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The Trump administration revealed on Friday that it’s withdrawing $400 million in grants and contracts from Columbia University because of what the administration says is the school’s failure to protect Jewish students from harassment.
Federal agencies announced five days ago that they were considering ceasing work on $51 million in contracts with the university in New York City and it was reviewing its eligibility for more than $5 billion in federal grants.
The announcement came after Columbia established a disciplinary panel and increased its own investigations into students who have made critical statements of Israel, to the dismay of advocates for free speech. But the school didn’t do enough according to the federal government.
“Universities must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding. For too long, Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement Friday.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said Friday that he’s “strongly considering large-scale sanctions” and tariffs on Russia until a peace agreement is reached with Ukraine. Trump also sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in an effort to reach a deal with Tehran to restrict its nuclear program.
Full story: Trump’s Scottish golf resort vandalized with red paint and course dug up over his plan ‘to ethnically cleanse Gaza’
The golf course in South Ayrshire, owned by the president, was targeted overnight on Friday, with activists painting “Gaza Is Not 4 Sale” in almost 10-foot-high letters on the lawn and damaging the greens,
Oliver O’Connell8 March 2025 16:00
Iran’s Khamenei says Tehran will not negotiate under US ‘bully’ pressure
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Tehran will not negotiate under pressure by a “bullying country”, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had sent a letter to the country’s top authority to negotiate a nuclear deal.
In an interview with Fox Business, Trump said “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal” to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
In a meeting with senior Iranian officials, Khamenei said the aim of Washington’s offer for negotiations was to “impose their own expectations,” Iranian state media reported.
“The insistence of some bully governments on negotiations is not to resolve issues, but to dominate and impose their own expectations.”
“Talks for them is a path to have new expectations, it is not only about Iran’s nuclear issue. Iran will definitely not accept their expectations.”
Reuters8 March 2025 15:41
ICYMI: Rubio unleashes his fury on Musk in heated cabinet meeting, report says
For those who love palace intrigue…
Rubio has been privately furious at Musk for weeks over his role in dismantling USAID, which the secretary believed should have been under his control, according to the Times.
Oliver O’Connell8 March 2025 15:40
Watch: Trump unveils new Club World Cup trophy alongside FIFA chief
Trump unveils new Club World Cup trophy alongside FIFA chief Infantino
Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino held a joint unveiling of the new trophy for FIFA’s Club World Cup competition during a meeting at the White House. Infantino presented the trophy – which features a unique design that requires a key to open it – in the Oval Office after Trump signed an executive order to create a task force in preparation for North America hosting the 2026 World Cup. Trump, who will lead the new group, claimed economic tensions between the US and World Cup co-hosts Canada and Mexico will make the competition “more exciting,” adding “tensions a good thing.”
Oliver O’Connell8 March 2025 15:30
Trump names Fox News hosts to Kennedy Center board
Donald Trump has named Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo to the board of the Kennedy Center.
The president posted on Truth Social on Friday night:
I am thrilled to announce that Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo will be joining our Kennedy Center Board – This completes our selection. We look forward to restoring the Center to Greatness, and ushering in America’s Golden Age. Together, we will Make the Arts Great Again!
Both hosts responded to the post saying it was an honor to join the board.
Ingraham wrote: “Thank you, Mr. President. This appointment is an honor, and I look forward to working with such a stellar group to showcase the best of the performing arts in our nation’s capital.”
The fallout from the administration’s takeover of the performing arts center continued this week with the cancelation of a run of shows of the musical Hamilton.
Other artists have also pulled performances from the venue in protest.
Oliver O’Connell8 March 2025 15:44
‘Not the end of the world if US quits Nato’
Britain and other European nations must be ready to take over Nato if Donald Trump carries out US threats to withdraw from the organisation.
That was the powerful message delivered on Saturday by former Conservative defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace.
Oliver O’Connell8 March 2025 15:00
Ivanka Trump, who vowed to stay away from politics, is making a lot of appearances at Dad’s events
“I love my father very much. This time around I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics,” she stated in a 2022 social media post.
And yet, as Katie Hawkinson writes, we’ve seen quite a lot of her despite this resentment.
Oliver O’Connell8 March 2025 14:43
Trump’s Scottish golf resort vandalized in response to comments on Gaza
Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland has been vandalized by activists in response to his statements on Gaza.
The golf course in South Ayrshire, owned by the U.S. president, was targeted overnight, with activists painting Gaza Is Not For Sale in three-meter-high letters on the lawn and damaging the greens, including the course’s most prestigious hole, used in Open Championships.
Red paint was also sprayed across the clubhouse.
Oliver O’Connell8 March 2025 14:27
US economic worries mount as Trump implements tariffs, cuts workforce and freezes spending
With his flurry of tariffs, government layoffs and spending freezes, there are growing worries President Donald Trump may be doing more to harm the U.S. economy than to fix it.
The labor market remains healthy with a 4.1% unemployment rate and 151,000 jobs added in February, and Trump likes to point to investment commitments by Apple and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to show that he’s delivering results.
But Friday’s employment report also found that the number of people stuck working part-time because of economic circumstances jumped by 460,000 last month. In the leisure and hospitality sectors that reflect consumers having extra money to spend, 16,000 jobs were lost. And the federal government reduced its payrolls by 10,000 in a potential harbinger of the alarm being sounded by the stock market, consumer confidence and other measures of where the economy is headed.
