ACTUAL NEWS: Thursday, March 13th 2025 Recap
"Today in History" and the Latest National and Global News
QUICK HITS
The EU Parliament accuses the U.S. of 'blackmailing' Ukraine in a joint declaration.
The declaration accuses the U.S. of attempting "to negotiate a ceasefire and peace agreement with Russia over the heads of Ukraine and other European states."
Ukrainian forces, having lost access to intelligence, satellite imagery, and military capabilities, were forced to withdraw from Russia’s Kursk region. Putin has described this as his "win." Given this, he is now interested in a ceasefire, but insists on receiving "guarantees": "We want assurances that during the 30-day ceasefire, Ukraine will not mobilize, train troops, or receive weapons."
Putin on UKR army in Kursk:
“All people who are on the territory of the Kursk region, who commit crimes against civilians here, who oppose our armed forces, law enforcement agencies and special services, in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation, and are terrorists."
In other words, Russians and North Koreans on Ukrainian land are terrorists, not liberators.. per Russian law?
Ultimately, Ukraine rejected Putin’s proposal for offering Russia security guarantees for temporary ceasefire.
Yermak: We are against frozen conflict alike Minsk-3. Europe will be engaged in the peaceful process.
President Trump met with NATO Secretary General Rutte at the Oval Office. Here are the key takeaways:
On Ukraine
Trump: We are discussing with Ukrainians land - what’s lost, what’s kept. Concepts of land. This is what you can get, this is what you can’t. There’s a large energy plant, who’s gonna keep that?
Putin put a statement out, very promising one. I would love to meet or talk to him.
Trump: Obama gave Russia Crimea. There were no wars under my leadership. I got along with all - Putin, Xi..
Rutte: Yes, yes
TELL THIS TO THOSE UKRAINIANS who died in 2014-2022 before the full scale invasion. How do they think the occupied areas were “occupied”?
On Greenland
Trump: Denmark is really far away and really has nothing to do— What happened is a boat landed there 200 years ago or something and they say they have rights to it. I don’t know it that’s true. I don’t think it is..
Q: What is your vision on the potential annexation of Greenland?
Trump: I think it will happen...It is important for our international security.
Rutte: I will keep myself out of this discussion not to drag NATO into this.
On Canada
Trump: We've been ripped off for years and we're not going to be ripped off anymore. I'm not going to bend at all, aluminum or steel or cars, we're not going to bend.
Canada only works as a state. O Canada, the national anthem, I love it. Keep it, but it will be for the state.
California
Trump to Rutte: I broke into Los Angeles, I had to invade it, can you believe it? Now the water flows there like never before. They show me pictures, it’s beautiful. We broke in to do it, because they had people afraid to turn on the water. Canada helped, thank you - next thing, they’ll charge us.
Ending
Rutte at the end: Thank you, Mr. President, you spent so much time - much more than your predecessor.
Trump: Yes, just now I spoke more than Biden in 4 years.
DID YOU KNOW?
Tonight a total lunar eclipse will be visible in North and South America, as well as parts of Europe and Africa.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon enters the shadow of Earth, opposite the Sun, so that Earth’s shadow sweeps over the Moon’s surface. In tonight’s total eclipse, the whole disk of the Moon will pass through the umbra, the darkest part of the shadow, in about an hour. During that time the Moon is usually not completely dark—a part of the sunlight, especially the redder light, penetrates Earth’s atmosphere, making the Moon appear reddish-brown.
Saturn already had more moons than any other planet in the solar system, outpacing second-place Jupiter 146 to 95. But the discovery of 128 more moons, announced on Tuesday by the International Astronomical Union, has upped Saturn’s count to 274.
QUICK ACTUAL NEWS
NATIONAL
Democratic U.S. Representative Raúl Grijalva, who represented Arizona for more than 20 years, passed away on Thursday at the age of 77 due to complications from cancer treatments, according to a statement from his office.
President Trump is scheduled to meet New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday morning. The talks may include discussions on potentially reviving the Constitution natural gas pipeline in the Northeast.
Several U.S. farmers and non-profit organizations filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Thursday, alleging that it is illegally withholding Department of Agriculture grants funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.
Top U.S. Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer informed colleagues in a closed-door meeting on Thursday that he would vote to advance a stopgap funding bill. This suggests that his party would provide the necessary votes to avert a government shutdown, according to Punchbowl News, which cited Democratic aides and lawmakers.
Then, he did so publicly:
The White House has instructed the FBI to cease conducting background checks on dozens of top staffers in President Donald Trump's administration and to transfer the process to the Pentagon, ABC News reported Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for leaking classified U.S. national security documents online, pleaded guilty to military charges of obstructing justice on Thursday.
Elon Musk, leading the Trump administration's effort to reduce and streamline the federal workforce, visited the National Security Agency on Wednesday to meet with the NSA's head, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed to Reuters.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds PBS and NPR stations, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday, seeking to lift a freeze on funds intended to support the nation's emergency alert system.
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed a desire to waive taxes for Americans earning under $150,000 once the budget is balanced, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News on Thursday. "It's aspirational," he said during an appearance on The Story with Martha MacCallum.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) informed its staff this week that it cannot guarantee workspace or parking spots as they prepare to return to their offices en masse on Monday, raising concerns about further disruption at the agency.
President Donald Trump met with General Motors (GM) CEO Mary Barra on Wednesday to discuss the automaker’s investment plans amid an ongoing tariff war. A White House official told Reuters that Trump had agreed to exempt automakers from his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for one month, provided they comply with existing free trade rules. Trump told reporters on Thursday that GM had visited the White House and expressed intentions to invest $60 billion. GM did not immediately comment, and it is unclear over what period this investment will occur.
President Donald Trump appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to revisit his attempt to restrict automatic U.S. birthright citizenship, requesting that justices narrow the judicial block on this key component of his hardline immigration policies.
Government worker unions withdrew their motion on Thursday to block the U.S. Agency for International Development from shredding documents in its now-closed offices. Trump administration lawyers "assured" them that no personnel records had been destroyed.
The largest federal employee union filed a lawsuit on Thursday to prevent President Donald Trump's administration from ending collective bargaining for nearly 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers who staff U.S. airports and other transportation hubs.
The U.S. Senate confirmed William Pulte on Thursday as the next director of the agency overseeing housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The White House is urging federal agencies to avoid laying off cybersecurity teams as they scramble to meet a Thursday deadline to submit mass layoff plans aimed at slashing their budgets, according to an email obtained by Reuters.
A California federal judge ordered on Thursday that six federal agencies rehire probationary workers, calling the Trump administration’s justification for firing them a “sham.” The judge had previously blocked the administration's attempts to force agencies to fire these employees.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate are requesting that the Department of Agriculture reverse its cancellation of programs that have allocated more than $2 billion to local food purchases for schools and food banks, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.
Hilary Perkins, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's chief counsel, resigned on Thursday, just two days after her appointment was announced, the agency confirmed on social media platform X.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that a recession would be "worth it" to implement President Donald Trump's economic policies, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke of a "detox" period, and Trump himself described the economy as being in "transition."
The White House is withdrawing President Donald Trump's nomination of former Republican congressman and vaccine critic Dave Weldon as director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a source briefed on the matter confirmed on Thursday.
The U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation on Wednesday into the operation of New York City hotels as migrant shelters. Media outlets such as The Guardian and The New York Times reported that federal prosecutors have sent a subpoena to a New York hotel housing migrants, seeking a full list of names of the migrants staying there.
The Department of Agriculture suspended funding to the University of Maine on Wednesday because the school refused to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Congress has introduced bills proposing to raise the tax rate on university endowments from the current 1.4% to between 10% and 20%.
The U.S. Air Force could lose up to $14 billion in buying power under a year-long continuing resolution, though some proposals may somewhat mitigate this impact, Lt. Gen. Adrian Spain, deputy chief of staff for operations, told the Senate Armed Services Committee's readiness subcommittee.
The U.S. Army and Navy may soon explore alternative methods for building barracks, including 3D printing, in an effort to reduce financial burdens. Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida and Fort Bliss in Texas have already used 3D printing for barracks-related projects.
The U.S. Space Force is exploring the commercial marketplace for space domain awareness capabilities that could become part of a future proliferated constellation, according to its top military acquisition officer.
Support for the creation of a Space National Guard is gaining momentum in Congress, with bipartisan groups of lawmakers introducing bills in both chambers to establish it and to eliminate an old proposal to transfer certain Air National Guard units to the Space Force.
Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a potential candidate for president in 2028, announced on Thursday that he will not run for governor of Michigan or U.S. Senate next year. "I remain enthusiastic about helping candidates who share our values and who understand that leadership today means not only opposing the chaos of the moment but also offering a vision for a better future," he wrote in a post on X.
Columbia University announced that it has expelled, suspended, or revoked the degrees of several students who participated in a pro-Palestinian protest that involved seizing a building.
GLOBAL
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he still maintains a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with whom he held several summits during his first term. He also referred to North Korea once again as a "nuclear power."
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Thursday that cooperation with Mexican authorities has improved, and he has seen tangible results on migration. However, he emphasized that more work needs to be done to curb the flow of illegal drugs.
President Trump's nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Mexico suggested on Thursday that unilateral U.S. military action in Mexico could be considered if U.S. citizens were in danger, highlighting tensions between the two nations over how to combat drug cartels.
The number of migrants apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol after entering the U.S. from Canada dropped to its lowest point since 2022 last month, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics published on Thursday. In February, Border Patrol apprehended 481 individuals near the Canada-U.S. border, a significant decrease from 616 in January and 3,601 in June, which marked a multi-year high.
President Trump's nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Canada reiterated on Thursday that he views Canada as an independent nation, following pressure on the issue.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Iran's Minister of Petroleum, Mohsen Paknejad, for overseeing the export of Iranian oil and directing billions of dollars in oil exports to Iran's military. OFAC also targeted entities in China and India involved in transporting Iranian oil. These sanctions are intended to increase pressure on Iran’s "shadow fleet" and reduce its oil exports, in line with the U.S. goal of halting Iran's oil exports entirely.
Portugal canceled its F-35 order from the U.S. and will replace its F-16s with European-made fighters. "We need to be able to count on the predictability of our allies, which is no longer the case with the United States," officials said.
President Trump threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, champagne, and spirits if the EU proceeds with its planned tariffs on American whiskey.
German defense giant Rheinmetall is reportedly considering taking over idle Volkswagen plants to mass-produce tanks.
Poland's president called on the U.S. to transfer nuclear weapons to its territory as a deterrent against future Russian aggression. The Financial Times reported that President Andrzej Duda recently discussed this proposal with Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Kellogg.
The U.S. is in talks with Russia and Germany about the possibility of acquiring Nord Stream and other energy infrastructure to restore Russia's energy supply to Europe after the war in Ukraine, according to investigations by Correctiv. Additionally, U.S. companies have expressed interest in acquiring Rosneft's German subsidiary.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in a summarized interview with pro-Russian MAGA blogger Mario Nawfal in Moscow, dismissed any possibility of a ceasefire and emphasized that U.S. efforts to break off relations with China are futile. He also reiterated Russia's desire to gain control of more Ukrainian territories where ethnic Russians live.
The U.S. is preparing to resume shipments of long-range bombs known as Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) to Ukraine after upgrading the weapons to better counter Russian jamming, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Egypt expressed appreciation on Thursday for U.S. President Trump’s remarks that he would not demand Palestinians leave Gaza. “Nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza,” Trump said on Wednesday during a White House meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.
CARTOONS OF THE DAY
POSTS OF THE DAY
NEWS CLIPS - NO COMMENTARY
Putin visited the Kursk region
President Zelenskyy met with representatives of the government and business of Turkey
Zelenskyy: We are fighting for our independence..
INTERESTING READ
ICYMI
Amazon, Google, and Meta signed a pledge to support the goal of tripling nuclear capacity by 2050.
Newsmax Media has agreed to pay $40 million to settle defamation claims filed by Smartmatic, alleging that the network spread false claims that the voting machine company rigged the 2020 U.S. election in favor of Joe Biden over Donald Trump.
President Trump's re-election sparked a surge in the broad stock market, which has since receded. A similar trend occurred among smaller companies connected to Trump's two eldest sons.
SpaceX postponed a mission due to a technical issue that would have returned two NASA astronauts who have been in orbit for more than nine months.
A U.S. House of Representatives oversight subcommittee announced an investigation on Thursday into the collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet that killed 67 people near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January.
iRobot, the maker of the popular autonomous vacuum cleaner, warned investors that it may cease operations in the next 12 months unless it finds a buyer. Amazon's planned $1.7 billion acquisition in 2022 fell through amid regulatory pressure. Since then, the company has laid off more than half its workforce, and its stock plummeted by 36%.
A measles outbreak in rural Gaines County, Texas, has resulted in two deaths and more than 200 illnesses, many of them unvaccinated children. The CDC warned that the outbreak is expanding rapidly, with cases reported in 12 other states. The deaths mark the first linked to measles in nearly a decade. The outbreak has raised concerns about the response from new Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic.
TODAY'S PHOTO
Washington, D.C.
President Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Rutte in the Oval Office
Credit: Reuters
That's all from me for now. Thank you for reading.
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