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  • Philadelphians have questions about the removal of slavery exhibits. Independence Park employees are being told to give evasive answers

    Philadelphians have questions about the removal of slavery exhibits. Independence Park employees are being told to give evasive answers

    Visitors at Independence National Historical Park strolled through what was left of the President’s House Friday afternoon, some stopping to inspect the blank brick and streaks of glue residue where exhibits about slavery were displayed for 16 years.

    That is, until the National Park Service dismantled them a day prior.

    At about 12:30 p.m. Friday, a group of teachers spent their 45-minute lunch break taping up colorful signs across the bare walls as a small act of resistance: “Learn all history,” and “History is real,” the posters read.

    A group of teachers on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, taped posters along the now barren brick walls of the President’s House.

    But if any of Friday’s visitors had questions about why the slavery exhibits at the President’s House were removed, they’d be hard-pressed to receive an exact answer from park employees.

    Soon after Thursday’s dismantling of the President’s House — which memorializes the nine people George Washington once enslaved there — employees were reminded by the Park Service to use “talking points” that essentially evade visitors’ questions, according to internal correspondence reviewed by The Inquirer.

    The message suggests the following lines to park employees, while also instructing them to answer “truthfully”:

    • “[I am not aware of] why this [exhibit/interpretation materials] has been [changed/removed]”
    • “[Exhibit/interpretation material] has been [updated/removed] to ensure compliance with the Secretary’s Order.”

    “If visitor continues to ask questions that you are unable to answer, politely refer them to AskNPS@nps.gov,” the message further outlined.

    This messaging comes amid the confusion and anger surrounding President Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to review or potentially remove content at national parks that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living,” according to orders from Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

    “It’s outrageous what they’re doing,” said Kaity Berlin, a social studies teacher who was among the group at the park Friday.

    “At the smallest level it’s a waste of resources; at the biggest level, [it’s an] erasure of history,” added Berlin, who declined to say where she worked.

    The President’s House received intense scrutiny from Trump and Burgum’s orders, culminating in the total dismantling of all displays at the site Thursday — even those that were not originally flagged by park staff for review last year.

    It’s not just the public that has questions. Local lawmakers want answers, too.

    On Friday, Democratic U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle, Dwight Evans, and Mary Gay Scanlon, who all represent parts of Philadelphia, penned a letter to Burgum and Park Service Acting Director Jessica Bowron demanding answers to specific questions about the removal by Jan. 30. They also said they believe the dismantling violates an existing agreement between the Park Service and the city.

    “Trying to remove that history just because it makes some people uncomfortable is deeply troubling. When a government starts hiding parts of its past, it begins to look more like a regime that rewrites history rather than one that learns from it,” the lawmakers wrote.

    The lawmakers want to know why the exhibits were taken down and who authorized the decision, according to the letter.

    The letter also asks for information on what role senior Trump administration officials played, where are displays being stored and if there’s plans for them to be reinstalled, and what other documents or items exist related to the removal of the exhibits.

    At the President’s House Friday afternoon, it appeared that many Philadelphians were adamant about preserving this history.

    A bouquet of flowers was placed at the feet of the marble wall inscribed with the names of nine people enslaved there by Washington. A single red rose rested inside one of the site’s fireplaces; a sign, “Slavery was here, Philly hates fascists,” rested against a wall.

    “Everybody has been fighting for so long to teach all pieces of history, not just one side of it,” Berlin, the teacher, said.

  • Vance touts the Trump administration’s record against abortion at a Washington rally

    Vance touts the Trump administration’s record against abortion at a Washington rally

    Vice President JD Vance on Friday encouraged anti-abortion activists to “take heart in how far we’ve come” on the quest to limit the practice, listing the Trump administration’s accomplishments including an expansion of a ban on U.S. foreign aid for groups supporting abortion services.

    “There is still much road ahead to travel together,” Vance told attendees at the annual March for Life demonstration, which draws tens of thousands of people annually to Washington. Attendees rallied on the National Mall before heading to the Supreme Court.

    Vance, a Republican, has spent years passionately advocating for Americans to have more children. He repeatedly expressed alarm about declining birth rates as he launched his political career in 2021 with a successful bid for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, and as vice president he has continued on that mission.

    “I want more babies in the United States of America,” Vance said in addressing last year’s March for Life.

    Earlier this week, Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, announced in a social media post they are expecting a son, their fourth child, in late July.

    “Let the record show, you have a vice president who practices what he preaches,” Vance said Friday.

    Vance cited the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, calling it “the most important Supreme Court decision of my lifetime.” He said President Donald Trump’s leadership and appointment of conservative jurists “put a definitive end to the tyranny of judicial rule on the question of human life.”

    He also lauded the “historic expansion of the Mexico City policy,” the broadening of a ban on U.S. foreign aid for groups supporting abortion services, to include assistance going to international and domestic organizations and agencies that promote gender identity as well as diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

    “We believe that every country in the world has the duty to protect life,” Vance said, to a sea of supporters waving signs reading “Choose Life,” “Make More Babies,” and “I am the Pro-Life Generation.”

    “It’s not our job as the United States of America to promote radical gender ideology,” he said. “It’s our job to promote families and human flourishing.”

    From the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV — the first U.S.-born pope — sent a message of support to participants in the march.

    “I would encourage you, especially the young people, to continue striving to ensure that life is respected in all of its stages,” Leo wrote in a letter shown on a video at the march. “May Jesus, who promised to be with us always, accompany you today as you courageously and peacefully march on behalf of unborn children.”

    On Thursday, an official said the Trump administration was implementing new rules, halting foreign assistance from going not only to groups that provide abortion as a method of family planning but also to those that advocate “gender ideology” and DEI. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the rules’ publication in the Federal Register on Friday.

    First established under President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, the policy was rescinded by subsequent Democratic administrations and was reinstated in Trump’s first term.

    With its origins in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that nationally enshrined federal protection for abortion rights, the March for Life developed an entrenched presence among conservatives arguing against abortion. In 2017, Trump addressed the march by video, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to make live remarks. Three years later, he attended the event in person, further cementing its role in conservative politics.

    In a video address to this year’s crowd, Trump recounted his administration’s “unprecedented strides to protect innocent life and support the institution of the family like never before,” enumerating his appointment of “judges and justices who believed in interpreting the Constitution as written” and “reflecting on the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

    Since the June 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe, the march has become more celebratory, with organizers relishing a state-by-state fight in legislatures around the country and urging a continued fight until abortion is eliminated.

  • The Trump administration tore down 400 years of Black history in Philadelphia. So what happens now?

    The Trump administration tore down 400 years of Black history in Philadelphia. So what happens now?

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    What just happened at the President’s House?

    Philadelphians are grappling with the aftermath of Thursday’s abrupt removal of all exhibits at the President’s House ahead of 250th anniversary celebrations.

    Workers remove the display of a panel for Oney Judge at the President’s House site in Independence National Historical Park Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026.
    Workers remove the display of a panel for Oney Judge at the President’s House site in Independence National Historical Park Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
    Published

    More than 400 years of history and a decade of advocacy were torn down Thursday afternoon when National Park Service employees removed every single display at the President’s House, a slavery memorial at Independence National Historical Park.

    The site, which memorializes the nine people George Washington enslaved at his house during the founding of the United States, has now been stripped down to bare brick walls after months of increased scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s administration.

    On Friday morning, small tokens of Philadelphians’ appreciation for the exhibit and anger at the administration were visible. Someone left a sign propped up against the wall that reads “Slavery was real.” A rose and a bouquet of flowers were also left at the site.

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    Thursday’s sudden removal of the slavery exhibits garnered shock from passersby and ire from elected officials and stakeholders. And the City of Philadelphia also filed a suit against the Department of Interior and the National Park Service and its leadership.

    The removal comes ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations on July 4, when Philadelphia and its historic sites, including Independence Park, will be in the national spotlight.

    Many questions remain unanswered in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s efforts to sanitize American history after at least one Independence Park employee flagged 13 items across six exhibits at the President’s House for review last year. Those exhibits, including those entitled “Life Under Slavery” and “The Dirty Business of Slavery,” were taken down Thursday, along with every other educational exhibit and illustration at the site.

    Here’s what could happen next at the President’s House.

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    • Why did the National Park Service take down everything at the President’s House Site?

      Four individuals, at least two of whom were Park Service employees, took down all of the displays at the President’s House Thursday in broad daylight as a result of a months-long push from the Trump administration to review and potentially remove content from national parks that, according to a March 2025 executive order, “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

      Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a similar directive in May 2025.

      While the workers who took down the displays did not explicitly say they were acting in accordance with the executive orders, the Department of Interior later confirmed this to The Inquirer in a statement.

      “The President has directed federal agencies to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values. Following completion of the required review, the National Park Service is now taking action to remove or revise interpretive materials in accordance with the Order,” a spokesperson said.

      Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    • What will happen to the displays that were taken down?

      It’s unclear at the moment.

      On Thursday, the displays were taken down and then loaded into a white Park Service pick up truck. The exhibits were then taken to an undisclosed location and workers did not know if the signs would be replaced.

      Should visitors ask about the removal, Park Service employees have been instructed to follow certain talking points that either avoid answering the question or point to Burgum’s order.

      Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    • Was anything else at Independence Park removed?

      The President’s House endured the most scrutiny from the Independence Park review that took place last year, but other items across the park were flagged.

      This includes content referencing slavery at the Benjamin Franklin Museum, the Second Bank, Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell but it’s unclear at the moment whether changes are coming to those locations, too.

      Read More

      Here are the signs the Trump administration removed from Independence Park

      Following last year’s review, every sign has been removed from the President’s House site.

      As of Friday afternoon, flagged content at the Benjamin Franklin Museum — an interactive touchscreen that allows users to role-play as a historian to understand the evolution of Franklin’s stance on slavery — still included references to slavery. Material at the Liberty Bell calling out “systemic and violent racism and sexism” post-Reconstruction was also seemingly unchanged. Additional exhibits at the Second Bank and Independence Hall were flagged, but both historical sites were closed Friday.

      Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    • The Parker administration sued the Interior Department and the Park Service — what’s next?

      The city filed a federal lawsuit Thursday arguing that the removal of exhibits from the President’s House is unlawful, tantamount to the “destruction” of a historic monument designated pursuant to an act of Congress.

      The city is asking an Eastern District of Pennsylvania judge to issue an injunction ordering the Trump administration to restore the President’s House to the way before any panels were removed. The motion also requests that the court prohibit the administration from damaging any of the exhibits and take all steps to preserve them.

      Injunctions are meant to avoid immediate harm so they are litigated much faster than lawsuits, which can take years to resolve. A federal judge is likely to set a hearing within the next few weeks and order the government to submit a brief outlining their arguments against the injunction before the sides meet in court.

      The Department of Interior declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.

      During an unrelated news conference on Friday, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker emphasized a cooperative agreement between the city and the federal government dating back to 2006.

      “That agreement requires parties to meet and confer if there are to be any changes made to an exhibit,” Parker said. “Our city solicitor, Renee Garcia, is working in conjunction with the amazing members of our law department team to follow up on that cooperative agreement.”

      Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    • How are Philadelphians planning to keep the story of the President’s House alive?

      The President’s House was shaped by more than a decade of advocacy, directed by Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, a Black-led advocacy group. Avenging the Ancestors has now been leading the charge as part of a new President’s House/Slavery Memorial Alliance, which involves multiple local stakeholders, to protect the site from Trump.

      The alliance is holding a virtual town hall Friday night at 6:45 p.m. where the advocacy group will outline their next steps. Michael Coard, an attorney that leads Avenging the Ancestors, said that “we have a plan.”

      Other community stakeholders are planning to further promote the stories of the President’s House.

      Angela Val, president and CEO of Visit Philly, the city’s main tourism group, said in an interview Friday that the organization would continue “telling history, telling what actually has happened here, all history, including Black history” by promoting historical information on their website, social platforms, and with tour operators in the city.

      Val had previously indicated that Visit Philly could help find a new place for exhibits removed by the Trump administration, but Val said Friday that before making such moves the group will need to see the outcome of the Parker administration’s lawsuit.

      And Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, which spearheaded a letter campaign to Burgum last year, said the organization would look for any way to support the city’s suit and other advocacy efforts.

      Steinke said Burgum never responded to the group’s letter.

      “Instead they just go down and rip the signs down and rip the exhibits off the walls and walk away and it’s shameful,” Steinke said.

      Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    • What are elected officials saying?

      Local officials have expressed outrage at the dismantling of the President’s House.

      Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, responding to The Inquirer’s reporting, said in a post on X that “Donald Trump will take any opportunity to rewrite and whitewash our history. But he picked the wrong city — and he sure as hell picked the wrong Commonwealth. We learn from our history in Pennsylvania, even when it’s painful.”

      U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Pa) said the changes are an “outrage,” and noted his full support for the city’s suit.

      “True patriotism requires facing our nation’s past – and learning from it. The Trump-Vance administration may try to whitewash an exhibit, but they cannot erase the shame of what they have done.” said Evans, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

      U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Pa), who represents the area including Independence Park, said in a statement that the removal is “absolutely unacceptable.”

      “With the National Park Service facing budget cuts as our nation prepares for its 250th anniversary, this administration should be strengthening these historic sites, not censoring them to erase the past,” Boyle wrote. “Philadelphia and the entire country deserve an honest accounting of our history, and this effort to hide it is wrong.”

      Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said in a statement late Thursday night that removing the exhibits is “totally unacceptable” and signaled his support for the mayor’s lawsuit.

      “Removing the exhibits is an effort to whitewash American history,” Johnson said. “History cannot be erased simply because it is uncomfortable. Removing items from the President’s House merely changes the landscape, not the historical record.”

      Johnson and other members of City Council supported a resolution condemning the Trump administration’s scrutiny of the President’s House last year.

      In a statement backing the city’s suit Friday, Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson said that “removing these exhibits adds to a troubling pattern of racist and bigoted actions that sow division, perpetuate hatred, and betray the very values our nation claims to uphold.”

      “In a year when Philadelphia will stand on the world stage to mark America’s 250th Anniversary, we have a duty to defend truth, not deny it,” Gilmore Richardson said.

      Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Staff Contributors

    • Reporting: Fallon Roth, Abraham Gutman, and Maggie Prosser
    • Editing: Bryan Lowry
    • Photography: Tom Gralish and Elizabeth Robertson
    • Digital Editing: Patricia Madej

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    Donald Trump

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  • On Greenland, Europe stood up, Trump blinked and the E.U. learned a lesson

    On Greenland, Europe stood up, Trump blinked and the E.U. learned a lesson

    BRUSSELS, Belgium — After President Donald Trump used his bully pulpit in Davos, Switzerland, to demand “the acquisition of Greenland by the United States — just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history” — and then backed down on the same day, many officials here see a lesson for the European Union: Pushing back works.

    The brazen ultimatum — give up Greenland or face tariffs — elicited a level of unity that largely had eluded the leaders of the 27-nation EU in the year since Trump’s second inauguration.

    Trump’s gambit for Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, bonded some unlikely partners in opposition: Europe’s mainstream political establishment with populist and nationalist parties; Republicans and Democrats in the deeply partisan U.S. Congress; the mostly Indigenous people of Greenland with their Danish former colonizers; and the EU and Britain, the only country ever to quit the bloc.

    For advocates of taking a tougher line with Trump, the president’s climbdown regarding the strategic Arctic territory was proof that retaliation — not conciliation — is the answer to his hardball tactics. After accommodating Trump on trade and on arming Ukraine, the Europeans finally stood up to him. Even more significantly, Trump backed down.

    “When we stand together, and when we are clear and strong, also in our willingness to stand up for ourselves, then the results will show,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters in Brussels on Thursday night. “I think we have learned something during the last couple of days and weeks, and now we, of course, want to find a solution.”

    A chorus of European leaders insisted they would not be blackmailed. They blasted Trump’s crusade to grab land from a NATO ally as “unacceptable” and “inexplicable.” The EU threatened its own tariffs on American goods. And resolve grew within the bloc to unleash a trade retaliation tool it had long hesitated to use, which could target U.S. services in Europe — a profit center for American companies in which they benefit from a big surplus.

    The solidarity from across Europe, Frederiksen said, “was extremely important in this very difficult situation.”

    President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

    The White House maintains that Trump did not blink but actually got everything he wanted, including full access to Greenland for the U.S. military, without having to pay a dime through a deal brokered with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

    “President Trump was preparing for a Feb. 1 tariff and that has only been removed from the table for one reason: he and the NATO Secretary General agreed upon a framework for a deal on Greenland,” Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said in a written response to a question.

    Trump’s true motive for compromising may never be known. He arrived in the Swiss resort of Davos for the World Economic Forum planning to emphasize his efforts to address concern over an affordability crisis in America, which Trump has denied. The prospect of EU tariffs further raising costs for U.S. consumers may have moved him. Or perhaps it was a sharp sell-off in U.S. stock and bond markets, or the bipartisan opposition in Congress during a midterm election year.

    Whatever the reason, Trump suspended his tariff threats against European nations, proclaiming he had reached the “framework” of a deal.

    Points under negotiation include greater American access to military bases and minerals extraction in Greenland, European operations in the Arctic, and oversight over investments to prevent Russia or China from gaining a foothold, according to two European officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.

    Trump had been clear about wanting to “own” Greenland either by buying or otherwise acquiring the territory, even hinting at military action. In a speech in Davos on Wednesday, Trump ruled out the use of force. And within hours he declared victory and backed down.

    An aurora borealis is seen in the sky above Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday.

    Danish leaders said ceding sovereign territory is a red line and that they requested a NATO mission in the Arctic. The Danes also had insisted that Trump could achieve his goals through an existing 1951 defense pact — a position the White House previously dismissed.

    Now, the Trump administration will pursue negotiations with Denmark on updating that defense treaty, as well as with European nations over expanding NATO military presence in the Arctic, they said.

    European officials said they believed his U-turn came from a change of heart, rather than a change in substance. Danish and other NATO leaders made such overtures for weeks before Trump escalated the standoff.

    Officials said Trump appeared to shift after realizing that EU retaliatory tariffs could take effect in February, and that his bid for Greenland was unpopular back home, including with American businesses.

    “Who knows what really goes on in his mind,” one official quipped.

    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

    Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said many elements “may also have played a role … but without firmness, non-escalatory responses, and unity in the European Union, they would not have worked.”

    “We are here in a better position than we were 24 hours ago, and tonight we drew the lessons of our collective strategy,” von der Leyen said. “It was effective,” she added, “so going forward we should maintain this very approach.”

    Von der Leyen spoke to reporters overnight following a summit of all 27 of the EU’s heads of state and government in Brussels. Beyond Greenland, they discussed how to prepare for a volatile world in which Washington, at any moment, might turn the threat of its military or economic power on longtime European allies.

    Even as Europeans pushed back, leaders dispatched Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister often dubbed their “Trump whisperer.” Rutte’s job at NATO has been consumed by papering over rifts with Trump.

    NATO leader charms Trump and masters the art of the deal

    Publicly, the NATO chief said little about the Greenland crisis, refusing to deviate from praising Trump or agreeing with his grievances about Arctic security.

    A few leaders attributed Trump’s reversal to patience and an extended olive branch. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, an ally of Trump on the hard right, pointed to “fostering dialogue between allied nations.”

    Emmanuel Macron on stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

    French President Emmanuel Macron, however, said tough resolve was the trick. “What we should conclude is that when Europe reacts with a united front, using the instruments at our disposal while it is under threat, it can command respect,” Macron said. “And we remain extremely vigilant.”

    Even Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, still one of the most ardent champions of preserving the transatlantic relationship, said it was important “for our partners in Washington to understand the difference between domination and leadership.”

    That said, the standoff has dramatically darkened the mood within the EU regarding relations with Washington — a bond that has insured economic stability and security on the continent for 80 years.

    European lawmakers voiced a sense that the EU had to push back or there would be no end to Trump’s breaching of red lines. Playing nice only goes so far in shielding them from confrontation, officials conceded, and many warned that the Greenland matter was not yet settled.

    “When we genuflect, Trump weighs in, when we keep our back straight he tacoes out,” Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute for International Affairs, wrote on X in reference to “Trump Always Chickens Out” — a favorite phrase of Trump critics. It’s not because “he’s scared of Europe but of the markets,” Tocci said. “Lesson learned hopefully.”

    Lucky for EU leaders, they did not actually have to hit back — at least not yet — because the mercurial president stood down. That would have proved a bigger test of the cohesion between countries favoring a harder line, like France, and those more cautious, like Italy.

    For all the declarations of EU unity, the standoff caused a serious and potentially enduring split in the NATO alliance.

    Trump’s comments in Davos went to the heart of the European dilemma of how to navigate a world in which their most powerful ally is defining its positions. Trump cast the dispute as the U.S. vs. NATO, saying that Rutte was “representing the other side” while adding, “which is really us too, because, you know, we’re a very important member of NATO.”

    In his pursuit of Greenland, Trump also suggested in his speech that the U.S. was not inclined to defend territory it does not own. The core pillar of NATO is its Article 5 collective defense clause — that an attack against one is an attack against all. For smaller nations such as the Baltics, near Russia, the key to this idea is that the U.S. would come to their defense.

    Whatever moved Trump, everyone wants to claim the success.

    In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer had been facing pressure within his own Labour Party for a tougher response. Starmer delivered his sharpest rebuke yet hours before Trump’s pivot, promising he “would not yield” on his defense of Greenland.

    The timing allowed officials to say Starmer’s government had stood up to Trump and even to claim some credit for deterring the president. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky News it was a “a reflection of the strength of our connections in Washington.”

    Still, European officials spoke of a deep breach of trust across the Atlantic. In Brussels, some diplomats from countries that have been the loudest cheerleaders of the U.S. now refer to America as “our former ally.”

    Asked if she can still trust the U.S., Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, hesitated. “I mean, we have been working very closely with the U.S. for many years,” she said, “but we have to work together respectfully, without threatening each other.”

  • DHS pauses cuts to FEMA as massive winter storm barrels in

    DHS pauses cuts to FEMA as massive winter storm barrels in

    The Department of Homeland Security has paused terminations of employees working on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster response as it ramps up preparations for a massive and life-threatening winter storm that will pummel half the country this weekend.

    Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that the agency planned to terminate disaster response and recovery workers in waves. On New Year’s Eve, agency officials eliminated about 65 positions that were part of FEMA’s largest workforce, known as the Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery (CORE) — staffers who are among the first on the ground after a disaster and often stick around for years to help communities recover.

    But on Thursday night, DHS’s head of human resources sent an email notifying teams that “just a few minutes ago,” FEMA headquarters decided the agency would halt their process of non-renewing dozens of federally funded employees. These roles, hired by FEMA for multiyear terms under the Stafford Act using the disaster relief fund, have been up for renewal on a rolling basis.

    Earlier that day, about 30 disaster workers received notices that their jobs would not be renewed. The pause then prompted human resources staff to backtrack, notifying those same workers that they still had jobs, according to the email and an official familiar with the process. Like others interviewed for this story, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

    “I didn’t even know what was happening until it happened,” the official said, adding that as human resources initially emailed people informing them that their jobs would not be renewed, senior leaders were learning that FEMA was pausing terminations.

    In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that the agency regularly changes staffing levels for its disaster response and recovery efforts.

    “The CORE program consists of term-limited positions that are designed to FLUCTUATE based on disaster activity, operational NEED, and available funding,” the department said in its statement, which included text in all-caps.

    “FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center has been activated in response to a historic winter storm, in line with this mission FEMA is following standard protocol to ensure mission functions are being met,” it added.

    Officials would not comment on how long the pause would last.

    While states and local authorities handle most of their preparation and response to winter storms, FEMA will often deliver resources ahead of time, including generators and personnel if the potential for disaster seems high. Stafford Act employees, such as CORE members, will deploy to a state if they request an emergency or disaster declaration and the president approves it.

    The sudden shift in staffing direction has caught officials across the agency by surprise, six officials said. In recent weeks, their teams were told to prepare to lose a substantial number of people over the next few months.

    Since December, DHS has terminated more than 100 people across the agency who FEMA employs under the Stafford Act.

    Some were informed on New Year’s Eve; others were given only a day or two to turn in their equipment; and still more were cut after their supervisors sent detailed memos explaining why their roles remained vital to FEMA’s mission. The agency also lost veteran employees who oversaw finances for Hurricane Helene recovery, as well as civil engineers who assist states with mitigation and rebuilding roadways, bridges and schools. Some offices in the Midwest have lost experienced managers who typically help lead operations during emergencies and big disasters.

    On Wednesday, FEMA cut nearly 85 local hires from several regions, including a handful who were still working on Hurricane Helene recovery projects in North Carolina — a state now readying itself for potential power outages — according to two people with knowledge of the situation. FEMA’s call center in Puerto Rico lost many of their local hires Wednesday as well, one FEMA official said. If multiple states are hit hard enough and ask the president for federal assistance, those workers could have helped out, two officials said.

    The same day the department halted the terminations, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem visited the agency’s headquarters to help guide national coordination and preparation for the sweeping storm. Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, also hosted a call Thursday morning with governors from 21 states that are bracing for dangerous, chilling weather. She assured them that DHS and FEMA will support them.

    “We can pre-deploy any needs that you may have, as far as generators or supplies to different parts of your state if you think you have a weakness in some area that’s going to be hit pretty hard,” Noem told the governors, reiterating that “if there is certain responses or requests specific to this event, feel free to reach out and use that contact information, and we’ll do all that we can to be helpful.”

    During the call, Karen Evans, FEMA’s agency’s interim administrator, and Gregg Phillips, who is now overseeing the Office of Response and Recovery, also offered their personal cell phone numbers in case any governor needs to get in touch with them immediately.

    Noem has instructed FEMA to be aggressive in preparing for the heavy snow and ice forecast to blanket a large portion of the United States and has promised a rapid and well-coordinated response, according to an official with knowledge of the situation. FEMA has delivered tens of thousands of meals and liters of water to various states, and it has positioned drivers who shuttle supplies outside distribution centers from Louisiana up to Pennsylvania.

    The decision to pause the terminations also coincides with the House’s approval Thursday of a spending bill that would fund FEMA’s disaster relief fund and help the agency “maintain staffing levels, including a reservist workforce and its Cadre of Response/Recovery Employees, necessary to fulfill the missions required under” federal law.

    Ahead of the storm, 10 officials from different parts of the agency who spoke to the Post said they were nervous about their ability to properly respond, given how their ranks have thinned over the past year, with the agency losing about 20% of its staff.

    Noem, who has exercised strict oversight over FEMA since taking over DHS, has repeatedly expressed a desire to shrink or eliminate the agency. The Post reported that she previously recommended cutting agency staffing by about half.

    In a previous statement, FEMA spokesperson Daniel Llargués said the agency had “not issued and is not implementing a percentage-based workforce reduction.”

    Employees in CORE roles are typically renewed every two to four years. When the end of an employee’s contracted term approaches, their supervisors typically seek approval to renew those roles. Most positions are usually reinstated, according to four current and former FEMA officials, in part because recovery work is long and complex.

    But in recent weeks, DHS’s process for renewing these temporary roles has changed frequently, according to officials with knowledge of the situation. Last week, supervisors in each region had to write memos justifying every role coming up for renewal this year, which would then be sent to FEMA’s temporary top official and then to Noem, according to two people familiar with the process. Guidance then shifted earlier this week. In a memo from Thursday, obtained by the Post, FEMA officials said that DHS will be making the calls without collecting justifications, and that “only extensions approved by DHS will be processed and they will be limited to 90 days.”

    One CORE employee said DHS suddenly cut her job without warning after her manager had submitted a memo urging to keep her on. Because some firings have been abrupt, some were not able to transition their work, she said.

    “And to be clear, I think most of us expected there to be staffing cuts this year,” the person said. “Just not in the bulldozer approach that didn’t take into account your job or performance.”

  • U.S. completes withdrawal from World Health Organization

    U.S. completes withdrawal from World Health Organization

    NEW YORK — The U.S. has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, one year after President Donald Trump announced America was ending its 78-year-old commitment, federal officials said Thursday.

    But it’s hardly a clean break.

    The U.S. owes about $280 million to the global health agency, according to WHO. And Trump administration officials acknowledge that they haven’t finished working out some issues, such as lost access to data from other countries that could give America an early warning of a new pandemic.

    The withdrawal will hurt the global response to new outbreaks and will hobble the ability of U.S. scientists and pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines and medicines against new threats, said Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University.

    “In my opinion, it’s the most ruinous presidential decision in my lifetime,” he said.

    The WHO is the United Nations’ specialized health agency and is mandated to coordinate the response to global health threats, such as outbreaks of mpox, Ebola, and polio. It also provides technical assistance to poorer countries; helps distribute scarce vaccines, supplies, and treatments; and sets guidelines for hundreds of health conditions, including mental health and cancer.

    Nearly every country in the world is a member.

    Trump cited COVID-19 in pulling U.S. from WHO

    U.S. officials helped lead the WHO’s creation, and America has long been among the organization’s biggest donors, providing hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of staffers with specialized public health expertise.

    On average, the U.S. pays $111 million a year in member dues to the WHO and roughly $570 million more in annual voluntary contributions, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

    In an executive order issued right after taking office, Trump said the U.S. was withdrawing from WHO due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises. He also cited the agency’s “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms” and its “inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”

    WHO, like other public health organizations, made costly mistakes during the pandemic, including at one point advising people against wearing masks. It also asserted that COVID-19 wasn’t airborne, a stance it didn’t officially reverse until 2024.

    Another Trump administration complaint: None of WHO’s chief executives — there have been nine since the organization was created in 1948 — have been Americans. Administration officials view that as unfair given how much the WHO relies on U.S. financial contributions and on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention personnel.

    Public health experts say U.S. exit will hobble responses to threats

    Experts say the U.S. exit could cripple numerous global health initiatives, including the effort to eradicate polio, maternal and child health programs, and research to identify new viral threats.

    Ronald Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called the U.S. withdrawal “shortsighted and misguided” and “scientifically reckless.”

    The U.S. has ceased official participation in WHO-sponsored committees, leadership bodies, governance structures and technical working groups. That would seem to include the WHO group that assesses what flu strains are circulating and makes critical decisions about updating flu shots.

    It also signals the U.S. is no longer participating in global flu information-sharing that guides vaccine decisions.

    Such disease intelligence has helped Americans be “at the front of the line” when new outbreaks occur and new vaccines and medicines are quickly needed to counteract them and save lives, Gostin said.

    Trump administration officials say they already have public health relationships with many countries and are working to ensure direct sharing of that kind of information, rather than having WHO serve as a middleman. But U.S. officials did not give specifics about how many such arrangements are in place.

    Gostin, an expert on international public health treaties and collaborations, said it’s unlikely the U.S. will reach agreements with more than a couple dozen countries.

    Many emerging viruses are first spotted in China, but “is China going to sign a contract with the United States?” Gostin said. “Are countries in Africa going to do it? Are the countries Trump has slapped with a huge tariff going to send us their data? The claim is almost laughable.”

    Gostin also believes Trump overstepped his authority in pulling out of WHO. The U.S. joined the organization through an act of Congress and it is supposed to take an act of Congress to withdraw, he argued.

    U.S. still owes money, WHO says

    The U.S. is legally required to give notice one year in advance of withdrawal — which it did — but also to pay any outstanding financial obligations.

    The U.S. has not paid any of its dues for 2024 and 2025, leaving a balance of about $280 million at current exchange rates, according to WHO.

    An administration official denied that requirement Thursday, saying the U.S. had no obligation to pay prior to withdrawing as a member.

  • U.K.’s Starmer slams Trump remarks on non-U.S. NATO troops in Afghanistan as ‘insulting’ and ‘appalling’

    U.K.’s Starmer slams Trump remarks on non-U.S. NATO troops in Afghanistan as ‘insulting’ and ‘appalling’

    LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signaled that President Donald Trump should apologize for his false assertion that troops from non-U.S. NATO countries avoided the front line during the Afghanistan war, describing Trump’s remarks as “insulting” and “appalling.”

    Trump said that he wasn’t sure NATO would be there to support the United States if and when requested, provoking outrage and distress across the United Kingdom on Friday, regardless of individuals’ political persuasion.

    “We’ve never needed them, we have never really asked anything of them,” Trump said of non-U.S. troops in an interview with Fox News in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. ”You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”

    In October 2001, nearly a month after the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. led an international coalition in Afghanistan to destroy al-Qaeda, which had used the country as its base, and the group’s Taliban hosts. Alongside the U.S. were troops from dozens of countries, including from NATO, whose mutual-defense mandate had been triggered for the first time after the attacks on New York and Washington.

    U.K. sacrifice

    In the U.K., the reaction to Trump’s comments was raw.

    Starmer paid tribute to the 457 British personnel who died and to those have been left with profound life-long injuries.

    “I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their country,” Starmer said. “I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling and I am not surprised they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured and, in fact, across the country.”

    Prince Harry weighed in too, saying the “sacrifices” of British soldiers during the war “deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect.”

    “Thousands of lives were changed forever,” said Harry, who undertook two tours of duty in Afghanistan in the British Army. “Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost.”

    After 9/11, then Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the U.K. would “stand shoulder to shoulder” with the U.S. in response to the al-Qaeda attacks. British troops took a key role in many operations during the Afghan war until their withdrawal in 2014, particularly in Helmand Province in the south of the country. American troops remained in Afghanistan until their chaotic withdrawal in 2021 when the Taliban returned to power.

    More than 150,000 British troops served in Afghanistan in the years after the invasion, the largest contingent after the American one.

    Ben Obese-Jecty, a lawmaker who served in Afghanistan as a captain in the Royal Yorkshire Regiment, said that it was “sad to see our nation’s sacrifice, and that of our NATO partners, held so cheaply by the president of the United States.”

    Trump and Vietnam

    Anger was further fueled by the fact that the comments came from someone who didn’t serve in the Vietnam War at a time when he was eligible.

    “It’s hugely ironic that someone who allegedly dodged the draft for the Vietnam War should make such a disgraceful statement,” said Stephen Stewart, author of The Accidental Soldier, an account of his time embedded with British troops in Afghanistan.

    Trump received a deferment that allowed him to not serve in Vietnam because of bone spurs, but he has been unable to remember in which foot, leading to accusations of draft dodging.

    Repeated NATO slights

    It wasn’t the first time that Trump downplayed the commitment of NATO countries over the past few days. It has been one of his pivotal lines of attack as he escalated his threats to seize Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to Denmark.

    Trump’s allegation that NATO countries won’t be there when requested stands in stark contrast to reality.

    The only time Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty has been used was in response to the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. The article is the key mutual defense clause, obliging all member countries to come to the aid of another member whose sovereignty or territorial integrity might be under threat.

    “When America needed us after 9/11 we were there,” former Danish platoon commander Martin Tamm Andersen said.

    Denmark has been a stalwart ally of the U.S. in Afghanistan, with 44 Danish soldiers killed there — the highest per capita death toll among coalition forces. Eight more died in Iraq.

    The latest controversy surrounding Trump comes at the end of a week when he has faced criticism — and pushback — for his threats to Greenland.

    Trump also threatened to slap tariffs on European nations opposed to his ambitions to annex Greenland, which raised questions over the future of NATO. And though Trump backed down after a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in which he said they formed the “framework” for a deal over Arctic security, trans-Atlantic relations have taken a hit.

    His latest comments are unlikely to improve relations.

    Diane Dernie, whose son Ben Parkinson suffered horrific injuries when a British Army Land Rover hit a mine in Afghanistan in 2006, said that Trump’s latest comments were “the ultimate insult” and called on Starmer to stand up to Trump over them.

    “Call him out,” she said. “Make a stand for those who fought for this country and for our flag, because it’s just beyond belief.”

    Taking her up on that, Starmer said “what I say to Diane is, if I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologize and I’d apologize to her.”

  • We asked attendees at Mikie Sherrill’s inaugural ball four questions about her. Here’s what they said.

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    We asked attendees at Mikie Sherrill’s inaugural ball four questions about her.

    Here’s what they said.

    Mikie Sherrill held an unconventional inaugural ball inside the American Dream mall on Tuesday.
    Mikie Sherrill held an unconventional inaugural ball inside the American Dream mall on Tuesday.Aliya Schneider / Staff
    Published

    Mikie Sherrill’s inaugural ball was unconventional, but it was very Jersey.

    She held it at the American Dream mega-mall in East Rutherford, amid open-for-business stores, an indoor ski resort, roller coasters, a water park, restaurants, and children’s attractions.

    Sherrill’s party was held where there’s usually an ice skating rink — “Across from Nickelodeon," one event worker provided as instructions.

    Guests in tuxedos and ball gowns roamed past pretzel shops, toy stores, and life-size versions of children’s characters – and even through a candy shop – while searching for the entry.

    Once they found the coat check, attendees were greeted by dancers sporting military-themed costumes with high heels in one of many nods to Sherrill’s experience as a Navy helicopter pilot.

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    Sherrill joined New Jersey hip-hop group Naughty by Nature on stage, a Bollywood group performed, and hits from Lizzo and Earth, Wind & Fire, blasted. On their way out, partygoers could pick up “Taylor hams” or “pork rolls” from workers wearing “flight crew” T-shirts.

    “May you always be able to have a great future for your kids and your family and get maybe a week at the Shore every year,” Sherrill said in a toast in front of the crowd.

    Over the course of the night, about 2,500 people poured out of the dance floor and mingled in front of storefronts and a cell phone case booth. The Inquirer was there to talk with the new governor’s supporters. Here’s some of what they said.

    What are you looking forward to in Sherrill’s administration?

    John Currie
    Passaic County Democratic Party chair

    I'm looking for her to continue some of the things that Gov. Murphy has done.

    John Walsh
    Influencer

    I'm looking forward to seeing how she differs herself from Phil Murphy in a positive way. I don't think Phil did a bad job, but I'd like to see a lot of things change.

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    Catie McNulty
    Special education teacher in Point Pleasant

    I'm looking forward to Mikie moving our state in a direction that supports affordable housing for everybody. I work closely with groups with developmental disabilities, so focusing on improving Medicaid and ensuring that our members and our adults with developmental disabilities don't lose out on services due to cuts at the federal level.

    Robert Speer
    President, The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 827

    I'm hoping that she will work with unions to bring good paying jobs to the state of New Jersey and contracts to the people in those union jobs. …. She, I believe, will represent the middle class very well, and I'm hoping she will.

    Maritza Walton
    Business owner in Bloomfield

    I'm looking forward to her improving expenses for business owners, especially our utilities, and the different fees that business owners have to pay, especially small-business owners.

    What is an obstacle she might face?

    Amber Reed
    Co-Executive director of AAPI New Jersey

    New Jersey did not become more transparent or accountable after Murphy and change comes really slowly here. Even though she says she's committed to making government more transparent and accountable to the people, I can see her running against some entrenched culture around that in New Jersey.

    Tara Buss
    Mayor of Colts Neck

    She is dealing with a variety of counties with a variety of needs. So I think she'll struggle with different counties and their different needs. We may have different needs in Colts Neck, New Jersey, than she may have in towns that she's from. So I think that's going to be a challenge.

    Rhina Cavarez
    Worked on Ras Baraka and Mikie Sherrill’s gubernatorial campaigns

    She must face our own citizens … 1.4 million people voted for Jack. That means 1.4 million believe that Trump is doing the right thing, which is going to be a problem for the rest of us.

    Falguni Pandya
    New Jersey-India commissioner and AAPI commissioner

    We do have high real estate taxes, some affordability issues, so I think she has to get the financial house in order first.

    Kris Ramanathan
    Entrepreneur

    I think the obstacle she's going to face is the budget issue. I think it's going to be challenging, because there are so many things that we need in New Jersey, and with the Republicans not doing anything with the federal government, basically abdicating on any of their responsibilities, I think it's going to be a huge obstacle for her to find the money to do all the things that I know she wants to do.

    What is something you know about Sherrill?

    Kathy Bryant
    Clinical data manager

    I do know she's a humble person. I met her coming from the Democratic convention. We were on the same plane, and we just spoke casually, and she's very easy to speak to. … You could have a conversation with her, and she was really listening to you. So it was nice to be able to say, ‘Oh, you might be our future governor.’

    John Walsh
    Influencer

    Her name is not Mikie. It's Rebecca, and a lot of people don't know that. And I have to out her on that. I told a couple people that today, and they had no idea … when she swore her name and gave the oath, I was like, I'm surprised she didn't say Rebecca.

    Catie McNulty
    Special education teacher in Point Pleasant, New Jersey

    She's an outstanding bartender at D’Jais in Belmar, New Jersey.

    Amber Reed
    Co-Executive director of AAPI New Jersey

    We know her as a very caring mom in our community, as well as an elected leader. She was one of the first electeds who showed up for us as Asian Americans during the pandemic when we were experiencing anti Asian hate, and she brought a lot of real human empathy to that moment.

    Thomas Duch
    Bergen County administrator and counsel

    I just know that she was a very diligent congresswoman. I know that her office was known for constituent service, for constituent response. The state of New Jersey is not really known for constituent response. … so if she brings that mentality, that kind of a service mentality, to state government, by way of example, I think that it will be contagious, and it will help, and we will improve our customer service.

    What is something you want to know about Sherrill?

    Rhina Cavarez
    Worked on Ras Baraka and Mikie Sherrill’s gubernatorial campaigns

    Are you running for president in 2028?

    John Walsh
    Influencer

    When she did Colbert and she (said she) gave birth in a taxi, that was shocking to me. And I did a lot of TikToks, I met her, and I was like, why did that not come out during the campaign? So I'm sure there's more minute stories like that that are waiting and I'm looking forward to hearing about them.

    Pulkit Desai
    Parsippany mayor

    What kind of music she likes. What does she do to decompress?

    Kris Ramanathan
    Entrepreneur

    How many G's she can handle in a helicopter, what pressure she's gotten to.

    Kathy Bryant
    Clinical data manager

    I just want to see how she's going to move forward with ICE. Are we going to maintain [New Jersey’s] sanctuary state [policy]? Are we going to prohibit them from coming into our churches, into our schools? Are we going to continue to be our brother's keepers, which I believe she will be.

    Falguni Pandya
    New Jersey-India commissioner and AAPI commissioner

    How she does it all, like what makes her so effective and so productive and so successful. If we were to look at her as a role model, what would she teach young people coming into politics, young people wanting to be in it, or not even young necessarily, but people who are actually wanting to follow her footsteps.

    Staff Contributors

    • Reporting, Photography, and Digital Editing: Aliya Schneider
    • Editing: Julie Busby, Ariella Cohen

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  • People in Gaza dig through garbage for things to burn to keep warm — a far cry from Trump’s vision

    People in Gaza dig through garbage for things to burn to keep warm — a far cry from Trump’s vision

    CAIRO — Desperate Palestinians at a garbage dump in a Gaza neighborhood dug with their bare hands for plastic items to burn to keep warm in the cold and damp winter in the enclave, battered by two years of the Israel-Hamas war.

    The scene in the Muwasi area of the city of Khan Younis contrasted starkly with the vision of the territory projected by world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, where they inaugurated President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace that will oversee Gaza.

    At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump claimed that “record levels” of humanitarian aid had entered Gaza since the October start of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal. His son-in law, Jared Kushner, and envoy Steve Witkoff triumphantly touted the devastated territory’s development potential.

    A starkly different reality

    In Gaza, months into the truce, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still languish in displacement camps, sheltering in tents and war-ravaged buildings, unable to protect them from the temperatures dropping below 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night.

    Despite the ceasefire, there are still recurring deadly strikes in Gaza. Israeli tank shelling on Thursday killed four Palestinians east of Gaza City, according to Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of the Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were taken. The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

    Some in Gaza expressed skepticism about Trump’s Board of Peace and whether it would change their grim lives.

    “This committee includes Israelis. I don’t understand, as citizens, how can we understand this situation?” Rami Ghalban, who was displaced from Khan Younis, said Thursday. “The Israelis that inflicted suffering upon us.”

    But grappling with what’s ahead seems futile for others.

    “We are in a position where there are no alternatives,” said Fathi Abu Sultan. “Our situation is miserable.”

    While aid flow into Gaza has significantly increased since the ceasefire, residents say fuel and firewood are in short supply. Prices are exorbitant and searching for firewood is dangerous. Two 13-year-old boys were shot and killed by Israeli forces on Wednesday as they tried to collect firewood, hospital officials said.

    At the Nasser hospital in southern Gaza, dozens of Palestinians gathered Thursday to mourn three Palestinian journalists — including a frequent contributor to Agence France-Presse — killed the day before when an Israeli strike hit their vehicle, according to Gaza health officials.

    The Israeli military said the strike came after it spotted suspects who were operating a drone that posed a threat to its troops.

    Survival means digging through garbage

    For Sanaa Salah, who lives in a tent with her husband and six kids, starting a fire is a critical daily chore so they can cook and keep warm. Her family has barely has enough clothes to keep them warm.

    She said the family cannot afford to buy firewood or gas, and that they are aware of the dangers of burning plastic but have no other choice.

    “Life is very hard,” she said as her family members threw plastic and paper into a fire to keep it burning. “We cannot even have a cup of tea.”

    “This is our life,” she said. “We do not sleep at night from the cold.”

    Firewood is just too expensive, said Aziz Akel. His family has no income and they can’t pay the 7 or 8 shekels (about $2.50) it would cost.

    “My house is gone and my kids were wounded,” he said.

    His daughter, Lina Akel, said he leaves the family’s tent early each morning to look for plastic in the garbage to burn — “the basics of life.”

    Mourners bid farewell to 3 Palestinian journalists

    The three journalists killed Wednesday were filming near a displacement camp in central Gaza, managed by an Egyptian government committee, said Mohammed Mansour, the committee’s spokesperson.

    One of them, Abdul Raouf Shaat, a regular contributor to AFP, was not on assignment for the news agency at the time, it said. A statement from AFP demanded a full investigation.

    Israel has barred international journalists from entering to cover the war, aside from rare guided tours. News organizations rely largely on Palestinian journalists and residents in Gaza to show what is happening on the ground.

    Mourners on Thursday wept over the journalists’ bodies, which were covered in body bags and had press vests placed on their chests.

    More than 470 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the ceasefire began in October, according to Gaza’s health ministry. At least 77 have been killed by Israeli gunfire near a ceasefire line that splits the territory between Israeli-held areas and most of Gaza’s Palestinian population, the ministry says.

    The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

    What’s next in Gaza?

    While Trump tries to build support for his Board of Peace by mapping out a future for Gaza, more details about what’s ahead were emerging Thursday.

    Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, said the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week on the Gaza-Egypt border. Israel said in early December it would open the Gaza side of the crossing but has yet to do so.

    Reopening the crossing would make it easier for Palestinians in Gaza to seek medical treatment or visit family in Egypt.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to send $1 billion to the Board of Peace for humanitarian purposes in Gaza if the U.S. unblocks the money. He met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow.

    “We believe that only forming and proper functioning of the Palestinian state can lead to a final settlement of the Middle East conflict,” Putin said.

  • What ICE is doing that’s so controversial

    What ICE is doing that’s so controversial

    It’s not just Minneapolis. In cities across America, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have arrested hundreds of thousands of immigrants and clashed with protesters in what is on its way to becoming one of the largest deportation efforts in U.S. history.

    The White House says it’s deporting both criminals and people who are working in the country illegally.

    But ICE is increasingly unpopular, and it’s getting more headlines for its sometimes-violent tactics than it is for getting supposed bad guys off the streets.

    “They’re going to make a mistake sometimes, too rough with somebody,” President Donald Trump said of ICE. “You know they are rough people.”

    ICE’s reach is only expected to spread. It has been infused with billions more from the Republicans’ tax bill, and the Brennan Center for Justice estimates it will become one of America’s largest police forces. It is spending $100 million to try to hire gun rights supporters and military enthusiasts.

    “By the end of this, almost everyone is going to know someone who had a friend or family member or colleague affected, or who witnessed an arrest happening,” said David Bier, the director of immigration studies at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute. “I think it’s unnerving to see people targeted who don’t seem to be doing anything out of the ordinary, just going to work or doing their jobs.”

    Here’s more about what’s happening:

    What ICE is doing on the streets

    There are about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. ICE can’t be everywhere all at once, so the agency typically works with local authorities to help arrest people in the country illegally.

    But now agents are on a mission to deport as many people as possible.

    What was once a job largely out of the public eye is now taking place on city streets, parking lots of big-box stores, deep in local neighborhoods, and at churches and workplaces as agents mine federal data and go door-to-door to create what the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute says is an unprecedented show of force in cities.

    Immigration agents have surged into Chicago, Los Angeles, D.C., Minneapolis, and Charlotte, rushing into upscale neighborhoods and shops, country clubs and near schools. Sometimes they are in plain clothes; many times they are masked.

    They’ve been recently empowered by the Supreme Court to stop people based on factors such as race, ethnicity, language or job.

    Some agents are using chokeholds to arrest people; others have been filmed smashing car windows to get at someone. U.S. citizens of color say they’re being asked to show paperwork (including off-duty police officers).

    Trump and his administration say they are targeting “the worst of the worst.” But there’s no evidence migrants commit crimes at a higher rate than Americans, and most migrants arrested don’t have a criminal record, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

    A record number of children are being detained, and data suggests families are being separated, ProPublica finds. The New York Times reported on a Cuban migrant arriving for a check-in with ICE and being immediately separated from her 17-month-old daughter she was breastfeeding and deported.

    “It feels like a member of my family is under attack,” one Charlotte woman told The Washington Post after telling her children’s caregiver to stay at home.

    Trump cracking down hard on protesters

    Communities of activists have sprung up to try to slow or stop arrests and film what’s happening.

    “I’ve been in touch with friends and former students in Minneapolis as well as Chicago, Los Angeles and now, Maine,” Robert Reich, a former labor secretary and prominent Trump critic, wrote this week. “Some have been extraordinarily brave. A few tell me they’ve tailed ICE agents and whistled loudly to warn others of ICE’s whereabouts. Some have sought to block agents from entering schools, courthouses, and clinics. Others have been taking videos to give to the media or use in court.”

    Trump has responded with force. His administration has tried to label protesters as “domestic terrorists” (which legal experts say isn’t an actual designation) and has sought to deploy the National Guard where there are protests. He’s also threatened to send in the military to arrest protesters in Minneapolis. Vice President JD Vance said the ICE agent who killed protester Renée Good has “absolute immunity.” ICE agents are launching tear gas and pointing guns at protesters. The Trump administration has launched criminal investigations into Democratic officials in Minnesota who have criticized ICE.

    Yet for all the conflict, Bier is tracking federal charges of protesters and finds it’s rare, suggesting many of their actions are protected by the First Amendment.

    ICE detentions also controversial

    Trump is building some of largest deportation centers in history, including makeshift facilities and plans by ICE to hold up to 80,000 immigrants in seven large-scale warehouses, The Post reported.

    Conditions can be tough. Some ICE facilities have been described as “inhumane,” with reports of spoiled food, undrinkable water or lights on 24 hours a day. The pro-immigration American Immigration Council writes that ICE is “trapping hundreds of thousands of noncitizens in an increasingly opaque world of remote jails and private prisons.”

    An ICE detainee died in January; witnesses say he was choked, and his death may be classified as a homicide. (The government disputes that account of events.) He is one of dozens who have died in ICE custody since Trump took office a year ago.

    ICE getting harder to defend politically

    Polls show that Trump’s ICE raids have strong support from Republicans.

    “Letting millions of illegal immigrants come to work in the U.S. will depress wages, and we can’t allow that to happen,” says Nick Iacovella with the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a conservative, pro-tariff group that also supports Trump’s mass deportations.

    But a new Economist/YouGov poll finds 47 percent of Americans think ICE is making America less safe, compared with 34 percent who said more safe. And for months now, a majority of Americans have disapproved of how Trump is handling immigration overall, on what used to be his strongest issue. Republicans are particularly concerned mass deportations are hurting them with Latino voters, who helped Trump win the presidency again.

    “For the first time, immigration is maybe having a negative impact on my party,” former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, told Politico this fall.