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Atlantic
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Atlantic
What the U.S.-Russia Summit Reveals
Donald Trump traveled to Alaska yesterday to meet with Vladimir Putin. In the brief remarks that followed the summit, Trump acknowledged that he and the Russian president had not reached a deal to end the war in Ukraine. 'There's no deal until there's a deal,' Trump said. Panelists on Washington Week With The Atlantic joined to discuss the U.S.-Russia summit—and what the outcome might mean for Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Trump administration this week deployed National Guard troops to take over Washington, D.C.'s police department. The president has said that there is a crime crisis in the capital city, even as violent-crime rates in D.C. have hit a 30-year low. Joining the editor in chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, to discuss this and more: David Ignatius, a foreign-affairs columnist at The Washington Post; Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a White House correspondent for The New York Times; Scott MacFarlane, a justice correspondent at CBS News; and Vivian Salama, a staff writer at The Atlantic. Watch the full episode here.
Malaysia Sun
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Malaysia Sun
Western media in frenzy over Putin-Trump summit Moscow
Red carpet treatment for the Russian president has undermined the Russia is isolated narrative, the foreign ministry has said Western media have erupted in hysteria over US President Donald Trump's cordial welcome for his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. Zakharova weighed in on the three-hour negotiations in Anchorage that brought Putin to US soil for the first time in more than a decade. The Russian leader was greeted at the airport with a red carpet and a flyover of US fighter jets. He and Trump then rode together in the US president's limousine to the summit venue. While the sides did not announce any deal on Ukraine, Putin described the talks as constructive, with Trump calling the meeting "warm" and suggesting that Moscow and Washington "are pretty close" to settling the Ukraine conflict. Zakharova noted that Western media had plunged into "frenzy bordering on complete madness" over the honors given to the Russian leader. "For three years they spoke of Russia's isolation, and today they saw a red carpet rolled out to meet the Russian president in the US," she said. Western media is attempting to frame the Alaska summit as a diplomatic win for Moscow. The Washington Post wrote that "the warmth of the welcome sent shock through Ukraine and Europe" while pointing to a stark contrast with the reception of Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky at the White House in February, when Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of disrespect, ingratitude over US aid, and of "gambling with World War III." Sky News correspondent Ivor Bennett, a former RT reporter, voiced surprise that Putin was first to speak at the media conference "as if he was the host rather than Donald Trump." Another Sky News reporter had suggested prior to the talks that Putin would "use his KGB-trained powers of deception and seduction" on his US counterpart. Bloomberg reported that "by inviting the Russian president onto American soil and giving him an audience, Trump had already delivered a diplomatic win" for a seemingly isolated leader. The agency also published a separate piece headlined "US-Russia Summit Shows How Little Europe Matters in Trumpworld", referencing the fact that no EU leaders were invited to the summit. Politico ran the headline "Putin's Alaska triumph," while CNN said: "Putin's isolation ended when his plane landed in Anchorage," adding, the Russian president "[is] back in from the cold." (
Washington Post
9 hours ago
- General
- Washington Post
Trump's fix for inconvenient data
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Washington Post
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
D.C. police chief retains position, but perhaps not as much power
D.C. officials who cast President Donald Trump's takeover of the city's police force as an opportunity at the start of the week had declared it an emergency by Friday, suing the administration over its attempt to install an 'emergency police commissioner' with the full powers of police chief and to eliminate policies limiting local police's collaboration with immigration enforcement. The legal battle revolves around a question with a still murky answer as of Friday night: Who is ultimately in charge of law enforcement priorities in the nation's capital? D.C. Police Chief Pamela A. Smith downplayed the takeover in her first communication to officers Monday, writing in an email reviewed by The Washington Post that 'Our relationship working with federal partners is nothing new to MPD.' But Friday, in a sworn declaration in U.S. District Court, she said that Attorney General Pam Bondi's order granting DEA head Terry Cole the full powers of the D.C. chief would 'upend the command structure of MPD, endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers alike.' In the court filing, Smith said that the proposed new command structure would 'wreak operational havoc' on the department. 'The confusion and delays caused by this upending of the command structure will endanger public safety, placing the lives of MPD officers and District residents at grave risk,' she said in the filing. 'There is no greater risk to public safety in paramilitary organization than to not know who is in command.' Yet the city seemed unable to answer that question Friday morning. Asked who is actively issuing orders to officers in the wake of the Bondi order, a D.C. police spokesperson directed questions to the mayor's office. The mayor's office directed questions back to D.C. police. Even U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes did not definitively answer the question in the hearing Friday, as she did not issue a ruling, but rather forged a compromise that kept police under local command. The administration backed off its claim that Cole would act with the powers of police chief, a move that Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) celebrated in a statement Friday night. 'I am pleased to be able to report that, after a day in court and in accordance with Home Rule, Pamela Smith remains our Chief of Police, in command and control of the 3,100 men and women at the Metropolitan Police Department,' Bowser said in the statement. However, under the rewritten order from Bondi, Cole would 'direct' the mayor to provide D.C. police for federal priorities. Bondi signaled that Cole would call on officers to assist in immigration enforcement, a violation of current D.C. police policies, and in clearing homeless encampments. As the legal battle played out in court, Cole addressed D.C. police officers for the first time since Bondi moved to appoint him as 'emergency police commissioner.' According to an X post from the D.C. Police Union, Cole attended the 1st Police District Friday evening roll call and told officers that the 'chain of command is still in place and to follow their lawful orders.' Even as questions mount about who holds more power, D.C. resident have seen the law enforcement presence around the city spike over the course of the week, with more than 1,750 officers and agents participating in the federal crackdown overnight Thursday, according to a White House official. Federal agents sporting FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations vests swarmed three tents at Washington Circle on Thursday night, but drove away without evicting anyone. By Friday, videos posted to social media show D.C. police had returned and cleared the tents, despite some people receiving city health department notices allowing them to remain for several more days. Nearly 30 cars were stopped as part of an operation D.C. police characterized as a standard 'traffic safety compliance checkpoint' at a busy intersection in Northwest Washington on Wednesday night, but dozens of onlookers gathered when they noticed ICE officers appeared to be questioning the drivers who had originally been stopped for minor infractions like seat belt violations or broken taillights. And a weekly comedy show in Columbia Heights turned into an impromptu protest when witnesses say roughly 30 law enforcement officers, including U.S. Border Patrol, gathered to arrest a 25-year-old man riding an illegal dirt bike. In an X post Friday, Bondi touted 189 arrests in D.C. since Trump tapped federal law enforcement to police the nation's capital this week. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers accounted for 75 of those arrests, according to the post. Bondi's order Thursday sought to abolish policies limiting D.C. police's cooperation with ICE, signaling the Trump administration's desire to use its takeover of D.C. police to crack down on immigration. Over Wednesday and Thursday nights, more than half of the arrests reported by the White House were for immigration enforcement, though it is unclear if they were made with direct involvement from D.C. police. Though federal forces have been visible across the city all week, from National Guard troops in Humvees near the base of the Washington Monument on Wednesday to more than a dozen law enforcement vehicles parked outside a Southeast public housing complex Thursday, no federal officers were spotted at the scene of the District's 100th homicide this year — the first homicide after Trump said that he was federalizing D.C. police. Tymark Wells, of Northwest Washington, was fatally shot around 7 p.m. Monday within a half-mile of two of the high-profile homicides Trump cited in his news conference as examples of crime that federal law enforcement could help prevent. D.C. officers at the scene Monday evening said no federal agencies had participated in the response to the shooting. The power struggle will continue to play out in court next week, when Reyes is expected to rule on whether Trump can direct D.C. police officers to enforce immigration laws. In the meantime, both D.C. police and federal agencies will continue to patrol the District as leadership grapples to establish authority.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Can a $6,000 coach get you into your dream sorority?
At the start of her sophomore year at Florida State University, Kasey Hines felt increasingly dejected. During 'rush,' a one-to-two-week gantlet of events and conversations for potential new sorority sisters, she fell into depression. Hines had always imagined Greek life as part of the quintessential college experience, but each morning brought another list of houses that had dropped her as she was coping with her mom's faltering health. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. 'It felt like a group of girls looking you dead in the eye and saying, 'Ew, not you,'' Hines told The Washington Post. 'I remember I was so excited when I went into my first recruitment I never anticipated that I would feel anything less than amazing. But it was a very emotionally draining process. It is a lot harder than you could even think.' A year later, she decided to try again - this time, in secret. Using money she'd saved from working at Dillard's, a department store in her hometown, and hostessing at beachfront restaurants, Hines hired a rush consultant for just under $1,000. During the summer she told people she was taking a virtual class but really she was meeting with a coach who walked her through the unspoken rules - why 'casual' on the official dress code doesn't really mean casual, the talking points she should make (such as hobbies, not grades) and how to navigate her past rush mistakes (like dwelling too much on the sororities that dropped her). Her coach became her emotional anchor. In fall 2020, she got her bid (a formal invite to join a sorority) to Delta Zeta. And when the moment came, the first person she told wasn't her parents or her friends - it was her rush consultant. 'She knew more about my feelings than anyone else did,' Hines said. Greek life used to be a mostly closed-door tradition, until 'RushTok' blew it wide open. In the years after the pandemic, TikTok feeds became filled with synchronized dances, matching Bid-Day outfits and young women eager to make the perfect first impression in the quest to find 'sisterhood' during the rush recruitment process each August. The phenomenon has sparked documentaries, brands shelling out sponsorships to members with high follower counts and even a new Lifetime reality series, 'A Sorority Mom's Guide to Rush.' At big Southern schools such as the University of Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Clemson, the University of Georgia and many Texas campuses, recruitment is treated like an Olympic sport, with 2,000 to 3,000 young women vying for a few spots at each house. The most competitive hopefuls don't just show up in August; they prep a full year in advance, usually at the start of their senior year of high school. Instagram grids get curated; some students get up to 30 letters of recommendations; hours are spent scripting and rehearsing for video applications. And families are paying for round-the-clock access to rush coaches who know the inside politics of every house and, in some cases, get word of a bid before the student herself. Although this industry isn't exactly new, it has been supercharged by escalating competition, with hopefuls shelling out thousands of dollars to get an edge. Coaches are now a more visible part of the rush machine by working to guide and reassure young women through one of the most high-stakes weeks of their college lives. Here's what they told The Post about how sorority recruitment has changed and what their jobs are really like. - - - Northern girls are heading South for college and sorority life Rush coaches say they're seeing a surge of clients from the Northeast, especially New York, Maine and Connecticut, choosing to attend Southern schools specifically to be involved in Greek life. Lorie Stefanelli, a New York City-based coach who runs Greek Chic, recently hosted a panel for about 30 girls and their moms. 'Every single one of them were going to school in the South,' she said. The draw? 'They want the big SEC [Southeastern Conference], college football, Southern experience. TikTok plays it up and makes it look so fun. The girls are pretty, they're put together, and I think kids lean into that.' Her coaching packages range from $1,500 to $3,000. Leighton Newberry, founder of Recruitment Ready, says her client base is still strongest in Texas, Nashville, Charlotte and California but she opened a New York branch last year to meet demand. 'Families up North want to learn Southern etiquette and the style around it,' she said. Her services range from free online resources to private coaching packages costing up to $4,000. This year she worked with 300 clients. Consultants also note that Southern schools are luring Northern students with high scholarship offers and a warmer climate. - - - Rush prep starts long before move-in day For many hopefuls, the work begins years before they set foot on campus. Stacia Damron, founder of Hiking in Heels, and her team won't take more than 500 clients a year, and Damron says families try to sign up far in advance. 'We have people try to sign up as early as sixth grade,' she said. 'You do not need to sign up as early as sixth grade.' Damron works mostly with high school seniors, plus some college freshmen and sophomores. 'You can't just show up, look cute, and have good conversations. That's not how recruitment works. … They hear people say, 'Oh, just be yourself, trust the process, get your cute outfits ready.' That won't get you a bid. The most successful people start preparing six months to a year in advance.' Her offerings range from a $3,975-to-$6,000 one-on-one coaching program to a $349 online course titled '60 Days to Sisterhood,' which includes hours of coaching and 50 templates for everything from thank-you notes to conversation starters. She also advises parents and family members about how to handle contact with a sorority member or affiliate 'fishing' for information about a candidate. Newberry begins working with high school juniors but also offers a mentoring and etiquette program for girls as early as their freshman year. 'Moms want their daughters to feel polished and confident,' she said. - - - Instagram is part of the rush résumé Rush coaches say their clients are more aware than ever that what they post can affect their chances, and they've noticed many are posting less to protect their image. But coaches warn that going quiet is a mistake and to get noticed, you have to post often and with purpose. Damron shows clients exactly whom to follow. 'I walk them through who's building the bid list and making the decisions in the back room during recruitment,' she said. 'A cute Instagram profile is not going to help you if the right people aren't looking at it. There's so much you can do algorithmically and strategically to get in front of the right people.' Following these decision-makers also helps clients research engaging talking points during rush. She tells clients to share moments that show dedication, personality and a sense of sisterhood such as photos from charity work, winning a sports championship or planning a friend's birthday party. As for no-nos? Alcohol, 'revealing' swimsuit photos and too many individual shots. Stefanelli encourages her clients to post consistently throughout their senior year of high school and into the summer. 'The girls in the sororities want to see if a potential new member is a cool, fun girl to hang out with,' she said. 'They want to see her interacting with friends, doing homecoming, prom pictures, graduation, Mother's Day brunch, whatever.' But in the weeks before recruitment, Stefanelli is strict about what not to post. She bans her clients from posting any RushTok-style content. 'The last thing the girls in the sororities want are clout chasers,' she said. - - - Rush week is a mental marathon Coaches are typically on-call for their clients at all hours during rush. They have to know each school's ever-changing rules (for instance, Southern Methodist University is allowing the women to carry rush essentials such as notebooks and deodorant only in Ziploc bags this year) and prep girls for each round. Leslie Cunningham, owner of Sorority Prep, says for some girls, not getting the exact outcome they pictured can feel crushing. 'I think we deal with a lot of girls who unfortunately have baggage they're bringing into their college experience, and I wanted a way for them to process that in a healthy way,' she said. This year, she partnered with three mental health counselors to run 'intensive workshops' for clients and their moms, covering tools and strategies to handle rejection. 'This is really a life skill,' she said. Stefanelli, the New York-based consultant, travels to Tuscaloosa every year for the University of Alabama's recruitment. This year she's working with 10 girls there, meeting her all-inclusive clients at an off-campus cafe to debrief after each round. 'I always like to focus on the positive things of each house,' she said. 'It's so much more than cute outfits, chants and the pretty house. I want them to really see the sorority for who it is beyond the aesthetics.' That's important, as Hines, the woman who rushed in 2020 with the help of a coach, learned. She didn't love her sisterhood experience and dropped her sorority going into her senior year. 'Part of that did have to do with the fact that it was covid,' Hines said. 'You don't get to meet the girls in person as often. Everything was scheduled and then you kind of just have to show up to an event alone and try to make a friend there, which can be really intimidating. Now I don't mind it as much. Back then, it was horrifying.' She said she has no regrets about rushing and hiring a coach was worth it for her, but she admits it's not for everyone. 'I probably needed a therapist but a rush consultant was cheaper,' Hines said. --- Video Embed Code Video: Sorority rush season has become so competitive that some young women spend thousands on coaches to perfect applications, curate social media and style outfits. According to the consultants The Post spoke to, the amount of prepping takes several months.(c) 2025 , The Washington Post Embed code: Related Content Ukraine scrambles to roll back Russian eastern advance as summit takes place Her dogs kept dying, and she got cancer. Then they tested her water. D.C.'s homeless begin to see the effects of Trump's crackdown Solve the daily Crossword
