The White House asked a judge Monday to allow it to continue barring the Associated Press from some press events, arguing in an new court filing that access to the president is at his discretion and not a constitutional right.

Why it matters: The filing — hours before a hearing on the matter scheduled later on Monday — states that just because the AP "may have long received special media access to the president does not mean that such access is constitutionally compelled in perpetuity."

Driving the news: "This case is about the Associated Press losing special media access to the President—a quintessentially discretionary presidential choice that infringes no constitutional right," the filing reads.

• "Presidents historically provided this special access to the Associated Press, but that discretionary choice does not create a constitutional right."

Catch up quick: The Associated Press named White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in their suit filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

• The AP accused the White House of violating its First Amendment rights, after the outlet's reporters were barred from attending some events, like Oval Office meetings and Air Force One press pools, following the AP's decision to use Gulf of Mexico rather than Gulf of America.

The big picture: The White House is targeting AP because of the preeminent role it plays in shaping mainstream news media language and therefore coverage though its influential stylebook.

• Republicans believe it has become institutionally geared toward the left.
• AP says its style guide is non-biased and is continually updated to provide accurate, fair and neutral information.

The other side: The White House Correspondents Association, an almost 800-member independent press group, filed an amicus brief on the AP's behalf.

• It argues that the free speech and integrity of not just the plaintiffs is at stake.
• The brief says that the administration's actions "will chill and distort news coverage of the President to the public's detriment" — a harm that extends beyond just the AP.
• The WHCA also argues that the independent pool system — a rotation of the association's member reporters who follow the president — is a key part of coverage on the White House beat, calling it the "first draft of history of events of domestic and global importance."

What to watch: A hearing is scheduled for later on Monday over the lawsuit.

Go deeper: AP sues Trump officials over Oval Office ban, citing First Amendment

Editor's note: This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky angered Donald Trump so much during the peace talks with Russia that Trump was on the verge of withdrawing American military support from Ukraine, three U.S. officials familiar with the discussions tell Axios.

Why it matters: The conflict between Trump and Zelensky escalated into a war of words between the two that scared European allies who are worried about emboldening Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and rewarding his brutal expansionism.

• "President Trump is obviously very frustrated right now with President Zelensky," National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Thursday at the White House press briefing.

The big picture: Trump and Zelensky have had an awkward relationship ever since Trump was impeached in 2019 for trying to leverage U.S. military aid to the war-torn country in return for Zelensky having Joe Biden's son investigated over his sinecure with a Ukrainian gas company.

• Today, Trump is finding it more difficult than expected to make good on his pledge to quickly implement a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Zoom in: Six administration officials tell Axios that during the past nine days there were five incidents that angered Trump, Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Waltz. Taken together, one administration official said, Zelensky "showed how not to do the 'Art of the Deal' " when it came to courting Trump's support:

• Feb. 12: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Zelensky in Kyiv to offer a proposal that would give the U.S. access to Ukrainian mineral rights in return for de facto U.S. protection. Trump later told reporters Zelensky was "rude" and delayed his meeting with Bessent because he slept in.
• Feb. 14: At the Munich Security Conference, Vance and Rubio met Zelensky to get his approval for the mineral rights deal. But, the officials said, Zelensky surprised the Americans by saying he didn't have the authority to unilaterally approve it without parliament.
• Feb. 15: Zelensky publicly rejected the offer at the conference. White House sources noted that his remarks to reporters — that the deal was "not in the interests of a sovereign Ukraine" — were markedly different from more positive-sounding comments he'd made on X the day before.
• Feb. 18: As Rubio, Waltz and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff sat down with Russian negotiators in Saudi Arabia to talk peace, Zelensky criticized the meeting for occurring without Ukraine at the table. An angry Trump then lashed out at Zelensky at a Mar-a-Lago press conference, falsely suggesting Zelensky had started the war with Russia and had an approval rating of only 4%.
• Feb. 19: Zelensky fired back, saying the U.S. president "lives in a disinformation space." Trump then ratcheted up the pressure by posting on Truth Social that Zelensky, a former actor, was a "modestly successful comedian" who has become a "dictator without elections." Trump has refused to criticize Putin as a dictator.

What they're saying: Vance told the conservative media outlet The National Pulse on Wednesday that Zelensky should've aired his complaints "in a private discussion with American diplomats … he's attacking the only reason [Ukraine] exists, publicly, right now. And it's disgraceful. And it's not something that is going to move the president of the United States. In fact, it's going to have the opposite effect."

• Three administration sources say Vance's comment about Trump's state of mind was a not-so-veiled threat to walk away from Ukraine.

In the White House's view, Zelensky grew too accustomed to former President Biden's open-ended support for Ukraine's war effort, the full-throated backing of NATO countries and the positive press that went with it. So he overstepped.

• "Zelensky is an actor who committed a common mistake of theater kids: He started to think he's the character he plays on TV," a White House official involved in the talks said. "Yes, he has been brave and stood up to Russia. But he would be six feet under if it wasn't for the millions we spent, and he needs to exit stage right with all the drama."
• "We created a monster with Zelensky," another official involved in the negotiations said. "And these Trump-deranged Europeans who won't send troops are giving him terrible advice."
• "In the course of a week, Zelensky rebuffed President Trump's treasury secretary, his secretary of state and his vice president, all before moving on to personally insulting President Trump in the press," another administration official said.
• "What did Zelensky think was going to happen?"

What's next: Despite the mistrust and anger, Trump's team has continued negotiating with Zelensky and a new mineral-rights deal that would be part of a peace agreement is in the offing.

Reality check: The deal Trump appears to be negotiating could be highly controversial. Based on their public and private statements, Trump's team is expected to pressure Zelensky into giving up Crimea (which Putin seized in 2014) portions of eastern Ukraine and the Azov Coast (occupied in Russia's 2022 invasion).

• The U.S. insistence on claiming a share of Ukraine's mineral rights has been compared to a "mafia shakedown" by liberal critics, who point out that the country would lose land and mineral rights and get little in return.
• "It's a sh*t sandwich," a Trump administration official acknowledged.
• "But Ukraine is going to have to eat it because [Trump] has made clear this is no longer our problem."

The Trump administration has given Ukraine an "improved" draft for a minerals agreement between the countries after President Volodymyr Zelensky infuriated President Trump by rejecting his initial offer, a Ukrainian official, a U.S. official and three sources with knowledge tell Axios.

Why it matters: The disagreement over minerals helped spark a wider crisis in relations this week, with Trump denouncing Zelensky as a "dictator" who chose war with Russia, and Zelensky accusing Trump of swallowing Russian "disinformation."

The intrigue: Sources on both sides now say a deal is looking more likely.

• A source with knowledge said several of Zelensky's aides have encouraged him to sign the updated proposal to avoid a further clash with Trump and allow the U.S. president to justify U.S. support for Ukraine.
• "There was significant improvement in the recent draft and it is in conformity with Ukrainian law," the source said.
• National security adviser Mike Waltz told reporters Thursday that Zelensky needed to "come back to the table" on the minerals issue.
• "This is a negotiation. And in a negotiation, you negotiate. Ukraine wants to negotiate minerals, so we're talking about it," a White House official said.

The big picture: Ukraine sits on significant reserves of rare earth minerals critical to the world's most cutting-edge technologies. In total, the value of the minerals could run into the trillions of dollars.

• The minerals agreement is not explicitly linked to any settlement to end the war in Ukraine, but the two issues have collided this week in dramatic fashion.

Catch up quick: The idea for an economic partnership between Ukraine and the U.S. was brought up originally last September by Zelensky during a meeting with Trump in New York.

• Last week, three hours before Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent arrived for a meeting with Zelensky in Kyiv, the U.S. ambassador delivered a draft agreement for cooperation on the mining of minerals.
• The draft agreement said 50% of the resulting revenues would be given to the U.S., that the agreement would be under the jurisdiction of a New York court, and the deal would override any of Ukraine's other trade agreements, according to two sources who read the original draft.
• During their meeting, Bessent told Zelensky that Trump insisted he sign it right away. Zelensky told Bessent he couldn't sign an agreement he had only just received.

Between the lines: The Ukrainians were also disappointed that the U.S. draft didn't include any security guarantees for Ukraine and that it was being pushed on them at a time when Ukraine was also being excluded from U.S.-Russia talks about Ukraine's future.

• But they were also surprised when Trump began to attack Zelensky publicly, including over the minerals proposal.

What they're saying: "Scott Bessent actually went there and was treated rather rudely because essentially they told him 'no,'" Trump told reporters on Wednesday. "He came back empty. They wouldn't sign the document."

• Several days later, when Zelensky met Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Munich, they presented him with a less binding draft memorandum of understanding about the mining of minerals, a Ukrainian official said.
• Zelensky told Vance and Rubio he couldn't sign because such an agreement must be approved by parliament, per the Ukrainian constitution.
• "That was news to us that Zelensky's team never told us before that meeting," a Trump administration official said. "It didn't seem like it was in good faith."
• The White House and Zelensky's office did not respond to requests for comment.

Behind the scenes: Zelensky's position on the minerals deal was one of the issues that frustrated Trump and other senior U.S. officials and exacerbated the existing tensions over the U.S.-Russia meeting in Saudi Arabia, U.S. and Ukrainian officials say.

• "There is a lot of frustration. Vice President Vance was very frustrated leaving the Munich Security Conference. That is on top of the president [being frustrated]," Waltz told Fox News on Thursday.
• "We proposed to have the U.S. co-invest with Ukraine in its economy and natural resources and become a partner in Ukraine's future. This is the best security guarantee they can hope for. More than another pallet of ammunition."
• "Why are we getting pushback and badmouthing in the press? It's unacceptable. They need to tone it down. Take a hard look and sign this deal," Waltz said.

State of play: Trump said on Wednesday night that he was trying to "resurrect" the minerals deal.

• A Ukrainian official, a U.S. official and two sources with knowledge told Axios that in recent days negotiations continued, with the U.S. presenting Ukraine with an updated version that addressed some of Zelensky's concerns.
• Another source said some articles that had concerned the Ukrainians — including that the deal was under the jurisdiction of the New York court — were removed.

The latest: Zelensky met on Thursday in Kyiv with U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg and discussed the minerals agreement, the battlefield situation, the return of prisoners of war and security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a future peace agreement.

• After the meeting, Zelensky issued a statement thanking the U.S. for its assistance and bipartisan support.
• "Ukraine is ready for a strong, effective investment and security agreement with the President of the United States. We have proposed the fastest and most constructive way to achieve results. Our team is ready to work 24/7," he said.
• Waltz claimed Kellogg had helped Zelensky realize the war needed to end.

Republican grievances against the AP Stylebook's influential guidance on topics like race, gender and immigration have incubated for more than a decade — culminating last week with President Trump's expulsion of Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office.

The big picture: The White House blamed the restriction on AP's recent "Gulf of Mexico" decision. But it's part of a broader escalation against what conservatives see as the AP's tight control over the news media's word choices, as Axios' Marc Caputo reported.

• At a Mar-a-Lago press conference on Tuesday, Trump said that "some of the phrases that they want to use are ridiculous."

The backstory: The first notable conservative complaint surfaced in 2013, when AP discontinued "illegal immigrant" following a pressure campaign from immigrant-rights advocates. Congress was debating a major immigration overhaul at the time.

• Then and now, AP disputes the accusation that its Stylebook favors a political party, movement or ideology. Lauren Easton, AP's vice president of corporate communications, told Axios the news service "doesn't align with any particular agenda." AP provides style guidance to members and customers "and it is up to them what they choose to use," she said.

How it works: For most of its 179 years, AP has been viewed as non-controversial — known for just-the-facts neutrality. The AP Stylebook, first published in 1953, is a basic text in journalism schools — and the first grammar and style guide most U.S. news outlets (including Axios) consult when setting their own rules. The guide is constantly evolving.

• The style rules that rankle conservatives are nested among thousands of Stylebook directives about punctuation and grammar, most of them time-tested and innocuous — capitalization, commas and company names.

Zoom in: Below are some of the AP style guidelines that have stuck in the craws of conservative critics. Axios compiled the list by checking common complaints from MAGA influencers against specific wording in AP guidance.

• Warning against "all views" in transgender coverage: AP's "Transgender Coverage Topical Guide" says to avoid "false balance — giving a platform to unqualified claims or sources in the guise of balancing a story by including all views."
• Using "gender-affirming care": AP says the term, commonly used by advocates and physicians, refers to "a swath of mental and medical treatments (such as counseling, hormones or surgery) that help bring a person's gender expression (such as voice, appearance or anatomy) in line with their gender identity."
• Using "sex assigned at birth": That's recommended "instead of biological sex, birth gender, was identified at birth as, born a girl and the like," the style guide says. "Avoid references to a transgender person being born a boy or girl, or phrasing like birth gender. Sex assigned at birth is the accurate terminology."
• The concept of "non-binary" language: "Experts," the guide says, "say gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure consisting of only males and females."
• Excluding binary terms concerning sex or gender: "Since not all people fall under one of two categories for sex or gender — as in the cases of nonbinary and intersex people — avoid references to both, either or opposite sexes or genders," the guide says.
• Opposing language of transgender critics: "Do not use the term transgenderism, which frames transgender identity as an ideology," AP says.
• Using trans activists' language: The Stylebook discusses "deadnaming," a transgender advocates' term that refers to a person's original name that "can be akin to using a slur and can cause feelings of gender dysphoria to resurface."
• Calling out transgender critics: The guide notes that "opponents of youth transgender medical treatment say there's no solid proof of purported benefits, cite widely discredited research and say children shouldn't make life-altering decisions they might regret."
• Capitalizing Black but not white for race: The Stylebook advises that "Black" should be used for racial descriptions while the lowercase "black" is considered just a color. AP says "white people's skin color plays into systemic inequalities and injustices, and we want our journalism to robustly explore those problems. But capitalizing the term white, as is done by white supremacists, risks subtly conveying legitimacy to such beliefs." AP notes that white people "generally do not share the same history and culture, or the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color."
• Limiting use of the word "riot": AP says that "focusing on rioting and property destruction rather than underlying grievance has been used in the past to stigmatize broad swaths of people protesting against lynching or police brutality or for racial justice, going back at least to the urban uprisings of the 1960s in the U.S."
• Alternatives to "Hispanic": The Stylebook says that "Latino, Latina or Latinx are sometimes preferred" over Hispanic. Poll after poll shows Hispanic is preferred, and support for using Latinx is minuscule.
• Describing immigrants: The Stylebook frowns on the term "illegal immigrant" and says to "use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant." AP doesn't recommend "undocumented immigrant," and says acceptable "variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission. For people: immigrants lacking permanent legal status."
• Disfavoring the term "anchor babies": The Stylebook says it's "a pejorative term in the U.S. for children who are born to noncitizen parents wanting to take advantage of birthright citizenship."
• Disfavoring "catch and release": The Stylebook notes it's "a term favored by advocates of immigration restriction" for those caught illegally in the country who are then released in the U.S. But the guide calls it a "misleading and dehumanizing term."
• Avoiding "chain migration": AP notes it's a term used by immigration restrictionists, and says to avoid it in referring "to what the U.S. government calls family-based immigration." The guide says the term is "vague and may imply unfettered immigration."
• Cautioning against "terrorism and terrorist" because they've become "politicized": The Stylebook says that instead of "labeling an attack or attacker as terrorism or terrorist, AP describes the specific atrocity, massacre, bombing, or assassination, and so on. We do not use the terms terrorism or terrorist for specific actions or groups, other than when attributed to authorities or others."
• Changing the spelling of Ukraine's capital: In 2019, AP announced a style change to spell the city "Kyiv" to align with the government's spelling, and not "Kiev," which is more associated with Russia. (Chicken Kiev, however, remains unchanged in the style guide).

Criticisms from liberal circles are harder to find — or were resolved, like some concerning coverage of racism or race and ethnicity. But there are some:

• Use of "Palestine": Supporters of Palestinian rights, who tend to be left-adjacent, have for years complained that AP style says the West Bank and Gaza should not be referred to as "Palestine ... since it is not a fully independent, unified state."
• President Trump's conviction: The organization was also criticized by those on the left for not routinely describing Trump as a "convicted felon" during the campaign.

The other side: Easton says that only does the AP Stylebook not align with any one agenda, it "is used as a writing and editing reference worldwide. It contains thousands of entries. It offers guidance on spelling, language, punctuation and journalistic style and is regularly updated as usage evolves. In doing so, we consider a wide range of input."

• "Updates are made with an eye to making the news report clear, accurate and easily understood by a global audience. Like AP journalism, guidance offered in the Stylebook is used by organizations that span the political spectrum."

AP defenders say that objections to Stylebook prescriptions are no justification for punishing journalists. Several news organizations and press groups have issued statements condemning the White House actions.

• An AP statement says: "Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP's speech not only severely impedes the public's access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment."

Go deeper: Why Trump targets AP.

One of the big reasons President Trump is limiting AP reporters' White House access is to protest what aides see as years of liberal word choices that the wire service's influential stylebook spread across mainstream media, according to top White House officials.

Why it matters: The trigger was the announcement by The Associated Press that it would continue using the 400-year-old "Gulf of Mexico" rather than switch to "Gulf of America," as declared by Trump in a Day 1 executive order. But it turns out that broader underlying grievances made AP a target.

The big picture: By spotlighting AP, Trump is amplifying Republican and conservative criticisms that the AP Stylebook, a first reference for most U.S. news organizations, shapes political dialogue by favoring liberal words and phrases concerning gender, immigration, race and law enforcement.

• "This isn't just about the Gulf of America," White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich told Axios. "This is about AP weaponizing language through their stylebook to push a partisan worldview in contrast with the traditional and deeply held beliefs of many Americans and many people around the world."
• The dispute with AP is part of Trump's broader effort to discredit legacy media outlets and the public's trust in the press — already at a record low.

The other side: AP — which has long been considered the gold standard of neutrality — rejects any accusation of bias. Lauren Easton, vice president of corporate communications, told Axios that AP "is a global, fact-based, nonpartisan news organization with thousands of customers around the world who span the political spectrum."

• "If AP journalism wasn't factual and nonpartisan, this wouldn't be the case," she said.
• Easton said AP provides "guidance on issues brought to us by members and customers, and it is up to them what they choose to use. Again, this is guidance. It's not surprising that political parties, organizations or even individuals may disagree with some entries. The Stylebook doesn't align with any particular agenda."

State of play: After barring AP reporters from covering several events with Trump last week, the White House said Friday that because the wire service "continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America," AP slots in the Oval Office on Air Force One "will now be opened up" to other reporters.

• An AP reporter and photographer were blocked Friday from boarding Air Force One for Trump's weekend trip to Florida.
• The White House said AP journalists "will retain their credentials to the White House complex."

The backstory: AP said in its Jan. 23 "style guidance," released proactively to guide members and customers, that Trump "has signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The body of water has shared borders between the U.S. and Mexico. Trump's order only carries authority within the United States. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change."

• "The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years," the guidance continues. "The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences."
• AP said in the same announcement that it'll follow Trump's executive order returning the name of Alaska's Mount McKinley, which had been changed to Denali in 2015. AP's logic: The peak is solely within the U.S., and "Trump has the authority to change federal geographical names."

Behind the scenes: Five days after AP issued its guidance concerning the gulf name change, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held her first briefing, and foreshadowed the fight the White House would pick with legacy media.

• "Karoline said she would not lie and that she would call out media organizations who do lie," a Trump adviser said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "And we knew the AP would keep calling the Gulf of America the Gulf of Mexico, and that's misinformation."

To attract maximum attention to his change, Trump signed an order in front of reporters on Air Force One as he flew over the Gulf en route to the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, declaring the "first ever Gulf of America Day."

• Two days later, the White House blocked an AP reporter from an Oval Office event.

Zoom out: Trump allies — including Mike Cernovich, a leading MAGA influencer on X — began attracting the attention of the president's advisers by highlighting longstanding complaints about some of the AP stylebook's thousands of entries. Other less-well-known accounts criticized guidance about immigration and transgender issues that White House advisers have seen. Among the AP guidance conservatives find objectionable:

• Warning against "all views" in transgender coverage: AP's "Transgender Coverage Topical Guide" says to avoid "false balance — giving a platform to unqualified claims or sources in the guise of balancing a story by including all views."
• Using the phrase "gender-affirming care": AP says the term, commonly used by advocates and physicians, refers to "a swath of mental and medical treatments (such as counseling, hormones or surgery) that help bring a person's gender expression (such as voice, appearance or anatomy) in line with their gender identity."
• Capitalizing Black but not white for race: AP's stylebook advises that "Black" should be used for racial descriptions while the lowercase "black" is considered just a color. AP says "white people's skin color plays into systemic inequalities and injustices, and we want our journalism to robustly explore those problems. But capitalizing the term white, as is done by white supremacists, risks subtly conveying legitimacy to such beliefs." AP notes that white people "generally do not share the same history and culture, or the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color."
• Describing immigrants: The Stylebook frowns on the term "illegal immigrant" and says to "use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant." AP doesn't recommend "undocumented immigrant," and says acceptable "variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission. For people: immigrants lacking permanent legal status."

What they're saying: Terry Schilling, a conservative critic of "transgenderism" (a word AP recommends against), called the style guidance "Orwellian newspeak. It's 1984."

• Ashley Brundage, a transgender activist with GLAAD, defended AP for trying to use "inclusive language," and said that "if Republicans are good with name changes for the Gulf of Mexico, then they should be OK for any name changes" for transgender people.

The Axios position: We've taken a different approach than many media companies, based on serving primarily a U.S. audience. The government, plus Apple Maps and Google Maps, call it the Gulf of America. For clarity, we call it the "Gulf of America (renamed by the U.S. from Gulf of Mexico)."

• "At the same time," Axios said in a statement Friday, "the government should never dictate how any news organization makes editorial decisions. The AP and all news organizations should be free to report as they see fit. This is a bedrock of a free press and durable democracy."

President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is the congenial dealmaker for the very brash dealmaker-in-chief.

• Witkoff has an expanding portfolio that now includes Trump's biggest geopolitical challenge — negotiating a deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine as part of a controversial reset of U.S. foreign policy.

Why it matters: Trump's cage-rattling agenda — which has shocked European allies — is a keystone of his second term. He'll rely heavily on Witkoff, a billionaire real estate investor and friend for 40 years, to make it happen.

Zoom in: Associates describe Witkoff, 67, as something of a velvet glove when it comes to negotiating — smooth and to the point.

• Witkoff helped persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to release U.S. teacher Marc Fogel on Monday, after talks in Moscow.
• Witkoff played a key role in getting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire-and-hostages deal with Hamas last month.
• He's also Trump's point man for talks the president wants to have with Iran to try to reach a new nuclear deal later this year, U.S. officials say.

Trump aides emphasize that Witkoff shouldn't be seen as overshadowing Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Witkoff was instrumental in advising Trump to pick Rubio, Vice President Vance and White House national security adviser Mike Waltz for their positions.

• They've all worked with Witkoff on the Middle East. But a senior Arab official said it's clear to everyone in the region that Witkoff is Trump's ultimate representative — and that if you want to cut a deal, you do it with him.

Between the lines: Witkoff's negotiating tactics are rooted in his experience as a New York real estate mogul, according to those who know him.

• They say Witkoff knows when to employ charm, which he prefers, and when to apply pressure that can channel Trump's intimidating demeanor.
• "The president sees Steve as one of the world's great dealmakers," said one White House official. "Game respects game."
• "He's very respectful and direct," said one official who's seen Witkoff work. "He doesn't apologize for the president or undercut him. You never hear him say: 'Oh, I agree with you and disagree with Trump.'"
• "He has all the good of Trump but he does not need the limelight," the official said. "He does not need to fly like Icarus, too close to the sun."

Israeli officials who worked with Witkoff on the Gaza ceasefire deal described him as energetic and informal. Witkoff even came to some negotiation sessions in Doha wearing sweatpants, a sweatshirt and sneakers.

• Witkoff's energy "was a key factor that led to the deal," an Israeli official said.

Witkoff favors swift, direct and to-the-point talks.

• "He wants to talk to people that are empowered to close a deal, and not waste his time on talking to people that need to go back to their boss every two minutes to get approval," a source close to Witkoff said.

Reality check: Israeli and Arab officials told Axios that Witkoff still needs to become more knowledgeable about the Middle East — the different players and the historical and emotional sensitivities that underpin conflicts there.

• Concerns about the U.S. trying to impose a shortsighted policy in Gaza have heightened amid Trump's call for Palestinians to be removed from war-torn Gaza and relocated permanently to Jordan and Egypt — a plan few see as remotely workable.

Trump's team faces a significant challenge in talks with Putin over Ukraine. During his invasions of Ukrainian lands in the past decade, Putin has shown no willingness to compromise.

• But much to the consternation of America's European allies, Trump's administration has indicated the U.S. is willing to allow Russia to keep some of the territory it has gained.

Flashback: Witkoff was a behind-the-scenes negotiator and fixer during Trump's 2024 campaign.

• He organized a bury-the-hatchet meeting between Trump and his bitter GOP primary rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
• After Trump savaged popular Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) for rejecting Trump's claim that the 2020 election was stolen, it was Witkoff who met with Kemp to smooth things over.
• Witkoff flew to Kiawah Island, S.C., for a secret meeting with another primary rival, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
• Witkoff was in the room when Trump had his reconciliation meeting with Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago last July. He was also present when Trump met the Emirati and Qatari leaders in September.

The Trump-Witkoff relationship dates to the mid-1980s, when Trump was a rising New York builder and Witkoff was a real estate lawyer.

• The two became golf buddies and dinner companions. Trump came to appreciate that, unlike others in Trumpworld, Witkoff wasn't seeking fame.
• And unlike many other longtime friends of Trump's, Witkoff didn't ditch him after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. That resonated with Trump.

"Steve has stayed loyal and asked for nothing," an administration official said.

• Trump often used Witkoff's Gulfstream G6 jet during the campaign, including when the Secret Service feared that Trump's jet would be targeted by Iranian assassins. Vance took a secret flight on Witkoff's plane to meet with Trump just before his selection as the VP nominee.
• Witkoff also flew to Israel and Qatar for the negotiations that produced the Gaza deal. He gave Joe Biden's Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, a ride back to Washington after they sealed the deal.
• Last week, Witkoff's jet flew to Russia to bring back Fogel, who'd been held there since 2021 for carrying a small amount of marijuana into the country.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s family is concerned that President Trump's order to release records about his assassination could revive the FBI's attempts to discredit him — efforts that sought to exploit his indiscretions and undermine his legacy, sources close to his relatives tell Axios.

• The family requested a sneak preview of the records prior to their release. Trump declined, a White House official said, but not out of animus toward the family.

Why it matters: The brewing controversy pits Trump's determination to release documents the government has kept secret for more than a half-century against the family's lingering pain over how J. Edgar Hoover's FBI spied on King and tried to intimidate and humiliate him.

• Last month, Trump ordered the release of all records the U.S. government still holds about King's assassination in 1968, as well as the assassinations of President Kennedy (1963) and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (1968).
• The FBI has released documents about King's private life previously, but the new disclosure could include more documents detailing alleged embarrassing interactions in hotel rooms, private homes and even King's house,

"We know J. Edgar Hoover tried to destroy Dr. King's legacy, and the family doesn't want that effort to prevail," a King family friend told Axios.

• "Family members wanted an advanced viewing" of the documents, "and [Trump] said no," the White House official said, explaining that the president believes "these records don't belong to them. These are the public's records."
• The president's abiding interest is disclosure about what the government knew about the assassinations, not salacious details about the leaders' sex lives, the official said, adding that the King family's concerns had been relayed to the White House.
• "Everything will be revealed," Trump said last month after he announced his order to disclose information about the three 1960s assassinations that shaped a turbulent decade in American society and politics.

Zoom in: King's assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis has long fueled conspiracy theories about potential government involvement, especially because of the FBI's hostility toward him.

• In 1969, James Earl Ray, a career criminal, pleaded guilty to shooting King but later recanted his confession, saying he was part of a larger conspiracy.
• Allegations of government complicity have persisted for decades, with civil rights leaders, investigative authors and Ray's attorneys citing the FBI, Memphis police, and Missouri State Penitentiary — from which Ray escaped a year before the killing — as potential conspirators.

Between the lines: The promise of complete disclosure alarmed the King family, who were hurt in 2019 by the release of FBI files that alleged sordid details about King's sex life, the family friend said.

• "The assassination of our father is a deeply personal family loss that we have endured over the last 56 years. We hope to be provided the opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its public release," the family said in an Instagram post Jan. 24, the day after Trump's order.
• "There are deep concerns" within the family, said a second source who has corresponded with one of King's two surviving adult children.
• "They know the right wing wants to smear Dr. King, and one way to do it is by putting these smears in the public under the guise of transparency. If there are assassination records, release those. But smears are not assassination records."

The big picture: Trump's push to release the assassination records reflect his longtime suspicion of the FBI. He stewed when the FBI investigated him, and has associated the bureau with what many conservatives see as a "Deep State" bureaucracy that has manipulated the government.

• So the King family and Trump share a common antagonist: the FBI.

King's pursuit of civil rights through nonviolence is his enduring legacy. But as his work unfolded in the 1960s, Hoover and others in the U.S. government sought to prevent the rise of what they feared would be a Black "messiah" who could unify African Americans.

• Congress formally recognized King's iconic status by approving a federal holiday in his honor more than 15 years after he was killed in Memphis.
• In the following decades, his legacy drew bipartisan admiration. More recently, however, far-right commentators such as Charlie Kirk, a Trump ally, began criticizing King.

Trump hasn't followed suit, but such criticism coincides with an increasing willingness among Republicans to attack affirmative action, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, and other initiatives designed to ensure fairness for historically disadvantaged groups.

• Trump has banned DEI programs in the U.S. government. He signed a proclamation declaring February as Black History Month — but his DEI ban led federal agencies to cancel activities celebrating it.

Flashback: FBI documents released through the years have shown how King's success as a civil rights organizer was rattling the bureau in 1963.

• "We must mark [King] now ... as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro and national security," William Sullivan, then the FBI's director of intelligence, wrote in a memo two days after King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
• As attorney general, Robert Kennedy approved Hoover's request in 1963 to wiretap King amid concerns that King was associating with communists.

During its surveillance of King, the FBI stumbled upon recordings, from the bugged home of his lawyer Clarence Jones, that indicated King was involved in an extramarital affair, according to the 2020 documentary "MLK/FBI."

• That led the FBI to expand its surveillance to include bugging King's home and hotel rooms. FBI agents reported that King was involved in several sexual liaisons, according to "MLK/FBI" and documents in the National Archives.
• In November 1964, the FBI anonymously sent a package to King at his home with a copy of an electronic surveillance tape that included personal information and a note suggesting that he kill himself, documents in the National Archives show.

FBI files accessible in the Archives suggest the bureau has tape recordings or photos of King's private activities that have never been released.

• A federal judge in 1977 ordered most recordings and reports on King's private life sealed until 2027. Under Trump's order, the documents would be released two years early, by March 9.

Sam Pollard, director of "MLK/FBI," tells Axios that there initially will be attention on "salacious stuff" when the records on King are released.

• But Pollard said the release also is likely to include tapes that will give scholars insight on conversations King had with Jesse Jackson and other associates on their strategies and views on their civil rights movement.
• "I don't think, personally, it's gonna hurt his reputation," said Pollard, who received a "cease and desist" order from King's family when he was working on his film but later reached an agreement with the family.

What we're watching: Under Trump's order, the government's long-withheld documents on former President Kennedy's assassination are supposed to be released imminently.

• The records regarding Robert Kennedy's assassination are supposed to be released after King's records, sometime after March 9.

As President Trump nears his term's one-month mark next week, a White House adviser is keeping a calendar tracking daily wins, losses and "jump balls" — and loves the result so far.

Why it matters: Insiders tell us Trump, who came into office feeling ebullient and empowered, is just getting more confident — fueled by his expected clean sweep of Cabinet confirmations, plus a CBS News poll showing 53% approval amid his aggressive "flood the zone" opening actions.

The big picture: The midterm map has gotten more favorable for the GOP with the retirement announcements Thursday by Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and by Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) a week into Trump's term — two more hot battleground seats for Dems to defend in an already tough cycle.

Privately, there's an undercurrent of worry in Trumpworld that political gravity could weigh him down — especially if inflation rises. The looming debt ceiling and government-funding fights could be messy.

• For now, it's foot ... on ... gas. White House communications director Steven Cheung posted a photo of eight news channels simultaneously showing this week's Oval Office colloquy by Trump and Elon Musk and labeled it: "FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE."

Behind the scenes: "Trump is reborn," a confidant who spoke with Trump by phone told Caputo.

• "Normally, a big part of the conversation is the 'Russia hoax' and stuff like that," the confidant said. "It's gone. Now it's: 'Did you see the CBS poll?' Or it's: 'This person is saying nice things about me.' He feels totally vindicated."

A highlight of Trump's week was Russia's release of imprisoned Pennsylvania teacher Marc Fogel, who was flown from Moscow straight to D.C. Fogel met the president on the South Lawn late Tuesday night — an American flag draped around his neck and an Iron City Beer in his hand.

• The cameras captured it all. "This is Trump the Producer," another confidant told us.

Reality check: Offscreen, it's much messier — sometimes intended, sometimes not — as Trump and Elon Musk race to reshape Washington and reset American foreign policy.

• Six senior Justice Department officials, including Manhattan's top federal prosecutor, resigned Thursday rather than comply with a Justice Department order to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. (Reuters)
• As layoffs swept the bureaucracy, thousands of workers "were laid off in messages delivered through prerecorded videos and on group calls," The Washington Post reports. "Some were ordered to leave the building within 30 minutes. Others were told they would be formally fired by emails, which never arrived."
• The Small Business Administration listed a paralegal phone number for laid-off employees to appeal their termination — but the number was an automated line for an apartment building. (WP)
• There's much more to come: Musk told the World Governments Summit in Dubai via teleconference that the U.S. needs to "delete entire agencies — many of them." (Video)
• A "climate of fear" hit the Kennedy Center as Trump was installed as the chair, succeeding David Rubenstein, and some upcoming shows vanished from the lineup. (WP)
• NATO reels: The world's biggest military alliance is in disarray amid new questions about America's commitment to European security after remarks this week by Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. (AP)
• "Trump's Whirlwind Now Blows Through Europe," the N.Y. Times' David E. Sanger writes (gift link), pointing to Trump's tariffs, statements on Ukraine by Trump and Hegseth, and Vice President Vance's "America First" AI speech in Paris.

The bottom line: Look for the maximalist Trump to accelerate as more of his confirmed officials ramp up.

Go deeper: Axios confirmation tracker.

The FBI just discovered about 2,400 records tied to President Kennedy's assassination that were never provided to a board tasked with reviewing and disclosing the documents, Axios has learned.

• The still-secret records are contained in 14,000 pages of documents the FBI found in a review triggered by President Trump's Jan. 23 executive order demanding the release of all JFK assassination records.

Why it matters: The discovery — 61 years after Kennedy was killed in Dallas — follows decades of government reluctance to release all documents related to the assassination, which fueled a mountain of conspiracy theories.

• The existence of the new documents was disclosed Friday to the White House, when the Office of the Director of National Intelligence submitted its plan to disclose the assassination records under Trump's order.

Zoom in: The contents of the newly found records are closely held secrets. The three sources who relayed their existence to Axios said they hadn't seen the documents.

• But the discovery of thousands of records on one of the most scrutinized events in U.S. history is likely to raise questions about the procedures for vetting and releasing information across the entire government.
• "This is huge. It shows the FBI is taking this seriously," said Jefferson Morley, an expert on the assassination and vice president of the nonpartisan Mary Ferrell Foundation, the nation's largest source of online records of Kennedy's killing. He sued the U.S. government for more records.
• "The FBI is finally saying, 'Let's respond to the president's order,' instead of keeping the secrecy going," Morley said.

Reality check: The remaining records to be disclosed — as well as the newly discovered tranche of 2,400 reports — are unlikely to definitively prove whether Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone-wolf assassin or was part of a broader conspiracy, experts say.

Catch up quick: Under the 1992 JFK Records Act, assassination records were supposed to be handed over to the JFK Assassination Records Review Board and then to the National Archives. The archive maintains a collection of documents that were supposed to be fully disclosed in 2017.

• Administration officials determined these newly discovered records hadn't been submitted to or vetted by the assassination review board or the National Archives.
• When Trump was president in 2017, he delayed disclosure of the records the government had identified, on the advice of the CIA. President Biden then ordered limited releases of records that still didn't fully comply with the spirit of the JFK Records Act.
• Government secrecy advocates argued to Trump and Biden that full disclosure of the assassination documents could compromise "sources and methods" of intelligence gathering, and unfairly implicate officials involved in the controversy.

The big picture: Trump has regretted for years not releasing all the JFK records in his first term, according to those who have discussed the matter with him.

• During the 2024 campaign, Trump promised his supporters and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the late president's nephew, that he'd release the records on JFK's assassination in 1963, as well as those related to the 1968 killing of Kennedy's father, Robert F. Kennedy.
• RFK Jr., named by Trump to be Health and Human Services secretary, has called for full disclosure for years, and believes both assassinations were part of a broader conspiracy.

Trump's order calls for a plan to release assassination records of RFK and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. by March 9.

• "PRESIDENT TRUMP IS ENDING THE ENDLESS DELAYS," a White House fact sheet issued Jan. 23 says: "President Trump promised during his campaign to release assassination records to give Americans the truth."

What's next: Despite Trump's order, sources say, the various intelligence agencies with records of the assassination are still recommending redactions.

• "When POTUS hears about this stonewalling, he's gonna hit the roof," a White House official told Axios.
• "This is total Deep State bulls**t," said another.
• "Don't be surprised if all these records just suddenly wind up online," a Trump adviser said. "He wants to move on and call this a promise kept."

The intrigue: The newly discovered FBI files could have relevance in the ongoing federal lawsuit filed by the Mary Ferrell Foundation against the Biden administration in 2022. It alleges federal agencies had more documents related to the assassination that they weren't turning over to the National Archives. They include:

• Jailhouse recordings of mobster Carlos Marcello, who claimed he was involved in the assassination.
• CIA files of George Joannides. He was the chief of covert action at the CIA station in Miami and was a case officer for a New Orleans-based CIA-funded exile group that had a series of encounters with Oswald before the shooting. Joannides also was accused of misleading a House committee investigating the assassination by failing to disclose his ties to Oswald. "The Joannides file sounds exactly like the newly discovered FBI files," Morley said. "It's something assassination-related that was never turned over to the Archives."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked U.S. Secretary of Commerce nominee Howard Lutnick during their meeting in Washington on Friday to give Israel a waiver that would exempt it from proposed regulatory controls on advanced AI chips, two sources with knowledge of the issue said.

Why it matters: Advanced computing chips are crucial for Israel's tech and defense industries to develop AI systems.

• Israel has been extremely concerned by the Biden administration's decision to put it on a list of 120 countries whose access to advanced AI chips exported from the U.S. could be limited under a framework proposed in January.
• While the immediate effect is mostly on Israel's reputation, the export controls could have a negative impact on the Israeli tech industry in the future.
• The Biden administration's restrictions won't take effect for three months and Israel hopes Trump will change the export control framework or upgrade Israel's status, an Israeli official said.

Behind the scenes: A U.S. source with knowledge of the meeting said Lutnick discussed the issue with Netanyahu but made no promises.

• A senior Trump administration official expressed skepticism that the U.S. will grant Netanyahu's request in the near term.
• "We can't start making exceptions right now because this is national security we're talking about and it's of utmost importance," the official said.

The big picture: Under the Biden administration's framework about 20 allied countries, including Japan, Canada, and the U.K., would be able to import chips from the U.S. without restrictions.

• Arms-embargoed countries, including China and Russia, were already unable to import advanced chips from U.S. companies. The new export controls are aimed at preventing China from gaining access to chips via third-party countries.
• Another 120 countries, including Israel, Switzerland and Portugal, would face caps on the number of chips they could import from the U.S. and be subject to license requirements.
• The sweeping controls have drawn criticism from some industry players who argue they will undermine U.S. competitiveness.

Go deeper:

Biden administration unveils global AI export controls aimed at China

Biden ratchets up AI chip war with China

Scoop: Advanced AI chips cleared for export to UAE under Microsoft deal

House GOP leaders told White House officials Thursday they need another 24 hours on reconciliation, pleading for the Senate to let them figure it out.

Why it matters: After a four-plus-hour meeting in the White House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) returned to the Capitol and said they were "close" to an agreement.

• "I think probably by tonight we wrap it," he said.

Vice President Vance was in the room for the first part of the meeting, while President Trump was in and out after it became clear the meeting would be a marathon.

• They wrapped in the Oval Office, where the president gave the lawmakers pens and coins.
• Trump told the Republicans to "figure out" how to make his 2017 tax cuts permanent.

Zoom in: Johnson's optimism was publicly shared by other leaders who attended the meeting, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas).

• "Today was big," Arrington told reporters Thursday.
• "It was pretty intense. The heat was on medium the whole time," House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) told us.

Reality check: Lawmakers didn't share any details of the kind of progress they made.

• It's unclear if they made any headway on the yawning gap in how much spending they should cut, which ranges from $500 billion to $2 trillion.

Driving the news: In addition to his campaign promises, like "no taxes on tips," Trump dug up some provisions he didn't dwell on during the campaign, like ending tax breaks for sports teams and treating so-called "carried interest" as regular income, as Axios scooped Thursday.

• The private equity industry responded quickly. "President Trump's historic [2017] law struck the right balance on carried interest and encouraged local investment, innovation and economic growth," said Drew Maloney, president and CEO of the American Investment Council.

Zoom out: Since Monday, House lawmakers have been acutely aware they have until Friday night to convince Trump their one-bill approach can carry his legislative priorities. That's when the Senate GOP will be dining at Mar-a-Lago.

• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) upped the pressure Wednesday by telling his colleagues that he'd move his budget reconciliation package next week.

The intrigue: Johnson and Arrington had different responses to the Senate's implicit threat.

• "Our message to our friends and colleagues in the Senate is, allow the House to do its work," Johnson told reporters.
• "We know that they're ready to go at any time," Arrington said. "That's a healthy push for the process on our end."

The White House has directed the General Services Administration to terminate "every single media contract" expensed by the agency, according to an email obtained by Axios.

What they're saying: "GSA team, please do two things," a Trump administration official wrote:

Pull all contracts for Politico, BBC, E&E (Politico sub) and Bloomberg

Pull all media contracts for just GSA - cancel every single media contract today for GSA only.

Why it matters: President Trump is targeting the federal government's media contracts after Elon Musk and his allies discovered millions of dollars in agency subscriptions to Politico Pro, a policy tracking service widely used in Washington.

• The discovery, made through a U.S. government spending database that has long been publicly available, triggered erroneous theories on X about the Biden administration "funding" anti-Trump media.
• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the executive branch would stop spending money on Politico subscriptions amid the right-wing outrage.
• GSA manages real estate, procurement and technology services for the federal government. An X account for DOGE has also announced cuts to other individual deals, such as a Treasury contract with the New York Times.

Reality check: Politico's executives addressed the false conspiracy theories about the company receiving "funding" from the government in a note to readers Thursday.

• "POLITICO is a privately owned company. We have never received any government funding — no subsidies, no grants, no handouts. Not one dime, ever, in 18 years," wrote Politico Media Group CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and Politico Global Editor-In-Chief John Harris.
• "POLITICO Pro is different. It is a professional subscription service used by companies, organizations, and, yes, some government agencies."
• "Government agencies that subscribe do so through standard public procurement processes—just like any other tool they buy to work smarter and be more efficient."

Between the lines: A White House official said there should be no surprise the government is targeting media subscription, given DOGE's mandate to cut spending and Trump's opposition to financially helping the mainstream media.

• "The eye of Sauron is on more than just Politico," the adviser said. "It's all the media."

Disclosure: Our Axios Pro product provides in-depth policy and industry news to paying subscribers, including government employees. Last year, $5,550 in payments were made to Axios as part of a Federal Communications Commission subscription, according to the government's database that tracks federal spending.

The Trump administration's gutting of USAID is just a start: Elon Musk and President Trump's Cabinet and advisers are combing through agencies to purge those deemed to be anti-Trump, anti-American or too "woke," top officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: Trump promised during his campaign to root out the "Deep State" — generally framed as institutional resistance in D.C. that impedes his agenda. But the speed and tactics of Trump's vengeance-fueled cost-cutting efforts have been surprising.

• The CIA on Tuesday became the first major security agency to offer "buyouts" to its entire work force. The buyouts, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, align with new director John Ratcliffe's push for a younger and less establishment-oriented workforce.
• Fresh off her Senate confirmation, Attorney General Pam Bondi is establishing a "Weaponization Working Group" to analyze the actions of federal prosecutors and FBI agents in the criminal cases the Justice Department brought against Trump. It also will examine the New York civil and criminal cases brought against him.
• Tulsi Gabbard will be tasked under a Trump executive order to examine "weaponization" of the agencies under her purview after her expected confirmation as director of national intelligence.
• Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) clashed last weekend with USAID officials who tried to deny Musk's team of tech wizards access to secure government payroll and systems.
• Some State Department workers sent word to Axios that they suspect administration officials "are now stalking people's LinkedIn to check their backgrounds for possible loyalty issues."

Zoom in: Trump is focused on the Justice Department for prosecuting him, but the State Department and the National Security Council are two major ideological battlegrounds where officials say they expect to encounter "resistance" liberals.

• Even before Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, his team was seeking mass resignations from the State Department and the NSC.
• "The folks that we're bringing in are 100% aligned with the president's agenda," National Security Adviser Michael Waltz told Breitbart this month when he announced his "Deep State" purge plans.
• "The State Department is largely run by bleeding-heart liberals," Florida Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Axios.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is a longtime supporter of foreign aid, but believes the State Department has had too many officials who support engagement with the dictatorships in Cuba and Iran.

• As a senator, Rubio joined Mast in criticizing the State Department and USAID. They issued a 2023 report called "Diversity over Diplomacy: How Wokeness is Weakening the U.S. State Department" and sponsored an anti-DEI bill aimed at the department.

Zoom out: USAID is the world's premier foreign assistance agency and manages as much as $40 billion in appropriations.

• It's the keystone of U.S. "soft power" in fostering relations in developing nations. It's also a target for Republicans who see parts of the agency as a liberal-aligned patronage system that helps Democrats revolve in and out of government and non-governmental organizations.
• To try to drive home the administration's distaste for USAID, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday ran through list of USAID expenditures that included "$32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru."
• "Bring USAID to heel and you end the Democrat gravy train," one Rubio ally told Axios.
• "The claim is kind of absurd," a former Democratic State Department official said in response. "During Republican administrations, they flood the place with their appointees and priorities."

The big picture: USAID is now the flashpoint for the Trump administration's brash — and potentially unconstitutional — efforts to restructure the U.S. government.

• The agency's website was taken down and replaced with a message saying all personnel not assigned to "mission-critical functions" will be put on leave on Friday. Most workers overseas were ordered home within 30 days. The D.C. headquarters was closed Monday. Democratic lawmakers tried to get access and held a press conference after they were turned away.
• "This is what the beginning of dictatorship looks like," Rep Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said of the administration's plans to change the agency or fold it into Rubio's State Department.
• "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper," Musk boasted on X.

Between the lines: Musk over the weekend said Trump had agreed to shut down USAID, but Trump indicated that was premature.

• The president did, however, make Rubio USAID's acting director. Rubio told Fox News on Monday that "we're going through the same process at USAID as we're going through at the State Department."
• "They just think they're a global entity and that their master is the globe, and not the United States," Rubio said. "That's not sustainable."

What's next: An administration official familiar with Rubio's efforts said the secretary has no pre-baked plan to root out "Deep State" actors. Rubio, with Musk's team, is reviewing spending as the department pauses foreign expenditures under a Trump executive order.

• The State Department abided by Trump's spending freeze, the official said — "just the opposite experience of USAID where people started pushing money out the door against ... the spirit of the executive order. We just had outright rebellion."

"This can't go on like this," President Trump said as he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat in the Oval Office on Tuesday, discussing Gaza's rebuild from the rubble.

• "Here's what I want to do...," Trump said, according to two officials briefed on the meeting, which included Cabinet members and Trump senior advisers.
• Trump then laid out a plan far more ambitious than what he and his aides had discussed earlier in the day: "The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip ... we will develop it."

Driving the news: Trump's earthquake of an announcement — an "audible," staffers called it — continued to ripple around the world Wednesday, drawing some praise but a lot of backlash, namely about its legality and logistics.

• The White House has cast Trump's takeover plan as an idea worth discussing, but it has walked back one highly controversial part of Trump's plan by saying Palestinians would be relocated from Gaza only temporarily, not permanently as he indicated.

Zoom in: His shocking idea for Gaza was a reminder of Trump's go-big style of management that prizes headline-grabbing news. He calls audibles, staffers say, and they react.

• The Gaza episode also has shown how unencumbered Trump feels in making unilateral, potentially world-changing foreign policy decisions, even if they conflict with his longstanding views against foreign entanglements and nation-building.
• Trump aides and advisers say his string of recent foreign policy wins, GOP control of Congress, his new Cabinet and his trusted White House staff have emboldened him into believing he can do what others say is impossible.

But Trump's plan was particularly far-fetched — especially his suggestion that nearly 2 million Palestinians could be permanently relocated while Gaza was rebuilt.

• To many that seemed more like a Trump negotiation tactic for reshaping the Middle East than a serious plan.
• To critics, it sounded like an endorsement of ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

Flashback: A Gaza takeover wasn't part of the plan when Tuesday dawned. Trump's messaging strategy called for him just to reinstitute his "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran.

• It's a huge issue for Netanyahu, Iran's biggest regional foe.
• The war in Gaza and the possibility of moving Palestinians from Gaza was supposed to be on the agenda of their meeting, but the notes prepared for Trump that morning said that such a move, if it happened, would be "temporary."

But Trump wanted something bigger, bolder, more surprising. That's why he decided to say Palestinians should be "permanently" removed from Gaza for the rebuilding and that the U.S. should take over the enclave to develop it, a source familiar with the process told Axios.

• That huge shift reflected Trump's thinking and private discussions he'd been having about Gaza for more than two months, sources tell Axios.

Trump's idea was influenced by the findings of his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who had just returned from the region. Witkoff, a Florida-based developer, was shocked by the devastation from Israel's bombing campaign in retaliation for Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks.

• "I've never seen anything like it," Witkoff told Trump, according to an aide who heard his remarks. "It's going to take 10 or 15 years, at least, to rebuild."

Just after 5 p.m. Tuesday, as Trump and Netanyahu sat in facing wing chairs in the Oval Office with reporters present and cameras rolling, Trump echoed Witkoff's remarks: "Gaza maybe is a demolition site right now," he said, pivoting to the idea of permanent relocation.

• "If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people permanently in nice homes and where they can be happy and not be shot, not be killed, not be knifed to death, like what's happening in Gaza," Trump said, then people would move.

Trump's remarks surprised the press corps and roiled social media. But he wasn't done.

• About 10 minutes later, the press filed out of the room. Trump and his team were supposed to have a private bilateral meeting with Netanyahu and his team in the Cabinet room, but the president said they should remain in the Oval Office.
• Joining Trump and Netanyahu were senior advisers of both as well as Witkoff, Vice President Vance, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Marco Rubio joined via phone from Guatemala, where he was on his first trip as Trump's secretary of state.
• With Netanyahu were his confidant Ron Dermer, his national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter and military adviser Gen. Roman Gofman.

"POTUS wanted action," said a senior administration official briefed on the meeting. "And he talked doing something bold, something that's completely 180 degrees from what's been done to get back to some semblance of normalcy, or whatever passes for normalcy."

• Trump mentioned his idea of the U.S. interceding in Gaza and taking a "leadership" role, the official said, and no one objected.

An Israeli official briefed on the meeting said Trump devoted most of the time to his vision for Gaza. Trump emphasized to Netanyahu that Egypt and Jordan eventually would agree to accept Palestinians in their territory, but didn't clarify why he believed that.

• "Trump didn't tell Bibi where this idea came from, but said in the meeting he would include it in his statement at the press conference, and that's what happened," an Israeli official said.
• Trump finished the meeting by jotting down his ideas on paper. They were then added to his prepared remarks that he gave about two hours later in the press conference with Netanyahu.

The big picture: In contrast to his first administration, when Trump aides and advisers would leak details of decisions they disagreed with, Trump's new White House crew is all in.

• "Anyone who thinks we can keep doing what we've been doing in the Middle East and getting a different result is smoking from a crack pipe," one White House adviser said.
• "The president has been talking about this relocation and rebuilding issue for weeks, if not longer, with [Persian] Gulf leaders," another White House aide said. "This really intensified after Steve Witkoff returned from his trip."

Between the lines: Those high-level conversations Trump and Witkoff have had with Gulf leaders have led them to believe there's an increasing appetite to settle the conflict in the Middle East and participate in a peace plan.

• Central to the Trump team's thinking is Saudi Vision 2030, a rebranding and restructuring of the kingdom economically, socially and culturally. It's the brainchild of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

Reality check: But officials from several Gulf states said neither Saudi Arabia nor the United Arab Emirates would be ready to pay for, or take part in, a reconstruction effort in Gaza that would include displacement of Palestinians. They're very concerned such a move could destabilize Egypt and Jordan.

• "This plan is neither practical or politically viable for any Arab country," one Arab official said.
• Jordan's king and Egypt's president will be in Washington in the next two weeks to meet with Trump and discuss his plan.

Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that besides not committing U.S. troops to Gaza's rebuild, Trump hasn't planned on U.S. taxpayers' money being used for it. She said Trump is looking to make a deal on Gaza with countries in the region.

• "The whole region needs to come up with their own solutions if they don't like Trump's solution," Waltz told CBS.
• Rubio said Wednesday Trump's plan wasn't meant as a hostile move, but was one people need to think about.
• "Trump is a builder. He knows how to rebuild. He's a leader. And he's the ultimate negotiator," a senior adviser said. "Everything is a negotiation. What he wants is a negotiation for peace. So everything is on the table."

Donald Trump's immigration crackdown isn't just about making arrests. It's about choreography, photo ops, wardrobe changes and tough talk — all designed to discourage undocumented people from wanting to be in the U.S.

Why it matters: The underbelly of Trump's immigration strategy is, as one White House official told Axios, "the visuals" — showing force and creating a sense of urgency through viral videos and photos of top officials at the border and on raids.

Zoom in: That's why a casually dressed Pete Hegseth, Trump's new defense secretary, traveled to El Paso on Monday to meet with some of the 1,500 active-duty troops deployed to the southern border by a Trump executive order.

• In recent days the Department of Homeland Security touted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, dressed like an ICE agent, joined a raid in New York City.
• On Sunday, Noem posted a video of herself on X, riding horseback with Border Patrol agents in the Southwest and wearing an olive green Border Patrol jacket and a cowboy hat. The post was praised by MAGA loyalists — and mocked by critics who called Noem's appearance "cosplay."
• Trump-supporting celebrities have gotten into the action as well. "Dr. Phil" McGraw embedded with ICE agents and border czar Tom Homan in a Chicago immigration raid, boosting media coverage (and drawing ridicule on "The Daily Show.")
• The White House's feed on X, meanwhile, is amplifying images of military airplanes ready to deport illegal immigrants. In the first week, it touted the number of deportations and featured mugshots of "the worst" criminals who were being expelled.

The big picture: Trump's team figures that the more undocumented immigrants who see such images and decide not to try entering the U.S. — or who "self-deport" without being arrested — the better.

• Beyond the U.S., the White House's messaging is aimed not just at discouraging migrants, but also smugglers and human traffickers.
• "The visuals are important," the White House official said, noting that the voter anger that helped get Trump elected was driven partly by "the visuals of hordes of people overwhelming [the] Border Patrol and storming the border."
• "We've been elected on a campaign promise to fix the border, and it would be foolish of us to sit back and just let the media tell our story."

Between the lines: It's not totally clear how much the pace of immigration arrests has picked up under Trump compared to the last days of the Biden administration.

• What is clear is that the arrests made since Trump took office two weeks ago have received more attention, even in the same cities.

One example: ICE agents, during a week-long surge of raids in Newark, N.J., in December, arrested 33 noncitizens, including a Mexican national convicted of sexual assault of a minor teen and a Brazil national convicted of murder. Those arrests got little attention.

• During Trump's first week in office, an ICE raid of a Newark seafood restaurant that netted three people drew international attention and condemnation from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
• One U.S. citizen — a Puerto Rican who was a military veteran — allegedly was harassed by federal agents, the mayor and the restaurant owner said.

Zoom out: The White House press office is regularly promoting the arrests of migrants with criminal records from the briefing room and on its official X page.

• ICE hit a high under Trump of more than 1,000 daily arrests on Jan. 27, according to an X post. The White House hasn't disclosed how many of those arrested have criminal backgrounds or are simply unauthorized to be in the U.S., which is only a civil offense.
• Trump's team has said it considers all undocumented immigrants to be criminals.
• "I know the last administration didn't see it that way, so it's a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week.
• "But that's exactly what they are."

Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard has wind in her sails ahead of Tuesday's Senate Intel Committee vote.

Why it matters: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) announced their support for Gabbard ahead of the vote. The two were considered the crucial swing votes at the committee level.

• If she clears the committee vote, Gabbard can lose three GOP votes on the Senate floor and still be confirmed, thanks to a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Vance.
• Collins was one of three Republicans to vote against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, before Vance broke the tie.

Between the lines: Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) — a close Trump ally who has been an advocate for nominees — told reporters he's feeling confident about Gabbard's chances. "Tulsi has done the work," he said.

• "I think Todd [Young] is doing just what [Thom] Tillis did," Mullin added, referencing the North Carolina Republican's last-minute hesitancy before voting to confirm Hegseth.
• Conversations were ongoing as of Monday evening between leadership and senators viewed as swing votes on both Gabbard and HHS nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who won his Senate Finance Confirmation vote on Tuesday.
• GOP leadership felt good that even the skeptics were still willing to engage.

The bottom line: "We have the votes. We've always had the votes," a Trump adviser involved in the confirmation process told Axios.

• "Tulsi's getting confirmed. RFK's getting confirmed. Bondi's getting confirmed. Kash is getting confirmed. All this stuff about how they're not is DC bullsh*t."

Editor's note: This article has been updated.

The U.S. struck deals with Canada and Mexico on Monday to delay potentially devastating tariffs for a month.

Why it matters: The tariffs, had they gone into effect, could have had massive impacts on the economies of all three nations, potentially triggering inflation, recessions and a spiraling trade war.

• It marks the second time in this presidency Trump vowed a massive and disruptive tariff on a long-time ally, only to quickly freeze it after gaining some concessions.

Catch up quick: Trump originally signed the tariff orders Saturday — 25% on Canada and Mexico (10% on energy), and 10% on China as well.

• They were due to take effect at 12:01am ET Tuesday.

Zoom out: Trump announced a deal with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum via Truth Social post early Monday, and in the afternoon Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed a deal on social media as well.

• Mexico will send 10,000 troops to the border to help control the flow of drugs, and in return the U.S. will help to prevent gun trafficking to cartels.
• The deal with Canada, per Trudeau, includes more border personnel and hundreds of millions of dollars in anti-fentanyl enforcement.
• Both the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso rallied significantly against the U.S. dollar, which is strengthened by tariffs.

Zoom in: Trump took both deals as wins, touting them on Truth Social and promising further negotiations over the next month — though he did not say what the final goals of those talks would be.

Between the lines: Sheinbaum's move in particular came as little surprise to White House officials, one of whom told Axios on Sunday that a show of force at the border would positively impact Trump.

• "If she sends troops, it's a sign Mexico takes the president seriously," the official said.
• As for Trudeau, the official said, "bust some fentanyl labs. Make progress."

The big picture: The economic consequences of the tariffs could have been profound for all three countries.

• Economists feared they could have plunged both Mexico and Canada into recession, while American consumers stood to face a significant increase in costs and erosion of purchasing power.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with new details on the tariff deals.

Elon Musk and his cost-slashing allies are taking a hammer to the massive bureaucracy that staffs the U.S. government — and a scalpel to any senior officials who dare put up a fight.

Why it matters: Musk isn't the only force driving the Trump administration's escalating purge of civil servants. But his fingerprints are everywhere, and his methods are unlike anything the federal government has ever seen.

Zoom in: Musk and his lieutenants — many of them Silicon Valley transplants, some as young as 19 — have been tied to a series of high-profile departures and ousters at the top of key federal agencies.

• The Treasury Department's highest-ranking career official announced his retirement Friday after a dispute with Musk allies who sought access to a sensitive system for government payments, The Washington Post scooped.
• David Lebryk, who worked at Treasury for more than three decades, was one of a few career officials who control the Bureau of Fiscal Service's technical checkbook, which disburses trillions of dollars in spending.
• "Truly a shocking move — Dave is a total apolitical professional who's been trusted by Treasury secretaries from both parties to maintain the critical financial plumbing of the U.S. govt," Biden Treasury official Mike Gwin tweeted in response to the news.

By late Friday, Musk's allies at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had been granted full access to the payment system by newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, according to the New York Times.

• "Career Treasury officials are breaking the law every hour of every day by approving payments that are fraudulent or do not match the funding laws passed by Congress," Musk claimed Saturday. "This needs to stop NOW!"
• "I can think of no good reason why political operators who have demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law would need access to these sensitive, mission-critical systems," Senate Finance ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote in a letter demanding answers from Bessent.

The pattern repeated itself at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which Trump could be preparing to fold into the State Department — openly defying a congressional statute.

• A top HR official at USAID, which has become the epicenter of a vicious debate over foreign aid, was placed on administrative leave Thursday for trying to rescind a DOGE order purging career officials, the Post reports.
• On Saturday, two top security officials also were put on leave after trying to stop Musk allies from physically accessing USAID headquarters and personnel files, including classified information.
• "USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die," Musk tweeted in response to reports of the confrontation.

Behind the scenes: So far, the White House appears pleased with Musk's foray into the inner workings of the government, seeing his efforts as aligned with Trump's broader goals of disrupting D.C.'s status quo.

• "Elon's top interest outside of DOGE is making sure the president's orders are acted upon," a senior White House official told Axios. "Elon is the ultimate command-and-control guy. He's making sure there's a sense of urgency in the agencies."
• "What Elon's doing is great because he's an innovative businessman bringing business innovation to bear in government. That's why he's here," the official added.

But political risks are inherent in Musk's whirlwind takeover of federal agencies, especially when they intersect with his business interests.

• Democrats have accused Musk of pressuring former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head Mike Whitaker to resign Jan. 20 over $600,000 in fines the agency levied against Musk's SpaceX.
• Whitaker's departure left the FAA without a leader during Wednesday night's in-air collision near Reagan National Airport — the deadliest U.S. air disaster since 2001. Trump named Chris Rocheleau as FAA acting administrator the next day.

The big picture: Musk hasn't slowed down since helping orchestrate last week's stunning offer of "deferred resignations" for 2 million federal workers, which came days after he visited the Office of Personnel Management.

• Musk allies installed at the OPM have locked career officials out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal workers, Reuters reported Friday.

What we're watching: Musk paid a visit last week to what's likely to be his next target: the General Services Administration, which oversees thousands of government leases as part of its massive budget.

• "Deleted," Musk responded bluntly to an X post highlighting the billions of dollars and thousands of federal workers under GSA's control.

President Trump and his allies —including the online right, Vice President Vance and Sen. Tom Cotton — are mobilizing to try to boost Tulsi Gabbard's nomination as director of national intelligence.

Why it matters: The MAGA machine that helped Pete Hegseth narrowly win confirmation as defense secretary last week is now focused on Gabbard. Trump's team believes she faces the most headwinds of any of his current Cabinet nominees.

• "We feel OK about Tulsi's chances," one senior White House official told Axios. "But we want to feel better."

State of play: Trump plans to start making calls to Republican senators on the Intelligence Committee, where Gabbard faced tough questions Thursday about her past views questioning surveillance tactics and defending Edward Snowden.

• Losing just one GOP vote on the committee — which includes nine Republicans and eight Democrats — could sink her confirmation.
• Gabbard refused to call Snowden a "traitor" for leaking secret intelligence documents before ending up in Russia. That appeared to bother Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), whom Trump's team is most worried about.
• But Gabbard seemed to please another swing-vote Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, by saying she wouldn't ask Trump to pardon Snowden. Collins' reaction was a relief to Trump's team because of her penchant for bucking the president more than most other GOP senators.

If that sounded like a deal in the making, Trump's team wasn't ruling it out.

• "The president isn't really talking about pardoning Snowden, but if that's a guarantee they want to get Tulsi confirmed, the president will have those conversations," the White House adviser said.

Catch up quick: Trump has been in a feud with the U.S. intelligence community since his first administration. He sees Gabbard — a former Democratic House member from Hawaii with similar disdain for the so-called "Deep State" — as a disruptor and change agent.

• Trump's Day 1 executive order, "Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government" specifically calls on the director of national intelligence to "review the activities of the intelligence community over the last 4 years and identify any instances" of political prosecutions and investigations.

Zoom in: Vance and his team worked closely with Gabbard on her presentation to the committee. And Vance, a former Ohio senator, has been Trump's go-to representative to the Senate for all of his prominent nominees.

• Cotton, the Arkansas senator who chairs the intelligence panel, committed to getting Gabbard the votes she needed. The two are friends from their days serving in the House.
• The Senate Republican Conference, also led by Cotton, has turned its X page into a pro-Gabbard "war room," an operative involved in the process noted.
• Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said it's unlikely Gabbard would get a full vote by the Senate if she doesn't win a majority of the votes on the Intelligence Committee.

Zoom in: Many MAGA diehards outside of the administration also are pushing for Gabbard because they see her — and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's Health and Human Services nominee and another former Democrat — as representing how Trump is growing his coalition beyond the GOP.

• Gabbard and Kennedy were dubbed "Blue MAGA" in Trump world because of the key roles they played on the campaign trail, touring the country on Trump's behalf.

Donald Trump Jr. also has been involved in touting the pair. He told Axios in a written statement that both are "highly qualified" and are "also vital to the GOP's new governing coalition."

• "Unfortunately, there are still a few establishment Republicans in the Beltway who don't seem to get that," he said. "I think they are severely underestimating the backlash that would occur from our voters if either of them were blocked from being confirmed."

Tucker Carlson, Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton, Turning Point Action's Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon with his "War Room" also pushing Gabbard on podcasts and social media.

• "We are 100% serious," Turning Point Action spokesman Andrew Kolvet said in a statement. "GOP senators in red states will open themselves up to well-funded, well-organized primary challenges if they stand in the way of confirming the Cabinet the president wants and the American people voted for."

A new White House video features mothers whose children's deaths were linked to undocumented immigrants rebuking actress Selena Gomez for her Instagram post in which she cried over President Trump's plans for mass deportations.

Why it matters: The video is the latest sign that Trump's new administration will use campaign-like tactics — and the power of social media — to talk tough on immigration and other divisive issues it sees as political winners.

• "You don't know who you're crying for," Tammy Nobles, an "Angel Mom" whose daughter, Kayla Hamilton, was killed in July 2022 by a gang member, says in the video, addressing Gomez.
• "What about our children who were brutally murdered and raped and beat to death and left on the floor by these illegal immigrants?"

Catch up quick: Gomez, the granddaughter of undocumented immigrants, posted her video to her 422 million followers Monday, bemoaning the Trump-ordered raids on unauthorized immigrants.

• "All my people are getting attacked, the children. I don't understand," she said in the post, which was quickly deleted — but not before becoming a viral sensation.
• "I'm so sorry, I wish I could do something but I can't. I don't know what to do. I'll try everything, I promise."

Trump critics and others — including rapper Flavor Flav and Geraldo Rivera — defended Gomez. But she drew scorn across conservative social media and from figures such as Trump border czar Tom Homan and pro-Trump influencer Charlie Kirk.

• Gomez has lost more than 800,000 Instagram followers this week, amid the conservative backlash.

Zoom in: The White House's new video features Nobles and two other "Angel Moms," who became centerpieces of Trump's 2024 campaign. The women are shown reacting to Gomez's video with a mixture of disbelief and anger.

• "It's hard to believe that it's actually genuine and real because she's an actress," Alexis Nungaray, whose 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, was killed in June 2024, says in the video.
• "I just feel like it's a ruse to deceive people and to garner sympathy for lawlessness," says Patty Morin, whose daughter, Rachel, was killed in August 2023.

Zoom out: Trump has made targeting illegal immigration a central part of his platform since he launched his first campaign for president in 2015.

• Less than two weeks into his second term, he's ordered immigration raids across the country as part of a plan to deport "millions" of undocumented immigrants, vowed to use the military to help boost border security and carry out deportations, and announced plans to detain 30,000 immigrants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
• On Monday, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement announced it had arrested more than 3,500 unauthorized immigrants during Trump's first week in office.