Trump signs executive order aimed at ‘eliminating’ Department of Education ‘once and for all’: Live updates
President claimed giving control of schools to states will halve costs and improve standards
Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “begin eliminating” the Department of Education in favor of leaving decision-making up to individual states.
Some programs, such as special needs and student loans, will be preserved and eventually rehomed in other departments.
The policy, which was recommended in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 manifesto that Trump once distanced himself from, sees McMahon, a former wrestling boss, instructed to undertake “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure… and return education authority to the states.”
Meanwhile, the president has angrily denied claims in a New York Times report that Elon Musk is scheduled to receive a Pentagon briefing on Friday about the U.S. military’s top-secret plans for combating aggression from China.
“The Fake News is at it again, this time the Failing New York Times. They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China,’” he said.
“’How ridiculous?’ China will not even be mentioned or discussed. How disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies. Anyway, the story is completely untrue!!!”
Zelensky defies Trump, warning: Hands off my nuclear power stations
Trump story about ‘surrounded’ Ukraine troops contradicted by his own intelligence, report reveals
Trump administration is seeking to deport Indian academic at Georgetown as part of State Department crackdown
Gen Z women quit social media in droves over online misogyny linked to Trump
Judge blocks Elon Musk’s DOGE from accessing Social Security Administration personal information — for now...
U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander has blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team from accessing Social Security Administration personal information — for now.
Here’s Alex Woodward with the details of the case:
DOGE deploys 10 staffers to Social Security in Elon Musk’s hunt for dead people
Itching for a major battle with the courts, Trump is playing a dangerous game
“If presidents can do whatever they want, including putting people on a plane and sending them to prisons in a foreign country with no due process whatsoever, then really, who are we?” legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote this week. “We are inevitably headed, whether it’s in this case or another, to a confrontation between a president who has rejected the rule of law and a judge sworn to enforce it. We are in an exceedingly dangerous moment for democracy.”
Read the rest of John Bowden’s report:
Trump is itching for a major battle with the courts — but it’s a dangerous game
Minnesota lawmaker who introduced ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ bill resigns after soliciting a minor charge
A Minnesota State Senator who made headlines for introducing a bill to label “Trump Derangement Syndrome” as a mental illness, has resigned after he allegedly tried to meet up with a police officer who posed as a minor.
Senator Justin Eichorn was arrested Monday night around 6 p.m. for allegedly soliciting a minor for prostitution, according to a statement from the Bloomington Police Department.
Katie Hawkinson and Andrew Georgeson have the details.
Lawmaker who introduced ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ bill charged with prostitution
Trump administration deported Venezuelan asylum seeker over Real Madrid tattoo
Jerce Reyes Barrios, described by his attorneys as a professional soccer player and a youth soccer coach, fled Venezuela for the United States after he was arrested and “tortured” by “election shocks and suffocation” for marching in demonstrations protesting Nicolas Maduro’s regime.
He doesn’t have a criminal record, and a judge is scheduled to hear his asylum claims next month, according to his attorney.
But last week, Barrios was put on a plane with dozens of other Venezuelan men and sent to a prison in El Salvador.
Alex Woodward reports.
Lawyers for asylum seekers fear Trump administration deported them for their tattoos
Zelensky defies Trump, warning: Hands off my nuclear power stations
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that “all nuclear power plants belong to the people of Ukraine” after reports that his US counterpart Donald Trump said an American takeover of the country’s nuclear power would offer the “best protection” for it.
In their first conversation since Mr Trump verbally attacked Mr Zelensky in the White House and had him thrown out, the US president reportedly suggested Washington take ownership of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
But Kyiv says the discussions referred only to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian occupation.
Jane Dalton reports.
Zelensky defies Trump, warning: Hands off my nuclear power stations
Elon Musk responds after Jimmy Kimmel mocks him over Tesla fires
Jimmy Kimmel has mocked Elon Musk after the Tesla CEO complained that people protesting his electric car company must have “some kind of mental illness.”
Musk, 53, was being interviewed on Fox News when he described protestors as “deranged.” The comments come after an onslaught of arson attacks have hit Tesla showrooms.
The late-night host tried to explain to the billionaire what was happening, as Kevin E G Perry reports.
Elon Musk responds after Jimmy Kimmel mocks him over Tesla fires and Nazi salutes
Musk's vision of Mars trip in near future not happening 'anytime soon'
A NASA advisor is taking billionaire Elon Musk’s Mars plans to task, writing Thursday that the highly ambitious endeavor won’t happen “anytime soon.”
Musk, the founder of SpaceX, has repeatedly stated that getting humans to Mars is his end goal. Speaking on Fox News this week, he predicted that a multi-planetary civilization could come as soon as the next 20 to 30 years. Previously, he had predicted that an uncrewed landing on the red planet could happen as soon as 2026, with humans there before 2030.
Not so fast, says Dr Paul Sutter...
Here’s Julia Musto’s report.
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