What to know today
- President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House this afternoon and said at a joint news conference that the United States would take "long-term" ownership of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu said it was an idea worth pursuing.
- The U.S. Postal Service said on its website that it is suspending acceptance of packages from the Chinese and Hong Kong postal services. While no reason was given, the move comes after Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports, prompting retaliatory tariffs from Beijing.
- The Senate confirmed Pam Bondi to be the next attorney general. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., joined all Republicans in voting for her confirmation.
- Two of Trump's most controversial Cabinet picks, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, secured Senate committee backing for confirmation votes by the full chamber despite facing headwinds on their respective nominations for health and human services secretary and director of national intelligence.
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Russia says two-state solution is ‘the only possible option’ for Palestinians
A two-state solution is “the only possible option” for Palestinians, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
“The settlement in the Middle East can only be made on a two-state basis,” he told reporters Wednesday.
Responding to Trump’s remarks that the U.S. should take control of Gaza, Peskov referred to statements from Jordan and Egypt that “such an idea was not acceptable.”
“For now, that’s how we view what is happening in the Middle East,” he said.
Greenland approves ban on foreign political donations as Trump seeks island
NUUK, Greenland — Greenland’s parliament passed a bill yesterday that bans political parties from receiving contributions “from foreign or anonymous contributors” after President Donald Trump expressed his wish that the United States take over the vast and mineral-rich Arctic island that belongs to Denmark.
The bill is aimed at protecting “Greenland’s political integrity” and will take effect immediately, according to a translation of a parliamentary document in Danish outlining the measure.
The bill “must be seen in light of the geopolitical interests in Greenland and the current situation where representatives of an allied great power have expressed interest in taking over and controlling Greenland,” the document said.
Before taking office for his second term on Jan. 20, Trump said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of Greenland, calling it vital to U.S. national security. His oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., visited Greenland last month and told citizens: “We’re going to treat you well.”
China says it opposes the 'forced migration' of Palestinians in Gaza
China said it opposed the “forced migration” of Gaza residents in response to Trump’s remarks that the U.S. should control the Palestinian enclave.
“We hope that all parties concerned will take the ceasefire and post-war governance in Gaza as an opportunity to push the Palestinian issue back on the right track of political settlement based on the 'two-state solution,'” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular briefing in Beijing.
Saudi Arabia says its position on Palestinian state is 'unwavering'
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country would not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without “the establishment of the Palestinian state,” a position it affirmed as “firm” and “unwavering” in a statement posted on X.
The ministry added that it “affirmed this position in a clear and explicit manner that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances,” referring to a speech given last September by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and urged the international community to “alleviate the harsh human suffering that the Palestinian people are suffering from.”
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also stresses what it had previously announced regarding its absolute rejection of infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, annexation of Palestinian lands, or seeking to displace the Palestinian people from their land,” the statement read.
Trump's Gaza remarks invite 'chaos' in Middle East, Hamas says
The Hamas militant group that governs the Gaza Strip condemned Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. should control the Palestinian enclave, saying his comments “reflect confusion and deep ignorance of Palestine and the region.”
“Gaza is not a common land for any party to decide to control, but rather it is part of our occupied Palestinian land,” Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas member, said in a message on Telegram.
“Any solution must be based on ending the occupation and achieving the rights of the Palestinian people, and not on the mentality of a real estate merchant, and the mentality of power and domination,” he added.
Hamas also rejected Trump’s earlier comments that Palestinians have “no alternative” but to leave Gaza. Sami Abu Zuhri, one of the militant group's officials, said they were “a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.”
“Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass, and what is required is to end the occupation and aggression against our people, not expel them from their land,” Abu Zuhri said.
CIA offers buyouts to workforce as Trump administration continues efforts to scale back government
The CIA has offered so-called buyouts to its workforce, a CIA spokesperson said, the latest move by the Trump administration to overhaul and scale back the federal government.
The offer of eight months of pay and benefits is similar to deferred resignation offers proposed to employees at other federal agencies. But at the CIA, some employees — including those handling high-priority tasks — will not be eligible for the offer.
“Director [John] Ratcliffe is moving swiftly to ensure the CIA workforce is responsive to the Administration’s national security priorities,” the spokesperson said by email.
During his confirmation hearing, Ratcliffe promised to keep politics out of decisions involving intelligence and said he would not use loyalty tests as a basis for hiring or firing CIA personnel.
‘Deranged’ and ‘problematic’: Bipartisan lawmakers bash Trump’s Gaza proposal
Criticism and concern spread across both sides of the aisle tonight after Trump announced that the United States “will take over the Gaza Strip.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called the proposal “problematic,” adding that he does not think his constituents would be excited about sending American soldiers to take control of Gaza.
“We’ll see what the Arab world says, but you know, that’d be problematic at many, many levels,” Graham said.
Federal judge blocks Trump order on transgender prisoners
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Bureau of Prisons from moving transgender woman prisoners to male prisons, as directed by Trump’s executive order on gender.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said few transgender women are lodged in female penitentiaries to begin with.
“Even if the Court credits the Executive Order’s representation that housing biological males in female penitentiaries has some deleterious effect on privacy and security, by the defendants’ own admission, there are only about sixteen male-to-female transgender women housed in female penitentiaries, including the plaintiffs,” Lamberth wrote.
“And the defendants have not so much as alleged that the plaintiffs in this particular suit present any threat to the female inmates housed with them, or that this threat cannot be managed locally by prison staff. Thus, the public interest in seeing the plaintiffs relocated immediately to male facilities is slight at best,” the judge wrote.
The temporary restraining order prevents the government from moving transgender prisoners or cutting off gender-affirming care while the case is litigated.
Trump ordered last month that the federal government recognize only two biological sexes, that prisons be organized by sex and not gender identity and that taxpayer funding be blocked for gender-transition health care for inmates.
Trump to make agency tech leaders political appointees who can be fired at will
The Trump administration is moving to exert more control over the federal government’s technology, turning the people who oversee that infrastructure into political appointees it can hire and fire at will.
Currently, each agency’s chief information officer is a civil servant in a nonpartisan job, known in the Office of Personnel Management as “career reserved,” which provides some protections against firings. The change, which OPM announced in a memo today, will make the roles “general,” opening them up to a wide variety of appointees. The shift is set to happen no later than Feb. 14.
Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell said in the memo that the move will better align those employees with the Trump administration’s agenda.
Almost all direct hires at USAID placed on paid leave
Nearly every staffer at the U.S. Agency for International Development will be put on administrative leave Friday, according to an email to agency employees posted on the USAID website.
Exempt employees include "designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs," the email says. The agency said it will inform essential personnel who are expected to keep working by 3 p.m. ET Thursday.
USAID said it is working with the State Department on a plan to cover the cost of return travel arrangements for personnel posted outside the United States.
"The Agency will consider case-by-case exceptions and return travel extensions based on personal or family hardship, mobility or safety concerns, or other reasons," the email said.
NBC News has reported that hundreds of employees no longer have access to their USAID emails after the Trump administration began efforts to shut the agency down.