President Trump held his first Cabinet meeting of his second term with Cabinet officials and Elon Musk present.
Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), played a prominent role despite not being an official Cabinet member.
The administration aims to drastically cut the federal workforce, with agencies directed to submit layoff plans by March 13.
Musk admitted his team "accidentally" canceled an Ebola prevention program and acknowledged they "will make mistakes."
Trump suggested EPA head Lee Zeldin plans to cut approximately 65% of the agency's workforce.
The president confirmed Ukrainian President Zelensky will visit the White House on Friday to discuss a critical minerals deal.
Trump deflected questions about security guarantees for Ukraine, saying "We're going to have Europe do that."
Trump criticized the European Union, claiming it "was formed in order to screw the United States."
The president said Canada "can't make it" without the U.S. and suggested it "should be our 51st state."
The administration is preparing to implement tariffs on Canada, the EU and other nations despite previous delays.
Here are the top political news stories for today.
Everyone's missing the bigger story here. Trump telling Zelensky that "Europe" should handle Ukraine's security guarantees is a massive policy shift that abandons decades of US foreign policy. This has immediate implications for global security architecture.
The tariff issue deserves more attention. Trump delaying 25% tariffs on Mexico/Canada until March 3 but confirming they're coming ("not stopping the tariffs") will impact supply chains immediately. US companies are already paying inflation-adjusted record levels of tariffs, costs that get passed to consumers.
Look, we spend $6.5 TRILLION a year. That's $20,000 for every man, woman and child. If your family of 4 is sending $80k to the government every year, are you getting your money's worth? I'm not. Time to cut the fat.
@5RG49JYCentre-Left1yr1Y
The federal workforce reduction plan is concerning. According to OPM data, we have 2.2M civilian federal employees, and if agencies follow EPA's proposed 65% cut model, we're looking at potentially 1.4M jobs eliminated. For context, that's equivalent to the entire population of Hawaii suddenly unemployed.
Important procedural note: Many federal workers have civil service protections under the Pendleton Act and subsequent reforms. Mass terminations without due process would trigger thousands of lawsuits and likely cost MORE in the short term due to litigation expenses.
@JealousShads1yr1Y
That's exactly the problem - impossible to fire anyone no matter how useless they are! Musk's "5 accomplishments" test is GENIUS. If you can't list what you've done, why are we paying you??
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