WASHINGTON: Billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy spent several hours Thursday swapping ideas with lawmakers about President-elect Donald Trump’s DOGE initiative to dismantle parts of the federal government.
Meeting behind closed doors at the Capitol, Musk told the mostly Republican lawmakers they would be keeping a “naughty and nice” list of those who join in the budget slashing proposals and those who don’t, according to lawmakers who attended.
“We’re going to see a lot of change around here in Washington,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, as Musk, with his young son on his shoulders, breezed by and into the private meeting.
Trump tapped the two business titans to head his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a nongovernmental task force assigned to find ways to fire federal workers, cut programs and slash federal regulations — all part of what he calls his “Save America” agenda for a second term in the White House.
Washington has seen this before, with ambitious efforts to reduce the size and scope of the federal government that historically have run into resistance when the public is confronted with cuts to trusted programs that millions of Americans depend on for jobs, health care, military security and everyday needs.
But this time Trump is staffing his administration with battle-tested architects of sweeping proposals, some outlined in Project 2025, to severely reduce and reshape the government. Musk and Ramaswamy have said they plan to work alongside the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, headed by Trump’s nominee Russ Vought, a mastermind of past cuts.
“DOGE has a historic opportunity for structural reductions in the federal government,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. “We are prepared for the onslaught.”
Trump said Thursday that he would also name venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar” and lead the Presidential Council of Advisers for Science and Technology. Trump said in a social media post that Sacks would help “steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship.” Trump’s transition team didn’t say whether Sacks would be a government employee or a temporary government worker who would not be bound by the same ethics and disclosure rules.
Sacks visited Mar-a-Lago earlier Thursday, according to an investor who held an event at Trump’s Florida club. The longtime conservative was key to introducing Vice President-elect JD Vance to donors, helping him prove he could raise money. Sacks hosted a fundraiser for Trump and Vance at his San Francisco home.
Musk and Ramaswamy faced a first test as they sat on a auditorium stage in the Capitol basement, as House and Senate lawmakers, almost exclusively Republicans, lined up at the microphones to share ideas for ways to address the nation’s budget imbalances.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., the chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, brought up the Department of Education as a good place to cut. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisconsin, said to look at office space and how little of it is being used. Others talked about the need for workers to return to their offices.
Afterward, Johnson declined to say if Medicare, Social Security or other popular programs were off limits for cuts, describing this first meeting as a “brainstorming” session with more to come.
“They said everything has to be looked at,” said Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., who joined with Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, in launching what they are calling the DOGE caucus in the House, with more than 50 Republicans and two Democratic members.
Musk and Ramaswamy appeared to be taking it all in, Musk at times even taking notes, lawmakers said — experiencing a day in the life of congressional leadership, as the meeting went on and on, with lawmakers lined up 20-deep for their chance to speak.
“It was just what I’d hoped for, where it was a question and answer session, so that members could come up, express their ideas, concerns, ask questions,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who will chair a House Oversight subcommittee in the new year on DOGE.
To be sure, it wasn’t the full Congress participating, as most Democrats did not join.
New York Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi said when he heard Musk mention that he was open to hearing from Democrats, he dashed over to join toward the end of the session.
“Let’s do some things to try and make government more efficient — without hurting people,” Suozzi said.
Musk and Ramaswamy left lawmakers with the impression they would be back for more, holding regular meetings and starting a podcast or some other way to share information with Americans to gauge public support — or opposition — to the proposals.
While neither Musk nor Ramaswamy have much public service experience, they bring track records in private business — Musk’s operations have vast government contracts — and enthusiasm for Trump’s agenda, having campaigned alongside him in the final stretch of the election.
The world’s richest man, Musk poured millions into a get-out-the-vote effort to help the former president return to the White House. He is known politically for having transformed the popular social media site formerly known as Twitter into X, a platform embraced by Trump’s “Make America Great Again” enthusiasts.
Despite its name, the Department of Government Efficiency is neither a department nor part of the government, which frees Musk and Ramaswamy from having to go through the typical ethics and background checks required for federal employment. They said they will not be paid for their work.
One good-government group has said that DOGE, as a presidential advisory panel, should be expected to adhere to traditional practices of transparency, equal representation and public input — as happened with similar advisory entities from the Reagan to the Obama administrations.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act “is designed expressly for situations like this,” wrote Lisa Gilbert and Robert Weissman, the co-chairs of Public Citizen, in a letter to the Trump transition team.
“If the government is going to turn to unelected and politically unaccountable persons to make recommendations as grand as $2 trillion in budget cuts, it must ensure those recommendations come from a balanced and transparent process not rigged to benefit insiders.”
The nation’s $6 trillion federal budget routinely runs a deficit, which this year ran $1.8 trillion, a historic high, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It has not been balanced since the Clinton administration more than two decades ago.
Republicans generally blame what they see as exorbitant spending for the deficit, while Democrats point to tax cuts enacted under Republican presidents Trump and George W. Bush as the major driver.
Receipts last year as a percentage of gross domestic product came in just below the average for the past 50 years, while outlays were equal to 23.4 percent of GDP, compared to the 50-year average of 21.1 percent.
Some of the biggest increases in spending last year occurred with politically popular programs that lawmakers will be reticent to touch. For example, spending on Social Security benefits went up 8 percent, Medicare outlays increased 9 percent, spending on defense went up 7 percent and spending on veterans health care rose 14 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Louisiana, said the significance of the meeting was that it was even taking place, “that there’s honest dialogue between Congress and two, like, rock star administration guys.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he would like to see Musk testify before the House Armed Services Committee on the “bloated defense budget.”
“I’d like to see Elon recommend some cuts. Let’s have him testify,” Khanna said.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy bring Trump’s DOGE to Capitol Hill
https://arab.news/bte7x
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy bring Trump’s DOGE to Capitol Hill
Zelensky says excluding Ukraine from US-Russia talks about war is ‘very dangerous’
- Zelensky’s remarks followed comments Friday by Trump, who said American and Russian officials were “already talking” about ending the war
- Without security guarantees from Ukraine’s allies, Zelensky said, any deal struck with Russia would only serve as a precursor to future aggression
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that excluding his country from talks between the US and Russia about the war in Ukraine would be “very dangerous” and asked for more discussions between Kyiv and Washington to develop a plan for a ceasefire.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Zelensky said Russia does not want to engage in ceasefire talks or to discuss any kind of concessions, which the Kremlin interprets as losing at a time when its troops have the upper hand on the battlefield.
He said US President Donald Trump could bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the table with the threat of sanctions targeting Russia’s energy and banking system, as well as continued support of the Ukrainian military.
“I think these are the closest and most important steps,” he said in the interview in the Ukrainian capital that lasted for more than an hour.
Zelensky’s remarks followed comments Friday by Trump, who said American and Russian officials were “already talking” about ending the war. Trump said his administration has had “very serious” discussions with Russia, but he did not elaborate.
“They may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us — it is dangerous for everyone,” Zelensky said.
He said his team has been in contact with the Trump administration, but those discussions are at a “general level,” and he believes in-person meetings will take place soon to develop more detailed agreements.
“We need to work more on this,” he said, adding that Trump understandably appeared to be focused on domestic issues in the first weeks after his inauguration.
The nearly three-year war in Ukraine is at a crossroads. Trump promised to end the fighting within six months of taking office, but the two sides are far apart, and it is unclear how a ceasefire deal would take shape. Meanwhile, Russia continues to make slow but steady gains along the front, and Ukrainian forces are enduring severe manpower shortages.
Most Ukrainians want a pause in fighting to rebuild their lives. The country faces near-daily Russian attacks on homes, and strikes on power systems have plunged entire cities into darkness.
Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced, unable to return to their homes after vast tracts of the country’s east have been reduced to rubble. Nearly a fifth of Ukraine is now occupied by Russia. In those areas, Moscow-appointed authorities are swiftly erasing any hint of Ukrainian identity.
With Trump back in the White House, Ukraine’s relationship with the US, its largest and most important ally, is also at a tipping point.
In an initial phone call with Trump during the presidential campaign, Zelensky said, the two agreed that if Trump won, they would meet to discuss the steps needed to end the war. But a planned visit by Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, was postponed “for legal reasons” Zelensky said. That was followed by a sudden foreign aid freeze that effectively caused Ukrainian organizations to halt projects.
“I believe that, first and foremost, we (must) hold a meeting with him, and that is important. And that is, by the way, something that everyone in Europe wants,” Zelensky said, referring to “a common vision of a quick end to the war.”
After the conversation with Trump, “we should move on to some kind of format of conversation with Russians. And I would like to see the United States of America, Ukraine and the Russians at the negotiating table. ... And, to be honest, a European Union voice should also be there. I think it would be fair, effective. But how will it turn out? I don’t know.”
Zelensky cautioned against allowing Putin to take “control” over the war, an apparent reference to Russia’s repeated threats of escalation during President Joe Biden’s administration.
Without security guarantees from Ukraine’s allies, Zelensky said, any deal struck with Russia would only serve as a precursor to future aggression. Membership in the NATO alliance, a longstanding wish for Kyiv that Moscow has categorically rejected, is still Zelensky’s top choice.
NATO membership is the “cheapest” option for Ukraine’s allies, and it would also strengthen Trump geopolitically, Zelensky argued.
“I really believe that these are the cheapest security guarantees that Ukraine can get, the cheapest for everyone,” he said.
“It will be a signal that it is not for Russia to decide who should be in NATO and who should not, but for the United States of America to decide. I think this is a great victory for Trump,” he said, evidently appealing to the president’s penchant for winners and business deals.
In addition, Zelensky said, Ukraine’s 800,000-strong army would be a bonus to the alliance, especially if Trump seeks to bring home US troops who are stationed overseas.
Other security guarantee proposals should be backed up by sufficient weapons from the US and Europe, and support for Kyiv to develop its own defense industry, he said.
Zelensky also said a French proposal to put European forces in Ukraine to act as a deterrent against Russian aggression is taking shape, but he expressed skepticism, saying many questions remained about the command-and-control structure and the number of troops and their positions. The issue was raised by French President Emmanuel Macron and with Trump, he said.
“I said in the presence of the two leaders that we are interested in this as a part of the security guarantee, but not as the only guarantee of safety,” he said. “That’s not enough.”
He added: “Imagine, there is a contingent. The question is who is in charge? Who is the main one? What will they do if there are Russian strikes? Missiles, disembarkation, attack from the sea, crossing of the land borderline, offensive. What will they do? What are their mandates?”
Asked if he put those questions directly to Macron, he smiled and said: “We are still in the process of this dialogue.”
Following a statement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the war has set Ukraine back by 100 years, Zelensky urged Rubio to visit Ukraine.
Rubio “needs to come to Ukraine, first of all, to see what Russia has done,” the Ukrainian president said. “But also to see what the Ukrainian people did, what they were able to do for the security of Ukraine and the world, as I said, and just talk to these people.”
Trump orders steep tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, China
- Trump has declared the national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to back the tariffs, which allows sweeping powers to address crises
US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10 percent on goods from China starting on Tuesday to address a national emergency over fentanyl and illegal aliens entering the US, White House officials said.
Energy products from Canada will have only a 10 percent duty, but Mexican energy imports will be charged the full 25 percent, the officials told reporters.
Trump has declared the national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to back the tariffs, which allows sweeping powers to address crises.
The White House officials said there would be no exclusions from the tariffs. Moreover, in the case of Canada specifically, they said the “de minimiz” US tariff exemption for small shipments under $800 would be canceled.
The moves follow through on a repeated threat Trump has made since shortly after winning last year’s presidential election, and they likely will trigger retaliation and risk igniting a trade war that could cause broad economic disruption for all countries involved.
It was unclear if Trump, who golfed at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Saturday before signing the order, would speak to the media about the duties.
Trump set the Feb. 1 deadline to press for strong action to halt the flow of the opiate fentanyl and precursor chemicals into the US from China via Mexico and Canada, as well as to stop illegal immigrants crossing US borders.
Less than two weeks into his second term, Trump is upending the norms of how the United States is governed and interacts with its neighbors and wider world.
On Friday, he pledged to proceed with the levies despite acknowledging they could cause disruption and hardship for American households.
A model gauging the economic impact of Trump’s tariff plan from EY Chief Economist Greg Daco suggests it would reduce US growth by 1.5 percentage points this year, throw Canada and Mexico into recession and usher in “stagflation” at home.
“We have stressed that steep tariff increases against US trading partners could create a stagflationary shock — a negative economic hit combined with an inflationary impulse — while also triggering financial market volatility,” Daco wrote on Saturday.
That volatility was evident on Friday, when the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar both slumped after Trump vowed to fulfill his threats. US stock prices also fell and Treasury bond yields rose.
US Democrats anoint new leader to take on Trump for ‘working people’
- Much of Democratic success going forward will be in how the party presents itself to an American public weary of politics
NATIONAL HARBOR, United States: US Democrats picked a 51-year-old progressive activist on Saturday as their new leader, who must rebuild a party still reeling from last year’s crushing presidential defeat — and figure out how best to oppose Republican Donald Trump.
“The Democratic Party is the party of working people, and it’s time to roll up our sleeves and outcompete everywhere, in every election, and at every level of government,” Ken Martin, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), said in a statement.
The DNC, the party’s governing body, raises millions of dollars each year to support and build infrastructure for candidates across the country, culminating every four years in the presidential election.
Martin, a relative unknown outside of the party, stressed the need for Democrats to reconnect with blue collar voters, and to take the electoral fight to all 50 states — even bastions of conservative politics.
“Donald Trump and his billionaire allies are put on notice — we will hold them accountable for ripping off working families, and we will beat them at the ballot box,” Martin said.
Party grandees were meeting near Washington as the DNC carries out a postmortem of their November loss.
They elevated Martin, formerly the chair of the party’s Minnesota branch, to devise their national battle plan.
“This is not a game of chess where everyone is moving their pieces back and forth in a respectful, timed manner. This is guerilla warfare in political form,” said Katherine Jeanes, deputy digital director of the North Carolina Democratic Party, ahead of the vote.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a rising Democratic star, warned that the party must “not to go into hiding until the next general election.”
The moment calls for boldness, added Shasti Conrad, chair of the party’s Washington state branch, saying that many Americans have lost the faith.
“They don’t trust us to be able to make things better. They don’t trust that when we are given power, that we know how to use it,” Conrad said.
And the fight starts now, she added — there can be no waiting until the next presidential election, set for 2028.
Facing a Republican majority in Congress and a second term for Trump, who has roared back into the White House with all the provocative rhetoric of his first administration, Democrats say they must pick their battles.
“We have to be able to decipher crazy rhetoric versus policy violence,” said Conrad, and not be like a “dog chasing the car.”
While many are “exhausted” after the last election campaign, Jeanes said the party must learn to respond to the frantic pace of shock moves from the Trump administration.
Much of Democratic success going forward will be in how the party presents itself to an American public weary of politics.
That includes engaging with voters “in places that have sometimes been uncomfortable” for Democrats, according to Conrad.
After his victory in November, Trump credited a series of interviews on largely right-wing podcasts, including the popular “Joe Rogan Experience,” for aiding his return to the White House.
“We need to be getting on sports podcasts and video games and trying to make sure that we’re reaching into apolitical spaces,” Jeanes said.
US military conducts airstrikes against Daesh operatives in Somalia
- US military officials have warned that Daesh cells have received increasing direction from the group’s leadership that relocated to northern Somalia
WASHINGTON: The US military has conducted airstrikes against Daesh operatives in Somalia, the first attacks in the African nation during President Donald Trump’s second term.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday that the strikes by US Africa Command were directed by Trump and coordinated with Somalia’s government.
An initial assessment by the Pentagon indicated that “multiple” operatives were killed. The Pentagon said it assessed that no civilians were harmed in the strikes.
Trump, in a post on social media, said a senior Daesh planner and recruits were targeted in the operation.
“The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians. Our Military has targeted this Daesh Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done. I did!” Trump said. “The message to Daesh and all others who would attack Americans is that “WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!”
Trump did not identify the Daesh planner or say whether that person was killed in the strike. White House officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Pentagon’s counterterrorism strategy in Africa has been strained as two key partners, Chad and Niger, ousted US forces last year and took over key bases that the US military had used to train and conduct missions against terrorist groups across the Sahel, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert.
US military officials have warned that Daesh cells have received increasing direction from the group’s leadership that relocated to northern Somalia. That has included how to kidnap Westerners for ransom, how to learn better military tactics, how to hide from drones and how to build their own small quadcopters.
The Daesh affiliate in Somalia emerged in 2015 as a breakaway faction from Al-Shabab, Al-Qaeda’s East African link, and is most active in Puntland, particularly in the Galgala Mountains, where it has established hideouts and training camps and is led by Abdulkadir Mumin.
While its influence is relatively limited compared to Al-Shabab, Daesh in Somalia has been involved in attacks in southern and central Somalia. The group funds its activities through extortion, smuggling, and illicit taxation, particularly in some coastal areas where it has attempted to control local businesses.
Despite facing counterterrorism pressure from Somali security forces, US airstrikes and Al-Shabab rivalries, it continues to operate in remote and urban areas, seeking to expand its influence through recruitment and propaganda.
The number of Daesh militants in the country are estimated to be in the hundreds, mostly scattered in the Cal Miskaat mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, according to the International Crisis Group.
Saturday’s operation followed military airstrikes on Jan. 30 in northwest Syria, killing a senior operative in Hurras Al-Din, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, US Central Command said.
Russian attacks on Ukraine kill 15, including 4 at a boarding school sheltering civilians in Kursk region
- Fighting in the nearly three-year war has shown no signs of de-escalating, despite US President Donald Trump’s promise to enact a ceasefire within “24 hours” of taking office on January 20
POLTAVA, Ukraine: Russia fired dozens of missiles and drones at Ukraine overnight and early Saturday, killing 15 people, Kyiv said.
Ukraine and Russia also traded blame for a strike on a boarding school sheltering civilians in the Ukrainian-occupied town of Sudzha in Moscow’s Kursk region, where Kyiv launched a major cross-border assault last August.
The Ukrainian military said four people were killed in the attack, with dozens more rescued as rescuers cleared the rubble. Russia has not given a toll.
Fighting in the nearly three-year war has shown no signs of de-escalating, despite US President Donald Trump’s promise to enact a ceasefire within “24 hours” of taking office on January 20.
At least 15 people were killed in Russian strikes on central and eastern Ukraine overnight Friday to Saturday, according to regional authorities and police.
Eleven of those, including a child, were killed by a missile that hit a residential building in the central city of Poltava, the local administration said.
Firefighters could be seen searching through the smoldering ruins of a building in AFP images from the scene.
“God saved us,” said Olena Svyryd, a resident of a neighboring building.
“Opposite us, on the fifth floor, a woman, my friend, was taken out. No, she’s not alive. She was crushed by the wall. There were a lot of casualties,” she told AFP.
Kateryna Yamshchykova, acting mayor of Poltava, said rescue operations were ongoing.
“Doctors in the hospital are fighting for our wounded,” she told AFP.
Ukraine accused Russia on Saturday of killing four people in a strike on a boarding school sheltering civilians in the Kursk region town of Sudzha, which Kyiv has occupied for over five months.
Moscow responded Sunday by accusing Kyiv’s forces of launching the Sudzha attack.
“On February 1, the Ukrainian Armed Forces committed another war crime by launching a targeted missile strike on a boarding school in the city of Sudzha,” said a statement from Russia’s defense ministry.
The defense ministry did not mention any deaths, while Kursk region’s active governor Aleksandr Khinshtein said “there is no reliable information about the number of victims yet.”
Kyiv launched a surprise cross-border offensive into the Kursk region last August, seizing dozens of villages and small towns including the regional hub of Sudzha — home to about 6,000 people before the fighting.
“Russian aviation struck a boarding school in the town of Sudzha, Kursk region, with a guided aerial bomb,” the Ukrainian military’s general staff said on Telegram.
“The strike was carried out on purpose,” it added.
It said “dozens of local residents were inside the building preparing to evacuate” at the time of the attack, and that rescue work was under way.
“In the course of the rubble removal works, 84 civilians were rescued and provided with medical aid, their health condition is satisfactory, four are in serious condition, and four people died,” it said in a later post.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia “devoid of civility,” sharing a video on social media showing a heavily damaged building, as well as a wounded man lying on the ground.
“They destroyed the building even though dozens of civilians were there,” Zelensky said in a post on X. “Russian bombs destroy Ukrainian homes the same way. And even against their own civilians, the Russian army uses similar tactics.”
A Russian official in Kursk told AFP last week that authorities were working “constantly” to secure the return of Russian civilians caught behind the front lines.
Thousands of Russian civilians are thought to be trapped by fighting in the border region.
Moscow has been advancing on the battlefield for over a year, and its invasion of Ukraine will this month hit the three-year mark.
The Russian military said Saturday its troops had “liberated” the village of Krymske in the northeastern suburbs of the city of Toretsk.
Toretsk in the eastern Donetsk region has been in the Kremlin’s sights for months, as its capture would enable Russia to obstruct vital Ukrainian supply routes.
Both Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have said they are ready for talks on ending the war, but neither side has said when or how.
Trump has been critical of the billions Washington has spent arming Ukraine, while threatening to impose additional sanctions on Russia if Putin does not reach a “deal” to end the war.
Putin said last month he was willing to hold talks with Ukraine, but not with Zelensky, whom he called “illegitimate.”
