Trump Ready To Sell Out Ukraine To Putin - The Tuesday AM Quickie 3/18/25
This is my last week working on the AM Quickie newsletter, before I shift gears to focus on my next book and freelancing. Thanks for being part of the journey! -Jacob
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ON THE SHOW TODAY
3/18: It's News Day Tuesday!
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Today you'll read about Trump's upcoming phone call with Vladimir Putin, a federal judge asking for answers on deportations, the latest DOGE attacks on the Social Security Administration, and Trump's role in a potential TikTok sale.
THE BIG NEWS
Trump Ready To Sell Out Ukraine To Putin
President Donald Trump will talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin today about how to move toward ending the war in Ukraine. Russia wants to hold onto Ukrainian territories it's captured and a guarantee that Ukraine won't join NATO. Ukraine, which already accepted a 30-day ceasefire agreement, wants Russian forces to leave its territory, but is unlikely to get its way. European countries are offering troops as peacekeepers to preserve a potential agreement, said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer – a suggestion that Russia appears to have rejected.
Trump told reporters that his administration and Russia were already discussing "land" and "power plants" – likely a reference to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant currently being occupied by Russian forces. "We're already talking about that, dividing up certain assets," said Trump.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration withdrew from the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, a European criminal-justice body investigating war crimes in Ukraine.
As the New York Times noted, Trump's call with Putin is likely to "focus on what Ukraine will lose" – not a fair, just conclusion to Russia's catastrophic invasion. The Trump administration seems to have no interest in pushing Russia to give up captured territory. “Are we going to drive every Russian off of every inch of Ukrainian soil, including Crimea?” said national security adviser Mike Waltz.
MORE STORIES TO WATCH
Judge Demands Answers On Trump Deportations
After a federal judge demanded to know whether the Trump administration had violated a court order banning deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, a Department of Justice lawyer simply "stonewalled" the judge by refusing to answer the judge's questions.
Border czar Tom Homan promised daily deportation flights would continue. "We are not stopping," said Homan. "I don't care what the judges think."
The Trump administration has begun deporting hundreds of supposed members of a Venezuelan gang – which it has designated a terrorist organization – to El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele is charging rent for hosting prisoners and releasing well-produced fascist propaganda videos celebrating his new business.
DOGE Is Destroying The Social Security Administration
The Social Security Administration is already in dire shape, according to the latest reporting on the damage wrought by Elon Musk's DOGE austerity regime. The agency administers social welfare benefits for 73 million Americas each month, but DOGE is pushing ahead with plans to cut 12 percent of employees. As field offices are closed and phone lines get clogged, it's become more difficult for people to sign up for and access benefits.
As Musk rants about fictitious fraud and social security being a Ponzi scheme, that disorder may be the point. A recent internal memo published by Popular Info shows that the new Social Security Administration leadership is planning for "service disruption" and "delayed processing."
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- Trump Will Pick The Potential TikTok Buyer The White House is acting like an "investment bank" with "an unprecedented level of involvement in a private deal by the country's highest office." Trump said that four groups are pursuing TikTok and that he will have the final choice. Recent reporting indicates Oracle – founded by Trump supporter Larry Ellison – may still be the frontrunner. via Reuters and Politico.
- State Department Says South Africa's Ambassador Has To Go Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa's ambassador to the United States, has until Friday to leave the country after being declared persona non grata, according to the State Department. Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the decision in an X post last week, in which he relied on a Breitbart article to denounce Rasool as "a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS." via AP News and SecRubio/X.
- Trump Claims Biden's Pardons Are "Void" In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed that pardons issued by President Joe Biden are "void, vacant, and of no further force or effect, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen." Apparently, Biden used a signature machine to sign pardons that's widely used by presidents. In any case, Trump's deranged Truth Social post doesn't quite have legal standing, but it indicates his desire to go after pardoned enemies like Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci. via NYT.
- Scientists Told Not To Mention mRNA Vaccines On NIH Applications The National Institute of Health has told scientists to delete any mention of mRNA vaccines from grant applications, despite the technology's widespread potential usage in creating new vaccines. The instruction signals that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's QAnon-adjacent medical beliefs have made mRNA research politically toxic. via KFF Health News.
SOME NUMBER
50
That's how many times the social-media monitoring company Dataminr alerted the LAPD about pro-Palestine protests that were either planned or in progress, according to The Intercept. Dataminr, which received investment from the CIA and Twitter, markets itself to law enforcement and military customers.
DON'T MISS MR CLIPS
Voters FED UP With Republican BS
There is deep anger out there from at least some people who would normally be counted in the MAGA base.
Schumer's Folly And The Democratic Revolt
Jeet Heer joins the show to talk about Schumer's disastrous capitulation and why some Democrats have finally had enough.
PARTING WORDS
"We’re in the midst of an authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government. It’s been coming and coming, and not everybody is prepared to read it that way. The characters regarded as people to emulate, like Orban and Putin and so on, all indicate that the strategy is to create an illiberal democracy or an authoritarian democracy or a strongman democracy. That’s what we’re experiencing. Our problem in part is a failure of imagination. We cannot get ourselves to see how this is going to unfold in its most frightening versions. You neutralize the branches of government; you neutralize the media; you neutralize universities, and you’re on your way.
"We’re beginning to see the effects on universities. It’s very, very frightening."
-- Lee Bollinger, who was president of Columbia University for 21 years, speaking to an interviewer in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
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