Author: potus

President Trump’s intense interest in Ukraine’s minerals seemed to come from out of the blue.He dispatched his Treasury secretary to Kyiv this month to negotiate with Ukraine’s leader, then began ratcheting up the pressure publicly in what appeared to critics like a Mafia don’s extortion scheme.“I want security of the rare earth,” he said.But critical minerals have been on Mr. Trump’s mind since at least 2017, when he signed an executive order on them during his first term. They also caught the attention of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.And Mr. Trump’s recent comments on Ukraine’s assets were not the first…

(The Center Square) – The Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs held a hearing Wednesday on American energy where panelists discussed, among other things, federal policies that have increased energy costs for Americans.Experts pointed to a litany of federal changes that have slowed down domestic energy production and led to increased costs as a result. Energy prices did rise during Biden’s term, including gas prices, which rose on net about 75 cents overall.“From January 2021 when Team Biden-Harris walked through the door, Americans saw energy prices skyrocket,” Mandy Gunasekara, the former Environmental Protection Agency chief of staff,…

President Trump told his cabinet on Wednesday that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was expected to come to Washington to sign a framework agreement enabling the United States to share in the country’s mineral wealth, but he insisted the United States would not be providing security guarantees to Ukraine in return.Obtaining such guarantees from Washington, the only nuclear-armed power truly capable of standing up to Russia, had been Mr. Zelensky’s central demand. His greatest concern is being forced into a cease-fire, only to discover Russia uses the time to rebuild its military, regroup and attempt to seize his country again.But…

The Instacart logo is seen on a smartphone and on a PC screen.Pavlo Gonchar | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesInstacart’s stock had its worst day on record, slumping 12% after the grocery delivery company posted a fourth-quarter revenue miss and offered light guidance for the current period.Prior to Wednesday’s move, the stock’s biggest one-day slump came in November, when it dropped 11%.Instacart reported fourth-quarter revenue of $883 million, falling short of the $891 million average analyst estimate, according to LSEG. The company said it anticipates adjusted earnings of between $220 million and $230 million for the first quarter,…

United States President Donald Trump has held the first cabinet meeting of his second term, surrounded by allies like Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But one guest was arguably the most controversial: billionaire Elon Musk. Throughout the public portion of Wednesday’s meeting, Musk stood to the side of the cabinet’s oblong table, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase “tech support”. The majority of cabinet-level officials need Senate confirmation to join the presidential advisory panel. But critics have warned that Musk wields immense power over the Trump White House, without being elected or facing…

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty ImagesSome states have stopped disbursing funds to consumers via Biden-era rebate programs tied to home energy efficiency, due to a Trump administration freeze on federal funding enacted in January.The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022, had earmarked $8.8 billion of federal funds for consumers through two home energy rebate programs, to be administered by states, territories and the District of Columbia.Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Rhode Island — which are in various phases of rollout — have paused or delayed their fledgling programs, citing Trump administration policy.The White House on Jan. 27 put a freeze on…

Officials from the United States and Russia will meet Thursday in Istanbul to discuss resolving issues hindering their diplomatic missions in each other’s countries, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said on Wednesday.The U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the Russian Embassy in Washington have been operating with skeletal staffing after years of expulsions of diplomats and restrictions on operations. Both are subject to frequent protests.Mr. Lavrov’s announcement adds to the head-spinning shift in relations between two long-adversarial nations, whose negotiating teams met last week in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, for their most extensive discussions in years. The sides committed to…

(The Center Square) – A new report argues that while Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin could have short-term financial advantages, the expansion will be costly to those living in the state and not worth it long term.States that have expanded Medicaid have higher costs for those who are privately insured, the quality of care for Wisconsin residents would not increase, the number of projected enrollees in expansion state’s is 160% higher than estimated and the rate of improper payments rose dramatically in those state, according to the report from the Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty.“Medicaid expansion has never been a…

The section will not include viewpoints that oppose personal liberties and free markets, Bezos said in a staff memo.Washington Post editorial page editor David Shipley is leaving the paper as its opinion section shifts its focus to supporting and defending the topics of personal liberties and free markets, owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has told staff in a memo. The section will cover other topics too, but will not publish viewpoints that oppose those two pillars, Bezos wrote in the staff memo on Wednesday. Shipley declined Bezos’ offer to stay on, Bezos wrote. The move – which reflects the…

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired more than 100 intelligence officers from 15 agencies for using a government chat platform for discussions that included topics like polyamory, gender transition surgery and politics. “I put out a directive today that they all will be terminated and their security clearances will be revoked,” Gabbard told Fox News on Tuesday.The chat tool was overseen by the National Security Agency, according to Gabbard. Each intelligence agency has internal collaboration chat tools, former intelligence officials said.Gabbard said the fired intelligence officers’ conduct represented “an egregious violation of trust” and violated “basic rules and standards…