, accounting errors, outdated data such as citing contracts that were already cancelled, misleading data, and other miscalculations. For 80% of so-called cuts, no back up data was given.
37. WSJ analysis found the DOGE website was riddled with mistakes, finding actual total cost savings to be $2.6 billion so far, with just 2% coming from cutting contracts related to DEI, the stated goal.
38. On Monday, an AP analysis found nearly 40% of the contracts listed as canceled in an update to the DOGE website are not expected to save the government any money. NYT noted the five biggest spending cuts, which were celebrated by Musk and the regime, were quietly deleted.
39. The Saudi sovereign fund has invested $2 billion in businesses run by Jared Kushner, and is the main backer of LIV Golf, which has held five tournaments at Trump’s courses. Trump has not disclosed his profits from the events.
40. At the conference, representatives of Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s family real estate business, Donald Jr.’s 1789 Capital, Kushner’s Affinity Partners, and Musk’s SpaceX and X AI also mixed with Saudi officials and investors.
41. Late Wednesday, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that the federal government “should take over the governance of D.C.,” complaining about crime, graffiti and the homeless, and claiming he would “run it strong, run it with law and order” and make it “flawlessly beautiful.”
42. Late Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order ending a two-year, highly-selective, full-time fellowship founded in 1977 that brought recent graduate students into agencies across the government, and built a pipeline of talent.
43. Sean O’Keefe, a member of the program’s inaugural class who went on to become the NASA administrator under President George W. Bush, called it “a firing of convenience,” adding, “This is one of the most unsettling, tragic pieces of news yet.”
44. On Thursday, WAPO reported some federal workers who had agreed to Musk’s “fork in the road” resignation deal were nonetheless fired during Trump’s Valentine’s Day Massacre, leaving regime officials scrambling to fix the mess.
45. On Thursday, Politico reported DOGE canceled a $257,000 federal contract for 9/11-related research comparing cancer incidence rates among firefighters exposed to the World Trade Center toxins to firefighters in three cities not exposed.
46. Musk’s DOGE also ordered a 20 percent cut of the World Trade Center Health Program’s 90-member staff which oversees and administers the 9/11 survivor’s fund, as part of the CDC.
47. On Friday, after bipartisan criticism, Trump reversed the cuts to the 9/11 programs, with the CDC saying in a statement that the employees would return to their jobs, and funding for the research grants would be reinstated.
48. On Thursday, WAPO reported the White House and the Treasury Department agreed to prohibit DOGE agent Gavin Kliger, who was assigned to the IRS, from gaining access to personal taxpayer data, noting even political officials do not have access to that data.
49. On Tuesday, acting IRS commissioner Doug O’Donnell, a 40-year veteran of the agency, announced he is retiring amid Musk’s DOGE push for access to sensitive data, and for mass layoffs.
50. On Thursday, Trump blasted Boeing over delays in his pair of Air Force One Boeing 747’s, at the cost of $4 billion, with additional cost overruns of $2 billion. Trump said Musk will work with Boeing.
51. On Thursday, NYT reported on how several senior Senate Republicans have completely shifted their tone on support of Ukraine, complimenting Trump’s new approach, voicing support for his deal to get mineral rights, and parroting that it was time to end the war.
52. Notably two senior Senators, Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tom Cotton voiced support of the Trump regime’s idea of Ukraine giving away its mineral rights to the U.S.
53. On Thursday, U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News that Zelensky should “tone down” his criticism of Trump, and take a “hard look” at the deal proposed by the regime for Ukraine to hand over $500 billion worth of natural resources, including oil and gas.
54. On Thursday, the three year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Trump regime objected to language in a G7 statement that would label Russia the “aggressor.”
55. On Thursday, Tillis became the first Senate Republican to speak out against Putin, saying on the Senate floor that he supports Trump and his policies, but that Putin “is a cancer and the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.”
56. On Friday, the conservative, Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post took aim at Trump, with a cover featuring a photo of Russia’s Vladimir Putin with the headline: “President Trump: This is a dictator.”
57. On Friday, when pressed repeatedly on Fox News, Trump refused to acknowledge Russia started the war, diverting to criticizing Zelensky, saying, “I get tired of listening to it… He has no cards, and you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I’ve had it.”
58. Later Friday, in an interview on Murdoch-owned Fox News Radio, when pressed, Trump acknowledged that Russia had invaded Ukraine on the order of Putin, but added, “Russia attacked, but they shouldn’t have let him attack,” and blamed Biden for not taking steps to avert it.
59. On Saturday, Reuters reported Trump regime officials are pressuring Ukraine to turn over mineral rights, and have threatened to cut the country’s access to Musk’s Starlink, the internet service used by the Ukrainian military.
60. Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent brought up cutting access after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky turned down an initial proposal. After Reuters published this article, Musk posted on X that it was “false” and “Reuters is lying.”
61. On Sunday, on Fox News talk show interviews, both Hegseth and Waltz avoided naming Russia as the aggressor against Ukraine, despite being pressed on the issue, calling it a distraction from Trump’s diplomacy.
62. On Sunday, Zelensky pushed backed on Trump’s pressure for mineral rights, saying, “I am not signing something that 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to repay.” He also said he would step down if Ukraine could join NATO, although it was unclear if he was serious.
63. On Sunday, Germany’s new chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed “independence” from Trump, who is aligning with Russia. He warned NATO may soon be dead, and the European continent would need to form a replacement, marking a historic watershed in global alliances.
64. In Germany’s election, Musk and J.D. Vance’s backing did not help the far-right AfD, which came in second. The Trump regime’s involvement did help propel a surprisingly strong showing from the far-left Die Linke, which was viewed as nearly defunct, but got 9% of the vote.
65. On Monday, the U.S. voted with Russia, North Korea, Belarus and 14 other Moscow-friendly countries against a U.N. general assembly resolution condemning Russia for the Ukraine war, and calling for its occupied territories to be returned.
66. The U.N. Generally Assembly overwhelmingly adopted two resolutions, one drafted by the U.S. and amended, and a second drafted by Ukraine and European countries, rejecting calls to tone down language about Russia and its role. The U.S. abstained from its own revised resolution.
67. Later Monday, in the 15-member U.N. Security Council, the U.S. garnered 10 votes in favor of its resolution calling for a swift end to the conflict, without blaming Russia.
68. The conservative WSJ editorial board condemned Trump in an op-ed, “A Sad Day for the U.S. at the U.N.,” noting, “the U.S. had supported these resolutions since the war began but is now voting with the world’s rogues rather than with its allies.” Few Republicans spoke up.
69. On Monday, Trump met with France’s President Emmanuel Macron at the White House. Macron was careful to flatter Trump, referring to him as “Dear Donald,” and spoke of Europe strengthening its military commitment, but also sought to gently correct Trump’s misinformation.
70. French media noted that “behind the outward smiles” of Macron and Trump “a wall is rising,” and that Macron had not received any “firm assurances” of continued American support.
71. On Thursday, a federal appeals court panel voted unanimously to deny Trump DOJ’s request to reinstate his executive order aimed at curbing birthright citizenship, the first appeals court to do so.
72. On Thursday, NYT reported that the Trump regime is defying a federal court ruling that temporarily halted it from dismantling USAID aid. Vital supplies such as emergency food supplies, TB tests, and HIV drugs are not being delivered.
73. On Friday, a federal judge rejected pleas to extend his temporary stay on firing USAID staffers, saying the unions’ challenge should be dealt with under federal employment laws rather than in district court.
74. Shortly after, the Trump regime moved forward with its plan, firing at least 1,600 U.S. based employees, cutting all but a fraction of staffers.
75. On Thursday, WAPO reported that Trump is preparing to fire the board of the U.S. Postal Service, and absorb the independent agency into the Commerce Department. Secretary Howard Lutnick has publicly called for the agency’s privatization.
76. The board called an emergency meeting, retaining outside counsel with instructions to sue if Trump attempts to remove board members or alter the agency’s independent status. Under the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, the USPS is meant to be walled off from political interference.
77. On Thursday, Trump held a Black History Month celebration at the White House, amid his anti-DEI orders and dismantling of programs to protect underrepresented communities. Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, likened the celebration to “asking a cow to serve steak.”
78. During the celebration, Trump again raised the idea of his serving beyond two terms, saying “the next time” in reference to running again, then asked the audience if he should run a third time.
79. Hours later, at his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, former adviser Stephen Bannon led chants of “We want Trump,” then said, “We want Trump in ’28. That’s what they can’t stand.”
80. On Friday, former leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, who was pardoned by Trump for his role in Jan. 6, was arrested by the Capitol Police for assaulting a protester at a news conference he held outside the Capitol.
81. On Saturday, at CPAC, Trump celebrated his revenge, saying, “The fraudsters, liars, cheaters, globalists and deep-state bureaucrats are being sent packing,” and “I ended Joe Biden’s weaponization as soon as I got in. I said, ‘I’m going to hit him with the same stuff.’”
82. On Saturday, several Jan. 6 insurrectionists were in attendance at Trump’s CPAC speech, including Tarrio, as was Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia, who told reporters, “I just hope he goes full-bore…I hope he goes all the way.”
83. On Thursday, WAPO reported Trump’s DOJ had removed the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, an online database tracking federal police misconduct. The website was first proposed by Trump during his first regime, then created by former President Joseph Biden.
84. WAPO reported that many senior officials in the Trump regime have complained about Musk’s aggressive tactics, including steps taken within their agencies without their knowledge. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles asked him to better coordinate on DOGE actions.
85. Musk’s shoot from the hip style has grated on reportedly every cabinet member. It has made it difficult for cabinet leaders to manage their agencies, and often Musk contradicts them in public. Musk’s ability to unilaterally take sweeping actions is unprecedented.
86. On Thursday, a federal judged declined labor unions’ request to pause the Trump regime’s mass purge of federal agencies. Unions claimed that more than half a million federal workers could lose their jobs.
87. On Thursday, WAPO reported the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the agency that regulates autonomous cars like Musk’s Tesla, has been disproportionately impacted by DOGE cuts, losing 10 percent of its staff to the purge of probationary employees and buyouts.
88. On Thursday, Musk got into a public spat with multiple astronauts on X, falsely claiming that they were “left up” at a space space by Biden for “political reasons.” Trump later doubled down on the false claim on Fox News, saying, “They got left in space.”
89. On Thursday, the IRS started mass layoffs, expected to impact about 7,000 employees during filing season. Most of the cuts, roughly 5,000, were expected in the enforcement and collections section.
90. On Friday employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were told the agency’s lease on its headquarters in Washington D.C. has been canceled, and the bureau has 30 days to vacate the building.
91. On Friday, the AP reported Trump and Musk’s rushed and unorganized federal worker purge had resulted in many experienced workers, who had been promoted to new positions or transferred agencies, and were therefore considered probationary, to be swept up the mass firings.
92. NYT reported mass firings at the FDA decimated teams reviewing things from high-tech surgical robots to food safety. Notably, many of the fired scientists were not funded by taxpayers, but by Congressionally approved industry fees.
93. On Saturday, Reuters reported the FDA is trying to hire back around 300 scientists who were fired in the purge, including some who were reviewing Musk’s brain implant company, Neuralink.
94. On Thursday, Politico reported that in private, a growing number of Congressional Republicans have been calling and texting the White House to express concern about the DOGE firings, and their impact, especially on public safety and health roles.
95. Republicans were also concerned about the impact of firing veterans, who were disproportionately fired, and asked that the 1,000 fired employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs be reinstated.
96. On Friday, WAPO reported Republican lawmakers back in district are getting big turnouts of constituents, and lots of negative feedback about Trump, Musk and DOGE, putting them in a position of having to defend the regime. Some Trump supporters welcome Musk’s moves.
97. On Saturday, at a Republican-hosted Idaho town hall attended by 450 people, a woman heckling was brutally removed by three private security guards. Charges against the women were dismissed. The police chief asked for the security firm’s business license to be revoked.
98. On Saturday, protests aimed at Musk and DOGE took place at Tesla dealerships around the country, from Florida, to California, to Illinois, to New York, and more.
99. On Friday, CNBC reported that since Trump took office, the U.S. stock market is vastly underperforming the stock markets in Europe and China.
100. On Friday, the Trump regime’s Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its enforcement case against the crypto exchange Coinbase and Robinhood. Trump embraced crypto during his presidential campaign, and received financial donations from industry leaders.
101. On Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau would move 1,500 staff from the headquarters to field offices in cities the regime has designated as high crime locations, or the satellite headquarters. Patel has vowed to turn the headquarters into a “museum to the Deep State.”
102. On Thursday, NBC News reported the Trump regime has flown all the migrants held at Guantánamo Bay out of the facility to Honduras. In response to an ACLU lawsuit, the regime said 178 migrants from Venezuela were there, of those 177 were deported on Thursday.
103. On Friday, Reuters reported the Trump regime has deported 37,660 migrants during his first month in office, far fewer than the 57,000 per month pace for the Biden administration in his final year.
104. On Friday, NYT reported the Trump regime is ramping up plans to use military sites across the country to detain undocumented immigrants. The regime plans to use Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas, which can hold 10,000 migrants, as a model for making a shortfall in ICE space.
105. On Friday, the Trump regime fired Caleb Vitello as the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as regime officials have been frustrated with the slow pace of deportations.
106. On Friday, the regime rescinded its order that had halted legal aid for unaccompanied migrant children. Trump’s Department of Interior said in a letter to nonprofits that they may “resume all activities.”
107. On Monday, Reuters reported Trump’s foreign aid freeze stalled a U.N. initiative aimed at stopping fentanyl from crossing the border by training Mexico’s Navy and providing equipment to improve screening of cargo.
108. On Monday, a federal judge sided with Quaker religious groups, temporarily blocking Trump’s ICE from immigration raids in places of worship, protecting 1,700 places of worship in 35 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
109. On Tuesday, WSJ reported according to a draft resolution, the Trump regime has created a registry for immigrants in the U.S. illegally, including children 14 and older, requiring them to list their personal information or face fines and prison time.
110. On Friday, at a meeting of governors at the White House, Trump asked Maine Gov. Janet Mills if she would comply with his order to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports. She said “no,” so he threatened to pull funding. She responded, “see you in court.”
111. On Saturday, Trump’s Department of Education announced that it launched a Title IX investigation into the state of Maine, saying the federal government would not fund “blatant civil rights violators.”
112. On Friday, a federal judge temporarily halted the regime from enacting Trump’s executive orders targeting DEI programs, finding several provisions to be unconstitutionally vague, and others to violate free speech rights.
113. On Friday, the Supreme Court, in its first decision on Trump’s use of executive power in the second regime, rejected his bid to remove Hampton Dellinger, a government lawyer who leads the watchdog agency the Office of Special Counsel. The court may revisit the temporary order by the lower court.
114. WSJ reported Trump Justice Department attorneys are showing up to multitude of court hearings unprepared, and unable at times to answer basic questions on the government’s official position. Some have also had to follow up and correct information given to federal judges.
115. On Friday, in a scathing response, lawyers for pollster Ann Selzer, the Des Moines Register and its parent company, Gannett, asked the judge to dismiss the case, saying Trump misunderstands the legal concept of “fraud,” and the lawsuit is barred by the First Amendment.
116. The filing also called Trump’s lawsuit frivolous, and likening it to suing a meteorologist for getting a weather forecast wrong, or a National Football League referee getting sued for a wrong call.
117. On Saturday, federal workers at Yosemite National Park hung an American flag upside down at the side of El Capitan during one of the busiest times of the year, in protest of Trump and Musk’s federal employee purge.
118. On Saturday, WAPO reported that Leland Dudek, who Trump elevated in Week 15 to acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, was being investigated by leaders of the SSA for leaking information to Musk’s DOGE, and placed him on leave during the investigation.
119. On Saturday, Trump continued to publicly back Musk, posting on Truth Social that Musk was doing “A GREAT JOB,” and adding, “I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE.”
120. Later Saturday, federal employees started getting emails from the HR arm of the Office of Personnel Management, telling them to “reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager.”
121. Musk posted on X that he was acting “consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions,” adding, “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” The OPM has largely been taken over by DOGE agents. Musk sent more than 220 tweets on Saturday.
122. WAPO reported chaos ensued. Although the email was meant only for the executive branch, some judicial employees received it, including a judge and some law clerks. Other workers are prohibited from sharing information about their work with other parties.
123. Shortly after, director Patel emailed FBI employees, and told them to hold off from replying to the email. Leaders at several other agencies sent out similar emails to their employees to pause from responding.
124. The president of the employee’ union said in the statement, it is “cruel and disrespectful” to ask civil servants “to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life.”
125. On Sunday, WAPO reported several other cabinet members told their agencies not to respond to the email, including National Intelligence, Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security, as concerns about aggregated information would amount to being classified.
126. Confusion and chaos reigned over uncertain instructions. In many agencies there were mixed instructions, including employees at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, who were told to definitely reply, and then hours later DHS said not to.
127. On Sunday, Musk posted on X his email would ferret out employees “doing so little work that they are not checking their email,” and claimed fraud without evidence, saying, “we believe non-existent people or the identities of dead people are being used to collect paychecks.”
128. Late Sunday, Trump named Dan Bongino, a right-wing pundit and podcaster, as FBI deputy director. The announcement came an hour after the FBI Agents Association told its members that Patel had privately said that the next deputy director should be an FBI agent.
129. Typically FBI directors have named deputies who are senior agents with vast experience to help run the bureau’s operations. The combination of Patel and Bongino, both of whom have peddled misinformation, will represent the least experienced leadership pair in the bureau’s history.
130. On Monday, an A.I. generated video appeared on televisions at the Department of Housing and Urban Development headquarters, depicting Trump sucking Musk’s toes, with the message “LONG LIVE THE REAL KING” across the screen.
131. On Monday, the Trump regime broke with Musk, as OPM notified top government human resources officers “that employee responses to the OPM email” demanding the list of workplace accomplishments “is voluntary.”
132. DHS reversed its guidance earlier in the day telling employees to respond, and in an email to employees said anyone who responded to Musk’s request should “assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors.”
133. At virtually the same time the OPM email was sent, speaking to reporters Trump praising Musk’s demand as “genius,” adding that employees who did not respond would be “semi-fired” or “fired.” This marked a split in the regime where typically Trump expects total loyalty.
134. Later Monday, after the OPM email, Musk doubled down on X, posting, “Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination,” creating additional confusion for employees.
135. On Tuesday, WAPO reported that employees of OPM were unsure of what to do with replies from federal employees who had responded, and had “no plans” to analyze them. The White House claimed that one million employees responded.
136. On Monday, Dellinger said on the Office of Special Counsel website that Trump and Musk’s purge of probationary employees en masse “without individualized cause” appeared to violate federal law, adding he would ask a government review board to pause the firings for 45 days.
137. On Monday, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking DOGE agents from accessing sensitive data from the Education Departments and the OPM, saying it likely violated Privacy Act of 1974.
138. On Monday, a federal judge said the way the Trump regime is running DOGE may violate the Constitution, noting the appointments clause which requires agency heads to be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. She noted Musk was neither.
139. She asked the DOJ attorney what position Musk held, and he responded, “I don’t have any information beyond he’s a close adviser to the president.” Although this was not in the scope of her hearing, it could spell trouble ahead the regime and DOGE.
140. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was repeatedly questioned by reporters on who ran DOGE. She declined to reveal who was in charge.
141. Leavitt added that Musk would attend Trump’s first cabinet meeting on Wednesday, to “talk about DOGE’s efforts and how all of the Cabinet secretaries are identifying waste, fraud and abuse in their respective agencies.”
142. Hours later, the White House claimed that Amy Gleason, a former official at the U.S. Digital Service, is the acting head of DOGE. The White House claimed Musk does not lead nor work for DOGE, saying he oversees DOGE in his capacity as senior advisor.
143. On Monday, WIRED reported three DOGE agents — Luke Farritor, Rachel Riley, and Jeremy Lewin — have gained access to sensitive data at the NIH’s finance system, which controls budgets, procurements, and more.
144. On Monday, NBC News reported DOGE agents had gained access to internal emails and Microsoft Teams chats of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security employees. Edward “Big Balls” Coristine is listed in CISA’s agency directory as a senior adviser.
145. On Tuesday, 21 employees of the U.S. Digital Service, now DOGE, resigned, saying in a letter, “We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services.”
146. The employees represented about one-third of remaining DOGE staffing. They added, “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”
147. On Tuesday, WIRED reported DOGE is working on software that will automate the firing of federal workers, by updating the code of a software called Automated Reduction in Force, which was developed by the Department of Defense more than two decades ago.
148. On Monday, WAPO reported that confusion still reins within offices in the Agriculture Department, where managers are uncertain whether to comply with judges’ ruling to unfreeze funds, or to comply with the Trump regime’s orders to halt grant payments.
149. U.S. farmers have sounded the alarm that grant payments they were promised are not coming through, after the agency halted all grants from Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and any other program that could violate Trump’s orders.
150. On Tuesday, U.S. farmers and two environmental groups sued Trump’s USDA for scrubbing data on climate change from the agency’s website, saying it hurt farmers who used the data to plan “agricultural decisions.”
151. On Tuesday, a federal judge who had issued a temporary restraining order for 90 days on Trump’s foreign aid freeze 12 days ago, excoriated the regime’s DOJ attorney for violating a court order, and ordered them to pay millions due to nonprofits by Wednesday.
152. On Tuesday, a federal judge extended a block on the Trump regime’s freeze of $3 trillion in federal grants, loans and other financial aid as part of the DOGE effort, saying, “In the simplest terms, the freeze was ill-conceived from the beginning.”
153. On Tuesday, a federal judge blocked a Trump executive order that paused the Refugee Admissions Program, saying, “The president has substantial discretion to suspend refugee admissions,” but “he can not ignore Congress’ detailed framework for refugee admissions.”
154. On Tuesday, NYT reported the second phase of Trump’s federal worker purge of through a “reduction in force” process had started on Sunday. RIF early cuts included 144 employees at HUD, 30 to 40 in the General Services Administration, and 2,000 in USAID.
155. On Tuesday, Trump announced a new visa program called a ‘gold card,’ calling it “somewhat like a green card, but at a higher level of sophistication,” and saying the price tag would be roughly $5 million.
156. Trump also signed an executive order removing security clearance for law firm Covington & Burling, which according to a disclosure had given special counsel Jack Smith $140,000 worth of free legal advice to help him prepare for investigation and legal action by Trump allies.
157. On Tuesday, NBC News reported that Musk has lost more than $100 billion in net worth since mid December, as the stock price of Tesla has plummeted nearly 40%. Tuesday, the stock was down 8% due to a deep decline in sales in Europe, which some suggest is related to his politics.
158. On Wednesday, WAPO reported that Musk’s businesses have received more than $38 billion in government funding, two-thirds of which has been promised in the past five years. In 2024, Musk’s companies were promised $6.3 billion from federal and state grants, the highest year.
159. On Wednesday, the day after Apple shareholders voted to reject a measure to end DEI at the company, Trump pressured the company to end it, posting on Truth Social: “APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM.”
160. On Wednesday, Apple said it would fix a bug in its dictation feature that transcribed “racist” temporarily as “Trump” before quickly correcting itself.
161. On Tuesday, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for February posted its biggest drop since 2021, slipping to 98.3, down 7% and below the Dow Jones forecast for 102.3.
162. On Wednesday, the first measles death of an unvaccinated child was reported, amid an outbreak affecting more than 120 people in Texas.
163. On Wednesday, WAPO reported the anti-Trump resistance has begun to awaken, as protestors flood town halls of Democrats and Republicans alike. Protests nationwide have also focused on specific Trump policies, and the impact of Musk’s DOGE.

An American flag is hung upside down, a historical symbol of distress, in Yosemite National Park, as a protest to staff cuts in the National Park Service. Tracy Barbutes/San Francisco Chronicle