Latest news with #Editor'sNote
New Statesman
07-08-2025
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
The joys of summer
Summer remains the most confounding of seasons: a time of Shakespearean bliss, temperate and fair, golden in the sun. And yet it is also that period of the year when the mad blood stirs, as our cover last week suggested. What kind of summer do we have in store this year? Who knows, but in this week's summer special we have tried to dwell a little more on the temperate than the mad. Let us hope it works. Will Lloyd has fun practising his downward dog at Highgrove House, a sight for sore eyes – literally. Matt Chorley delves into the history of that very modern spectacle, the prime ministerial holiday. Anoosh Chakelian ponders the Lime bike-ification of public barbecues (yes, that is now a thing). Alas, we cannot paint only in the lighter shades of life. We are proud to publish an edited extract from Jonathan Dimbleby's foreword to the new edition of his history of the Palestinians. Katie Stallard reflects on the lessons much of the world – including North Korea – has drawn from Donald Trump's bombing of Iran. Rachel Cunliffe makes a moving journey to her grandparents' childhood home in Berlin. In other news, it was lovely to receive a letter this week from a one-time writer at the New Society, Anne Corbett, who worked at the magazine in the mid-1960s. Anne noticed that our books and culture section, previously called 'The Critics', has been renamed 'The New Society', to recognise the heritage of the magazine, which was absorbed into the New Statesman in 1988. Anne noted the New Society was known for serious reportage of the kind Anoosh provided in her piece on Diss and Epping last week. 'Back then, we'd travel to where the action was to give a voice to the people concerned on interesting and often controversial matters,' Anne wrote. Now 'the challenge is [to] create bridges to better understand the current social and political malaise'. Amen to that. In this week's extended New Society, we dig into cultural trends with pieces from Ellen Peirson-Hagger detailing the extraordinary influence of Dua Lipa on book publishing, Nicholas Harris on the emergence of 'YouTube Man', and the inestimable Kate Mossman on the strange London life of Ashley Campbell, daughter of American country legend Glen. It is also lovely to have Jason Cowley writing on the meaning of Kevin Keegan. Talking of one-time members of this parish, having the great Helen Lewis back for this week's Diary is a pleasure. In last week's Editor's Note I rashly dipped my toe into the world of culinary nationalism. I can confirm that it sparked a (gentle) backlash. Reader Allan Buckley writes to say that I am right to fear the wrath of the Italian ambassador for suggesting cheese and fish work perfectly well together: 'Many years ago I earned a rollicking in a campsite trattoria in Tuscany for requesting Parmesan on a fish pasta dish and then compounding my error by ordering a cappuccino after lunch.' Oh dear, Allan. Jim Martin, though, is more supportive, agreeing with me that Theakston Old Peculier is superior to Guinness. (Both letters can be perused at length here.) Ironically, I suspect Finn McRedmond – our resident Dubliner who kicked off this whole debate – remains far more of a Barolo woman than a Guinness connoisseur. In her dispatch from the London food scene this week, she reveals the 'new' trend sweeping the capital: butter. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Before I sign off for the summer, I wanted to offer a few reflections on my time as editor to date. This is my eighth edition of the magazine. In this time, I have tried to bring a sense of ambition and fun into these pages. My thanks to our creative editor, Gerry Brakus, and head of design, Erica Weathers, for making them look so good. I have relied, too, upon the calm expertise of our production desk: the head of production, Chris Bourn; deputy production editor, Barney Horner; and our formidable band of sub-editors, Zoë Huxford, Sydney Diack and Faye Curran. They are the engine of this magazine. The next edition of the New Statesman will be out on 29 August – just as the summer begins to fade into autumn. September, of course, has joys of its own, but as Jimmy McIntosh writes in his ode to summer drinking, nothing quite compares to 'summer sousing': 'So take your mate up on that pint in the sun. You'll miss it when it's gone.' Bottoms up! And see you in a few weeks. Related
USA Today
17-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk escalate their government purge
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk escalate their government purge | The Excerpt On Saturday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Thousands have been fired across the federal workforce, as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk escalate their government purge. In this week's edition of Editor's Note, USA TODAY Immigration Editor Karen Weintraub discusses how the newsroom is approaching a shifting immigration landscape. If you have a topic you want to hear from an editor, send us a note at podcasts@ Federal prosecutors drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Trump orders the defunding of schools that mandate COVID-19 vaccines. USA TODAY Personal Finance Reporter Daniel de Visé takes a look at the debate over government alcohol guidance. A few minutes of bird watching this weekend can help scientists: Here's how to participate. Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Saturday, February 15th, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today, thousands have been fired as Trump escalates a purge across the federal workforce. Plus in this week's editor's note, we take a look at how the newsroom is covering the current immigration landscape and how many drinks a day are too many. ♦ Thousands of recently hired federal workers were fired Thursday and Friday as President Donald Trump and top White House official Elon Musk escalated efforts to purge the federal workforce. The cuts targeted probationary workers across all departments. Federal employees, and probationary status have typically been hired in the past year. Probationary workers are easier to fire because they lack the bargaining rights that so-called career employees who have been in the job longer have to appeal their terminations. And firings were government-wide, from the Department of Education and Small Business Administration, to the Environmental Protection Agency, US Forest Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the agency that oversees the nation's fleet of nuclear weapons. ♦ We've seen weeks of headlines centered around the shifting landscape of immigration in America. That includes news this week that families are suing after their loved ones may have been sent to Guantanamo. And USA TODAY has learned that the Department of Homeland Security has ordered its entire investigations division, some 6,000 agents, to divert focus on drug dealers, terrorists, and human traffickers, and shift priority to the Trump Administration's mission of deporting people in the US illegally. For more on how the newsroom is tackling stories on the migration front, I caught up with USA TODAY immigration editor Karen Weintraub, for this week's edition of Editor's Note. Karen, thank you so much for joining me on Editor's Note this week. Kren Weintraub: Thanks for having me. Taylor Wilson: So Karen, just starting here, immigration reporting has always been a tough topic to cover for many reasons, and I'd like to get into some of those with you here. First, let's just talk about covering deportations. I mean, what kinds of obstacles does your team face here? Kren Weintraub: Some of it is just procedural, kind of finding the people we're trying to report about. So our reporter, Lauren was writing about someone this week who we literally couldn't find. He had been in detention in El Paso and then he disappeared and we weren't sure where he was. His tracking number indicated that he was in a place called Plantation, Florida. We looked up this place, it is not a nice detention facility. It's looked to be an administrative office. We looked at it on Google Earth. There was a big parking lot and an office building, so it was not a detention center. His mother believed he had been sent to Guantanamo. Every indication was that he had been sent to Guantanamo, but there's no way to prove that. And his mother was part of a lawsuit that the ACLU filed about people who had been sent to Guantanamo. So we believe that is there, but we couldn't prove it. So things like that. Taylor Wilson: And in terms of solutions or workarounds, when you hit walls like that, Karen, I mean, what are you all finding that does work? Kren Weintraub: Well, for instance, we had spoken to this mother before the lawsuit was filed, but didn't feel comfortable writing about her story until there was a lawsuit, until there was a paper trail that she was willing to put her name behind and that somebody else was willing to file suit around. It wasn't just one woman's story, it was a lawsuit with a major national organization that made us feel more comfortable writing about this story. Taylor Wilson: In terms of the court processes here, Karen, I mean, how do you and your team navigate all that? Kren Weintraub: Luckily, we have a number of people, some of whom are more focused on the courts and some of whom are more focused on the people in the field and the advocates and the immigrants themselves. So we are chasing down several court cases. There's a number, for instance, about birthright. So the Trump administration now is trying to challenge the Fourteenth Amendment that says that anybody who is born on American soil is considered an American, and President Trump would like to change that. Said that that's been sort of a back door into this country, and that's something we're following very closely because that would in a way, redefine what it means to be an American. Since the Civil War, that amendment has been in place to the Constitution. Taylor Wilson: And Karen, immigration is clearly also a topic where there are heightened emotions really across the issue. And for that reason, there's a lot of fear out there in speaking with reporters. How does your team navigate this part of it? Kren Weintraub: For sure, and this has always been an issue where fear comes up a lot. Both federal employees are afraid to talk on the record now for sure, families that are afraid of being split up, things like that. So we are very careful. So this mother, we waited to make sure that she was, like I said, part of this lawsuit and also that we could use her full name in the story. We want people to be accountable for what they're saying, and we try to reflect all sides of an issue. There are emotions on all sides here. There are people who are uncomfortable, unhappy with folks who are in this country without legal status, and we try to reflect that as well as the people who are here for whatever reason that brought them here in the first place. Taylor Wilson: So what are some of the other considerations, Karen, that you and your team are bringing to this topic and this conversation? Kren Weintraub: So one of the strengths that we have here at USA TODAY is a collaboration with our regional papers. So we have papers in Arizona, in Texas, in Florida, in New Jersey, and we're collaborating very closely with them to both see what's going on there and also to see what the trends are nationally, to get a sense from the ground up of what's happening. So not just DC-based. One of our reporters is based in El Paso, but also we're getting a much more national picture now than we would if we were just reporting from the district. Taylor Wilson: All right. USA TODAY, immigration Editor, Karen Weintraub. Thanks so much, Karen. Kren Weintraub: Thank you. Taylor Wilson: Each week, we sit down with a different editor here on the show for a look at how they're covering some of the biggest stories. If there's anything you'd like to hear about, shoot us an email at podcasts@ We have that address also posted in today's show notes. ♦ Federal prosecutors dropped corruption charges yesterday against New York Mayor Eric Adams after a Justice Department Directive, questioned the political timing of the case and said it hindered President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. The dismissal closed the first criminal case in history against the sitting New York mayor and set off a flood of resignations among prosecutors who refused to drop the charges. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove had directed the Acting U.S. attorney in New York, Danielle Sassoon, to drop the charges because of potential politics behind the case.,Rather than a lack of evidence. Sassoon and at least six other prosecutors quit instead of dropping the case. ♦ President Trump signed an executive order yesterday prohibiting federal funds from going to K-12 schools and universities that require COVID-19 vaccinations. The order instructs the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to issue guidelines to comply and create plans to end COVID-19 vaccine mandates, but the order will likely have a minimal impact. No states currently require COVID vaccinations for students at K-12 public schools, and at least 21 states have actually passed laws banning vaccine mandates. Only 15 colleges, all private institutions still require COVID vaccination shots according to no college mandates, an advocacy group that opposes COVID-19 vaccine requirements. Trump's order came one day after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccination skeptic, was sworn in as the nation's top health official. ♦ How many drinks a day are too many? A debate is playing out in Washington over what the government should tell Americans about alcohol. I spoke with USA TODAY personal finance reporter Daniel de Vise for more. Daniel, thanks for wrapping on today. Daniel de Vise: Likewise, thank you. Taylor Wilson: Federal dietary guidelines are getting an update this year, which will include guidance on alcohol. But Daniel, where do things stand right now? Daniel de Vise: Right now, we have these age-old guidelines that say it's supposedly safe for guys to drink up to two drinks a day. That's like a beer or a glass of wine times two, and for women to have up to one drink a day. I've always thought that was unusual, but it's twice the limit for men as for women, and that's been the guidance for a very long time. Taylor Wilson: It seems unusual to me as well. I mean, what are the experts, Daniel, the science, I guess, really say about the current guidance? Daniel de Vise: If you're old enough to remember, 30 years ago or so, there was this wave of research saying that moderate amounts of drinking were actually good for you and that they'd actually make you live longer. Well, the thinking has changed over the last 10, 20 years, and now I would say most researchers say the easy quote is that no amount of alcohol to drink is entirely safe. Now, that doesn't mean it's going to kill you necessarily, and there's still apparently health benefits from alcohol, but the trick is figuring out what's the right amount, I guess. Taylor Wilson: All right, so we're talking a lot in this current moment about differences between the Biden era to Trump 1.0 to now Trump 2.0. Daniel, are there fundamentally different alcohol messages across the Biden and Trump administrations? Daniel de Vise: We don't know, do we? The Surgeon General under Biden came out very recently at the very end of the Biden administration with a sharp warning about the link, although it's a small link, between alcohol and cancer, so that's where the Biden administration stood. They were pushing, I think, for stricter guidelines. With President Trump, who I believe does not drink, and the new Health Secretary RFK Jr. who I also believe does not drink, well, that's interesting. We'll see where that goes. Both of those leaders have apparently gone on record about the dangers of alcohol, so maybe they'll fall in that direction. On the other hand, the Trump administration has shown an impulse toward less regulation, so maybe they won't regulate alcohol consumption. Maybe they won't say anything about it. We'll see. Taylor Wilson: Yeah. Interesting points there, Daniel. In terms of what's next, where we go with this, I mean, when do we expect those updated guidelines later this year and kind of just what is next for this conversation? Daniel de Vise: Yeah. February 14, as I speak to you, it was the last day for public comment. Now the government is going to sit back and look at all these recommendations. They have two big reports that were prepared for them. One report is really pushing more the potential health benefits of alcohol rather than the problems. The other report is a little more cautionary. Some people I interviewed said it would be smart to maybe just make the guideline no more than one drink per day for everyone and just kind of erase that gender difference. But who knows? It's just as possible the regulators will leave it alone and not change the guidelines at all. Taylor Wilson: All right. Daniel de Vise covers personal finance for USA TODAY. Thank you, Daniel. Daniel de Vise: Thank you. ♦ Taylor Wilson: The Great Backyard Bird Count is back this weekend. The event organized by the National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada aims to help scientists better understand the global bird population. Data collected over a four-day span in February provides necessary information on where birds are living and long-term changes in their populations. People in some 200 countries participated in last year's bird count. If you want to get involved, organizers recommend taking 15 minutes this weekend to take a closer look up at the sky. For more on how to participate, give a click on that link we have in today's show notes. ♦ Enrique Tarrio, the de facto leader of the Proud Boys, was recently pardoned from his 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy by Donald Trump. What are his future plans? Enrique Tarrio: I'm just rifting here, but I run for sheriff. I actually win, and its Sheriff Enrique Tarrio. Will Carlos: Stranger things have happened. Enrique Tarrio: The stranger things have happened. Taylor Wilson: USA TODAY national correspondent, Will Carlos spoke with Tarrio in an exclusive interview about the violent insurrection he helped organize on January 6th and his future. You can hear the episode right here beginning at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time tomorrow. And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back Monday with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.
USA Today
10-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Judges are pausing Trump policy changes. But for how long?
Judges are pausing Trump policy changes. But for how long? | The Excerpt On Saturday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY Domestic Security Correspondent Josh Meyer takes a look at some of the pushback in the courts to the Trump administration's early moves. President Donald Trump says Elon Musk's next DOGE targets are the Pentagon and Education Department. The Coast Guard finds the missing plane in Alaska and all 10 on board are believed dead. The New York governor shuts down poultry markets after several cases of bird flu were detected in New York City. USA TODAY Sports Video Executive Producer Christine Conetta gives us a look at her team's coverage of the build-up to the Super Bowl in this week's edition of Editor's Note. Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Saturday, February 8th, 2025. This is the Excerpt. Today, how some of Trump's early moves have hit snags in the courts, plus Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency will be coming for the Pentagon and Department of Education. And we take a look at how USA TODAY Sports has covered the build up to tomorrow's Super Bowl. ♦ President Donald Trump's rapid-fire efforts to remake and downsize the federal government have hit a bit of a speed bump in the courts. I caught up with USA TODAY domestic security correspondent, Josh Meyer, for more. Howdy, Josh. Josh Meyer: Hey, Taylor. Taylor Wilson: So, Josh, let's just start with this. What have we seen, especially in recent days, when it comes to some of Trump's policy changes really hitting snags in the courts? Josh Meyer: Trump has come out fast and furious in his efforts to remake and downsize the federal government, especially with the help of Elon Musk, and they've hit a bit of a speed bump. He did issue a fairly stunning number of executive orders and other actions in his first weeks in office, but those have generated more than 30 lawsuits now. And some of them have hit the courts, and the judges are not reacting perhaps in the way Trump wants it. Some of them are issuing injunctions saying they need to take a closer look at it. We have to wait and see what happens next. Taylor Wilson: Well, you mentioned Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency and Musk himself have been really at the heart of a lot of this legal pushback, right, Josh? What's the latest here specifically? Josh Meyer: Well, the judges have pumped the brakes on a couple of things. One was Trump's efforts to freeze spending, government spending, another was to cull the federal workforce or eliminate thousands of jobs, a third was to end automatic citizenship, otherwise known as birthright citizenship for children born in the US, and a fourth was to send transgender women to men's prisons. So, these have really prompted a barrage of lawsuits. A lot of government watchdog groups have filed suit, and even just plaintiffs and employee unions have all pushed back pretty hard. Taylor Wilson: Josh, maybe stating the obvious here, but why are the courts a particularly important lever for Trump critics or opponents to lean on considering this full Republican control on Capitol Hill? Josh Meyer: Well, yeah, that's a good point, Taylor. I mean, I think that you might be looking at the only part of the government that's pushing back. I mean, there's a system of checks and balances, as we all learned in school, that each branch of government is supposed to be a check on the others. And at this point, because the legislature is basically controlled by the Republicans who are supporting Trump, the court system is the one that's really going to be a check and balance on this stuff. A lot of these cases are expected to go up to the Supreme Court, which has a pro-Trump majority, but some of them could be decided on a lower case basis. One judge out in Seattle, Judge John Coughenour, said Thursday that he issued a two-week stay for birthright citizenship saying that it could continue, but also then made it permanent at least until this has been adjudicated. Coughenour was appointed by Reagan, so this doesn't necessarily fall on partisan lines. Taylor Wilson: How does the Trump administration itself use some of these recent judge decisions, Josh, and do they feel they'll still ultimately be successful in the courts? Josh Meyer: Yeah. I mean, I talked to the White House about it and the response I got from them, this is from Harrison Fields who's the principal deputy White House press secretary, and he said every action taken by the Trump-Vance administration is fully legal and compliant with federal law. And then when it came to DOGE and some of the other efforts, he said, "Any legal challenge against it is nothing more than an attempt to undermine the will of the American people who overwhelmingly elected President Trump to secure the border, revitalize the economy, and restore common-sense policies." So, mind you though that that doesn't have anything to do with whether they're illegal or not. Just because Trump was elected by a majority of the American people doesn't mean that whatever he does is necessarily legal. So, that's what the courts are there for, to interpret this and see where we go from here. Taylor Wilson: Let's backtrack a few years, Josh. What was Trump's record really like through the courts during his first term? Josh Meyer: He had a mixed record his first time around, especially at the Supreme Court. But although the court's makeup was a little different then, it wasn't as much of a majority, but it took the president three times, for example, three tries, for example, before the court approved a version of his ban on travel from specific nations, including five mainly Muslim countries. You might recall that was known as the Muslim ban. And despite appointing three justices to the Supreme Court during his first term, Trump's administration had the worst record at the Supreme Court of any administration since at least the Roosevelt administration, according to data developed by law professors in an article published in Presidential Studies Quarterly. Taylor Wilson: All right. So, just in terms of what's next here, Josh, I know a lot of this is moving through the courts. Are we just in kind of wait in see mode? I mean, where do you see this going from here? Josh Meyer: So, there was a hearing late Friday on the USAID injunction where Trump and Musk are essentially trying to shut down the US Agency for International Development. But this is going to be on a rolling basis. I believe there's going to be more hearings next week, and we'll just have to sort of take each one and see what happens. Taylor Wilson: All right. Josh Meyer covers domestic security for USA TODAY. Thank you, Josh. Josh Meyer: My pleasure. ♦ Taylor Wilson: After dismantling the US Foreign Aid Office, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency will be coming for the Pentagon and Department of Education, President Trump said yesterday. The education department has long been a target for conservatives who want to see it abolished, and it was clear before Trump's comments that Musk was going after the agency. A top official at the department told staffers in a meeting earlier this week that DOGE was examining its operations. Cutting military spending could face more GOP resistance, but about 13% of the federal budget, or $872 billion, goes toward defense spending according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. That makes it a prime target for potential cost savings. ♦ Search crews found a downed plane carrying 10 people that went missing along Alaska's western coast after rapidly losing altitude and speed, authorities said yesterday. Lieutenant Commander Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the US Coast Guard, said everyone aboard the plane is presumed to be dead. Salerno told reporters that a Coast Guard helicopter located the wreckage and lowered two rescue swimmers to investigate. The plane was found about 34 miles from the city of Nome where it was headed. The turboprop Cessna Caravan operated by Bering Air was reported missing Thursday afternoon, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety. The incident comes as US air travel and aviation faces increased scrutiny following the collision of a passenger plane and a military helicopter outside Washington DC that killed 67 people, and the crash of a medevac jet in Philadelphia that killed seven people and injured more than 20 others. ♦ New York Governor Kathy Hochul yesterday announced the closure of live poultry markets in New York City and three counties after seven cases of bird flu were detected at markets in the city during routine inspections. The shutdown to prevent the spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza is set to remain in effect through February 14th. Hochul said markets must disinfect and undergo a state health inspection before they can reopen. Experts say there's low risk to the general public, with a few exceptions. ♦ America turns its attention to the Super Bowl tomorrow as the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs, and it's one of the biggest days of the year for our colleagues from USA TODAY Sports. For more on the week leading up to the game and how our editors and reporters covered it, I spoke with USA TODAY Sports video executive producer, Christine Conetta. Christine, thank you for joining me today. Christine Conetta: Hey, no problem. Excited to be here. Taylor Wilson: So, Radio Row for the Super Bowl is really the tent pole media event leading up to the actual game. Tell us what this is for folks maybe not in the sports or football world, not familiar here, and how big of an event really, Christine, this represents in your coverage leading up to the game. Christine Conetta: Yeah. So, at almost every sports tent pole, there's always some kind of media day, but nothing is to the scale of Radio Row at the Super Bowl for the NFL every year. With the NFL, it typically lasts about four days, and it's an opportunity for just about any athlete to speak with almost every sports media outlet out there about anything happening in sports. And just to give some more perspective on how big this is, we prepared for 48 interviews this year across the span of four days. So it is huge, it is an insane event, and it takes a lot of coordination to be able to pull it off. Taylor Wilson: Wow. 48 interviews, that sounds like a ton. How do you prepare, really, Christine for that many conversations so quickly? Christine Conetta: So, a lot of prep goes into this for sure. So, we usually try to break it up by creating a list of topics and questions that can be applied to almost everyone that we've booked, and then we'll go back and then we'll tailor questions to each guest and we'll try to nail down two or three that apply to just them or their teams or their career specifically. Taylor Wilson: And who stood out from Radio Row this year? Was it about the current Eagles or Chiefs, or were the interviews with NFL alums or other non-sports folks kind of the most interesting? Christine Conetta: I always think that the most fun tends to come from other athletes who are, they're playing in the NFL, but they're not actually playing in the Super Bowl. These are the big names that we see every Sunday, but this time they're just showing up as guests. So, it's usually pretty fun. I would say one of my favorites for this year was talking to Bengals quarterback, Joe Burrow. He was very honest with us about his season, his stats for the season, and if he deserved the MVP award. Taylor Wilson: And where did he land? I'm assuming he felt like he did deserve it. Yeah. Christine Conetta: He felt like he did. And he also was not afraid to say he did not think he was going to get it. So, spoiler alert, if anybody who has not seen the NFL Honors yet. Taylor Wilson: Yes, Josh Allen. So, Christine tomorrow, will you be in New Orleans for the game in person and just what stay of coverage look like for you and your team overall? Christine Conetta: Yeah. So, unfortunately I will not be there. We will have a small crew on the ground at Caesars Superdome. They're the lucky ones. They get to be on site for all the spectacular coverage. So, they'll be able to sit in the press box to watch all the National Anthem, all the way down to halftime show. And then of course they'll be providing the post-game coverage and NFL off season look ahead coverage. That always performs really well for us. And the Super Bowl has just become such a big event for USA TODAY. It doesn't just fan sports anymore. There's a lot of life, news, entertainment coverage that's all intertwined into this one major event. So my job, I'll be at home, but my job is going to be to make sure that I'm coordinating with all the other teams on Sunday night. Taylor Wilson: All right. Christine Conetta is an executive producer with USA TODAY Sports Video. Thank you so much, Christine. Looking forward to the coverage. Christine Conetta: Oh, thank you. ♦ Taylor Wilson: Our forests are home to some of the oldest living organisms on earth, but they're facing a variety of threats from climate change to wildfires. Ethan Tapper: The fact is that our ecosystems are dealing with these profound legacies of the way they've been managed in the past, these profound threats and stressors in the present, and then this future that promises challenges like never before. Taylor Wilson: That's forester and author, Ethan Tapper. In his recent book, How to Love a Forest, Ethan shares his passion for woodlands while calling on all of us to become better guardians. You can hear his conversation with my colleague, Dana Taylor, right here beginning at 5:00 AM Eastern Time tomorrow. ♦ And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your pods. And if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back Monday with more of the Excerpt from USA TODAY.
USA Today
27-01-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Combat unit ordered to prep for border as part of Trump deportation push
Combat unit ordered to prep for border as part of Trump deportation push | The Excerpt On Saturday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY White House and Pentagon Reporter Davis Winkie discusses how the military may be used for immigration purposes. The Senate votes to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of Defense. In his travels to disaster zones Friday, President Donald Trump again suggested abolishing FEMA. President Trump cancels Dr. Anthony Fauci's security detail. USA TODAY Managing Editor for Politics, Legal Affairs and World News Holly Rosenkrantz gives us an inside peek at how her team covered this historic week for news, as part of a new weekly segment called Editor's Note. Pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao make their U.S. debut. Listen to our deep dive episode on panda diplomacy here. Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Saturday, January 25th, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today, taking a closer look at how Trump aims to use the military on the border. Plus, Pete Hegseth has been confirmed as Secretary of Defense and pandas make their public debut in Washington. ♦ Newark, New Jersey Mayor, Ras Baraka, said US immigration agents rounded up undocumented migrants as well as American citizens in a raid Thursday, just days after President Donald Trump issued a slew of executive orders that aim to clamp down on illegal immigration. In a raid of a business establishment in Newark, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents failed to produce a warrant as they detained undocumented residents as well as citizens, according to the Mayor. Meanwhile, one of the Pentagon's premier units has been ordered to prepare to be deployed to the southern border as part of Trump's increasing militarization of immigration. I spoke with USA Today, White House and Pentagon Reporter, Davis Winkie, to learn more. Davis, thank you so much for hopping on the show today. Davis Winkie: Thanks for having me, Taylor. Taylor Wilson: So let's just get to some of the basics here at the top. What is this combat unit and how will they be used as part of Trump's immigration push? Davis Winkie: So a little bit of background here, Taylor. The Trump administration in its early days has issued a flurry of orders and declarations that have made it possible for the military to potentially be more involved with immigration enforcement at the border. It's not unprecedented, it's not new necessarily. Trump in fact, inherited a 2,500 soldier border mission from the Biden administration, but he's taking actions to expand it, to include earlier this week, committing an additional 1,500 active duty troops to assist customs and border protection there. What we learned about potential expanded deployments recently, however, is where things start to get interesting, the Army issued a series of what's called warning orders to specific units that we reported, myself and Tom Vanden Brook, and then also our colleague at the Washington Post, Dan Lamothe had a good story on this as well, where the 10th Mountain Division headquarters was alerted about potentially deploying to the border. It's not guaranteed yet, but the fact that the conversation has started about it can help us potentially divine a little bit about the administration's intentions for this mission. Taylor Wilson: Okay, good explainer there. Just legally, Davis, what role can the military actually play when it comes to immigration enforcement? What is Trump really allowed to pull off here? Davis Winkie: What the military can do at the border depends on what kind of troops are there and the legal authority that they're acting under. There's two main types of military legal authorities. One of them is called Title 10. That's your active-duty military. That's what you traditionally think of as like the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, Marine Corps. Title 10 forces are not allowed to enforce domestic laws thanks to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. That was passed after reconstruction because Southerners were mad that the Army had crushed the first Ku Klux Klan and protected black voters, believe it or not. The Posse Comitatus Act is pretty strong and keeps active-duty troops from being able to do hands-on arrests per se, but active-duty members, however, are and previously have supported border patrol or customs and border protection through providing logistical support, flying helicopters for them, doing security camera monitoring or lookout jobs, doing intelligence analysis. That's what your active-duty folks can do. That might change if the president were to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows those troops to then take on a law enforcement role, but that hasn't happened to this point. There's also what's called Title 32 forces, which is when your National Guard service members remain under their state's control, but the Feds are paying the bill. Those military service members are able to directly enforce domestic laws because legally speaking, they're acting in their capacity as state militia members rather than as federal military members. That is really, a callback to the way that our Constitution was designed by giving these states militias that were initially intended to counterbalance the central power of a federal government. But nowadays, the National Guard is really a part-time but highly professional fighting force that just has to wear two different hats depending on who's paying the bill or who's calling the shots. Taylor Wilson: That's excellent insight there, Davis. Just in terms of where we go from here, I know we've seen this flurry of actions from Trump here at his first five days in office. What's the expectation for this coming week when it comes to immigration and deportations? And we know things are just quickly moving, where do we go from here? Davis Winkie: Yeah, I think the important thing for our listeners to understand is that the Trump administration is very good at optics and messaging. They are going to do a lot of high-profile enforcement actions, such as raids and such, most likely, and they're going to find ways to publicize them. For example, there was a raid in Boston earlier this week that a Fox News reporter, he did an exclusive ride-along with ICE and had a lot of access to document what was happening there. But while the administration will want to give the impression that this is a massive escalation in enforcement, it's important for our listeners to keep in mind that the deportation machine was running even before Trump took office. It just may find a new gear as the Trump administration uses the emergency declarations and other authorities to try to expand the capacity to do it quicker. Taylor Wilson: All right. Davis Winkie covers the White House and Pentagon for USA Today, with a great explainer for us here on the show. Thank you, Davis. Davis Winkie: Thanks again. Taylor Wilson: For more on immigration and the border under the new Trump administration, be sure to tune in tomorrow morning to hear USA Today National Reporter, Lauren Villagran, in conversation with my colleague, Dana Taylor, to dig into all of the other developments this week related to immigration and the border. Lauren Villagran: A lot of fear among children who worry that when they get home from school, their mom or dad, or both, might not be there. Taylor Wilson: You can find that episode right here beginning at 5:00 AM Eastern Time tomorrow. ♦ The Senate yesterday confirmed Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. President Donald Trump's nominee fended off allegations of sexual assaults, public drinking and intoxication and abusive treatment of women. A former Fox News host and military veteran, Hegseth secured support from all but three Republicans to win confirmation with a 51 to 50 vote, with Vice President, JD Vance breaking the tie. Hegseth will now take charge of the nation's largest government agency with 3,000,000 service members and civilians, and an $850 billion budget under the Pentagon's authority. ♦ On his first trip as president yesterday, Trump ratcheted up his criticism of the Federal Emergency Management Agency with a suggestion to possibly abolish the agency because of its response to Hurricane Helene in September. After a briefing in Fletcher, North Carolina, Trump said, "I'll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe even getting rid of FEMA." Trump accused FEMA crews of being unfamiliar with areas when responding to disasters. FEMA also imposes rules and requirements on crews that are not as good as what local officials provide, Trump said. He added that the federal government should instead send funding to governors to manage their own response to disasters. ♦ President Trump announced yesterday that he had canceled the federal security detail for Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Disease. Trump said the security detail for the 84-year-old immunologist and former Chief Medical Advisor to former president, Joe Biden, was removed Thursday because it cannot last a lifetime and Fauci could hire his own protection, according to Trump. A doctor for the National Institutes of Health for more than half a century, Fauci led the federal health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to harsh criticism from some Republicans about studies of the origin of the disease and the response to fight it during the first year. Fauci previously said he and his family had received threats throughout the pandemic, including death threats. ♦ It's obviously been a historic week for news as President Donald Trump returned to the White House following his inauguration on Monday. You've heard from so many of our great political reporters this week on the show as they covered the early days of Trump 2.0. So we wanted to peel back the curtain and talk with an editor, to take a look at how some of these journalistic decisions were made. It's part of a new series we're bringing you every Saturday called Editor's Notes. This week, I'm joined by Managing Editor for Politics, Legal Affairs and World News, Holly Rosenkrantz. Holly, thank you so much for joining me today on The Excerpt. Holly Rosenkrantz: You're welcome. I'm glad to be here. Taylor Wilson: Yeah. Well, big week, Holly. This first week of the new Trump administration is in the books, if you don't count Saturday, I guess. The reporters I've spoken with tell me it was a crazy busy one. I'm just curious what it's been like from an editorial perspective, and I guess Holly, how would you say this administration differs from other presidential first weeks? Holly Rosenkrantz: It's been intense. There has been a fire hose of news on all topic areas, and it differs in that it feels like the administration is really coming in hot, trying to make their mark, make statements with big ideas, big executive order, big policy changes. Just like we saw with Trump's nominations during the transition to his Cabinet, they want to make a statement. They want to go big. So this is not a soft landing. They are trying to let their supporters and all voters know that they intend to have this be a historic and monumental presidency. So I'd say the difference is the intensity, the level of intensity, and as you know, Trump is a president unlike others. So all these big changes are outside the norms of what Washington and what politics in general are used to. Taylor Wilson: Right. Well, I know you came into the week, Holly, I'm sure with a very set plan and some set goals to accomplish, but as we know in this industry, curveballs can come. What were some of the specific challenges maybe you and your team faced this week? Holly Rosenkrantz: On day one, it was hard to game out when the news was going to happen and what it was going to look like. The new administration briefed reporters on Monday morning, even before the inauguration, about some of the big executive orders they were planning to unveil on day one. So we were able to prepare news alerts, pre-writes, stories. We knew it would come on day one, possibly day two, but we didn't know when. Trump is not a president who works banker's hours. He likes to do things in the evening and late. So we thought everything would happen by the time he went to the inaugural balls. We said, "That's our deadline," but it didn't work that way. The executive orders were being rolled out well into the night. They also didn't come in the order we anticipated it. So there was a lot of ripping up the stories, changing the top, changing the headlines. Taylor Wilson: Well, as we know, President Trump called out the media as fake news often in his first term, that disparagement is continuing in his second term. This has really been a constant from him. At the same time, Holly, public trust in the news media is at an all-time low. Are there particular things you and your team are doing to try to build back that public trust? Holly Rosenkrantz: USA Today is really proud of the fact that we are viewed as the nation's newspaper. We are not viewed by the public as leaning one way or another, and in our coverage, we work really hard to avoid tone, agenda. We really rely on our audience trust in us. So that means sometimes avoiding loaded adjectives and adverbs, in favor of more straightforward nouns and verbs, avoiding speculation. We have very strict sourcing policy, which is stricter than a lot of our competitors for unnamed sources. In general, we're just very fact forward. We avoid a lot of expert-said stories because experts come from a political spectrum as well. We're really fact-based news. Taylor Wilson: A lot of political enterprise reporting depends on access, but based on what we saw this last week, and certainly in the previous Trump administration, that kind of access is rare. Reporter favoritism was a challenge during Trump's first administration. Holly, how can USA Today reporters ensure they're in the room, so to speak, without compromising their integrity? Holly Rosenkrantz: Some of it starts with the relationships that began during the campaign. One of our top Trump reporters came from a Florida paper, so he has relationships built up with the Trump campaign, and it's obviously a challenge. You want access, but you don't want to be in the tank for the person you're covering. I know this sounds naive, but the best way is to demonstrate good work. So the main thing, the challenge before us is to farm all our reporters out to their different subject areas and just build relationships with the policymakers, the people behind the scenes. It won't be easy, obviously, but that's the challenge ahead of us. Taylor Wilson: Fascinating next four years. USA Today Managing Editor for Politics, Legal Affairs and World News, Holly Rosenkranz, joining us here on the show. Thank you, Holly. Holly Rosenkrantz: You're welcome. ♦ Taylor Wilson: Bao Li and Qing Bao, the latest pandas loaned by China as part of its decades-long panda diplomacy program, made their public debut yesterday at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington. The three-year-old pandas arrived in Washington in October after a 19-hour flight aboard the so-called FedEx Panda Express from Chengdu in China's Sichuan province. They replaced three other pandas who returned to China when their lease expired in November of 2023. You can learn more about panda diplomacy with our special deep dive episode from last year. We have a link in today's show notes. ♦ And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back Monday with more of The Excerpt from USA Today.
