ACTUAL NEWS: Friday, March 7th 2025 Recap
"Today in History" and the Latest National and Global News
QUICK HITS
Friday morning
Press to President Trump in the Oval Office: Why doesn’t any European country offer any peace solution, you’re "the only one in the world"?
DJT: They don’t know how to end the war, only I can. Like with Iran, we are at the final moments, it will be an interesting time.
Q: Do you think that Putin is taking advantage of the US pause right now on intelligence and military aid to Ukraine?
DJT: I think he wants to get it stopped and settled, I think he's hitting them harder than he's been hitting them. I think anybody in that position would be doing that right now
Fox News: we will leave the coverage of the Oval Office. There are not many takeaways. But here’s is New York Stock Exchange, it is crashing.
Friday afternoon
President Trump proclaimed himself the chair of the newly established WH FIFA World Cup Task Force and was presented with a key to the FIFA trophy (which now comes with a key that makes part of it twist) and the official ball. Vance serves as vice chair.
Later, the crypto event at the White House resembled a scene from The Twilight Zone.
Sacks: "Thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership. You are surrounded by 30 high-IQ people just like you. This crypto asset fund is a result of your tremendous fight for what is right."
Bessent: "We will keep the stable coin thanks to our reserve."
Everyone thanks President Trump and praises him—it's endless. Meanwhile, the huge golden FIFA trophy that twists is prominently displayed up front for some reason while all of this is happening.
TODAY IN HISTORY
161: Marcus Aurelius became emperor of Rome.
1644: Massachusetts established the first bicameral legislature in North America.
1850: U.S. Senator Daniel Webster spoke out in favor of the Compromise of 1850 (enacted in September), a series of moderate measures that addressed the question of slavery in U.S. territories.
1876: Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone.
1965: State troopers used nightsticks and tear gas to attack American civil rights activists as they crossed a bridge in Selma, Alabama, during their attempted march to the state capitol in Montgomery.
1987: American boxer Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight to acquire the World Boxing Association (WBA) championship belt when he defeated James Smith in 12 rounds.
2010: American director Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Academy Award for best director, for The Hurt Locker (2008).
QUICK ACTUAL NEWS
NATIONAL
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission announced on Friday that it would allow Starlink, a unit of Elon Musk's SpaceX, to operate a direct-to-cell service with T-Mobile at higher power levels, despite objections from rival companies.
President Donald Trump's plan to revitalize the U.S. shipping industry could impose significant costs on ocean transport operators and potentially lead to a new wave of global supply chain disruptions, executives told Reuters.
On March 6, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a memo directing the Department of Defense (DoD) to prioritize a new software acquisition initiative aimed at improving the U.S. military's effectiveness. This memo is part of a broader effort to reform the Pentagon's weapons and support system acquisition processes. The goal is to streamline access for nontraditional commercial companies to Pentagon projects, allowing smaller firms to compete alongside defense giants like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. Hegseth emphasized the need for the DoD to adapt to software-defined warfare and move away from its traditional hardware-centric approach. To achieve this, he has mandated the use of the Software Acquisition Pathway (SWP) for all software development components within the DoD.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, a day before meeting with executives from the cryptocurrency industry at the White House.
Senior officials in President Trump's administration stated in a media briefing on Friday that they view bitcoin as deserving of "special treatment" as the White House moves forward with plans to create stockpiles of digital assets.
Multiple efforts are underway at the federal child welfare agency to consolidate and potentially limit its communications operations, according to Reuters.
President Trump's reciprocal tariffs, set to take effect on April 2, will impose a unified rate for each country based on the tariffs and non-tariff measures they have imposed on the U.S., White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said in an interview on Friday.
Officials in the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence's diversity, equality, inclusion, and accessibility programs have been ordered to resign or face dismissal, according to the lawyer representing two of the officials.
The U.S. has canceled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University, the Trump administration announced, citing the school's failure to protect Jewish students from harassment.
Republicans are growing uneasy with Elon Musk’s federal government cuts. In response to these concerns, Trump stated that the next phase would be executed with a “scalpel” rather than a “hatchet.”
New York's attorney general, along with 19 other states, filed a lawsuit on Thursday night against the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers. This marks the first legal challenge from states regarding the president’s efforts to cut the federal bureaucracy.
New policies under the Trump administration are placing the U.S. economy in "incredible flux," according to Raphael Bostic, President of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, who suggested that the Fed is unlikely to have enough clarity to act on interest rates until late spring or summer.
The U.S. Justice Department will focus on hiring prosecutors in offices near U.S. borders to enforce President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration, despite a federal hiring freeze, according to the new U.S. deputy attorney general.
After Attorney General Pam Bondi indicated last month that the U.S. would limit its enforcement of foreign agent laws, defense attorney Edward Shohat identified an opportunity to have a high-profile case dismissed.
President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at imposing potentially steep costs on parties that seek to block his policies in court. The order mandates that U.S. Justice Department lawyers request that judges require plaintiffs to pay the government's costs and damages if a policy is delayed but ultimately upheld as lawful. The money would need to be posted up front as a bond.
A divided U.S. appeals court on Thursday rejected a suburban Seattle church's bid to void a Washington state law requiring insurers that offer maternity coverage in employee health plans to also cover abortions.
A federal judge ruled on Thursday that President Trump's firing of a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board was illegal, ordering that she be reinstated to her post.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is planning a large study into potential connections between vaccines and autism, according to two sources familiar with the matter, despite extensive research disproving or failing to find such links.
The Trump administration announced on Friday that it is ending collective bargaining for approximately 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers who staff U.S. airport checkpoints and other transportation hubs. American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley called the decision "clear retaliation" for the union's vocal opposition to the administration’s actions targeting federal workers.
The Trump administration is considering a ban on the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek from U.S. government devices over national security concerns, according to a source familiar with the matter. U.S. officials are worried about DeepSeek's handling of user data, which the company claims is stored on servers in China, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Days after cutting billions of dollars in foreign aid programs, the U.S. began reversing some of these decisions. However, humanitarian groups have reported that funds have not yet arrived, and the United Nations has started evaluating “choices we are making on which lives not to save” due to the cuts.
GLOBAL
The United States has announced it will stop all federal funding to South Africa, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday. "To go a step further, any farmer (with family!) from South Africa seeking to flee the country for safety reasons will be invited to the United States with a rapid pathway to citizenship," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
On Friday, South Africa rejected claims made by multibillionaire Elon Musk, who said his Starlink satellite company could not operate in the country "because he is not Black." South Africa’s telecom regulator stated that Starlink had not applied for a license.
Haitian economist and former central bank chief Fritz Alphonse Jean took over the rotating presidency of Haiti's transitional presidential council on Friday, assuming leadership in a country grappling with a devastating conflict involving armed gangs.
Russian forces damaged Ukrainian energy and gas infrastructure overnight in their first major missile attack since the U.S. paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine, adding pressure on Kyiv as President Trump seeks a "swift end to the war".
A poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) showed that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's approval rating rose by 10 percentage points since his spat with President Donald Trump at the White House. The poll revealed that 67% of Ukrainians trusted Zelenskyy in March, up from 57% a month earlier.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha reported a "constructive call" with U.S. counterpart Marco Rubio on Friday, discussing an upcoming bilateral meeting in Saudi Arabia. "Ukraine wants the war to end, and U.S. leadership is essential for achieving lasting peace. We also discussed ways to advance our bilateral cooperation," Sybiha said on X.
U.S. aerospace firm Maxar Technologies announced on Friday that it had disabled access to its satellite imagery for Ukraine as the U.S. administration suspends intelligence sharing with Kyiv. Maxar clarified that it has contracts with the U.S. government and numerous allied nations, and that each customer decides how they use and share data.
The U.S. government is exploring ways to ease sanctions on Russia’s energy sector as part of a broader plan to provide swift relief if Moscow agrees to end the war in Ukraine, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Friday that Poland is withdrawing from the Ottawa Treaty, which bans anti-personnel mines. Poland will become the first EU member to exit the treaty. The borders with Kaliningrad and Belarus will likely be mined, and Poland plans to provide military training to all adult men by the end of the year, although it will not send troops to Ukraine. Tusk noted that the situation in Poland and Ukraine has become more complex than it was a few months ago, citing a "deep correction" in U.S. policy towards the war in Ukraine.
Donors to Britain’s Conservative Party are now funding a right-wing populist party that models itself on Trump’s MAGA movement.
In response to the U.S. delaying its tariff implementation, Canada will postpone its planned second wave of retaliatory tariffs on C$125 billion of U.S. products until April 2, according to Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s post on X.
The Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have targeted a wide array of programs for cuts, from small grants for interpreters in Ukraine to multimillion-dollar initiatives aimed at combating diseases like malaria in Myanmar.
President Donald Trump raised doubts on Thursday about his willingness to defend Washington's NATO allies, stating that he would not do so if they are not paying enough for their own defense.
The United States is planning to impose docking fees on any ship that is part of a fleet that includes Chinese-built or Chinese-flagged vessels, and will push its allies to adopt similar measures or face retaliation, according to a draft executive order.
The number of injuries from a South Korean fighter jet bombing accident on Thursday has risen to 15 civilians and 14 soldiers, according to the country’s defense ministry.
North Korea criticized the annual joint military drills planned by the United States and South Korea, stating that they would worsen tensions on the Korean Peninsula, according to state media KCNA.
A South Korean court ordered the release of the country’s impeached president from jail on Thursday.
China vowed on Friday to "resolutely counter" U.S. pressure on the fentanyl issue, presenting itself as a stable global power amid ongoing geopolitical turmoil, in an appeal to countries in the Global South.
Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin held a "positive" video call on Thursday with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, which focused, in part, on U.S. tariff policies, according to the vice president's office.
Latin American rights activists warned on Thursday about growing political threats to reproductive rights across the region, as the U.S. continues to roll back access to abortion. "What we are seeing is a lot of backlash after many years of human rights struggles," said Paula Avila-Guillen, executive director of the Women's Equality Center.
Israel’s release of a Hamas leader convicted over his role in a deadly bombing has sparked intense emotion, with some describing it as reopening a "deep wound."
Authorities in Eastern Australia are bracing for a powerful cyclone, with thousands ordered to evacuate and tens of thousands more left without power.
India needs to buy more defense products and lower tariffs on U.S. goods for the two countries to sign a "grand" bilateral deal, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told India Today television on Friday.
MEME OF THE DAY
POSTS OF THE DAY
Zelenskyy BEFORE and DURING the war
VIDEO QUICK NEWS
Trump: I asked Saudi Arabia to invest $1T in American companies over next 4 years and they agreed
Q: Do you, Mr. President, think that Vladimir Putin is taking advantage of the U.S. pause right now on intelligence and military aid to Ukraine?
DJT: I actually think he's doing what anybody else would do. I think he's, I think he wants to get it stopped and settled, and I think he's hitting them harder than he's been hitting them. And I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now.
DJT: I think Putin will be more generous than he has to be because he wants to end the war.
You know, I trust him [Putin]. We get along well with Russia. But right now they are bombing Ukraine. Frankly, I have a harder time with Ukraine. And they don’t have the cards. As you know, there is a meeting in Saudi Arabia next week [without Zelenskyy]. And I find that in terms of the final agreement, we will have an easier time with Russia, which is surprising, because they have all the cards. And they are bombing the hell out of them, and I made a statement, a very strong statement: you can’t do this. We are trying to help them [Ukraine], and Ukraine needs to react faster to make this work.
Russia is suffering huge losses, says Trump advisor Waltz.
NEC Director Hassett: In the Biden Administration there were some strong jobs numbers that were based on government employment...President Trump has made it clear that he wants to reduce spending on unproductive government workers. We saw a reduction in federal employment of about 10,000 workers. Despite that we had a pretty strong jobs report. The jobs report was especially strong for manufacturing.
British soldier reacts to comments by JD Vance on a "random country that hasn't fought a war in 30-40 years" willing to protect Ukraine
RECOMMENDED READ
ICYMI
Intuitive Machines' Athena lander touched down on the Moon yesterday, making it the second American spacecraft to reach the lunar surface this week, following Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost on Sunday. However, it wasn’t the smoothest landing: Athena likely tipped onto its side, and now IM employees are working to determine whether it can still complete its mission of searching for water. Last year, IM became the first private company to land a spacecraft on the Moon with its Odysseus lander—but that one also fell on its side.
The U.S. saw approximately 172,000 layoffs in February, a 245% increase from January, marking the largest monthly jump in job cuts since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. This was also the highest number of job cuts in February since 2009, during the financial crisis. Over a third of these layoffs (~62,000) came from the federal government's Department of Government Efficiency's headcount reduction. But federal workers weren't the only ones affected; retail also suffered, losing nearly 40,000 positions. According to CNBC, the retail sector has already shed six times more jobs this year than during the same period last year.
Walgreens has signed a $10 billion deal with private equity firm Sycamore Partners to go private, following years of declining stock prices.
Pope Francis expressed his gratitude for the prayers of Catholics in an audio recording from the hospital.
A SpaceX rocket exploded during its test flight, with falling debris causing disruptions to flights in Florida and Pennsylvania.
Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from natural causes, authorities said. Hackman passed away from heart disease at his home in New Mexico about a week after Arakawa died from the effects of hantavirus, a respiratory illness linked to rodent droppings.
INTERESTING READ
TODAY'S COVER PHOTO
Washington, DC
That's all from me for now. Thank you for reading.
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