Trump and Musk lavish praise on each other while defending DOGE cuts in Hannity interview: Live updates

Donald Trump and his “first buddy” Elon Musk took part in a primetime Fox News interview on Tuesday evening in which host Sean Hannity mused it was like “interviewing two brothers”.

Musk discussed “Trump Derangement Syndrome” among the Left and claimed friends behaved like they had “rabies” when the president’s name was mentioned.

Trump conceded that Congress should have to codify “a lot of” his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) executive orders, adding: “The beauty is, we have four years – that’s why I like doing it right at the beginning.”

This comes after the White House revealed in a court filing that Musk is not an employee of DOGE and has no decision-making authority.

As American and Russian officials held talks in Saudi Arabia about ending the war in Ukraine, Trump dismissed Ukrainian concerns about not being at the negotiating table, saying they had three years to end the conflict.

He then blamed Ukraine for being invaded by Russia.

The president meanwhile signed an executive order meant to expand access to and reduce costs of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and issued a presidential memorandum calling for “radical transparency requirements” from the government, which he suggested could reduce wasteful spending.

Key Points

• Donald Trump and Elon Musk awkwardly called ‘two brothers’ as they seek to justify DOGE cuts in joint Fox News interview

• Key moments from Trump and Musk’s interview

• Analysis: Trump and Musk get Sean Hannity’s primetime propaganda for their constitutional wrecking ball

• Trump dismisses Ukraine concerns over peace deal, saying: ‘You should never have started it’

Video: Ex-Trump ambassador claims more people jailed in UK for free speech than Russia

07:55 , Namita Singh

Ex-Trump ambassador claims more people jailed in UK for free speech than Russia

Trump calls for ‘radical transparency’ from government

07:45 , Namita Singh

Donald Trump has issued a presidential memorandum calling for “radical transparency requirements” from the government, which he suggested could reduce wasteful spending.

The order outlined the oversight functions of the Office of Management and Budget, while the memo requires the government to detail the “waste, fraud and abuse” that’s found as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), overseen by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, looks to cut government spending.

DOGE has often fallen short of the administration’s promises of transparency. Musk has taken questions from journalists only once since becoming Trump’s most powerful adviser, and he’s claimed it’s illegal to name people who are working for him.

Sometimes DOGE staff members have demanded access to sensitive government databases with little explanation.

As he lays out plans for agency, RFK Jr appears to threaten HHS staff who won’t ‘embrace’ his ideas

07:30 , Oliver O’Connell

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warned agency staff to either “embrace” the Trump administration’s changes or plan to retire.

In his first address since being sworn in, Kennedy outlined his vision for the department he now leads at HHS headquarters on Tuesday, days after hundreds of probationary employees were terminated. Those layoffs, part of a Department of Government Efficiency-led effort to reduce spending in part by shrinking the federal workforce, include an estimated 1,300 purged from the Center for Disease Control — 10 percent of its workforce.

Kelly Rissman reports.

RFK Jr appears to threaten staff HHS staff who won’t ‘embrace’ his ideas

How politicians and industry leaders responded to Trump’s IVF order

07:14 , Namita Singh

President Donald Trump made a major decision for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments as he signed executive order to expand access and reduce the costs of IVF.

Welcoming the decision, Barbara Collura, president of Resolve, the National Infertility Association, said that what the White House put out “looks extremely promising”.

“The biggest barriers for people to building their families are the out-of-pocket costs, the lack of insurance coverage for this care,” she said.

Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat, said: “Donald Trump’s executive order does nothing to expand access to IVF. In fact, he’s the reason IVF is at risk in the first place.”

Duckworth said if Trump is going to follow through on his campaign promise to provide free IVF, he can start by supporting her legislation that would require insurance plans to cover IVF.

Trump signs order to study how to expand IVF

06:55 , Namita Singh

President Donald Trump signed an executive order meant to expand access to and reduce costs of in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

On the campaign trail, Trump called for universal coverage of IVF treatment after his Supreme Court nominees helped to overturn Roe v Wade, leading to a wave of restrictions in Republican-led states, including some that have threatened access to IVF by trying to define life as beginning at conception.

Trump said he thinks “women and families, husbands, are very appreciative” of his executive order on IVF, which offers a possible solution when a woman has trouble getting pregnant.

The procedure involves retrieving her eggs and combining them in a lab dish with a man’s sperm to create a fertilised embryo, which is then transferred into the woman’s uterus in an attempt to create a pregnancy. IVF is done in cycles, and more than one may be required.

If it’s not JD Vance, who is Trump eyeing to carry on the GOP crown?

06:30 , Oliver O’Connell

John Bowden writes:

Does Donald Trump view JD Vance as his inevitable successor in 2028?

“No,” he told Fox News’s Bret Baier in his Super Bowl weekend interview. Ouch!

Plucked from an odd position of micro-celebrity into politics in 2022, then thrust into the national spotlight after winning Trump’s endorsement during the Ohio Senate race, Vance is practically the perfect MAGA convert, tainted only by a slight veneer of uncertainty thanks to his past descriptions of his boss as “America’s Hitler.”

Continue reading…

Who is Trump eyeing to carry on the GOP crown? It’s not JD Vance

Watch: House Judiciary Democrats call out Trump’s claim he decides what the law is

05:10 , Oliver O’Connell

Report: U.S. pauses applications by migrants permitted entry under Biden parole programs

04:55 , Oliver O’Connell

CBS News reported late Tuesday that the Trump administration has paused all immigration applications submitted by migrants from Ukraine and Latin America who were permitted entry into the United States under certain Biden-era programs.

The report added that concerns about fraud and security were cited as reasons for the halt, citing two U.S. officials and an internal memo.

The move, which had not been previously reported, threatens to cast a cloud of uncertainty over many migrants who were applying for various immigration benefits that would allow them to stay in the U.S. legally — sometimes permanently.

While the exact number of affected migrants remains unclear, the hold on applications pertains to several Biden administration programs that permitted hundreds of thousands of foreigners to enter the U.S. legally through an immigration law known as parole. This law enables the U.S. government to swiftly welcome foreigners for humanitarian reasons or public benefit grounds.

The Biden administration used parole on an unprecedented scale, partially to encourage migrants to apply for legal migration channels instead of crossing the southern border unlawfully. The Trump administration swiftly moved to suspend those efforts, arguing that they were an abuse of the parole authority.

The pause is believed to have impacted programs that brought in 240,000 Ukrainians with U.S. sponsors, 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans sponsored by American citizens, and a third program that permitted some Colombians, Ecuadorians, Central Americans, Haitians, and Cubans with American relatives to come to the U.S. and wait for a family-based green card to become available.

Key points from Trump and Musk’s interview with Fox News

04:45 , Mike Bedigan

Donald Trump and Elon Musk covered all manner of interesting topics as they sat down with Sean Hannity for an interview broadcast on Fox News on Tuesday.

During the pre-recorded (and relatively softball) interview the world’s two most powerful men touched on subjects including lawsuits, “abandoned” astronauts, and insults thrown at them online.

Here are some of the weirder and more awkward moments:

Key points from Trump and Musk’s interview with Fox News

ANALYSIS: Trump and Elon Musk get Sean Hannity’s primetime propaganda for their constitutional wrecking ball

04:34 , Oliver O’Connell

Alex Woodward writes:

Aired hours before Trump’s 30th day in office in his second administration, and recorded one week ago, Hannity’s sycophantic Fox News interview with the president and the man to whom Trump is delegating unprecedented authority slapped on a thick coat of flattery before giving Musk the floor to tell viewers he has no idea what he’s talking about.

Continue reading…

Analysis: Trump and Elon Musk’s constitutional wrecking ball goes primetime

Catholic bishops sue Trump administration

04:30 , Oliver O’Connell

Catholic leadership in the United States is suing Donald Trump’s administration to reverse the president’s abrupt suspension of tens of millions of dollars in funding for refugee resettlement, which has stranded thousands of vulnerable people in war-torn countries despite their clearance for entry.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has partnered with federal agencies for decades to help resettle refugees, received only a “cursory, two page” notice from the administration four days after Trump took office and froze foreign aid, along with “a vague suggestion that the awards may not be consistent with the State Department’s priorities.”

Alex Woodward reports.

Catholic bishops sue Trump for ‘pulling the rug out’ from under refugee programs

Watch: Trump claims Medicare, Medicaid won’t be touched in DOGE cuts

04:14 , Oliver O’Connell

Trump to nominate experienced intelligence official as Gabbard’s deputy, report says

04:00 , Oliver O’Connell

Reuters reports, citing a source familiar with the plan, that President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Aaron Lukas, a career government official, as deputy to the newly confirmed Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard.

Gabbard, the former Democratic U.S. representative for Hawaii, with little intelligence experience, was confirmed as the top U.S. spy last week in a 52-to-48 vote, mostly along party lines.

Lukas, who served as an intelligence aide to then-acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell in 2020 during Trump’s first term, would bring years of national security experience to the position of principal deputy director of national intelligence, a role that requires Senate conf

Full story: Trump and Musk awkwardly called ‘two brothers’ as they seek to justify DOGE cuts in joint Fox News interview

03:50 , Oliver O’Connell

Andrew Feinberg writes:

An uncharacteristically subdued Donald Trump was at times silent as he seemed to reluctantly share the limelight with wealthy Republican donor turned unpaid White House aide Elon Musk in an interview with Fox News personality Sean Hannity on Tuesday evening.

The SpaceX founder used the primetime slot to try to justify the sweeping cuts his so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” has attempted to make over Trump’s first month in office as a needed corrective to a recalcitrant civil service that is resisting the president’s demands.

Musk, who appeared alongside the 47th president during a joint interview taped last week for Hannity’s eponymous program, described his role in the Trump administration as “tech support” and as a sort of enforcer for Trump’s will against non-compliant government workers.

Continue reading…

Trump and Musk awkwardly called ‘two brothers’ in joint Fox News interview

Watch: Trump mocked as inflation comments come back to haunt him

03:45 , Oliver O’Connell

Kamala Harris signs with CAA, two weeks after Biden returns to agency

03:35 , Oliver O’Connell

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has signed with CAA for representation, with a focus on speaking engagements and publishing, Variety reports.

CAA will collaborate closely with Harris on her post-White House initiatives, creating strategic opportunities to expand her platform in support of the issues she has championed throughout her long career in public service.

This marks Harris’s return to the agency. She was previously represented by them before she was sworn in as the 49th Vice President of the United States — the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American elected to the position. She made history again as the first Black woman and the first South Asian woman nominated for president by a major political party.

Harris’ CAA signing comes just two weeks after former President Joe Biden also signed with the agency, which previously represented him from 2017 to 2020.

Missouri Republican proposes ‘e-Harmony for babies’ database to track pregnant women ‘at risk’ of seeking abortion

03:30 , Oliver O’Connell

A Republican state lawmaker in Missouri has introduced legislation that would create a “central registry” of pregnant people who are “at risk for seeking an abortion,” what the bill’s author called the makings of an “e-Harmony for babies” to match with adoptive families.

The legislation would also allow the state to share information from that database with law enforcement agencies, “including those outside of this state,” the bill states.

Alex Woodward reports.

Missouri Republican proposes ‘e-Harmony for babies’ database to track pregnant women

Musk says he will recuse himself from conflicts of interest

03:06 , Oliver O’Connell

President Donald Trump told Sean Hannity that he has empowered Elon Musk to police his own conflicts of interest.

Musk says he has never asked Trump for anything and he will recuse himself where necessary.

Border arrests plunged 39% in January

03:00 , AP

Arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico plummeted 39% in January from a month earlier, authorities said Tuesday, an early gauge of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The Border Patrol made 21,593 arrests during the month, down from 47,316 in December and the lowest mark since May 2020 near the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“Call it the Trump Effect,” the White House said in a statement.

Read on…

Border arrests plummet 39% in January in an early gauge of Trump’s immigration policies

Watch: Trump says ‘inflation is back’ but he had nothing to do with it

02:52 , Oliver O’Connell

Meanwhile, over on CNN, Bernie Sanders rails against authoritarianism

02:45 , Oliver O’Connell

“The struggle against Trump, the struggle against oligarchy, which is led by Elon Musk … that’s not gonna be won here in Capitol Hill,” Senator Bernie Sanders tells Kaitlan Collins on CNN.

“It’s gonna be won by millions of people all over this country standing up and saying, ‘We fought and died for democracy, we’re not gonna move toward authoritarianism.’”

Musk attacks accusations of ‘unconstitutional’ acts

02:42 , Oliver O’Connell

“It’s always the first thing they do,” says Donald Trump as Elon Musk tries to flip accusations of unconstitutional behavior on those that make them.

Watch: Musk says U.S. is not a democracy but a bureaucracy

02:34 , Oliver O’Connell

Musk claims stranded astronauts left in space ‘for political reasons’

02:28 , Oliver O’Connell

Elon Musk, speaking about an upcoming SpaceX mission to bring home stranded astronauts, claims they were left in space “for political reasons.”

U.S. Astronaut Butch Wilmore recently told CNN: “We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded.”

Watch: Trump and Musk address ‘President Musk’ taunts and ‘divorce’

02:22 , Oliver O’Connell

02:19 , Oliver O’Connell

With Elon Musk at his side, Trump says that Congress should codify “a lot of” of his DOGE executive orders.

He adds that “the beauty is, we have four years — that’s why I like doing it right at the beginning.”

Watch: Elon Musk believes Trump’s executive orders take precedent over Congress — they do not

02:12 , Oliver O’Connell

Elon Musk blasts the Left’s ‘completely irrational’ ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’

02:10 , Oliver O’Connell

Sitting alongside President Donald Trump, Elon Musk slammed what he called the left’s “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” comparing it to rabies.

Musk and Trump appeared on Fox News with host Sean Hannity, where the latter mused: “I would think liberals would love the fact that you have the biggest electric vehicle company in the world.”

“I used to be adored by the left, less so these days,” said Musk. “They call it Trump derangement syndrome, and you don’t realize how real this is until…it’s like you can’t reason with people.”

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Elon Musk blasts the Left’s ‘completely irrational’ ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’

Hannity interview underway on Fox News

02:08 , Oliver O’Connell

Sean Hannity introduced his interview tonight with President Donald Trump and “the left’s newest boogeyman, the leader of DOGE, Elon Musk.”

Musk is doing most of the talking so far, speaking of his great admiration of the president.

“I’ve spent, at this point, spent a lot of time with President, and not once have I seen him do something that was mean or cruel or wrong.”

Musk also says he was going to throw his support behind Trump in the 2024 election but the assassination attempt “sped it up.”

Trump has signed an executive order to expand access to IVF — but what does it actually say?

01:50 , Oliver O’Connell

Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at expanding access to in vitro fertilization, but it was not clear what concrete steps may be taken to make that a reality.

Gustaf Kilander takes a look.

Trump has signed an executive order to expand access to IVF. What does it mean?

Bannon calls Musk a ‘parasitic illegal immigrant’

01:40 , Oliver O’Connell

Steve Bannon has branded Elon Musk as a “parasitic illegal immigrant” who has no respect for America, in his latest swipe at the billionaire tech boss.

The 71-year-old MAGA acolyte and former Trump adviser said Musk is “the one with the power,” and that his work with the Department of Government Efficiency was “performative.”

Mike Bedigan has the story.

Bannon calls Musk a ‘parasitic illegal immigrant’ in latest jab at tech billionaire

After promising not to change it, Kennedy says panel will examine childhood vaccine schedule

01:30 , AP

To earn the vote he needed to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation’s current vaccination schedule.

But on Tuesday, speaking for the first time to thousands of U.S. Health and Human Services agency employees, he vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases.

Read on…

Kennedy says panel will examine childhood vaccine schedule after promising not to change it

AP responds to Trump comments about access

01:21 , Oliver O’Connell

The Associated Press has responded to President Donald Trump’s comments that the news service will continue to be kept out of the Oval Office and other events over its use of the term “Gulf of Mexico” over “Gulf of America.”

At a Mar-a-Lago press conference on Tuesday, Trump said that “some of the phrases that they want to use are ridiculous.”

This is about the government telling the public and press what words to use and retaliating if they do not follow government orders.

The White House has restricted AP’s coverage of presidential events because of how we refer to a location. The Associated Press has provided critical and independent coverage of the White House for over 100 years.

Here’s the moment Trump spoke about the AP at this afternoon’s press conference.

Watch: Bessent tells Fox News Mint will ‘soon’ stop making pennies

01:18 , Oliver O’Connell

Democrats want their opposition party to get loud. Bernie and AOC are trying to help

01:00 , Oliver O’Connell

John Bowden writes:

Monday was President’s Day, and around the country the Democratic base made itself known in the streets.

Crowds gathered in cities in every state across the country, ranging from dozens to thousands by area code, as part of a nationwide day of protest organized by “#50501”, which used Reddit and other platforms to quickly set up hundreds of spontaneous demonstrations.

The message was one of outrage in the face of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s dismantling of federal agencies including USAID, the Department of Education, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and others. But one question was on the minds of individual demonstrators and organizers alike: where are the Democrats?

Read on…

Democrats want their opposition party to get loud. Bernie and AOC are trying to help

Musk and Trump cuts forces JFK Library to close

00:54 , Oliver O’Connell

Visitors at the John F Kennedy Presidential library in Boston were asked to leave after staffing cuts made by the Trump administration forced the institution to close its doors indefinitely.

Library officials received a phone call from the National Archives on Tuesday morning informing them that all employees still in their probationary period were being laid off effective immediately, CBS reported.

Mike Bedigan has the story.

JFK Library in Boston forced to close after Trump cuts mean staff are forced out

Full report: US and Russia begin Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia — without Ukraine

00:30 , Oliver O’Connell

Sam Kiley, The Independent’s world affairs editor, writes:

The US and Russia have begun peace talks on the Ukraine war — without Ukraine.

US and Russian officials are in Riyadh on Tuesday for the highest-level talks to date between the two former Cold War foes on ending the war. They are expected to discuss ways to end the three-year-old conflict in Ukraine and restore American-Russian relations. Their talks could pave the way for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sat opposite U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff at a polished wooden table with three large white floral arrangements. The officials ignored shouted questions from reporters asking whether the U.S. was sidelining the Ukrainians and what concessions Washington was demanding of Moscow.

Read on…

US and Russia begin Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia – without Ukraine

Trump dismisses Ukraine concerns about peace deal, says: ‘You should never have started it’

00:12 , Oliver O’Connell

President Donald Trump dismissed Ukraine’s concern about being excluded from U.S.-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia on ending the Ukraine war on Tuesday and said he would not oppose European nations if they choose to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.

At one point in his remarks, the president suggested that it was Ukraine’s fault that Russia invaded.

European leaders have discussed the possibility of sending peacekeepers to provide security guarantees in the event of a peace deal.

“Having troops over there would be fine; I wouldn’t object to it at all,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach.

These were Trump’s first comments since a U.S. delegation engaged in a working dialogue with Russia about Ukraine during discussions in Riyadh earlier that day.

He suggested that Ukraine could have reached an agreement years ago and dismissed Ukraine’s worries about being excluded from the meeting, saying that Ukrainians should have entered into talks much sooner.

He also criticized former President Joe Biden for his approach to Ukraine. Biden had worked to ensure that Ukraine received the weapons necessary to fend off the Russian invasion.

“I think I have the power to end this war,” Trump said, before saying of Ukraine: “You should never have started it.”

Russia began its unprovoked war on Ukraine almost three years ago on February 24, 2022.

If it’s not JD Vance, who is Trump eyeing to carry on the GOP crown?

00:00 , Oliver O’Connell

John Bowden writes:

Does Donald Trump view JD Vance as his inevitable successor in 2028?

“No,” he told Fox News’s Bret Baier in his Super Bowl weekend interview. Ouch!

Plucked from an odd position of micro-celebrity into politics in 2022, then thrust into the national spotlight after winning Trump’s endorsement during the Ohio Senate race, Vance is practically the perfect MAGA convert, tainted only by a slight veneer of uncertainty thanks to his past descriptions of his boss as “America’s Hitler.”

Continue reading…

Who is Trump eyeing to carry on the GOP crown? It’s not JD Vance

Howard Lutnick confirmed at Trump’s Commerce Secretary

Tuesday 18 February 2025 23:50 , Oliver O’Connell

Trump rails against Jan 6 committee (again)

Tuesday 18 February 2025 23:48 , Oliver O’Connell

Donald Trump is still mad at former Republican Rep Liz Cheney and Congressman Bennie Thompson about their work on the House January 6 select committee.

The president posted on Truth Social:

Biden gave Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney a Medal for the job they did on the Unselect Committee, but the only thing that I see they did is get information, and then destroy and delete ALL of it, because the whole thing turned out to be a HOAX!

The committee’s final report and supporting documentation that the president claims was deleted is available here.