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President Donald Trump’s tariff standoff with Canada and Mexico is on hold, with observers noting his agreement to deal with both contains elements that were already in place.
On Monday evening (February 3), President Donald Trump announced that he and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had agreed to pause tariffs coming into each other’s nations after the two spoke by phone. In a post on his Truth Social media platform, Trump wrote: “Canada has agreed to ensure we have a secure Northern Border, and to finally end the deadly scourge of drugs like Fentanyl that have been pouring into our Country, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, while destroying their families and communities all across our Country,” adding “I am very pleased with this initial outcome, and the Tariffs announced on Saturday will be paused for a 30 day period to see whether or not a final Economic deal with Canada can be structured.” Trump reached a similar pause agreement with Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president.
News of the pauses brought relief to the financial markets and American consumers who were stressed over the economic hit they would suffer if the tariffs went through. The only problem? Trump has agreed to deals on security measures that were mostly already in effect with both nations.
Concerning his deal with Canada, Trudeau announced that Canada was already implementing a border security force worth $1.3 billion to “ensure 24/7 eyes on the border”. According to journalist Mehdi Hasan in a post on X, formerly Twitter, “Trump got played again. Canada *already* has 8,500 frontline personnel at the border.” Trudeau and former President Joe Biden had struck a similar deal in December 2024 before Biden left office. Canada had also begun patrolling the border between it and the United States with Blackhawk helicopters and committed to a “fentanyl czar” and joint task force operations.
https://x.com/mehdirhasan/status/1886534635288715571
Trump and Sheinbaum came to their agreement earlier on Monday, three days after he announced the 25% tariffs to be placed on goods from both countries entering the United States, in addition to a 10% tariff on goods entering the country from China. While Sheinbaum promised that she would immediately send 10,000 soldiers to the border to prevent the trafficking of fentanyl, she announced in her press conference that Trump agreed to do more to prevent high-powered weapons from the U.S. from falling into the hands of drug cartels. There are already 15,000 Mexican soldiers stationed at the border with America.
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President Donald Trump accused South Africa of “confiscating land” in a social media post and cut aid to them, prompting that country’s government to fire back with a denial.
The nation of South Africa is the latest target of President Donald Trump’s wrath, as he falsely attacked the country in a post on Truth Social Sunday night (Feb. 2). “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” he wrote, continuing by stating that he would be cutting off aid as a response: “I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa briskly denied the allegation in a post on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality. The South African government has not confiscated any land.”
https://x.com/CyrilRamaphosa/status/1886319401101910311
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Trump would repeat the claim to journalists, and allegations were echoed by his backer, tech billionaire Elon Musk (who was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971) who wrote in a post on X that South Africa had “openly racist ownership laws.” Musk, through his actions with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has already announced the shutdown of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), claiming it was a joint decision with Trump. David Sacks, the billionaire PayPal co-founder and Trump ally, also hails from South Africa.
Land ownership in South Africa has been a hotly contested issue for over a century since the British restricted Black ownership of land beginning in 1913 with the Natives Land Act, transferring large swaths of land to white settlers including, the Afrikaner community and confining Black people to townships and homelands. Currently, Black people (who compose 80% of the population) constitute 4% of landowners in South Africa, while three-quarters of the land is owned by whites who constitute 8% of the population.
Trump has spoken out about this issue before in his first term, but having Musk as a supporter suggests that he’s inclined to be more aggressive in cutting off aid. Members of the African National Congress, the ruling party in South Africa, have also pointed to the right-wing AfriForum group as having lobbied Trump and others in the U.S. AfriForum, who represents the Afrikaner population in South Africa, has fought for Ramaphosa to change the new law but has opposed Trump’s proposed removal of aid to the country.
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An agency at the Pentagon has paused observing Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the behest of President Donald Trump.
According to reports, the Defense Department’s intelligence agency has halted observances of Black History Month, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and other cultural and historical events. The directive, revealed in a leaked memo, is following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on his first day back in office on Jan. 20. An unnamed official verified the memo’s authenticity.
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“We are receiving questions across the workforce on the way forward,” the memo said. “DIA will pause all activities and events related to Agency Special Emphasis Programs effective immediately and until further notice.” The memo calls for a halt of observing 11 events including Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, National American Indian Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Women’s Equality Day, and Women’s History Month.
The source said the change would not affect the holidays being celebrated nationally, and it’s not policy across the Department of Defense. But Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth instructed his staff last Wednesday (Jan. 29) to create a task force to eliminate DEI programs from the Pentagon. “We’re not joking around,” Hegseth said in an interview Wednesday with Fox News when asked about it. “There’s no changing of names or softly manipulating something. DEI is gone.”
The backlash has hit the White House, particularly as Black History Month kicked off Saturday (Feb. 1). White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the controversy Friday (Jan. 31) and tried to downplay it. “As far as I know, this White House certainly still intends to celebrate, and we will continue to celebrate American history and the contributions that all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or creed, have made to our great country,” she said. Trump would then sign a proclamation later that day declaring that Black History Month be observed by “public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities,” although there were no further details on what those programs would be.
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President Donald Trump has announced plans to send tens of thousands of “criminal illegal aliens” to the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, further demonizing other immigrants.
President Donald Trump announced that his administration plans to deport criminal aliens to the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba on Wednesday (Jan. 29) as he was signing the Laken Riley Act into law. “Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re gonna send ’em out to Guantanamo,” he said to reporters gathered at the White House. “We have 30,000 beds in Guantánamo to detain the worst criminal aliens threatening the American people,” he added. The White House announced shortly afterward that Trump signed a presidential memorandum to that effect.
The Laken Riley Act is named after a nursing student from Georgia who was out for a run last February when she was attacked by a man named Jose Antonio Ibarra, who wound up killing her. Ibarra, a Venezuelan national, was found guilty in November of Riley’s murder and was sentenced to life in prison. The bill requires federal officials to detain any migrant charged with a crime such as assault or shoplifting. It also allows states’ attorney generals to sue the federal government for harm related to failures in immigration enforcement leading to the harm of people. The law received bipartisan support, with 46 Democrats in the House of Representatives and 12 in the Senate voting to pass the measure.
Newly-confirmed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth defended President Trump’s move in an interview on Fox News, calling Guantánamo Bay a “perfect spot” for those detainees. “We don’t want illegal criminals in the United States, not a minute longer than they have to be,” he said on Jesse Watters Primetime. “Move them off to Guantánamo Bay, where they can be safely maintained until they are deported to their final location, their country of origin.” The United States has leased land from Cuba for over a century, but the Cuban government has rejected the nominal payments sent out to it. Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, called the new move “an act of brutality.”
Politicians and immigration advocates worldwide have also blasted Trump’s memorandum. “Trump’s order [sends] a clear message … Migrants and asylum seekers are being cast as the new terrorist threat, deserving to be discarded in an island prison, removed from legal and social services and supporters,” Vincent Warren, executive director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a statement.
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President Donald Trump took to the campaign trail and touted his ability to make sweeping economic changes, including lowering the prices of eggs. President Donald Trump’s claims of lowering egg prices have yet to bear fruit and now, his press secretary is shifting the blame to President Joe Biden instead of examining pathways to help consumers.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt hosted the first press conference at the White House for the Trump administration, using stern talking points that echo much of the bravado of the president and his team. Leavitt, choosing to sidestep facts that egg prices continued to rise after Trump took office, instead took a shot at the Biden administration citing their handling of the issue.
“The Biden administration and the Department of Agriculture directed the mass killing of more than 100 million chickens, which has led to a lack of chicken supply in this country. Therefore, lack of egg supply, which is leading to the shortage,” Leavitt said while choosing to not point to more accurate accounts that bird flu impacted prices on eggs and poultry products in 2022.
Among the many campaign promises from Trump, his pledge to lower prices on day one of his administration was unceremoniously unmet. As seen in an Associated Press report, the spread of bird flu has promoted the slaughter of millions of chickens per month to contain the spread and more than doubling prices since 2023. The average price per carton last month was $4.15, which is still lower than the record of $4.82 set two years prior.
Video of the press briefing courtesy of Forbes Breaking News.
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President Donald Trump’s administration has offered federal workers a buyout. However, many see it as a false offer, speaking out about it on social media.
On Tuesday (January 28), the administration of President Donald Trump announced that it was offering buyouts to all federal employees who choose to leave their positions by February 6. The buyout offer was presented in an email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), where employees were offered seven months’ pay if they accepted the buyout. The move is seen as a dramatic effort to shrink the federal government workforce, with the administration claiming that only 6% of federal workers are physically in office. (That was found to be false in a report by Axios.)
“The substantial majority of federal employees who have been working remotely since Covid will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week,” the detailed memo from OPM reads. The offer exempts those in the Postal Service as well as those with positions of national security. The email was found to have a subject line and wording similar to an email Elon Musk sent to employees of X, formerly Twitter, in 2022 after he acquired the social media platform (in that email he asked that employees leave, or stay and become “hardcore.” Musk, a Trump ally, is currently overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and acknowledged the similarities on X.
The move comes with further pushes by Trump and his administration to institute a system of loyalists. On Monday (January 27), it removed a 2024 protection for workers from firing from the Biden administration in a memo. “Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to,” said Everett Kelley, the president of AFGE, the largest federal union in a statement.
Others swiftly called out Trump for trying to bully federal workers with the buyout online and offline, noting that those who choose it won’t even get retirement benefits. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine joined others of his party sounding the alarm in a speech. “He’s tricked hundreds of people with that offer. If you accept that offer and resign, he’ll stiff you just like he stiffed the contractors. He doesn’t have any authority to do this. Do not be fooled by this guy,” he said.
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Two of the so-called Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrectionists who received a blanket pardon from President Donald Trump recently found themselves in the news for unfortunate reasons. One of the Jan. 6 participants was shot and killed during a traffic stop, while another is on the run for soliciting a minor.
As reported by local outlet Fox 59, Indiana man Matthew Huttle was one of the 1,500 individuals involved in storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and was given freedom by the newly-inaugurated President Trump who felt those insurrectionists were serving their duty as Americans despite their seditious aims.
According to the outlet, Huttle, 42, was stopped by a Jasper County Sheriff’s Department deputy this past Sunday (Jan. 26) for an unnamed violation. As the deputy attempted to arrest Huttle, a struggle ensued leading to the deputy using his service weapon as Huttle resisted. Indiana state police say Huttle had a firearm in his possession and it is still being unsaid why the deputy pulled him over.
Huttle and his uncle Dale Huttle were arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 standoff, with the uncle stating publicly that he had no regrets for the actions he and his nephew took in 2021.
As seen on Houston Public Media, Andrew Taake of Houston was released from a Colorado prison on Jan. 20 after the sweeping pardons of President Trump. However, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare shared with the outlet that Taake, 36, is wanted under a pending state warrant for online solicitation of a minor in 2016. The Harris County DA’s office attempted to have Taake held in prison by showing a warrant to the Federal Bureau of Prisons five days ahead of his pardon.
Harris County authorities are currently searching for Taake to bring him to justice for the alleged crime.
“Re-arresting individuals, like Taake, who were released with pending state warrants, will require significant resources,” Teare said in a statement. “Know that we are already in the process of tracking Taake down, as he must answer for [the] 2016 charge of soliciting a minor online.”
It seems like President Donald Trump feels like the Jan. 6 domestic terrorists are “very fine people” because they did his bidding with murderous and treasonous intent.
On X, folks are taking note of the pardoned insurrectionists and their checkered trails since being cleared of their crimes. Check out the reactions below.
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Snoop Dogg lost a bit of goodwill with some of his fanbase after appearing in Washington, D.C. to appear at an event connected to President Donald Trump’s inauguration weekend. After catching the wrath of Hip-Hop fans and opponents of Trump, Snoop Dogg defended his appearance at the event and faced the criticism with love instead of the vitriol he’s faced online.
Taking to his Instagram account for a livestream, Snoop Dogg is seen driving in a vehicle and addressing his fans about the matter with his usual affable coolness and decided to combat the negative comments with positive vibes instead.
“Ya’ll can’t hate enough for me, I love too much,” Snoop says during his morning wake-and-bake drive. “Get your life right, stop worrying about mine, I’m cool. I’m together.”
Snoop continued with, “Still a Black man, still 100% Black. All out, ’til you ball out. Or until you fall out. I ain’t going nowhere. I’m right here.”
Many have speculated that Snoop’s alignment with Donald Trump is personal as the president pardoned Michael Harris, one of the co-founders of Death Row Records, a company Snoop is now the owner of. Harris, also known as Harry-O, was behind bars serving time for drug charges.
Check out the livestream of Snoop Dogg in the clip below courtesy of Livebitez.
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Veteran journalist Soledad O’Brien lambasted the media for its coverage of President Donald Trump, saying it has given in to “access journalism.”
The American media’s coverage of President Donald Trump has been attacked by critics who’ve felt it is too conciliatory to Trump, and Soledad O’Brien fully agrees. The veteran journalist voiced her perspective in a conversation with Variety columnist Brett Lang during a discussion of The Perfect Neighbor, a documentary film on which she serves as executive producer, at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
“The media has done a really piss poor job, to be honest,” O’Brien said to Lang about its coverage of Trump. “In a couple different ways. Framing every discussion as ‘this vs this’ is a real mistake. There is [a] lot of access journalism that has just been distressing and dismaying to watch. There are journalists I respect, but they want access. There’s a lot of countries where journalists don’t get access to their political leadership, and you can actually do a good job reporting when you’re not necessarily being invited to the dinner or having a front-row seat. In this country we are all about getting access, so we see a lot of journalists say we need to get in.” O’Brien also partially blamed the media landscape for “misinformation and disinformation,” pointing to recent headlines concerning Trump’s commentary on tariffs.
“The conversation around tariffs is hilarious if it wasn’t so pathetic,” the former CNN host said. “People have no idea what a tariff means and what the impact will be. That is a failure of journalism if people don’t understand the basics. I am hopeful we will do a better job in helping people understand the issues better instead of just pushing access to things. I’m not optimistic about it.”
O’Brien also spoke about her involvement in producing The Perfect Neighbor, which examines Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” laws. The documentary, directed by Geeta Gandbhir, focuses on the murder of Ajike Owens, a young Black mother of four who was shot by her white neighbor Susan Lorincz. “When you come in after a tragedy you are dealing with people who have been deeply impacted by such tragedy,” Gandbhir said of the film. “They are not who they were. They are changed. That was so important [to see them before]. We wanted to lead with the humanity of the community.
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As Costco reaffirmed its support for DEI initiatives in its company, the Black community showed its support in numerous social media posts.
In the wake of President Donald Trump’s attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and standards in federal agencies last week, other private companies have followed suit including Target. Costco, however, has stood firm. The Black community took notice of their stance, and civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton punctuated the support by leading a “buycott” along with 100 members of his National Action Network organization at a Costco location in East Harlem, New York, last Saturday (January 25). “We will stand with those who stand with us,” Sharpton said to reporters, as NAN members who attended were given $25 gift cards to shop.
Leading a buy-in with 100+ @NationalAction members at the @Costco location in Harlem, NYC to show support for the company’s strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
This comes as DEI policies face growing attacks from both President Trump and the private… pic.twitter.com/D2eYTeAZlV
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) January 25, 2025
Costco reaffirmed its commitment to DEI policies in a meeting with the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank that labeled DEI part of a “radical Marxist agenda” and called programs espousing it “illegal, immoral, and detrimental to shareholder value.” The company said that an “overwhelming margin” of 98% of its shareholders were opposed to a measure to strip DEI from its policies. Costco’s chair of the board of directors, Tony James, said the programs are “consistent with the company’s values and code of ethics.” He added: “We have always been purposefully nonpolitical, and a welcoming workforce has been integral to the company’s culture and values since its founding.”
The move by Sharpton coincided with several companies moving to limit or eliminate DEI programs, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Target. While some questioned the timing of the support as 18,000 unionized workers (represented by the Teamsters) at Costco stores nationwide approved a strike to begin on February 1, others lauded the company for standing up to the Trump administration’s pointed attacks on DEI. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, user Dale Thompson roasted those conservative supporters of Trump who vowed online to never visit Costco again. “If you’re a whiny Conservative who’s canceling their Costco membership b/c they won’t alter their hiring policies for Trump, go ahead & do it,” he wrote. “Costco hasn’t changed their $1.50 hot dog combo for 40 years, so you’re in for a loooong fight. And you’re freeing up parking too.”