Political Tensions Rise and Foreign Aid Cuts Deepen – 2/26/2025

United States

  • Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sharply criticized Elon Musk, calling him a “billionaire conman” who lacks credentials as a scientist or engineer, despite his vast wealth.
  • A man was reportedly attacked by up to 30 teenage bicyclists in Los Angeles, according to police statements.
  • Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid offered words of support to Taylor Swift after the music icon faced boos at the Super Bowl.
  • Terminated USAID staff will be briefly allowed into the agency’s stripped-down Washington HQ later this week, given just 15 minutes to retrieve personal items, according to an internal notice.
  • Chris Krebs, ex-CISA director, warns that stronger cybersecurity staffing is critical, saying, “The threats we’re going to face tomorrow are tenfold what the threats were yesterday.”
  • Republicans are navigating a complex procedure requiring House and Senate approval of a unified budget resolution to push through a major partisan bill, bypassing the Senate filibuster and sidelining Democrats.
  • Utah is poised to make history as the first state to eliminate fluoride from its drinking water, reversing an 80-year practice aimed at reducing tooth decay.
  • John Morgan is forming a new political party amid speculation he may run for Florida governor.
  • The U.S. State Department has reportedly ended around 10,000 programs supporting foreign aid.
  • The FBI has identified North Korea as the culprit behind the $1.5 billion theft from Bybit’s cryptocurrency platform.
  • Reports from Instagram users highlight Reels featuring violent and graphic material, such as death and gore.
  • The IRS plans to shut down 120 of its offices.
  • Documents reveal the Trump administration intends to cut over 90% of USAID’s foreign aid agreements.
  • A group of pro-Hamas students has taken over a key academic building at Barnard College.
  • Authorities arrested a Tajik man in Brooklyn on Wednesday, accusing him of funneling tens of thousands of dollars to ISIS and its Central Asian branch, ISIS-K, supporters in Turkey and Syria.
  • Political analyst Scott Jennings is being urged to pursue Mitch McConnell’s vacant Senate position.
  • President Trump has announced plans to slap a 25% tariff on goods imported from the European Union.
  • HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has halted a $240 million deal from the prior administration aimed at creating a new COVID vaccine.

International

  • Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s NDP, has called for barring Donald Trump from the G7 summit, questioning why a “convicted criminal” should be allowed entry into the country.
  • A mountain resembling a dog’s head in Yichang, China, dubbed “Puppy Mountain,” has exploded in popularity online after a designer’s Valentine’s Day photo went viral, drawing dog owners to the Yangtze River site for pet-matching snapshots.