Dan Bongino in Stuart, Fla., in 2021. Photo: Calla Kessler for The Washington Post via Getty Images
President Trumpnamed bombastic MAGA podcast star Dan Bongino as deputy FBI director — a role that doesn't require Senate confirmation, and typically goes to a senior agent.
Why it matters: With loyalist Kash Patel confirmed as FBI director, the bureau can function effectively as Trump's private security force.
Announcing the appointment on Truth Social last night, Trump said Patel "will be the best ever Director" and said of Bongino: "Working with our great new United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and Director Patel, Fairness, Justice, Law and Order will be brought back to America, and quickly."
Catch up quick: Bongino servedin the NYPD before joining the Secret Service and working in the Presidential Protective Division during the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
The FBI Agents Association wanted an active-duty agent as deputy. So the pick could intensify "mistrust among the rank-and-file," the N.Y. Times reports.
Flashback: Talking in 2018 about the confirmation battle for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Bongino said: "My entire life right now is about owning the libs."
Apple on Monday morning announced plans to invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. and hire 20,000 people over the next four years, with expansion and construction planned from coast to coast.
The new jobs will focus on research and development, silicon engineering, software development, and AI and machine learning.
Apple plans to greatly expand chip and server manufacturing in the U.S., plus skills development for students and workers across the country.
Why it matters: Apple's announcement — which the company calls its "largest-ever spend commitment" — is precisely the kind of win President Trump has been looking for with his push to move manufacturing back to the U.S.
Apple's new investment — much of it in red states — lets Trump say to other companies: Apple can do it. Why can't (or won't) you?
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the announcement: "We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we're proud to build on our longstanding U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country's future."
"From doubling our Advanced Manufacturing Fund [from $5 billion to $10 billion], to building advanced technology in Texas, we're thrilled to expand our support for American manufacturing," Cook added. "And we'll keep working with people and companies across this country to help write an extraordinary new chapter in the history of American innovation."
The backstory: Trump met with Cook on Thursday in the Oval Office. Then Trump got so excited that he revealed the plans prematurely, saying on-camera while meeting with governors that Cook is "investing hundreds of billions of dollars. I hope he's announced it — I hope I didn't announce it, but what the hell? All I do is tell the truth — that's what he told me. Now he has to do it, right?"
"He is investing hundreds of billions of dollars and others, too," Trump continued. "We will have a lot of chipmakers coming in, a lot of automakers coming in. They stopped two plants in Mexico that were ... starting construction. They just stopped them — they're going to build them here instead, because they don't want to pay the tariffs. Tariffs are amazing."
The big picture: Apple says it now supports nearly 3 million jobs across the U.S. through direct employment, work with suppliers and manufacturers, and developer jobs in the iOS app economy.
Apple already works with thousands of suppliers across all 50 states, including 24 factories in 12 states.
Apple's U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund has supported projects in 13 states, helping build local businesses and train workers.
Reality check: Apple made a similar announcement four years ago. In 2021, Apple committed $430 billion in U.S. investments and 20,000 new jobs across the country over five years — including a new campus in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, where development was paused last year.
Apple says it has worked with North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) and the North Carolina Department of Commerce to extend the project's timeline. Apple says it continues to grow its teams in the Tar Heel State — both at corporate offices in Raleigh and at a data center in Catawba, where the company has exceeded planned investments.
Zoom in: Here's a rundown of Apple's new expansion plans:
Texas: New advanced AI server manufacturing factory near Houston. The 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing facility, slated to open in 2026, "will create thousands of jobs," Apple's announcement says. "Previously manufactured outside the U.S., the servers that will soon be assembled in Houston play a key role in powering Apple Intelligence, and are the foundation of Private Cloud Compute, which combines powerful AI processing with the most advanced security architecture ever deployed at scale for AI cloud computing. The servers bring together years of R&D by Apple engineers."
Michigan: New Apple Manufacturing Academy in Detroit. "Apple engineers, along with experts from top universities such as Michigan State, will consult with small- and medium-sized businesses on implementing AI and smart manufacturing techniques," the announcement says. "The academy will also offer free in-person and online courses, with a skills development curriculum that teaches workers vital skills like project management and manufacturing process optimization."
California: Construction of a state-of-the-art campus is underway in Culver City, an entertainment enclave in L.A. County. In San Diego, a 4,000-member team will continue to grow.
Arizona: Apple-designed Apple Silicon will be produced at TSMC's Fab 21 semiconductor plant in Phoenix.
Washington state: Apple has doubled the number of team members in Seattle over the past three years to 2,400+, and will keep growing.
Operations will expand in Mesa, Arizona ... Reno, Nevada ... Prineville, Oregon ... and Maiden, North Carolina (outside Charlotte).
Who's going to be left holding the $400 billion bag? That's the ultimate question that undergirds the debate over the future of the post office.
Why it matters: The U.S. Postal Service suffers under a system of pension obligations that is seen at no private company and in no other government department.
But there's also historically been no appetite in Congress to fix this longstanding problem.
Driving the news: The White House on Friday denied a Washington Post report that President Trump intended to dissolve the USPS board and take control of the Post Office — but Trump did say that he wanted some kind of Commerce Department "merger" that would ensure the agency "doesn't lose massive amounts of money."
The big picture: Per a comprehensive report that was released last year by the USPS inspector general, the Post Office ended fiscal year 2022 with pension and healthcare liabilities of $409 billion — against assets of just $290 billion.
Retirement costs alone make up about 12% of the USPS's total expenses — but the Post Office has no control over where that money goes, how it's invested, or how it's disbursed.
By the numbers: The Post Office has more than 700,000 retirees and survivors collecting benefits — and employs more than 500,000 people who will collect pensions in the future.
The agency pays $10 billion per year into federal pension programs it doesn't control.
That money is invested extremely conservatively, with a 100% allocation to Treasury bonds. As a result, the funds actually lost money, in real terms, in both the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years.
According to the inspector general's report, the $155 billion deficit in the Post Office's retirement funds at the end of fiscal 2021 would have been a $963 billion surplus if that money had been invested in a standard portfolio of 60% stocks and 40% bonds since inception.
The intrigue: Other federal agencies receive money from Congress to make required employer contributions; the Post Office doesn't.
Private pension plans, and even some government plans, including the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust and the Retirement System for Tennessee Valley Authority, are allowed to invest their money in stocks and other assets that provide higher long-term returns than Treasury bonds. The Post Office isn't.
The bottom line: More than a million workers have some kind of Post Office pension. Who's going to pay them that money, and where it's going to come from, will ultimately determine the fiscal viability of the Post Office as a business.
Three years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia is making only small-scale advances on the battlefield but has the upper hand both militarily and diplomatically.
The big picture: Russia has superior manpower and firepower, particularly with U.S. military support in question. President Trump has further tightened the vise with his initial approach to peace talks.
Trump has claimed Russia's Vladimir Putin could take "the whole country" on the battlefield if he wished — though Putin only managed to take around 1% of Ukraine's territory in 2024.
The battle lines haven't shifted all that much since 2022 despite heavy casualties on both sides, with Russia occupying around one-fifth of the country altogether.
How control of Ukrainian territory has shifted
Flashback: Russia began a three-front lightening offensive on Feb. 24, 2022 but failed in its primary objective of taking Kyiv and was also rebuffed in the south and east (see second map).
Zelensky became an international icon by remaining in Kyiv and rallying the nation. As Russian forces pulled back, horrific war crimes were uncovered in places like Bucha.
Ukraine liberated vast swathes of the Kharkiv, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions in a fall, 2022 counteroffensive (third map).
Zelensky speaks after reviewing atrocities in Bucha. Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty
Turning point: Ukraine's much-heralded 2023 counteroffensive failed. A war of attrition set in, with both sides taking heavy losses and Russia making small-scale advances.
While it has primarily been Russia on the offensive since then, Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion last August and occupied parts of the Kursk and Belgorod regions.
Russia has reclaimed much of that territory and is making slow advances in multiple zones of eastern Ukraine (fourth map).
Driving the news: Russia is also continuing its attacks on civilian infrastructure, and launched its largest drone attack of the war on Saturday.
By the numbers: Troop and civilian casualties
Ukrainian troop casualties: Zelensky said recently that more than 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and over 390,000 wounded. Other estimates are considerably higher.
Russian troop casualties: Russia has not released casualty numbers for its troops since 2022. Estimates vary widely, but most put Russia's losses somewhat higher than Ukraine's.
A Mediazona-BBC News project to track Russian troop fatalities has recorded 93,641 deaths.
The Ukrainian military claimed on Thursday that Russia had suffered more than 800,000 "battlefield losses," presumably including those captured or severely wounded.
Kyiv also claims around 3,000 North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine have been killed.
A Ukrainian tank crew on the frontlines near Sumy. Photo: Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty
Civilian casualties: The UN reported over 12,340 civilian deaths in Ukraine as of late 2024, and noted the true total was likely "much, much higher."
Tens of thousands of civilians likely died in the 2022 siege of Mariupol alone, AFP notes.
Around 63,000 Ukrainians have been reported missing, according to a government database.
The scale of destruction in Ukraine
The Kyiv School of Economics puts the destruction Russia has inflicted on Ukraine at $155 billion, by replacement cost.
The majority of those losses are to housing and infrastructure. Russia has targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure in particular, causing rolling blackouts in Kyiv and other cities around the country.
An NYT analysis last year found 210,000 buildings leveled across Ukraine. That includes hundreds of schools, hospitals and government buildings.
Some towns in eastern Ukraine have been entirely destroyed and emptied of civilians. Conditions for the civilians remaining in areas occupied by Russia are often dreadful.
Destruction in the village of Bohorodychne, Donetsk region. Photo: Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty
What to watch: Prospects for peace
For a peace deal to be possible, Putin and Zelensky would both have to soften their irreconcilable positions.
Putin claimed four Ukrainian regions as part of Russia in 2022, despite the fact that significant portions of those areas remain in Ukrainian hands. He has said they must remain part of Russia.
He has also demanded that Ukraine "demilitarize" and abandon its goal of NATO membership.
Zelensky continues to lobby for admission to NATO, despite Trump's position that it's "impractical."
He had long insisted Ukraine's full territorial integrity must be restored, but has more recently acknowledged that's unlikely in the near term.
He is unwilling to countenance "demilitarization" and insists on robust security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any deal, to prevent Russia from resuming its invasion when the time is ripe.
While the Trump administration has said U.S. troops will not take part, Trump told Zelensky a European peacekeeping force could make sense, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.
Zelensky also told Trump that Putin is only pretending to want peace.
Why it matters: Many of those who've served in the military derive a sense of purpose and belonging from their government work — viewing it as a way to serve their country and help their peers outside of active duty.
The big picture: It's not yet clear how many military vets have been fired, or will be. Last year veterans made up 28% of the federal workforce, per federal data — a far bigger share than the 5% in the private sector.
About 36% of the vets working in civil service, more than 200,000 in total, are disabled or have a serious health condition, per federal data.
"This is the largest attack on veteran employment in our lifetime," says William Attig, executive director at the Union Veterans Council, a labor group that represents many of these workers.
Attig, who was deployed in Iraq from 2003 to 2009, has been talking to newly unemployed members, trying to get a tally of everyone who's lost a job.
Zoom in: Some veterans, still holding on to their jobs for now, are waiting for the hammer to drop.
"We're being smeared as leeches, but I just want to serve my country and provide for my family," an employee at the Department of Defense who is a disabled veteran, and requested anonymity because he didn't want to put his job further at risk, told Axios.
He was thrilled to land his job just a few months ago, but is anxiously waiting to see if he'll be one of the more than 5,000 workers the Pentagon said it would fire next week.
Between the lines: Privately, GOP lawmakers are growing uneasy with cuts that impact veterans, Politico reports, adding that vets have been "disproportionately affected" by the firings.
For the record: The White House did not say how many veterans have been fired. At least one department, Interior, has reportedly carved out an exception for them.
"President Trump has consistently stood up for our brave men and women in uniform – delivering crucial reforms that improved VA healthcare, decreased Veteran homelessness, and enhanced education benefits," said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly in an email.
Zoom out: There are a few reasons government work attracts vets. The federal government has a "veterans preference" — put simply, when deciding among a group of qualified candidates, they're first in line.
"You'd have to jump through a lot of hoops to not hire a veteran," said a former federal official who worked in human capital.
With more veterans working in government, more feel welcomed to work among people who understand them. Others are drawn to the retirement benefits — years of military service counts towards your federal pension.
Plus, many of these folks feel drawn to mission-driven employment. "Most veterans feel like they're putting on another uniform," says Attig.
These jobs are a crucial piece of the puzzle in post-military life, he says, adding that it's also a key part of suicide prevention for this at-risk group.
"One of the most important things you can do for veterans is to find them a job."
A hot startup that grew overnight into a billion-dollar behemoth is racing with established tech giants for supremacy in a new market that everyone expects will unlock a future of abundance and profit.
Flashback: That sounds like a description of OpenAI vs Google et al., but it's actually an account of the "browser wars" at the dawn of the web 30 years ago — when Netscape vied with Microsoft to control the software people would use to access the internet.
Why it matters: In 1996 or 1997, a couple years after forward-looking tech leaders first realized that "owning" the web browser would be a prize, Google — the company that would ultimately win the race — didn't even exist.
Today, as AI giants and challengers vie to build a better chatbot and seize mindshare and market share, there is similarly a good possibility that the winning bot (assuming there is only one) has not yet been invented, and the company that will make it has yet to be founded.
That's why tech's superpowers, despite their immense wealth and influence, have been running scared.
It can be baffling to watch the proliferation of these companies in a market that's already led by the likes of OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude — with well-funded competitors like Elon Musk's xAI, open-source offerings like Meta's Llama and new contenders like China's Deepseek also thronging the AI space.
The space's crowding leads some observers to see today's AI splurge as a bubble, and it almost certainly is. Many or most of these companies and products will fail — indeed, culling has already begun.
But the logic of venture capital assumes that, even as most companies will fail, a few investors will hit the jackpot by getting an early piece of a company that grows unfathomably profitable the way Google or Facebook/Meta, did.
No one knows how this will play out in AI.
The jackpot company could be one of today's market leaders like OpenAI. It could be a dark horse that's still a back-of-a-napkin sketch on some founder's dining-room table. Or maybe one of today's established giants will end up owning the market.
The browser wars make an instructive parallel.
In the '90s, Netscape was in the OpenAI position — it kicked off the new market with fast updates of its free Navigator browser and wowed the world with a skyrocketing initial public offering in 1995.
Microsoft fought back with the introduction of the competing Internet Explorer, a flop at first that gradually improved and won users thanks to its integration with Microsoft's dominant operating system.
Microsoft won the first battle — triggering a massive antitrust lawsuit by the Justice Department. But over the following decade IE lost ground to more innovative competitors like Mozilla.
Google didn't even introduce Chrome until 2008, and today it's by far the most popular browser in the world.
But by that time, the victory didn't seem to matter as much. The smartphone revolution was underway, and apps were taking on much of the "gateway to the internet" role from browsers.
The bottom line: Tech's platform shifts may feel high-velocity, but they take a long time to unfold — and you should never feel too sure you know who is going to own the future.
Germany's CDU/CSU conservative alliance won Sunday's general election election and the Elon Musk-endorsed far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party came second, preliminary results show.
The big picture: Friedrich Merz, of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is set to Germany's chancellor and he's indicated that Europe's biggest economy and the largest EU member intends to move away from the U.S. once coalition talks have concluded.
By the numbers: While preliminary results show CDU/CSU won 28.6% of the vote and AfD 20.8%, the conservative alliance has ruled out working with the anti-immigration AfD, as did all other major parties.
Outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats won 16.4% of the vote and the Greens secured 11.6%, per the preliminary results.
Driving the news: Merz singled out the U.S. in claiming victory, days after Vice President JD Vance accused the Munich Security Conference of not allowing far-right and far-left politicians to attend the annual event in a speech that criticized European allies.
"My impression over the last few days is that Russia and America are finding common ground — over the heads of Ukraine, and consequently over those of Europe," said the 69-year-old former lawyer Merz, who's previously worked for U.S. law firms, on X.
"Therefore, everyone is turning their attention to Germany. How quickly are the Germans going to form a government after this complicated election result? For me, this is now a priority."
Zoom in: Merz said on a TV show that his "absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA," according to a translation.
President Trump's statements on Ukraine last week as the U.S. pushes for talks with Russia at the latest make it "clear that the Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe," Merz said.
"I am very curious to see how we are heading toward the NATO summit at the end of June," he added. "Whether we will still be talking about NATO in its current form or whether we will have to establish an independent European defense capability much more quickly."
What he's saying: Trump on Truth Social called the CDU/CSU win a "great day for Germany," saying: "Much like the USA, the people of Germany got tired of the no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration."
Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment in the evening.
Conservative commentator Dan Bongino was named deputy FBI director, President Trump announced on Sunday night.
The big picture: The "Dan Bongino Show" podcast host will serve in the role that doesn't require Senate confirmation under newly confirmed FBI director Kash Patel, a fellow Trump loyalist.
Background: Bongino lacks FBI experience, but he has previously served in the New York Police Department (NYPD) before joining the U.S. Secret Service and working in the Presidential Protective Division during the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Obama.
What they're saying: Bongino thanked Trump on X as he shared the president's original post praising the former Fox News host as "a man of incredible love and passion for our Country."
Screenshot: Dan Bongino/President Trump/X/Truth Social
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he's "ready" to "give up" his leadership in exchange for peace in his nation or Kyiv becoming a member of NATO.
The big picture: Zelensky made the comments on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as U.S. and Russian officials hold talks on the war ahead of a possible summit between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
What he's saying: "If to achieve peace you really need me to give up my post — I'm ready," said Zelensky, who was democratically elected in 2019, in response to a question during a briefing Sunday.
"I can trade it for NATO membership, if there are such conditions," he added.
Zelensky shrugged off Trump's claims that that Ukraine's leader is "a dictator without elections" — in reference to Kyiv postponing going to the polls in 2024.
"I wasn't offended, but a dictator would be," Zelensky said. "I am focused on Ukraine's security today, not in 20 years, I am not going to be in power for decades."
Context: Ukraine's Constitution "does not allow national elections during martial law, which was introduced in 2022 and remains in place" due to Russia's war on Ukraine, per the Atlantic Council think-tank.
Between the lines: Ukraine's possible membership of NATO has been a source of tension between the Kyiv and Moscow officials for years.
Putin used the matter in part to try and justify his forces' invasion of Ukraine, while Zelensky sees NATO membership as an essential guarantee of his country's long-term security.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said Ukraine joining NATO would not be a "realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement" with Russia.
Last year was the worst on record for government-imposed internet shutdowns, with at least 296 outages across 54 countries, according to a new report from Access Now.
Why it matters: Governments are increasingly shutting down the internet to silence dissenting voices during conflicts, protests and elections.
What they're saying: "Authorities and warring parties wielded an unprecedented number of internet shutdowns as a weapon of war and a tool for collective punishment — hurling communities into digital darkness, and concealing grave human rights abuses," Felicia Anthonio, manager of Access Now's #KeepItOn campaign, said in a statement.
"As internet access becomes consistently weaponized, restricted, and precarious, we are seeing pervasive patterns of crushing censorship and an urgent need for greater accountability."
By the numbers: Seven countries joined the first-time offenders list, including El Salvador, France, Malaysia and Thailand.
For the first time since 2018, Myanmar overtook India as the worst offender, imposing 85 shutdowns—one more than India.
The majority of internet shutdowns came from four countries: India, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Russia, which accounted for a combined 210 shutdowns, or more than 70% of the global total.
Between the lines: Conflict was the main trigger for internet disruptions, accounting for 103 of the documented shutdowns across 11 countries: Ethiopia, Bahrain, Chad, India, Israel, Myanmar, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Sudan, and Ukraine.
Protests and elections were also behind a significant number of shutdowns.
Pope Francis sent a message from his hospital bed as the Vatican said in a health update Sunday that he remains in "critical" condition but "has not presented any further respiratory crises."
The big picture: The Vatican said in its Sunday statement that the 88-year-old Catholic church leader is being treated for a kidney problem in addition to his respiratory issues, but it is "currently under control."
The pontiff was admitted to Rome's Agostino Gemelli Hospital with bronchitis and tests revealed "a complex clinical picture" that saw him diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs.
He remains "alert and well-oriented," according to the Vatican.
What he's saying: Pope Francis in a statement on Sunday thanked medical professionals for taking care of him and expressed gratitude for the warm wishes he'd received.
"In recent days I have received many messages of affection, and I have been particularly struck by the letters and drawings from children," the pope said.
"Thank you for this closeness, and for the prayers of comfort I have received from all over the world! I entrust you all to the intercession of Mary, and I ask you to pray for me."
Zoom in: The pope noted that Monday "will be the third anniversary of the large-scale war against Ukraine: a painful and shameful occasion for the whole of humanity!"
He added: "As I reiterate my closeness to the suffering Ukrainian people, I invite you to remember the victims of all armed conflicts, and to pray for the gift of peace in Palestine, Israel and throughout the Middle East, Myanmar, Kivu and Sudan."
The Trump administration moved Sunday to fire some 2,000 U.S. Agency for International Development workers and place most others on administrative leave, according to an email the agency sent to staff.
The big picture: The action that's set to take effect on Sunday just before midnight comes days after a federal judge permitted the administration to move ahead with the mass firings and continue the DOGE-led dismantling of the large-scale operation at what was the world's largest humanitarian aid organization.
Driving the news: "As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally," per the email to staff that was obtained by outlets including Axios.
"Concurrently, USAID is beginning to implement a Reduction-in-Force that will affect approximately 1,600 USAID personnel with duty stations in the United States," added the email that's now posted on USAID's website.
Screenshot: USAID website
Context: The Trump administration moved earlier this month to place direct hires on administrative leave globally and announced that it would pay for USAID personnel posted overseas to return travel to the U.S. within 30 days.
Unions representing USAID workers sued the Trump administration, calling the action to dismantle the agency "unconstitutional and illegal."
However, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols on Friday lifted a temporary restraining order he had issued in the case after finding that "initial assertions of harm were overstated" by the plaintiffs.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, USAID's acting administrator, said the administration's goal was to "identify programs that work and continue them and to identify programs that are not aligned with our national interest" and address them.
The big picture: While Republican lawmakers have contended voters wanted drastic change, new polling suggests the Trump administration may be taking their chainsaw-wielding executive reach too far for some.
President Trump's approval ratings also took a slight hit in recently released polling, after his initial numbers were some of the highest of his political career, though weaker than other modern presidents at the start of their terms — other than himself in 2017.
Driving the news: Trump's approval ratings dropped into more "normal territory" for him, as described in a Washington Post analysis of recent polling, which could spell trouble for the administration as their billionaire budget buster also slips underwater.
In a Feb. 13-18 Washington Post-Ipsos poll, a net 34% of respondents said they approved of how Musk was handling his job, compared to 49% disapproving and 14% not sure.
The poll displayed a stark divide based on party ID, with just 6% of Democrats approving of how Musk has handled his job compared to 70% of Republicans.
But when asked if they approved of Musk shutting down federal government programs he deemed unnecessary, a smaller slice of Republicans (56%) gave their blessing, while 25% said they weren't sure and 18% disapproved.
By the numbers: In severalrecentnational polls, more respondents disapproved of Musk or the job he's doing than approved of him.
Over half of respondents (55%) in a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Feb. 13 to 17 said Musk has too much power in making decisions affecting the U.S., while 36% think he has about the right amount of power.
A Pew survey of U.S. adults taken Jan. 27 to Feb. 2 showed that Americans had more negative (54%) than positive (42%) views of Musk (DOGE's dissection of the federal government has dramatically escalated since the poll was conducted).
And a Feb. 15 to Feb. 17 Emerson College Poll showed 45% of respondents disapproved of the job Musk was doing, while 41% approved and 14% were neutral.
Some of those polls also show that Trump's disapproval ratings are surpassing his approval ratings.
Per the Washington Post-Ipsos poll, 27% strongly approve of how Trump is handling his job — 39% strongly disapprove.
Sixty-two percent said they don't consider the words honest and trustworthy to apply to the president.
But even as Trump's approval ratings dip, multiple surveys showed Musk's ratings are even lower.
What we're watching: Disapproval of DOGE doesn't seem to be fazing the president, who on Saturday called for Musk to be "MORE AGGRESSIVE."
The broad purge of the federal workforce — stretching from the Internal Revenue Service to the National Parks Service — could have far-reaching impacts — and it seems Americans aren't so sure they like that.
President Trump's firings of Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown, Jr. and other top military leaders sends a "dangerous message" to service members about how the administration regards political loyalty, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Sunday.
Why it matters: The controversial dismissals, which also hit Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife, come as the U.S. stares down instability abroad and amid tensions with some international allies.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had in the past questioned whether Brown — a four-star fighter pilot who served as the first Black chief of staff of the Air Force and the second Black general to serve as chairman — was named to the post because of his race.
Hegseth said in a Sunday interview with "Fox News Sunday" that while he has "a lot of respect" for Brown, he's "not the right man for the moment."
Franchetti, whom CNN reports Hegseth once described as a "DEI hire," was the first woman to serve as the chief of naval operations.
Driving the news: Democrats and some former military officials decried Trump's move to boot respected leaders, characterizing the decision as a signal from the administration that partisan loyalties outweighed expertise and experience.
The Joint Chiefs chair "should be independent of politics," Booker said on NBC's "Meet the Press Sunday," noting Brown was "supported overwhelmingly" on both sides of the political aisle.
But Trump, Booker said, "has thrown that out the window and is sending a dangerous message to the military: 'It's not about your independent expertise. It's not about your years of service. It's about your personal political loyalty to me.'"
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on ABC's "This Week" that the firings were "completely unjustified" and mark "the beginning of a very, very serious degradation of the military and politicization of the military."
Reed highlighted Hegseth's decision to fire the top Army, Navy and Air Force lawyers — judge advocates general, commonly known as JAGs — saying, "If you're going to break the law, the first thing you do is you get rid of the lawyers."
The other side: Hegseth slammed Reed's criticism as "a total mischaracterization."
He continued, "This is a reflection of the president wanting the right people around him to execute the national security approach we want to take."
Zoom in: Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told ABC's Martha Raddatz in a Sunday interview that he doesn't know whether the firings were "about DEI," contending, "bottom line here to me is the Department of Defense needed a complete overhaul."
Trump has for years railed against "woke" generals and "wokeness" he says weakened the military, such as through diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) denied Rep. James Clyburn's (D-S.C.) contention that Trump may have fired Brown because he is Black, arguing to NBC's Kristen Welker Sunday that Clyburn "constantly pulls the race card out."
"This had zero, absolutely zero to do with race," Mullin said.
Why it matters: The Trump administration has taken actions that undermine accessibility measures — critical for leveling the playing field for people with disabilities — as part of its efforts targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
"It's very clear that there is an orchestrated attack by conservatives to dismantle the rights of people with disabilities," said Shawn Murinko, a Washington resident who has cerebral palsy.
State of play: Trump last month ordered an end to all federal programs that mandate or invoke accessibility, alongside diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Department of Justice said it will penalize programs that promote accessibility.
Trump has pledged to close the Department of Education, which enforces protections for students with disabilities in school.
Meanwhile, Food and Drug Administration officials said the word "disabled" was banned from external communications, though the White House later claimed that was an error.
The federal government is one of the largest employers for people with disabilities, but return-to-office mandates could force some out of their jobs.
Reality check: "Disability is a natural part of the human experience," said Katy Neas, chief executive officer of The Arc, which serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
"All people will probably face disability at some point in their life, whether it's due to illness, injury or age, and disability affects every family, regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, income or political party."
Republicans have floated cutting Medicaid, which provides health care for more than 10 million children and adults with disabilities — nearly 15% of the program's beneficiaries.
Medicaid covers services that allow people with disabilities to live and work in their own communities rather in institutions or medical facilities. But waiting lists for those services are long.
Medicaid-provided home and community services have been vital to Sean Pevsner, a Texas-based civil rights attorney with cerebral palsy. Their support has allowed him to attend college and law school, practice law, and lobby for disability rights, he said.
Threat level: A Republican-led lawsuit challenging a Biden-era policy to treat gender dysphoria as a protected disability has the potential to undermine a 1973 civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability, advocates warn.
Republican attorneys general leading the lawsuit told the court they don't want the entire section of the law overturned, only the provisions on transgender care.
However, advocates remain concerned and say LGBTQ support programs frequently overlap with the disabilities community.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, 1 in 3 LGBTQ adults report having a disability — including more than half of transgender adults.
"Not only is disability on the chopping block," said Lizzy Graham, an autistic transgender woman with ADHD. "We have the entire LGBTQ community on the chopping block."
Beyond policies, advocates say Trump and those in his orbit routinely denigrate people with disabilities, giving supporters license to use the same rhetoric online.
Elon Musk, who heads Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, also regularly uses ableist slurs in his social media posts.
This tone is "very hurtful, because people with disabilities have a right to work, and they get their jobs because they're qualified," said Sydney Badeau, a neurodivergent self-advocate in Wisconsin.
The other side: The Trump administration takes issue with lowering standards to achieve diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility goals — not DEIA itself, the White House told Axios.
"President Trump is a leader for all Americans. The Trump-Vance administration values the contributions of government employees with disabilities and believes they should be recognized and rewarded based on the merit of the work," a White House official said in an email.
Yes, but: Trump administration officials such as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have stigmatized disabilities by falsely linking vaccines to conditions such as autism, advocates say.
That medicalizes disabilities, treating them as impairments that need to be fixed, Graham said. She prefers a "social model" that emphasizes societal barriers that create challenges for people with disabilities.
Eroding support for disabled people "harkens back to the time when people with disabilities were put behind closed doors and not talked about instead of being celebrated and supported," said Nicole Jorwic, advocacy chief at Caring Across Generations, a coalition of caregivers and care recipients.
What's next: Ray Hemachandra, whose son Nicholas is autistic and medically fragile, said he wants more Republican families to join and be welcomed into disability advocacy circles.
"I'm hopeful that we recognize, and that politicians recognize and legislators recognize, that Republicans are as likely to have a family member with intellectual and developmental disabilities as Democrats do," Hemachandran said.
President Trump's political operation is profiting from his flurry of executive orders by hawking gear such as "Make Greenland Great Again," "Gulf of America" and "DOGE" T-shirts, along with the black "dark MAGA" caps worn by Elon Musk.
Why it matters: Trump's team is capitalizing on his loyalists' support for his early moves to help build a $500 million war chest, which will be used to promote his agenda, back favored midterm candidates and potentially help Trump engage in politics for years to come.
Zoom in: Trump's operation has been cashing in on MAGA-themed merchandise since his 2016 campaign. But this fundraising effort is the latest reminder that for Trump, the campaign never ends.
The black "Make America Great Again" caps that Musk frequently wears have become the Trump team's second-best selling item ever — behind only the red and white MAGA hat, according to a person with direct knowledge of the sales.
Trump's team has sold $1.6 million worth of black MAGA caps since the election, nearly twice as much as its red counterpart. Musk and his DOGE team are under fire for pushing huge cuts in the federal workforce, but the hats keep selling in Trump's world.
The caps, which retail for $40, were first sold during the 2024 campaign. Sales took off after Musk wore one at an October rally and declared himself "dark MAGA." Trump's team also sells matching T-shirts and sweatshirts; sales of the T-shirts raised $1.25 million for Trump's 2024 campaign.
Musk wore a gothic-font version of the black cap at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this week. Those have drawn $400,000 in sales since the election.
Newer items being sold by Trump's operation include "DOGE"-themed shirts, with an image of Trump, Musk and the "DOGE dog." They've raked in $111,000 since the election, according to a source familiar with the sales totals.
Recently issued "Gulf of America" T-shirts also appear to be a hit. They've raked in $24,000 in the past month.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) also is tapping into the pro-Trump merch effort.
The House GOP's campaign arm is selling its own "Gulf of America" T-shirt, complete with an image of an eagle (which has a Trumpian swoop of hair) sipping a beer on a beach chair.
"Greetings from the Gulf of America," reads the shirt, which sells for $35.
The big picture: Trump's operation has long been adept at tapping into issues that fire up his base and annoy liberals, and turning them into merch his fans can't get enough of.
His 2020 campaign sold Trump-themed plastic straws as an alternative to more eco-friendly paper straws. The item sold out within hours.
"These items are based on top-story news, and the Trump operation excels at quickly releasing this merch to hook into the news cycle," said Tim Cameron, a Republican digital strategist.
Between the lines: Launchpad Strategies, a Republican digital firm co-founded by Trump campaign aide Sean Dollman, has had a key role in producing Trump merchandise.
Trump lieutenants say that when an aide comes up with an idea, they pass it around to fellow staffers for input. If there's agreement, it's sent for production.
Ideas become gear quickly, often within a few days. After then-President Biden appeared to refer to Trump supporters as "garbage" during the 2024 campaign, Trump campaign aides rushed out T-shirts that said "garbage" on the front.
The merchandise is advertised to Trump supporters on Facebook and X, and through the operation's email list.
When a supporter buys a cap, shirt or coffee mug, they're allowing Trump's operation to capture their data — so they can be hit up for donations later.
What's next: Trump aides say they're still determining what the next piece of Trump gear will be.
"We're going to go after whatever POTUS does next," one adviser said.
Multiple agencies and unions have told federal workers not to respond to a new email demanding that they account for their work over the last week — despite Elon Musk's threat they'll lose their jobs if they don't.
Why it matters: As much as Musk's DOGE effort has disrupted the federal government so far, there's been relatively little tangible internal pushback — until now.
The high-stakes stand-off could reshape the federal workforce over the next couple of days and will test the depth of President Trump's support for Musk's slash-and-burn campaign.
Catch up quick: Musk posted to X on Saturday afternoon that all federal employees would get an email asking them to explain what they'd accomplished this week.
Failure to respond, he said, would be tantamount to resignation. It followed a Trump post to Truth Social early Saturday calling on Musk to get more aggressive with his DOGE project.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent the email Saturday afternoon, telling people they had until 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday to respond. (The email did not include Musk's or-else threat.)
Zoom out: Two of the largest unions representing federal workers, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), told their members to be cautious responding, or not to respond.
"AFGE will challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country," union president Everett Kelley said in a statement Saturday night.
Kelley sent a letter to OPM acting director Charles Ezell on Sunday, demanding the email be withdrawn by that night. The AFGE also sent guidance to members Sunday saying they should respond if ordered to do so by their agencies.
Zoom in: Beyond the unions, a number of federal departments and agencies also appear to have told employees not to respond.
The Department of Defense told its employees that only the department is responsible for "reviewing the performance of its personnel" and it will undertake employee reviews "in accordance with its own procedures." Employees were told to disregard the OPM email.
NBC reported that new FBI director Kash Patel told employees not to answer the email.
Government Executive reported that NOAA and NSA employees were told the same.
The New York Times reported that State Department employees were also told not to respond.
OPM's email led to chaos and confusion inside agencies.
For example, Employees at the Department of HomelandSecurity were told not to respond to the Musk directive and that management would handle it, per an email viewed by Axios, from R.D. "Tex" Alles, deputy under secretary for Management at the agency.
But the email conflicted with guidance on how to respond — while keeping classified information safe — given earlier so some DHS workers from a mid level manager, also viewed by Axios.
The manager also listed some examples of "inappropriate" responses that appeared to mock Musk, including:
"Drafted an IFR to implement the Martian Exclusion Act of 2040" and "Provided ICE operational plans for their raid next week on the Martian gang that took over Coolidge Hotel in Musktopia. Mars. Etc"
The weekend guidance emails are creating chaos and in some cases real fear and anxiety for federal employees, one worker said.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has instructed staff to reply to the OPM email in coordination with their supervisor, according to an email shared with Axios.
For the record: An OPM spokesperson reiterated that the office was making the request, but said agencies will determine any next steps.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for clarification on the timing of those determinations — before the deadline to reply, as some have already done; or after replies have been received.
What we're watching: It remains unclear what will actually happen if employees don't respond.
Legal action is possible, if not likely, on Monday to try and block any response.
There's also the unanswered question of what OPM and agencies will do with all these emails, which could end up numbering in the millions.
MSNBC's new president Rebecca Kutler plans to announce broad programming changes to the network that elevate some of its most progressive voices, sources told Axios.
Why it matters: The changes signal the network's intent to double down on its liberal bend instead of moving toward the center in a new Trump era.
State of play: The programming shifts, which will impact dayside, weekend and primetime programming, include moving former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, currently the host of the weekend show, "Inside with Jen Psaki," to anchor one of the primetime hours during the week.
Psaki could be named anchor of MSNBC's 9 p.m. hour, which Rachel Maddow currently helms, sources told Axios. Maddow has returned to the anchor chair five times per week during the first 100 days of the Trump administration. She plans to return to anchoring just once per week on Mondays after that.
Alex Wagner, who had been anchoring MSNBC's 9 p.m. hour Tuesday-Fridays since 2022, will remain with the network as a correspondent, sources said.
Pskai, who joined the network in 2022, served in the Obama and Biden administrations. Her show has become the network's most-watched weekend program.
Zoom in: Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez, the trio of co-hosts that currently anchor MSNBC's weekend program "The Weekend," will move to anchor a weekday program in the 7 p.m. hour, sources added.
Menendez would be the first Latina woman to host a primetime cable news program on MSNBC.
Steele, formerly the chairman of the Republican National Committee, would join MSNBC anchor Nicole Wallace and "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman, as a host of a daily program on the network.
Between the lines: Sanders Townsend, formerly a spokesperson for former Vice President Kamala Harris, was hired by MSNBC in 2022, shortly before Pskai. Kutler spearheaded both programs in her previous role as MSNBC's senior vice president of content strategy.
Kutler, a longtime producer and former head of content development and talent at CNN, has a history of developing reporters and commentators into cable news stars.
Sources said talks are underway for Kutler to add Politico's Eugene Daniels and NYU law professor Melissa Murray to the network's lineup.
A network spokesperson declined to comment.
The big picture: MSNBC and several of its sister cable networks are expected to be spun out from Comcast as part of a separate, standalone company that will be publicly traded.
The split will force MSNBC to build up some of its own reporting and newsgathering infrastructure, especially in Washington D.C., where Kutler is expected to announce a new Washington Bureau for the network in coming months.
What to watch: Kutler is also hiring for a Washington bureau chief and new heads of talent, newsgathering, and content strategy.
Three years after Russia invaded Ukraine,Washington is shifting its pressure from Moscow to Kyiv as the Trump administration tries to end the war.
Why it matters: President Trump's dramatic change in U.S. policy toward Russia shocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and is fueling fears among U.S. allies that the Trump administration will side with Moscow as it tries to negotiate an end to the conflict.
At any other time in the past 80 years, it would have been unimaginable that the U.S. president would be pressing for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin while calling Zelensky a dictator.
Trump's approach stands in stark contrast to that of his predecessor former President Joe Biden who he claims was "played like a fiddle" by Zelensky and allowed the war to start and continue for so long.
Driving the news: Trump has been pressing Zelensky in recent days to sign an agreement that would give the U.S. and Ukraine equal shares of revenue from mining minerals and other natural resources in Ukraine.
The agreement was Zelensky's idea and he raised it first with Trump in September.
But while the Ukrainian president sees it as an economic partnership, Trump views the deal as a way to get back thehundreds of billions of dollars the U.S. gave Ukraine in assistance over the last three years.
Trump said he expects the U.S. will receive $400 billion to $500 billion through the agreement.
"We are either going to sign a deal or there are going to be a lot of problems with them," Trump said in a speech on Friday.
On Saturday, Trump said the parties were close to a deal. "We are asking for rare earth [elements] and oil — anything we can get ... we better be close to a deal," he said.
A U.S. official involved in the negotiations confirmed a deal could be reached fairly soon. "The two sides continue to engage constructively in the process. Top officials on both sides are focused on getting this done," the official said.
Between the lines: The mineral deal isn't directly related to the negotiations to end the war but it has exacerbated tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine amid Trump's outreach to Russia about negotiations to end the conflict.
Catch up quick: Ending the war in Ukraine was one of Trump's key campaign promises.
Since he assumed office, Trumpbegan criticizing Ukraine and alienating NATO allies while warming up to Russia.
After Trump spoke over the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month, senior U.S. and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia in a significant breakthrough in frozen U.S.-Russia relations.
The renewed engagement with Russia launcheda diplomatic process to end the war, but its fast pace and initial focus on Moscow created anxiety in Ukraine and among U.S. allies in Europe.
As the U.S. began engaging with Putin, Trumpcranked up pressure on Zelensky and began attacking him personally.
Trump falsely claimed Ukraine started the war, called Zelensky a dictator and said he doesn't think it's important that the Ukrainian president be part of meetings between the U.S. and Russia about how to end the war.
The big picture: The U.S. position is also applyingdiplomatic pressure on Ukraine and its Western allies at the UN and in other international forums.
The Trump administration is trying to push back on a UN General Assembly resolution presented by Ukraine marking three years for the Russian invasion.
European diplomats say the U.S. is pushing numerous countries to not support the Ukrainian text, and instead get behind a U.S. text that doesn't refer to the Russian invasion and doesn't put any responsibility for the war on Russia. The U.S. draft resolution calls for ending the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement on Saturdaysaid supporting the "simple, historic resolution ... affirm[s] that this conflict is awful, that the UN can help end it, and that peace is possible."
What they're saying: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Saturday evening that Trump "believes very strongly that Russia is willing to make a deal, and he's fighting to make a deal" to end the war.
She said national security adviser Mike Waltz is going to "work around the clock" all weekend to get a deal.
"The President [and] his team are very much focused on continuing negotiations with both sides of this war to end the conflict and the President is very confident we can get it done this week," she said.
What to watch: On Monday, the leaders of the G7 countries are expected to hold a virtual meeting marking three years since the Russian invasion. European diplomats said the U.S. currently opposes the draft statement for the meeting because it refers to Russia as "the aggressor."
The U.S. is also planning to bring a draft resolution about the war in Ukraine to a vote at the UN Security Council on Monday, according to European diplomats who say the proposed text also doesn't hold Russia accountable for the invasion and only calls for ending the conflict.
The diplomats said France and the UK will face a dilemma about whether to veto the U.S. resolution on the same day French President Emmanuel Macron meets Trump in the Oval Office and the same week that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit the White House.
Employee buyouts, terminations and uncertainty at multiplefederal agencies are sparking warnings about an erosion of scientific and technical expertise at a crucial moment.
Why it matters: No one country now dominates in every scientific field. The U.S. is in a tight competition with China for science and tech leadership as innovation amasses more economic value and geopolitical tensions rise.
"It doesn't just impact federal employees," said a former National Science Foundation employee. "It will reduce our ability to maintain any leadership in the international landscape."
The big picture: By purging workers as well as enticing people to quit via early retirement, the federal government has cast aside specialists needed to help agencies fulfill their missions.
Rocket scientists, ecologists, climate scientists, AI experts, chemists and other highly skilled workers have been affected.
The scientists who remain at agencies are trying to do more with less, while in many cases anxiously awaiting more cuts.
People are "walking away with years of institutional knowledge," one current NOAA scientist said.
"The door is revolving pretty quickly at NASA right now," one current space agency worker said. "They are losing people with tremendous amounts of experience."
Axios spoke to four current employees, and four who lost their jobs in recent weeks, who requested anonymity out of fear of retribution. They expressed concerns about a brain drain and loss of expertise.
Catch up quick: The National Science Foundation on Feb. 18 cut 168 employees — about 10% of its staff.
Half were probationary employees, many of whom have Ph.D.s in their fields.
The other half were contract workers who are highly specialized in their fields and who often work full-time jobs at universities and other institutions.
The intrigue: NOAA is bracing for cuts to its probationary workforce, and is already losing employees to the early retirement offer.
The top climate and weather agency also operates satellites, manages national fisheries and handles marine species protection.
NASA appears to have avoided immediate and sweeping cuts to its probationary staff — but a wave of high-profile retirements have cast uncertainty over the flagship Artemis Mission to return to the Moon.
"Everyone is wondering if the other shoe is going to drop or what they're going to hear next week or never. It's terrible," one NASA employee said, adding that it has already driven people away.
About 5% of NASA's workforce took the administration's deferred resignation buyout deal, NASA stated. The agency said it plans to cut its probationary workforce based on employee performance.
The other side: Addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, President Trump trumpeted his general efforts to cut government.
"We have escorted the radical-left bureaucrats out of the building and have locked the doors behind them," he said. "We've gotten rid of thousands."
In an earlier post on Truth Social, he praised Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency: "ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE."
NASA and NSF didn't respond to questions about concerns of loss of expertise.
Between the lines: Probationary employees have typically been in their roles less than one or two years.
But that doesn't necessarily mean they haven't worked in the government for longer. The probationary clock can sometimes reset when someone is promoted, transferred between agencies or steps into a new role.
The impact: The consequences of losing scientists, engineers, technicians and educators who conduct research, review grant applications, engage with communities across the country and oversee programs and missions will come in waves, several people said.
"The immediate loss is by removing all the people we brought in to fill critical gaps in ecological modeling, advanced survey statistics, cloud and AI advancements," the current NOAA scientist said.
The main role of NSF is assessing proposals from scientists and engineers for taxpayer-funded research. Its annual budget is roughly $9 billion.
"We need people who are incredibly smart with the expertise to determine if research is feasible and if it is moving the needle forward," the former NSF employee said.
What to watch: A secondary impact may be on the pipeline of future STEM talent in the U.S.
The cuts "remove all desire for new workers to look at the government as a realistic option," the NOAA scientist said.
It is "chopping off the whole younger layer, which any place needs to survive. These are people who know AI and have grown up with this stuff that these old fogies haven't."
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