Trump Fired, Then Unfired, National Nuclear Security Administration Employees. What Were Their Jobs?

16 February 2025 at 18:41

The administration asked some of the agency’s workers, who were part of last week’s massive layoffs across the federal government, to come back.

The Department of Energy in Washington on Friday.

In Moving to Stop Adams Case, Career Lawyer Sought to Stave Off Deeper Crisis

NYT > Top Stories

By:Devlin Barrett · Adam Goldman · Glenn Thrush and William K. Rashbaum

16 February 2025 at 14:47

A high-stakes decision for public corruption prosecutors at the Justice Department revealed a generational difference.

Prosecutors in the Justice Department’s public integrity section were given an hour to decide whether to sign a request to dismiss charges against Mayor Eric Adams.

Starmer Offers to Send U.K. Troops to Ukraine as Part of Peace Deal

NYT > Top Stories

By:Yan Zhuang

16 February 2025 at 20:38

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said for the first time on Sunday that he was “ready and willing” to deploy troops to help guarantee Ukraine’s security.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s statement came on the eve of an emergency meeting of European leaders in Paris on Monday to discuss the Ukraine war.

Ukraine Won’t Accept a Deal It Didn’t Help Negotiate, Zelensky Says

NYT > Top Stories

By:Maggie Haberman

16 February 2025 at 11:35

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, told NBC News that he’d warned President Trump that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, is a “liar.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, left, met with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.

German Election Spotlight Turns to Trump

NYT > Top Stories

By:Jim Tankersley

16 February 2025 at 14:35

The American president’s foreign policy, and a divisive speech by his vice president, drew attention away from an attack by a refugee that some expected would fan political tensions over migration.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany at a campaign rally in Munich on Saturday.

Trump Team Leaves European Alliance in Crisis; Macron Calls for Emergency Summit

NYT > Top Stories

By:David E. Sanger and Steven Erlanger

16 February 2025 at 10:02

European leaders felt certain about one thing after a whirlwind tour by Trump officials — they were entering a new world where it was harder to depend on the United States.

Vice President JD Vance speaking with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday.

Putin Has Long Wanted More Power in Europe. Trump Could Grant It.

NYT > Top Stories

By:Paul Sonne

16 February 2025 at 09:50

Remarks by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are fueling concerns that the U.S. will move away from Europe and align with Moscow.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Togliatti, Russia, last month, in a photo released by the Russian state media.

Trump Suggests No Laws Are Broken if He’s ‘Saving His Country’

NYT > Top Stories

By:Maggie Haberman · Charlie Savage and Jonathan Swan

15 February 2025 at 21:37

President Trump shared a quotation on social media, making it clear it was one he wanted people to absorb: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” Mr. Trump wrote, first on his social media platform Truth Social, and then on the website X.

How Trump’s One-for-One Tariff Plan Threatens the Global Economy

NYT > Top Stories

By:Peter S. Goodman

16 February 2025 at 04:01

In starting a process to impose reciprocal tariffs on American trading partners, the White House is sowing uncertainty and risking inflation.

Rows of cars waiting to be shipped at the Port of Tianjin in China. President Trump is aiming to advance a new era in which trade treaties give way to country-to-country negotiations.

Venting at Democrats and Fearing Trump, Liberal Donors Pull Back Cash

NYT > Top Stories

By:Lisa Lerer · Reid J. Epstein and Theodore Schleifer

16 February 2025 at 04:01

Demoralized donors are frustrated with Democrats’ failings and worried about retribution from the president. Their frugality has left liberal groups struggling to fight the new administration.

President Trump has not yet taken action against any liberal groups or donors, but many worry that he or his allies may seek to punish them through congressional investigations, lawsuits or tax audits.

The Republican Party’s NPC Problem — and Ours

NYT > Top Stories

By:Ezra Klein

16 February 2025 at 00:02

What happens when ambition no longer checks ambition?

Trump Killed a Major Report on Nature. They’re Trying to Publish It Anyway.

NYT > Climate and Environment

By:Catrin Einhorn

10 February 2025 at 14:37

The first full draft of the assessment, on the state of America’s land, water and wildlife, was weeks from completion. The project leader called the study “too important to die.”

Most of the 12 chapters in the report were written by teams of a dozen or so specialists.

Trump Is Freezing Money for Clean Energy. Republican States Have the Most to Lose.

NYT > Climate and Environment

By:Lisa Friedman · Brad Plumer and Harry Stevens

11 February 2025 at 10:49

About 80 percent of manufacturing investments spurred by a Biden-era climate law have flowed to Republican districts. Efforts to stop federal payments are already causing pain.

Forest Service Layoffs and Frozen Funds Increase the Risk From Wildfires

NYT > Climate and Environment

By:Christopher Flavelle and Austyn Gaffney

15 February 2025 at 04:03

The Trump administration’s decision to fire 3,400 workers and pause funds used for wildfire prevention comes as wildfires are growing more dangerous and frequent.

David Needham, a U.S. Forest Service ranger, monitored a prescribed burn, which is intended to clear out vegetation that could feed a wildfire, in Colorado in 2022.

FEMA Quietly Eases Rules Meant to Protect Buildings in Flood Zones

NYT > Climate and Environment

By:Christopher Flavelle

14 February 2025 at 15:20

The agency issued an internal memo saying it would “pause” a regulation directing that schools, libraries and other public facilities damaged by disasters be rebuilt safely.

Trump Nominates Oil and Gas Advocate to Run Bureau of Land Management

NYT > Climate and Environment

By:Coral Davenport

12 February 2025 at 12:48

The nominee, Kathleen Sgamma, has worked for nearly two decades on behalf of oil and gas companies in Western states.

Kathleen Sgamma is president of the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, which has worked to strip away government protections and rules on extracting fossil fuels on public lands.

Natural Gas Could Get Priority Over Renewable Energy in Largest U.S. Grid

NYT > Climate and Environment

By:Minho Kim

12 February 2025 at 11:42

Federal regulators approved a proposal from the nation’s largest grid operator that will give primacy to 50 new power plants, a decision to help meet the country’s growing electricity demand.