SWORN INTO OFFICE BY SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS:

Trump’s newly sworn in AG released a series of directives.

 

Pam Bondi issued a flurry of orders on Day 1 as Trump’s Attorney General

Pam Bondi is sworn in as attorney general by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Feb. 5, 2025. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

By Josh Gerstein and Erica Orden

02/05/2025 06:33 PM EST

Pam Bondi is officially in control of the Justice Department — and she’s gone right to work.

President Donald Trump’s attorney general issued a flurry of orders Wednesday just after she was sworn in, releasing 14 “first-day” directives. 

Here’s POLITICO’s look at a few of her Day 1 priorities:

• Weaponization
• Redirecting law enforcement 
• Making DOJ lawyers toe the line 
• An Oct. 7 task force 
• DEI 
• Reinstating the federal death penalty 
• Sanctuary cities

 

TRUMP'S NEW APPRENTICE 

 

WSJ

11 hours ago

Trump's New Attorney General Targets 'Weaponization' of Justice on First Day - WSJ

AP News

10 hours ago

Pam Bondi orders review of Trump cases as she takes over the Justice Dept. | AP News

 

New Attorney General Pam Bondi orders review of Trump cases as she takes over the Justice Dept.

New Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered a review of the federal prosecution of Donald Trump as she unveiled a series of directives designed to overhaul a Justice Department the president has claimed is biased against conservatives

Nation & World 

Journal-News

16 hours ago

DC News Now

11 hours ago

New Attorney General Pam Bondi orders review of Trump cases as she takes over the Justice Dept.
by: ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press
Posted: Feb 5, 2025 / 06:16 PM CST
Updated: Feb 5, 2025 / 06:20 PM CST

AP News

14 hours ago

 

Hours after she was sworn in at the White House, Bondi called for the creation of “weaponization working group” that will scrutinize the work of special counsel Jack Smith, who charged Trump in two criminal cases. 

• The group will also review “unethical prosecutions” stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, among other things, according to the memo.

The memo satisfies the longstanding contention of Trump and his allies that the Justice Department under the Biden administration had become “weaponized” against conservatives, even though some of its most high-profile probes concerned the Democratic president and his son, and there’s been no evidence to support the idea that the prosecutions against Trump were launched for a partisan purpose.

LiveNOW from FOX

16 hours ago

Fmr. Head of Saudi Arabian Intelligence Reacts to Trump's Proposal for Gaza. . .| Amanpour & Company

President’s billionaire property developer friend and son-in-law are at center of ‘deal of a lifetime’ to transform Gaza Strip 
How Trump’s Gaza real estate dream took shape
Memphis Barker Senior Foreign Correspondent
05 February 2025 3:12pm GMT



It all seemed clear to Jared Kushner as he discussed the future of Gaza in an interview at Harvard University last February.

“I’m sitting in Miami Beach right now,” he said, referring to the offices of his new investment firm, Affinity Partners, in the coastal Florida city that has witnessed an eruption of skyscrapers and deluxe hotels over the last decade.
Mr Kushner’s 11,000 sq ft headquarters boasts floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out over the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

Like Miami, Mr Kushner mused that Gaza possessed “very valuable” waterfront property and could become a hub for tourism – if the Gazan people were relocated, at least temporarily, out of the area.

Prof Tarek Masoud, the interview’s host, appeared shocked at the apparently off-hand remarks by Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

“Is there anyone talking about this in Israel?” asked the chairman of the Middle East Initiative, which was hosting the talk. “I don’t know,” Mr Kushner replied, shrugging his shoulders.
Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and previous envoy to the Middle East, has long held ambitions to redevelop parts of Gaza Credit: Reuters  

Financial Times

14 hours ago

Donald Trump's Gaza plan resurrects grandiose Middle East playbook

Fmr. Head of Saudi Arabian Intelligence Reacts to Trump's Proposal for Gaza | Amanpour and Company

Feb 5, 2025 #amanpourpbs  

Trump is banking on rich Arab countries and kingdoms to support and implement his vision. 

• Qatar, the main regional mediator, has already said it plans to help rebuild Gaza — while the Palestinians remain on their land. 
• The United States wants normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but the Saudi foreign minister has also rejected the Trump plan. 

Former Saudi Intelligence Chief and former Ambassador to the United States Turki Al Faisal joins Christiane from the capital, Riyadh. Originally aired on February 5, 2025

On Tuesday morning, after Mr Trump announced strikingly similar plans to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, the world was barely talking about anything else.

Flabbergasted analysts wondered whether Mr Trump, a braggadocious real estate developer who cut his teeth in 1980s New York, was simply dreaming of the deal of a lifetime, or proffering a madcap scheme to distract the attention of the world’s media.

But Mr Trump’s own words – and his choice of key Middle East advisers – suggest months, if not years, of forethought. A cat may have been thrown on the table, but this one is alive and clawing. . .

JUST IN: Trump Asks Chief Of Staff Susie Wiles To Look Into Mysterious D...

EYES WIDE OPEN >. Mayhem is just part of life in Trumpworld

The mayhem, as Wiles, who ran Trump’s campaign certainly knows, is just part of life in Trumpworld. 

That Wiles would somehow contain the president was always just a wish in a town that loves narratives – the “gatekeeping” chief of staff is a quintessential Washington figure.

So much for Susie Wiles containing Trump’s chaos – or Musk

Nia-Malika Henderson

AFR

5 hours ago

There were several reports that Musk, who gave Trump’s campaign more than $US250 million, had annoyed Wiles, who supposedly subsequently blocked him from getting an office in the West Wing. But really, who needs an office in the West Wing if the president gives you carte blanche?

• “I don’t welcome people who want to work solo or be a star,” Wiles told Axios in January. 
• “My team and I will not tolerate backbiting, second-guessing inappropriately, or drama. 
• These are counterproductive to the mission.”

Musk has recently been reminded that he reports to Wiles, according to NBC News, a development that Musk didn’t expect. His title is “special government employee,” but Musk, with his billions and his minions, is unlike any other White House staffer. A night owl like Trump, he speaks to the president regularly by phone, which makes it difficult for Wiles, who keeps a more traditional schedule, to regulate the relationship and Musk’s moves. . .[  ]

But crashing the gates makes for better TV ratings and keeps an easily bored president engaged. 

Disorder will remain a feature of this White House no matter how Wiles and her allies try to brand her as the person who can tame Trump (and Musk).

Susie Wiles Shoots Daggers at Trump During Unhinged Gaza Press Conference

Janna Brancolini
Wed, February 5, 2025 at 6:09 AM PST


Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

President Donald Trump’s “ice maiden” lived up to her name on Tuesday as she stared down her boss during a bizarre press conference in the Oval Office with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As Trump rambled on and on about Gaza being hell on Earth and described a half-baked idea for some other very rich country to build a beautiful town for the people of Gaza in an unspecified place, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles edged closer until she was standing directly behind Trump.

She pursed her lips and opened her eyes wide, looking a bit stunned as the president went on to blame his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The Daily Beast

6 hours ago

Fox Host Tips Off Colleagues to Trump Chief Susie Wiles' Death Stare

Bloomberg

13 hours ago

Chief of Staff Susie Wiles Can't Contain Trump and Musk's Chaos - Bloomberg

Daily Mail

9 hours ago

Susie Wiles' wide-eyed reaction to Trump's Gaza plan goes viral | Daily Mail Online

YouTube

LeHuffPost · 1:44

Derrière cette photo virale, qui est Susie Wiles la « Dame de glace » de Donald Trump

Uploaded: Feb 5, 2025 · 58.6K Views

La cheffe de cabinet du président américain est surnommée « la Dame de glace », mais pour certains elle n’a pas su contrôler son expression faciale., -----, Abonnez-vous à la chaîne YouTube du ..

NOW FROZEN: Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order. . .Judge Blocks Trump's Executive Order Nationwide

A federal judge in Maryland issued a nationwide block of President Trump's executive order to nix birthright citizenship Wednesday.

Yahoo

7 hours ago

Federal judge blocks Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship

Why it matters: The preliminary injunction means the president's effort to curb the constitutionally protected right to birthright citizenship cannot go into effect this month as planned unless a higher court rules on the case or it is resolved.

Go deeper (1 min. read)

Avery Lotz
Updated 7 hours ago

Image: President Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office

of the White House on February 3, 2025, in Washington, DC. 

Photo: Anna Moneymaker

Next Steps
As legal challenges to the executive order continue across the country—including challenges brought by twenty-two state attorneys general—it is likely that the matter will eventually reach the Supreme Court. 

For now, Judge Boardman’s ruling provides a reprieve for those affected by the executive order, reaffirming the constitutional right of citizenship by birth and through the Fourteenth Amendment.

The New Republic

4 hours ago

Mass Protests Against Trump Break Out Across the Country | The New Republic

Federal Judge Blocks President Trump’s Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

The National Law Review

37 minutes ago

by: Nicole Fink, Philip K. Sholts of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.   

- Our Insights

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Quick Hits

• Nationwide preliminary injunction issued: U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman blocked President Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship, citing constitutional conflicts and long-standing legal precedent.
• Temporary relief granted: The injunction, brought by five undocumented pregnant women and two immigrant rights groups, provides temporary relief while the lawsuit proceeds, with the administration expected to appeal the decision.

In a significant development, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on February 5, 2025, blocking President Trump’s executive order, titled, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” 

• The executive order sought to make children born on American soil on or after February 19, 2025, ineligible for U.S. citizenship if they were born to parents who were either unlawfully present in or temporary visitors to the United States. 
•  The president signed the executive order on January 20, 2025, the day he took office.

Judge Boardman’s ruling stated that President Trump’s executive order conflicted with the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and contradicted more than one hundred years of binding Supreme Court precedent, as well as the United States’ 250-year history of birthright citizenship. 

 

• Unlike the fourteen-day temporary restraining order issued on January 23, 2025, by Judge John Coughenour of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, today’s preliminary injunction will remain in effect until the lawsuit is resolved or the injunction is overturned by a higher court.

The lawsuit in Maryland was brought by five undocumented pregnant women and two nonprofit organizations that work with immigrants, who argued that the executive order would cause irreparable harm by denying citizenship rights to their children.

Judge Boardman emphasized that “citizenship is a most precious right” guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, noting the instability, uncertainty, and “irreparable harm” the executive order would create for affected families across the country. The injunction will remain in place while the lawsuit proceeds, though the Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision. 

FOX 5 DC

5 hours ago

Maryland judge becomes second to block Trump's birthright citizenship order | FOX 5 DC

AOL.com

6 hours ago

Second US judge blocks Trump's birthright citizenship order

WTRF

5 hours ago

Fox News hires president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump for weekend show on network – WTRF