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Pressure mounts on Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin
Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee’s party chair, delayed releasing the DNC autopsy report, a 192-page analysis on the party’s 2024 election loss, for months – now that he has released the controversial report, he is facing mounting questions and a lack of confidence in his leadership.
David Hogg, the former DNC vice-chair, called on Martin to resign on Thursday. In a statement, Hogg wrote:
“This autopsy and the months-long debate about even releasing the report, is a demoralizing joke … Ken Martin should resign, and the DNC should select a new leader who demonstrates competence, creativity, moral clarity, and a relentless commitment to actually changing the broken Democratic Party brand.”
Some on Capitol Hill, including Seth Moulton, a representative from Massachusetts, have also called for Martin’s resignation.
“He should resign,” Moulton told Axios, adding that it’s “Utterly nuts it took us this long to release the autopsy.”
Key events
Trump also posted about Senator Thom Tillis, who has been openly criticizing Trump’s slush fund this week:
People don’t remember that Thom Tillis, the weak and ineffective Senator from the Great State of North Carolina, a State I won, including primaries, 6 consecutive times, didn’t have the courage to fight it out in the Senate, remain in place, and run again for office, a thing he desperately wanted to do. I called him a “Nitpicker,” always fighting against the Republican Party, and ME, mostly on things that didn’t matter. When I told him that I would not, under any circumstances, endorse him for another run, too much work and drama (he couldn’t have won, anyway!), he immediately quit the race and publicly announced that he was going to “retire.”
Tillis is not alone in raising concerns about the fund. On Thursday the US Senate refused to push through ICE funding amid row over a $1bn proposal for security measures tied to Trump’s White House ballroom and controversial plans to create the $1.8bn fund.
Continuing on Tillis, Trump wrote: “The media said how brave he was to take me on, but he wasn’t brave, he was just the opposite – HE WAS A QUITTER! Now he can have all the fun he wants for a few months, with some of his RINO friends, screwing the Republican Party. In the end it will only get bigger, and better, and stronger, than ever before!!!”
Trump claims he selflessly gave up IRS settlement in return for $1.8bn fund ‘helping others’
Amid almost a week of reactions from Democrats and Republicans to Trump’s Anti-Weaponization Fund, Trump has posted about it on Truth Social Friday morning:
I gave up a lot of money in allowing the just announced Anti-Weaponization Fund to go forward. I could have settled my case, including the illegal release of my Tax Returns and the equally illegal BREAK IN of Mar-a-Lago, for an absolute fortune. Instead, I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!
Earlier Trump wrote: “Stop playing games and PASS THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!”
Jakub Krupa
On Ukraine, Rubio says the peace talks with Russia and Ukraine were so far “not fruitful, unfortunately”, but the US “stands ready to continue to play that role”.
“If we see an opportunity to pull together talks that are productive, not counterproductive, and that have the chance to be fruitful, we’re prepared to play that role.”
He says the war “will not end with a military victory by one side or the other,” how traditional victories were defined, and he hopes that a solution can be found one day.
Rubio also says there was a separate meeting of the seven Arctic nations on the sidelines of today’s meeting, although it did not cover Greenland.
He says there will be a joint statement coming soon.
Jakub Krupa
“There’s broad recognition there are going to be eventually less US troops in Europe than historically,” Rubio says
Rubio said he didn’t set the timeline for reducing the number of US troops in Europe, but “it has been an ongoing process that started from the first day of this administration.”
He insists “none of this is surprising”, although adds that he “understands why it creates some nervousness”.
“But I think there’s a broad recognition that there are going to be eventually less US troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” he says.
But he points out that “the Germans did not freak out” after the plans to pull out 5,000 troops were announced, “because they knew it just took us back to the 2022 numbers, and it was … a reduction of less than 11 or 12% of our total presence there.”
Rubio hints at changes to US involvement in Nato’s force model
Jakub Krupa
Rubio also gets pressed on the US involvement in the Nato Force Model, which is essentially the alliance’s framework for making forces available in case of a crisis.
He heavily suggests there will be adjustment and changes there, but declines to reveal what they will be.
He says “it ties back to the same conversation,” and “I think there’s going to be some announcements on it later today, if it hasn’t come out already.”
But he says it’s not really new, and it’s just part of the broader process of the US re-evaluating its commitments around the world and the best structure to respond to that.
“I will let the folks in the Department of War and over at Nato make those announcements, but this is not a decision that was made on the back of a napkin,” he says.
He insists “this is all technical work that’s being done by military people.”
“These are not political decisions.”
US adjusting presence in Europe ‘shouldn’t be surprise to anybody,’ Rubio says
Jakub Krupa
Asked about the potental future US adjustments to their military presence in Europe, Rubio says:
“I think what’s happening now is that any decision that’s announced or made is viewed through the broader context of some of the frictions that we’ve had in recent months, but at the end of the day, I think it’s well understood in the alliance that the United States troop presence in Europe is going to be adjusted, that that work was already ongoing, and it’s been done in coordination with our allies.
I’m not saying they’re going to be thrilled about it, but they certainly are aware of it. You know, we have obligations in the Indo-Pacific, we have obligations in the Middle East, we have obligations in the western hemisphere, so this has been an ongoing process, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody.”
Jakub Krupa
Trump’s ‘disappointment’ with Nato will be discussed at ‘one of the most important summits in history of Nato’ in Ankara, Rubio says
Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, begins with thanks to Sweden for hosting the ministerial meeting.
But that’s where the niceties end as he says the upcoming Ankara summit will be “one of the more important leaders’ summit in the history of Nato.” The leaders will have to respond to Trump’s “disappointment” with the alliance’s “response to our operations in the Middle East”.
“That will have to be addressed, that won’t be solved or addressed today. That’s something for the leaders level to discuss.”
He notes the US announcement on Poland, but adds “the United States continues to have global commitments that it needs to meet in terms of our force deployment, and that constantly requires us to reexamine where we put troops.”
“This is not a punitive thing, it’s just something that’s ongoing, and it was pre-existing,” he says.
He says there’s plenty of scope to work with Nato on defence industrial base.
Pressure mounts on Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin
Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee’s party chair, delayed releasing the DNC autopsy report, a 192-page analysis on the party’s 2024 election loss, for months – now that he has released the controversial report, he is facing mounting questions and a lack of confidence in his leadership.
David Hogg, the former DNC vice-chair, called on Martin to resign on Thursday. In a statement, Hogg wrote:
“This autopsy and the months-long debate about even releasing the report, is a demoralizing joke … Ken Martin should resign, and the DNC should select a new leader who demonstrates competence, creativity, moral clarity, and a relentless commitment to actually changing the broken Democratic Party brand.”
Some on Capitol Hill, including Seth Moulton, a representative from Massachusetts, have also called for Martin’s resignation.
“He should resign,” Moulton told Axios, adding that it’s “Utterly nuts it took us this long to release the autopsy.”
Jesse Hassenger
Host Stephen Colbert and the CBS Late Show bid farewell to the small screen on Thursday night after a controversial cancellation.
The CBS Late Show leaves the air as the No 1 show in network TV late night, with that 11.35pm real estate immediately and ignominiously rented out to Byron Allen’s longtime syndication seat-filler Comics Unleashed. It’s a stunning streaming-era abdication that will for ever be tied with Trump, even as the network has insisted (as echoed by a dolphin in a finale gag) that the decision was purely financial, not political.
With plenty of strong choices for last guests already sorted – David Letterman, Bruce Springsteen and Jon Stewart had already dropped by – the supersized 80-minute finale made a running gag out of a delayed reveal. Throughout the first half-hour, Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Tim Meadows, Tig Notaro and Ryan Reynolds interrupted various usual Colbert bits. Finally, Colbert welcomed Paul McCartney, highlighting the show’s occupation (and CBS’s impending abandonment) of the refurbished Ed Sullivan Theater, where McCartney famously performed back in 1964 with the Beatles.
Trump commented on Colbert’s departure early Friday morning on Truth Social:
“Colbert is finally finished at CBS. Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off of the street and they would be better than this total jerk. Thank goodness he’s finally gone!”
Advocacy group sues Trump administration over decision to reinstate near-ban on abortions for veterans
An advocacy group has filed suit against the Trump administration over its decision to reinstate a near-ban on abortions for veterans and their family members who depend on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for healthcare, AP reports.
The federal lawsuit filed Thursday says the rule finalized by the VA on 31 December takes away limited abortion access that was “crucial for the health, autonomy, and equality of veterans and their family members.”
Attorneys for the group Minority Veterans of America want the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to throw out the rule. They say the VA adopted the change without citing medical evidence or other justifications, violating the Administrative Procedures Act that governs federal rulemaking.
Cubans gather before US embassy in Havana to protest Raul Castro indictment
Thousands of Cubans gathered on Friday before the U.S. embassy in Havana to protest a U.S. decision to indict former leader Raul Castro in the downing of two civilian airplanes 30 years ago, Reuters reports.
The pro-government demonstration, which began shortly after sunrise on Havana’s waterfront, comes as Cuban officials rallied this week around the island’s former president and revolutionary hero.
Cuba says Castro’s indictment on murder charges on Wednesday was based on “spurious” allegations designed to serve as a pretext to invade the nation amid a Trump administration push to upend the island’s government.
Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero attended the rally, the 94-year old Castro did not.
Opening summary
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House Republicans canceled a scheduled Thursday vote on a war powers resolution aimed at ending the US war with Iran, a measure that likely would have advanced had the vote been held.
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Donald Trump has announced he will deploy an “additional” 5,000 US troops to Poland, just days after the Pentagon controversially halted a long-planned deployment of forces to the country – the largest on Nato’s eastern flank.
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Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte struck somewhat more cautious note, saying the bloc’s trajectory was one that was prioritising a stronger Europe, “less reliant on the US”.
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On Thursday, the US president admitted that he might skip Donald Trump Jr’s wedding, reportedly taking place in the Bahamas over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, citing that he has “this thing called Iran”.
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US arms sales to Taiwan have been “paused” to ensure the US military has enough munitions for its Iran operations, according to Washington’s acting navy secretary.
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The US president, Donald Trump, and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Thursday again raised the spectre of military intervention in Cuba, a day after the administration announced criminal charges against Raúl Castro, the island’s former leader.
Trump postpones executive order on AI, citing need to keep ‘lead’ over China
The US president Donald Trump postponed signing an executive order on AI because he did not like certain aspects of it and did not want to take any steps that might undermine the US position in its AI competition with China.
The order would create a voluntary framework for AI developers to engage with the U.S. government before the public release of advanced AI models, two sources familiar with the order told Reuters.
“I think it gets in the way of, you know, we’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump did not specify which parts of the executive order he objected to.
It comes after the Trump became the first US president in nearly a decade to visit China, and described his meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping as “very successful”.
The administration’s plans were reportedly put on hold after a push from xAI founder Elon Musk and other big tech figures.
Replying to a post on X about the reporting, Musk said, “this is false,” adding: “I still don’t know what was in that EO and the president only spoke to me after declining to sign.”
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