Wednesday briefing: Inside the US president's chaos machine

The Guardian

12-02-2025

Good morning.
Few words can fully capture the first few weeks of Donald Trump's presidency. Dizzying? Unrelenting? Disorienting?
Trump's team has described its strategy as 'flooding the zone' – in essence, overwhelming the opposition, the media and the public with a torrent of executive orders, mass dismissals of federal staff and the suspension of trillions in national funding. The logic is simple: create too much chaos for the media to cover, and make your critics struggle to keep up.
How long the White House can sustain this approach remains uncertain – as does the question of how soon the systematic purge of government employees will translate into real consequences for the public.
Dismantling the systems of government with brute force will inevitably yield blunt consequences. Take US foreign aid, which was, in Elon Musk's words, put through the 'wood chipper': a 90-day funding freeze abruptly halted medical trials for cholera, malaria, HIV and tuberculosis. The department of education recently got this treatment, after Musk's department of government efficiency (Doge) terminated nearly $1bn worth of its contracts.
If the newsletter catalogued everything Trump has done so far, the scroll bar on your screen would all but disappear. Instead, today's newsletter focuses on four recent developments. That's right after the headlines.
Middle East | Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas does not release more hostages by noon on Saturday, endorsing a threat by Donald Trump that could shatter the three-week-old ceasefire between the two sides.
Economy | Nationwide, Britain's biggest building society, has waded into a row over whether the government should cut tax breaks on cash Isas, arguing such a move would reduce the availability of mortgages for first-time buyers.
AI | The US and the UK have refused to sign the Paris AI summit's declaration on 'inclusive and sustainable' artificial intelligence, in a blow to hopes for a concerted approach to developing and regulating the technology.
Assisted dying | The Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has said her assisted dying bill for England and Wales will still have the strongest safeguards in the world despite the removal of a requirement for scrutiny from a high court judge. Opponents derided the change as 'rushed and badly thought out'.
Housing | Rogue landlords in England will face curbs on how much housing benefit income they can receive if their properties are substandard, Angela Rayner has said as she announced an extra £350m for affordable housing.
Late on Monday, Hamas announced a delay in the further release of Israeli hostages, citing violations of last month's ceasefire agreement. Among the grievances listed are delays in allowing displaced persons to return to northern Gaza and continued shelling and gunfire.
However, as this Guardian report highlights, the warning comes amid increasingly hardline stances from the US and Israel regarding Gaza's long-term future. Last week, Trump's incendiary remarks suggesting the US could 'take over' the Gaza Strip and that the Palestinian population should be relocated were widely condemned as an endorsement of forced displacement amounting to ethnic cleansing. His response to Hamas has only heightened tensions in the region, with the president declaring that 'all hell is going to break out' if all remaining Israeli hostages are not returned on Saturday.
Earlier this week, Trump (pictured above with Jordan's King Abdullah II in 2018) reinforced his stance on depopulating Gaza, suggesting he could cut aid to Jordan and Egypt if they refused to permanently absorb most of Gaza's Palestinian population. Both nations, though reliant on US aid and trade, have flatly rejected the proposal, calling it a red line. Experts say, however, that their economic dependence leaves them vulnerable to 'geopolitical blackmail'. Jordanian officials, in particular, fear that postwar plans for Gaza could increase the likelihood of West Bank annexation. Jason Burke's piece delves deeper into these concerns.
Jordan's King Abdullah met yesterday with Trump, becoming the first Arab leader to do so since his comments about forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza. The president continued to double down on his position, saying that the US had the authority to 'take' Gaza, despite the king making clear his country was firmly opposed. Trump did seem to slightly walk back his position on withholding aid from countries like Jordan to get his way on Gaza, insisting that he was not using it as a threat: 'I think we're above that.'
Bethan McKernan has a helpful explainer on what all of this means for the state of the ceasefire.
Ukraine's future
Speaking to reporters last week about the three-year war in Ukraine, Trump said: 'I want to end this damn thing.' He is eager to be seen as the peacemaker, not least because it would mean there is no reason to continue to spend so much on aid for Ukraine. There is also the not-so-small matter of his longstanding ambition to win the Nobel peace prize.
In an interview with the New York Post, Trump said he had spoken with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over a negotiated settlement and suggested that Russian negotiators are keen to meet with US counterparts.
A bit of insight came, perhaps, when Trump cast doubt over Ukraine's future sovereignty, suggesting the country 'may be Russian someday', a few days before his vice-president, JD Vance, meets with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy (above). However, Trump has not ruled out continued US support for Ukraine's war effort – provided there is a financial return. His price: $500bn in rare minerals. Ukraine is rich in resources such as lithium and titanium, crucial for electronics manufacturing. Zelenskyy has been leveraging the country's vast natural reserves in diplomatic talks with Trump, though the idea of tying military aid to resource extraction has already drawn sharp criticism.
For more on this, read Shaun Walker's excellent interview with Zelenskyy from Kyiv.
Musk, Altman and the AI arms race
OpenAI's Sam Altman has not only caught the president's attention but has outmanoeuvred Elon Musk by positioning OpenAI at the heart of the government's emerging artificial intelligence strategy.
Musk, the world's richest man, responded as he often does: by attempting to buy control. Leading a consortium of investors, he made an unsolicited $97.4bn offer for OpenAI, which was recently valued at $157bn. Altman swiftly rejected the offer, posting on X: 'No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.'
The move comes just weeks after Altman and Musk clashed publicly, following Musk's criticism of Trump's Stargate initiative – a $500bn project involving OpenAI and Altman.
'Diplomatic love bombing' in the UK
In the UK, Trump's tendency to hold grudges and wield power ruthlessly against those he perceives as enemies has not gone unnoticed. Over the past few months, the Labour government has taken a conciliatory approach towards his administration, hoping that Trump's transactional nature will either yield diplomatic and economic benefits – or at the very least, keep Britain out of his crosshairs.
Several Labour ministers have softened their stance on the president, as has the prime minister. Peter Mandelson, the UK's ambassador to the US (above), has publicly walked back his previous criticism of Trump, admitting that his remarks describing the president as 'a danger to the world' were 'ill-judged and wrong'. In a Fox News interview, Mandelson instead praised Trump's 'dynamism and energy', adding, in an interview with the BBC, that Britain must respect Trump's 'strong and clear mandate for change'.
Political correspondent Eleni Courea has written that the UK's 'diplomatic love bombing' appears to be paying off – Trump recently remarked that Keir Starmer 'has been very nice' and that the two leaders are 'getting along very well'. (Courea's full piece is well worth a read.)
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Yet the UK prime minister's reluctance to antagonise Trump has led to a muted response on even the most controversial policies, such as the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. Ultimately, none of these efforts change the fundamental reality that Trump is 'fickle and reactive', as his decisions are seemingly driven primarily by what serves his interests at any given moment.
For the latest on Donald Trump – and there will be more – keep an eye on the Guardian's homepage.
First Edition's own Archie Bland and his partner, Ruth Spencer, write damningly about a new Netflix feelgood film that offers astounding but ultimately false hope to families of those with severe cerebral palsy. 'Lucca's World perpetuates the idea that children like our son are broken and must be repaired, rather than whole people who deserve every chance to live full and happy lives,' the pair write. Charlie Lindlar, acting deputy editor, newsletters
Mehdi Hasan is blistering on the Republicans and their dog whistling about DEI and the liberal media's enabling on the issue. The right do not have good faith critiques of diversity policies, Hasan writes: 'This is the weaponisation of a three-letter term to denigrate Black people and pretend the political and economic advancement of minority communities over the past 60 years was a mistake'. Nimo
Jeff Ingold has a unique playlist. Standing (as of now) at 75 songs, the roughly six-hour set list comprises one song for every man with whom Ingold has slept. The result is a meaningful musical extravaganza that transports Ingold through the deep relationships and fleeting romances of his life. 'When most people hear Candle in the Wind, they think of Diana. Me? A threesome I had with a couple in south London.' Charlie
After Kendrick Lamar's stellar Super Bowl performance, what is left for Drake (besides his millions), many of us wonder. Ben Beaumont Thomas explains that though the rapper has endured a public evisceration, he can still regain his relevance – and perhaps even his cool. Nimo
'Not so much drifting slowly downwards as nose-diving at a frightening rate.' After last weekend's galling defeat to Italy in the Six Nations, Robert Kitson is frank about the worrying state of Welsh rugby in this week's edition of the Breakdown newsletter (sign up here!). Charlie
Football | Jude Bellingham put Real Madrid 3-2 ahead with the last kick of the game to give his side an advantage in the Champions League playoff against Manchester City. More Champions League results
Rugby | Wales have appointed Cardiff's Matt Sherratt as interim head coach after Warren Gatland's second spell as head coach abruptly ended on Tuesday. Gatland has paid the price for Wales's dismal recent record, having presided over the worst losing run in the country's 144-year international rugby history.
Football | Sam Kerr has been found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment after calling a police officer 'fucking stupid and white' when he doubted her claims of being 'held hostage' in a taxi. The captain of the Australian women's football team and Chelsea's star striker faced up to a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
'Zelenskyy: Europe cannot protect Ukraine without Trump's support' – an exclusive interview is the Guardian's lead story. 'Court gives Gazans right to settle in UK' reports the Telegraph while the Mirror says 'Left to rot' as it investigates NHS dental care or the lack of it. 'Judge tweak hits support for assisted dying bill' reports the Times while the Express insists 'MPs must back 'crucial' right to die law'. 'Absurd we cannot sack rogue cops' is the Metro's splash while the i has 'UK savings rates cut by 30 banks – and first mortgage deals under 4%'. Top story in the Financial Times is ''Trump trades' backfire as greenback weakens and bond yields come down' while the Mail splashes on 'Labour's new borders watchdog will WFH … in Finland!'.
Why giving up the Chagos Islands could cost Britain £9bn
Eleni Courea discusses the UK's historic deal to sign sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, and why some inside the Labour party are now regretting it. Campaigner Olivier Bancoult outlines why he hopes the deal will go ahead
A bit of good news to remind you that the world's not all bad
Established in 1942, the Women's Timber Corps saw upwards of 15,000 young women work during the second world war as 'lumberjills'. Aged between 17 and 24, they assumed roles traditionally filled by men in Britain's forests, felling trees to aid the war effort. Joanna Foat's new book, The Lumberjills, tells their story through stunning archive photography – and this gallery gives an enthralling taste.
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