Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

VOA News [2/15/2025 2:03 PM, Harun Maruf, Salem Solomon, 2717K] reports a senior U.S. counterterrorism official is cautioning that the threat from global jihadists has expanded significantly, although the resources to counter them have declined. Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and senior director for counterterrorism, on Feb. 11 told a Washington conference organized by the American Foreign Policy Council that he based the current threat assessment on several factors. “Number one, jihadist groups are more geographically dispersed than ever before, with networks extending across the Sahel, Central and East Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia,” he said. “To cite just one example, West African countries like Benin and Togo, that once had little exposure to jihadi threats, are now seeing jihadi Sunni actors in their territory and elsewhere, affecting their national sovereignty.” Benin and Togo have reported attacks by al-Qaida, an expansion of the violence the terror group is carrying out in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Gorka said militant groups are increasingly capable and using new forms of technology to execute their deadly missions. Gorka said that militants “remain highly adaptive entities.” “If you look at their use of social media, especially encrypted apps to communicate, these individuals have acclimatized to the new technological environment,” he said. One of Trump’s main campaign promises in last year’s election was to tighten security along the U.S. border and deport migrants without legal status. He signed an executive order declaring a national emergency at the border. Gorka argued that border vulnerabilities give militants an advantage. “The global jihadi actors are poised to capitalize on global security vulnerabilities, especially the fact that, for four years, we have had no southern border,” Gorka said. Former President Joe Biden defended his immigration policies during the 2024 presidential election campaign and blamed the Republicans for walking back on a bipartisan immigration bill. Biden said Trump was involved in sinking the bill.

The Hill [2/15/2025 4:45 PM, Filip Timotija, 16346K] reports the Trump administration ousted 405 employees at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in an ongoing workforce purge that has affected other federal agencies and departments. The majority of the cuts occurred at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the country’s disaster relief agency, where 200 workers lost their jobs on Friday while over 130 employees were terminated at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), according to a source familiar with the matter. A minimum of 50 employees were cut at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services while the DHS Science and Technology Directorate saw a 10-person reduction, the source added. "Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making sweeping cuts and reform across the federal government to eliminate egregious waste and incompetence that has been happening for decades at the expense of the American taxpayer," a DHS spokesperson told The Hill in an emailed statement. Another 12 members of the Coast Guard who worked on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, all based in Washington, were placed on administrative leave. They were impacted by the reduction in force with an offer to back the border security efforts at the southwestern U.S. border. The spokesperson said the DHS’s "component leads identified non-mission critical personnel in probationary status" and are actively "identifying other wasteful positions and offices that do not fulfill the department’s mission.” As part of the federal purge greenlighted by President Trump and, in part, orchestrated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk, thousands of workers who had been on the job for a year or two were fired this past week, getting ousted while still on their probationary period. The Interior Department terminated some 2,300 employees. The Department of Veterans Affairs cut around 1,000 workers while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ousted nearly 400 personnel. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), huge agencies within DHS, headed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, did not appear to be affected by the Friday cuts. Both are paramount in Trump’s second-term crackdown on illegal immigration and curbing the number of illegal crossings at the southern border. DHS spokesperson also added that Friday’s ousters "will result in roughly $50 million in savings for American taxpayers and incalculable valuable toward accountability and cutting red tape.”

AP [2/14/2025 7:00 PM, Elliot Spagat, 30936K] reports the Trump administration fired 20 immigration judges without explanation, a union official said Saturday amid sweeping moves to shrink the size of the federal government. On Friday, 13 judges who had yet to be sworn in and five assistant chief immigration judges were dismissed without notice, said Matthew Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, which represents federal workers. Two other judges were fired under similar circumstances in the last week. It was unclear if they would be replaced. The U.S. Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the courts and oversees its roughly 700 judges, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. Immigration courts are backlogged with more than 3.7 million cases, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, and it takes years to decide asylum cases. There is support across the political spectrum for more judges and support staff, though the first Trump administration also pressured some judges to decide cases more quickly. The Trump administration earlier replaced five top court officials, including Mary Cheng, the agency’s acting director. Sirce Owen, the current leader and previously an appellate immigration judge, has issued a slew of new instructions, many reversing policies of the Biden administration. Last month, the Justice Department halted financial support for nongovernmental organizations to provide information and guidance to people facing deportation but restored funding after a coalition of nonprofit groups filed a federal lawsuit. The firings touch on two top Trump priorities: mass deportations and shrinking the size of the federal government. On Thursday, it ordered agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers. Probationary workers generally have less than a year on the job. Biggs, the union official, said he didn’t know if the judges’ firings were intended to send a message on immigration policy and characterized them as part of a campaign across the federal workforce. "They’re treating these people as if they’re not human beings," he said. "It’s bad all around.”

Reported similarly:
NBC News [2/15/2025 7:56 PM, Julia Ainsley, Aaron Gilchrist, Nnamdi Egwuonwu, and Megan Lebowitz, 50804K]
Telemundo [2/15/2025 4:54 PM, Staff, 2623K]
Washington Examiner [2/15/2025 7:03 PM, Zach LaChance, 2365K]

Washington Post [2/16/2025 6:00 AM, Silvia Foster- Frau, Ana Vanessa Herrero, and María Luisa Paúl, 40736K] reports when the first flight of migrants arrived at Guantánamo Bay, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said they were “the worst of the worst.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called them “high-threat” criminals who had crossed the border to bring “violence and mayhem to our communities.” All were members of a Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua, the Trump administration said, invoking the name of a group the president mentions frequently to explain why a mass deportation is needed. Officials put them in a prison on the U.S. naval station in Cuba created for suspected terrorists after Sept. 11, 2001. Little was known about the men when they were initially sent to Cuba. Human rights lawyers called Guantánamo a “legal black hole” and lambasted the U.S. government for not allowing them access to the migrants. But through photos released by DHS and accounts from family members, their names have begun to emerge. In one of the images is a man with his head bent as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer holds the back of his collar. Relatives have identified him as Luis Alberto Castillo. In another photo, a bearded man stands in front of a plane and its unfurled ramp. Nearby is a man with a head full of curly auburn hair. His father insists that is Mayfreed Durán. Despite the impression given by Homeland Security officials and others, these three men were taken into custody after crossing the southern border, according to court records and family members — not during a targeted immigration operation in a U.S. city or at a jail or prison after serving a sentence. The Washington Post could not find any violent federal criminal record for Castillo and Gómez, while Durán was charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer during a riot at a detention center. An ICE official said that the agency stands by its assertion that all the migrants aboard the initial flight to Guantánamo are Tren de Aragua members. The Post could find no ties between the three men and the relatively new gang, and their relatives firmly deny the accusation.

Washington Examiner [2/15/2025 3:25 PM, Peter Cordi, 2365K] reports Denver Public Schools is suing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem over a Trump administration immigration policy allowing raids at "sensitive" locations like schools. Records show the Colorado district struggled to accommodate migrant students under the Biden administration. The school district claimed in its Wednesday lawsuit that attendance is down "noticeably" across all DPS schools since the announcement of the new policy. DPS is asking for a temporary restraining order to prohibit such raids from taking place on school grounds while the lawsuit is being adjudicated. "DPS is hindered in fulfilling its mission of providing education and life services to the students who are refraining from attending DPS schools for fear of immigration enforcement actions occurring on DPS school grounds," the lawsuit states. The Denver K-12 district claims it has had to divert educational resources to prepare for immigration arrests, to ensure student safety and train staff on how to effectively respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection agents. Denver Public Schools received a massive influx of migrant students during the Biden administration, leading to a projected $17.5 million budget shortfall. According to public records obtained by Parents Defending Education, the district struggled to accommodate the students and their families. Numerous students were reportedly homeless, with others being housed at local hotels. The district "scrambl[ed] to find more Spanish speaking support staff," and needed additional support for student behavioral issues as "recent conflicts between migrants from different nationalities where tensions are occurring.” On the day of President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, his administration ended a policy that prevented ICE and CBP agents from making arrests at schools, hospitals, and churches. The previous guidance was in place for over a decade. "This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murderers and rapists — who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on the new policy.

Yahoo! News [2/16/2025 5:30 AM, Benedict Smith, 57114K] reports the writing scrawled across bare plaster inside the Cedar Run apartment block would become an epitaph for many who passed through it. “In loving memory of those lost in drugland,” it read. Drug Enforcement Agents were struck by the graffiti when they stormed the building with smoke bombs last week as part of a series of raids across Denver and Aurora, two of Colorado’s biggest cities. They were seeking out members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), the Venezuelan gang famed for flooding communities with fentanyl and other drugs, which Donald Trump has vowed to dismantle. Jonathan Pullen, the DEA’s special agent in charge of the region, saw the “drugland” inscription as he headed into the Cedar Run apartments alongside his agents. “This is no way for anyone to live… a lot of the people in that building are good, hardworking folks and they’re just trying to get by,” he told The Telegraph. “And then they have to deal with drug dealers and prostitution, and drug use and violence. What we’re doing is trying to remove those criminal elements from our cities.” But rooting out well-resourced gangsters in a country the size of the US is proving a difficult task. The raids that took place on Wednesday last week were the result of months’ worth of investigative work, with authorities building up intelligence profiles of the criminals to target. The judicial warrant used for the operation is still under seal, so details are scarce. But it involved tip-offs, monitoring of electronic devices, and undercover work to infiltrate these groups and – in some cases – to purchase drugs from them. Some 300 federal agents, with the DEA working in concert with the FBI and agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), massed outside four apartments in Aurora and Denver.

San Diego Union-Tribune [2/15/2025 5:30 PM, Alex Riggins, 6595K] reports Jewish Family Service of San Diego will shut down a regional migrant shelter it ran for more than six years and lay off 115 employees due to "changes in federal funding and policy" by the Trump administration. The nonprofit, which will now focus its immigrant-relief efforts on providing pro bono legal services, announced the layoffs in a required filing submitted Monday to the state Employment Development Department. Jewish Family Service said that once the layoffs are finalized in April - the law requires 60 days notice for mass layoffs - it will cease operations of its San Diego Rapid Response Network migrant shelter services. The organization said in a statement that its transition shelter - which provided medical screenings, food, case management, legal support and travel coordination - has received no new migrants since Inauguration Day, when the Trump administration ended use of the CBP One app. That app had allowed migrants to schedule asylum interviews at ports of entry and be released into the U.S. while awaiting updates on their asylum claims. The organization also said it has not received any of the $22 million it was awarded last year by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Shelter and Services Program. "Our commitment to immigrants and refugees remains unwavering," CEO Michael Hopkins and his future successor, Dana Toppel, wrote this week for San Diego Jewish World. In a statement, Hopkins said Jewish Family Service had "been preparing for these changes in federal policies and enforcement" and that the organization will maintain its "deep commitment to its core value of ‘Welcome the Stranger’" by pivoting to focus more on the legal services that it already provides. Those services include representation for people facing deportation, free immigration legal services for students and faculty at 12 community colleges and universities in San Diego and Imperial counties and legal assistance for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. "We’ve bolstered our staff and volunteer efforts for pro bono legal immigration services, especially for immigrants and undocumented members of our community," the organization said. The jobs that Jewish Family Service will cut, which are listed in its filing with the EDD, appear exclusively linked to its migrant shelter and the related services it offered. The nonprofit said it is "working to identify any potential opportunities for re-engagement with our valued Shelter Services staff in other departments in the future.”

Bloomberg [2/15/2025 10:47 PM, Zahra Hirji and Jason Leopold, 21617K] reports top officials at the US Department of Homeland Security received a memo on Friday ordering an immediate stop to work connected to climate change and the elimination of climate-related terms across the agency. The memo instructs senior office heads to “eliminate all climate change activities and the use of climate change terminology in DHS policies and programs, to the maximum extent permitted by the law,” according to the document seen by Bloomberg News. The changes are meant to bring “alignment” with Trump’s executive orders that reverse multiple climate-related orders by former President Joe Biden, it said. The directive from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem marks the latest move by President Donald Trump and his appointees to roll back federal efforts to address global warming and could affect disaster response capabilities which are overseen by DHS. DHS did not immediately provide a comment outside of regular business hours on the climate-related contents of the memo.

New York Times [2/15/2025 7:16 AM, Randy E. Barnett and Ilan Wurman, 161405K] reports on his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order that purports to end birthright citizenship for certain children. It does so despite Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, which declares, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” The central question raised by Mr. Trump’s order is what it means to be “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. The answer most legal observers give is that it includes virtually anyone born on American soil, including those whom the order is meant to exclude, namely children born to parents in the country illegally or temporarily. When they finally consider this question, the justices will find that the case for Mr. Trump’s order is stronger than his critics realize.

Washington Post [2/15/2025 12:42 PM, Nick Miroff and Marianne LeVine, 40736K] reports the president wants federal agents from across the government — even the Internal Revenue Service — looking for potential deportees, and the FBI says "thousands" of its employees are now supporting immigration operations. Trump has sent hundreds of troops to the southern border and military transport planes loaded with immigrants to as far away as India. The Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, where U.S. forces once sent enemy combatants seized on the battlefield, is now a destination for immigrant detainees, many picked up at the Mexican border. For several days, ICE published its daily arrest numbers on social media, which started in the several hundreds per day and reached 1,179 on Jan. 26. ICE arrests have sagged so far this month, according to data provided by the Department of Homeland Security, declining from about 800 per day in late January after Trump took office to fewer than 600 during the first 13 days of February. The administration has stopped publishing daily numbers, and Trump officials said they will release the data on a monthly basis to conserve resources. It is a level well below the Trump administration’s goal of 1,200 to 1,500 arrests per day. The top two enforcement officials at ICE were removed from their jobs this week and reassigned due to what Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said was a lack of "results." A major hindrance to Trump’s mass deportation goals has been ICE’s limited resources and staffing. A new order to ICE officials requires any releases to have prior approval from the agency’s acting director Caleb Vitello, according to two people with knowledge of the new policy. Homan has said he wants to take a phased approach to "widening the aperture" beyond immigrants with criminal records.

Yahoo! News [2/15/2025 8:44 PM, Lisa Fernandez, 57114K] reports the Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Prisons signed a contract to turn five federal prisons into ICE detention centers, a leaked memo obtained by KTVU shows. The memo, signed on Feb. 6, shows that two units at the Federal Detention Center in Atlanta, up to 1 unit at the Federal Correctional Institute Leavenworth in Kansas, up to 1 unit at FDC Philadelphia and up to four units at FCI Berlin in New Hampshire and up to four units at FCI Miami will be used to house ICE detainees. The memo has a caveat that FCI Berlin is not currently available because there is not enough staffing, food, clothing and training at this site. The memo also states that because there isn’t enough space, only men will be housed at these sites.

Telemundo [2/15/2025 12:22 PM, Staff, 2623K] reports the Trump administration has tightened the release of unaccompanied immigrant minors from government custody by increasing security requirements for their release to sponsors in the United States. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, which oversees the care of migrant children, said in a memo released Friday that it would now require all adult members of a household where a child will live in the United States to undergo an identity verification and background check process, including fingerprinting and other requirements, before the child can be released, contrary to what has been the case until now. The government has defended the changes as a way to ensure the safety of minors and prevent fraud, human trafficking and smuggling. The measure will come into effect immediately. Currently, crossings of undocumented immigrants are at their lowest levels in years and unaccompanied minors registered in federal shelters are far below capacity.

NBC News [2/15/2025 8:00 AM, Kimmy Yam, 50804K] reports after the Trump administration said it would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in houses of worship, hundreds of members of a Sikh temple in New York have stopped attending services regularly. Another gurdwara, or temple, in West Sacramento, California, has been fielding a half dozen calls daily from members fearful of immigration raids. And others are concerned that community members will begin to forgo essential services often offered in these sacred spaces. The suit that the West Sacramento gurdwara joined as a plaintiff last week, which was first filed by a group of Quaker congregations at the end of January, argued that "the very threat of that [immigration] enforcement deters congregants from attending services, especially members of immigrant communities." And this week, another two dozen Christian and Jewish groups filed a separate suit, arguing that the new policy infringes on religious freedom.

Asbury Park Press [2/15/2025 10:15 AM, Jean Mikle] reports a Brick man who had been working as a part-time police officer has been sentenced to 270 days in Ocean County Jail after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said. Ocean County Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan sentenced John Kisch, 59, on Feb. 14. He also ordered that Kisch be subject to parole supervision for life. Kisch pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on Sept. 24, the prosecutor said. The investigation was the result of a referral from the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Billhimer said. The ICAC Task Force received cyber-tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that someone was uploading images of child pornography to the internet. On June 13, 2023, detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Squad, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations Newark and the State Police ICAC Task Force executed a search warrant on Kisch’s home in Brick and seized a desktop computer, Billhimer said.

Yahoo! News [2/16/2025 5:06 AM, Julie Garisto, 57114K] reports Lake County Sheriff’s undercover detectives have arrested 29 people and rescued four people after gathering evidence in its "Operation Forced Labor" investigation. According to a Friday Facebook post: "The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Bureau recently conducted a three-day human trafficking operation, dubbed Operation Forced Labor. Operation Forced Labor was conducted at an undisclosed location in the central part of Lake County from Feb. 6-8, 2025." The focus of the undercover operation, the agency said, was to identify and safely recover the human trafficking victims. Detectives from the Clermont, Eustis, Leesburg, and Mount Dora police departments, along with detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security, collaborated in the investigation. Detectives working undercover visited prostitution websites to solicit prostitutes and seek out individuals looking for services.

FOX News [2/15/2025 9:00 AM, Jamie Joseph] reports Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is threatening to sue two local jurisdictions in his state that are refusing to comply with President Donald Trump’s mass deportation program of illegal immigrants. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) and Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) have indicated they would not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. Rokita urged IPS and IMPD this week to cooperate with ICE or face legal consequences from his office.

The Hill [2/15/2025 9:08 PM, Ailia Zehra, 18752K] reports U.S. Border Patrol agents will stop using body cameras immediately in all field operations following social media posts that revealed how to identify Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, NewsNation reported on Saturday. “All U.S. Border Patrol Agents will cease the use of body-worn cameras (BWC) in all operational environments,” reads a statement to Border Patrol received by NewsNation. The directive follows notification “regarding a potential security risk,” the statement said. “Pending completion of investigation and risk mitigation, all Agents will stand down the use of their BWCs [body worn cameras] until further notice. Additional guidance and information will be disseminated as it is received,” the statement added.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [2/15/2025 11:41 AM, Ali Bradley, 57114K]

Miami Herald [2/15/2025 11:29 PM, Alexandra Mendoza and Alex Riggins, 6595K] reports border commuters are experiencing an extra layer of screening at the San Diego-Tijuana border as Mexican soldiers began randomly searching vehicles for drugs at U.S. ports of entry. The searches in Mexico are believed to be unprecedented in recent history. Thousands of troops have been deployed to both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border in response to President Donald Trump’s border security measures and as part of a deal to delay one month the imposition of tariffs on all imports from Mexico. While Mexican troops are taking a more hands-on approach with the public, U.S. troops are mostly doing what they’ve done in the past, such as reinforcing barriers and helping with surveillance. In the first week of “Operation Northern Border,” Mexican officials said they arrested 222 people nationwide and seized 106 firearms and 1,242 kilograms of drugs, including 8.6 kilograms of fentanyl. In Tijuana, a joint sting by the Mexican Attorney General’s Office and National Guard on Feb. 8 uncovered 537 kilograms of methamphetamine and 60 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a trailer at the Otay Mesa border crossing, Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch said. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked Mexican Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente in a call recently for the “enhanced enforcement efforts by Mexican National Guard troops at the U.S.-Mexico border,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement. A Northern Command spokesperson referred most of the Union-Tribune’s questions about those troops and their specific activities to other agencies, including the Marine Corps and CBP. The Department of Defense has said the U.S. troops are focused on repelling illegal immigration, drug trafficking and migrant smuggling, but they are not directly participating in civilian law enforcement activities. The Department of Defense has said it provides CBP and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, support with operations, detection, monitoring and crisis response — from both land and air.

CBS News [2/15/2025 11:19 AM, Jeramie Bizzle] reports thousands of counterfeit Forever Stamps were seized at the Chicago International Mail Branch last weekend, the U.S. Customs and Border Protections announced Thursday. The federal agency said it stopped eight shipments from China containing 161,860 counterfeit stamps. The stamps were seized for violating trademark laws and deemed fake "based on the very low invoice value, the routing, and the extraordinary efforts undertaken to conceal the stamps." The purported value of the fraudulent stamps was roughly $118,000, according to CBP, had they been genuine. The agency said the stamps were poor in quality, but counterfeiters are improving, and some consumers may not notice a difference from a real stamp. The agency said it has seen a rise in counterfeit U.S. Postal Service postage stamps, especially around holidays, including high-volume card holidays.

Yahoo! News [2/15/2025 6:40 PM, Jorge Ventura, 57114K] reports migrant shelters along the Texas-Mexico border are nearly empty after President Donald Trump’s actions effectively shut the border to asylum seekers. Under former President Joe Biden’s administration, migrant shelters across Texas played a key role in assisting migrants with food, shelter and other necessities until migrants reached their final destination. Migrants arrived at shelters after being processed by Border Patrol officials and given court dates. Some shelters in Texas received up to 1,000 migrants per day, and during peak periods of illegal crossings, many shelters exceeded capacity. Illegal crossings have plummeted across the southern border to just an average of 600 per day after Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and messaging on mass deportations. Even before the 2024 election, illegal crossings were trending downward resulting in shelters receiving fewer migrants. Ruben Garcia, the director of an El Paso-based migrant shelter network, told the Texas Tribune that there are approximately 40 people currently staying in the shelters. Due to the reduced number of migrants, Garcia said that only four of the more than 20 network shelters are open at this time, and he is likely to shutter more by the end of the month. Ultimately, he said, only one or two shelters will remain open.

CBS News [2/16/2025 6:00 AM, Jack Fink and Nathalie Palacios, 52225K] reports with billions of dollars at stake, Governor Greg Abbott pressed his case with Congress to reimburse Texas taxpayers for the money spent to secure the border. The Governor has requested Congress pay back Texas more than $11 billion that the state spent to prevent illegal immigration. At the U.S. Capitol Wednesday afternoon, Abbott spoke with CBS News Texas before he met with members of the Texas Congressional delegation. He later met with the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. "I met with him a couple of weeks ago, and what I can tell you is this:," said Abbott. "The general counsel, the people that have been working with us behind the scenes, whether it be the Department of Homeland Security and the White House and the speaker’s leadership, they’ve all been working to work towards getting this mission accomplished, so I’m feeling pretty good.". The Governor also returned to the White House where he met officials to discuss the request, but unlike last week, he did not meet with President Trump. Abbott said if Congress reimburses Texas, the federal government will receive about 70 miles of border wall that either has already been built or in the process of being completed shortly. The Governor also offered the federal government 4,000 jail cells in state prisons to detain migrants and 2,400 beds to house U.S. troops and federal agents at the state’s two newly built military bases. Senator Ted Cruz told CBS News Texas that he’s encouraged the White House has included billions of dollars to pay back Texas for its efforts to secure the border. In an interview at his office at the U.S. Capitol, Cruz said, "Leaders from the White House came and joined the Senate Republican lunch and they included within their request for budget for border security the money to reimburse Texas and other states so that was a very good sign that the White House is asking for that funding. Certainly, from my end, I think it’s critical we provide it.".

Newsweek [2/16/2025 4:59 AM, Ewan Palmer, 56005K] reports wo people have died after a plane crashed soon after it took off from an airport in Georgia. The Covington Police Department said that a single engine aircraft had taken off from the Covington Municipal Airport at approximately 11:21 p. m. on Saturday. The airport lost communication with the aircraft around 20 minutes later before officers then located the crashed plane in woods nearby to the runway. Two people were in the plane, who were pronounced dead at the scene. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

USA Today [2/15/2025 5:21 PM, Eric Lagatta, 89965K] reports a powerful storm is bringing "life-threatening" flooding to the eastern half of the United States this weekend, according to the National Weather Service. Millions of Americans are in the path of a storm that is due to hit parts of Tennessee and Kentucky the hardest with several inches of expected rainfall. On tap for the region through Saturday night are severe thunderstorms and torrential downpours that could even produce multiple tornadoes, said AccuWeather severe weather expert Guy Pearson. Portions of the Ohio Valley, Tennessee Valley and Lower Mississippi Valleys all stand a chance of being hit with widespread showers and thunderstorms as the storm moves eastward to the Appalachians, the weather service said. The "life-threatening flash flooding event" is most dangerous in northwestern Tennessee and western Kentucky, where a high risk of "excessive rainfall" is in place, the weather service said. The impending storm prompted Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to declare a state of emergency Friday. "We want everyone to be careful," Beshear said in a statement. "The amount of rain coming down will make it hard to drive, and flash flooding, especially across our roads, can create dangerous conditions. As of Saturday afternoon, a nearly 500-mile stretch of flash flood warnings was in effect from eastern Arkansas to eastern Kentucky, according to Accuweather. Urban and hilly areas are particularly prone to deadly flooding where water levels on small streams and roads can rise several feet in minutes. Water rescues were already taking place Saturday in south central Kentucky between Russellville and Scottsville, where 3.5-4.5 inches of rain had fallen and another 1-2 inches was expected, the weather service reported. In four western Kentucky counties, between 2 and 3 inches of rain had fallen and up to another 3 inches is possible, the weather service warned Saturday afternoon. Parts of Carlisle, Graves, Hickman and Marshall counties were under a "considerable threat" of flash flooding until 7 p.m. A rockslide was reported by emergency management officials on I-69 in Kentucky between Dawson Springs and Princeton, reported the weather service in Paducah. The weather service in Morristown, Tennessee said it was receiving reports of mud slides in hilly areas. Such slides can be more common in winter when plants and shrubs are dormant. ABC News [2/15/2025 5:50 PM, Daniel Amarante, 33392K] reports there’s an enhanced risk for severe storms on Saturday stretching from Memphis, Tennessee, to Mobile, Alabama, with most of the action expected late this afternoon into the evening. Storms with damaging winds and flash flooding are the main threats, but there could also be a few tornadoes. Residents are urged to pay attention to severe weather warnings overnight, as the tornado risk continues into nighttime. By Saturday afternoon, there have already been numerous Flash Flood Warnings stretching across parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and North Carolina. Snow has moved into portions of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Saturday afternoon, and conditions are expected to deteriorate as snow picks up and the sun goes down. This is not just a pure snowstorm, there will be a changeover to sleet and rain as this system moves through the northeast into Sunday. Snow will likely be falling across much of the I-95 corridor from the NYC area to Boston by 6 p.m. on Saturday. CNN [2/15/2025 7:25 AM, Mary Gilbert] reports a potent storm that already plunged parts of California underwater has started to deal a serious blow to the eastern half of the US with flooding rain, severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, snow and ice all expected. Snow is already blanketing parts of the Great Lakes while rain is falling to the south, in parts of the Ohio Valley and thunderstorms are starting to rumble in the Mississippi Valley. The storm strengthens Saturday as it pushes east and reaches its peak strength overnight into Sunday as it barrels through much of the East. The storm largely comes to an end Monday, but lake-effect snow could bury parts of the Great Lakes in its wake. Heavy, flooding rainfall is the storm’s most widespread threat and much of it will fall Saturday. A swath of more than 1,200 miles from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast could experience flooding with more than 2 inches of rain expected in many locations. The New York Times [2/15/2025 10:28 PM, Tim Balk, 153395K] reports the authorities said they found a body in floodwaters in eastern Kentucky on Saturday, as a severe rainstorm pounded a swath of the South from Tennessee to Virginia. Parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia were under flood warnings on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. Kentucky was being hit particularly hard, with intense rain and wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour, the service said. Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky said that his state would be under a significant flash flood threat until 4 a.m. local time, and that emergency responders were rushing to evacuate Jackson, a small city in the eastern part of the state. About 30 miles southwest of Jackson, a man was found floating in floodwaters in an unincorporated area outside Manchester, Ky., said Clifton Jones, the chief deputy in the Clay County sheriff’s office. Governor Beshear wrote on social media that the state was “seeing widespread flooding across the state.” Kentucky Route 160 was closed because of a landslide, and water levels in Elizabethtown, in the center of the state, were approaching record highs, Mr. Beshear said. He urged residents to stay off roads.

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AP [2/16/2025 4:38 AM, Dylan Lovan, 2600K]
CNN [2/16/2025 3:44 AM, Mary Gilbert, Dalia Faheid, Emma Tucker, and Karina Tsui, 24052K]
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Newsweek [2/16/2025 3:53 AM, Staff, 56005K]
Yahoo! News [2/15/2025 9:11 PM, Bill Estep, 57114K]

New York Times [2/15/2025 6:19 PM, Maia Coleman, 153395K] reports Mayor Eric Adams intends to sue the Trump administration by the end of next week over its clawback of $80 million in federal funding meant to cover the cost of housing migrants in New York City, according to a letter from City Hall. The letter, which was sent to the city comptroller on Friday, said the Law Department was in the process of “drafting litigation papers” in an effort to reverse the administration’s clawback of the funds, which were transferred to New York by the Federal Emergency Management Agency this month. Liz Garcia, a spokeswoman for Mr. Adams, said the suit was expected to be filed by Friday. The mayor’s intention to sue was first reported by Politico on Friday. The decision by Mr. Adams to take a legal stand against the Trump administration on an immigration-related issue comes at a critical moment for the mayor, who this week faced mounting calls to resign after Manhattan’s acting U.S. attorney, Danielle R. Sassoon, accused him of trading concessions on immigration policy for the dismissal of the corruption charges against him. Mr. Bove said the move had nothing to do with the case’s legal strengths, but rather that its prosecution would impede Mr. Adams’s ability to cooperate with the Trump administration’s immigration policies, a highly unusual justification for dropping criminal charges. Mr. Adams has refuted that he traded his authority for an end to his case, but he has struggled to dispel rising fears from New Yorkers that he is indeed cooperating. Mr. Adams’s willingness to sue the federal government amid his ongoing legal saga raises questions about the lengths to which he is willing to go to enforce President Trump’s immigration agenda. But it also underscores the drastic nature of the Trump administration’s $80 million clawback, which appears to be one of the first known cases in which the Trump administration has seized back congressionally appropriated funds from a locality. The lawsuit is the latest development in a fight over FEMA’s funding to shelter migrants, which has played out amid Mr. Adams’s legal drama.

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CBS New York [2/15/2025 8:26 PM, Staff, 52225K]

Newsweek [2/16/2025 5:33 AM, Hugh Cameron, 56005K] reports the entire state of Kentucky is facing severe flooding, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), with warnings issued over the dangerous conditions. Flood warnings are in effect for much of the state, with central areas and major cities such as Lexington and Louisville experiencing flash flooding. Severe winter weather has swept across the eastern half of the U.S. in recent days, leading to evacuations, widespread road closures, and elevated concerns over public safety. Kentucky has faced the brunt of the storms, with one 73-year-old Manchester resident dying as a result, CNN reported, citing the Clay County Coroner’s Office. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency on Friday, in effect until midday on Sunday, as a result of the anticipated heavy rainfall. "River flooding is very likely this weekend through next week. Significant flooding is expected where the heaviest rain falls," Beshear said in a press release, citing the NWS warnings. On Saturday evening, Beshear said that he had written to President Donald Trump requesting an emergency disaster declaration, indicating that the response efforts may exceed the state’s own capabilities and require funding and assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Beshear has also spoken with recently confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FEMA’s acting director to this end. Newsweek has contacted FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security outside of business hours for further updates.

Yahoo! News [2/15/2025 11:11 PM, Jessica Phillips, 57114K] reports Governor Patrick Morrisey declared a State of Emergency for ten counties in West Virginia. According to a press release, Governor Morrisey declared a State of Emergency for Mercer, McDowell, Raleigh, Greenbrier, Summers, Wyoming, Cabell, Kanawha, Logan, and Mingo counties on Saturday, February 15, 2025 due to heavy rain and flooding. People in the Mountain State are advised to be careful and keep an eye on the weather, as well as listen to any instructions given out by emergency management officials. Resources and personnel will be ready to respond to emergency situations, and that certain administrative powers were given to the Director of the West Virginia Emergency Management Division (WVEMD) to organize necessary emergency services. According to the press release, a State of Preparedness is in effect for all 55 counties in West Virginia.

The Texas Tribune [2/15/2025 3:58 PM, Pavan Acharya, 1609K] reports a 5.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded in West Texas late Friday evening, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and could be felt by residents more than 150 miles away in El Paso. The earthquake struck near the border of Culberson and Reeves counties at 11:23 p.m. CST with an epicenter about 33 miles northwest of Toyah, Texas. Three smaller aftershocks also occurred within minutes of the first quake. There have been no immediate reported deaths or injuries associated with the quakes. And economic losses are expected to be minimal. According to the geological survey, shaking in neighboring cities ranged from "weak" to "light" with about 950,000 being exposed to the quake. The earthquake was also felt by Texans as far west as El Paso and in some cities in eastern New Mexico. About 20 minutes after the initial earthquake, the National Weather Service El Paso posted to X, asking residents if they had felt the earthquake and a subsequent aftershock. Friday’s earthquake is tied for the sixth strongest in Texas history, according to the website Earthquake Track. Texas has also experienced two magnitude 5.1 earthquakes in the past six months, both tying for the fifth strongest in state history. The number and strength of earthquakes in West Texas has grown in recent years. In November 2023, a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck near the borders of Reeves and Culberson counties, tied for fourth strongest in Texas history. Scientists have attributed higher earthquake activity in the Permian Basin in West Texas to an increase in hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — in the area, which is the most productive oil and gas region in the state. When water is injected into the ground for fracking, fluid pressures increase within faults, scientists say, which can lead to more seismic activity in oil fields. Since 2000, a dramatic increase in seismic activity in the Permian Basin has likely been triggered by increased wastewater disposal due to fracking, a 2021 study by USGS and University of Texas scientists found.

Washington Post [2/15/2025 8:00 AM, Ruby Mellen, 40736K] reports many Los Angeles residents stricken by loss from the Eaton and Palisades fires are eager to transition to a new phase of recovery: clearing the rubble so they can rebuild. At least 27 people have died in multiple wildfires around Los Angeles. The Palisades Fire has destroyed thousands of buildings and burned through more than 23,700 acres, and the Eaton Fire consumed more than 14,000 acres — though crews were gaining ground on both after more than a week of fighting the flames. The direct cause of the fires has not been determined, but the Palisades Fire may have been caused by the reignition of a previous blaze. For many, recovery will be slow and uncertain.

Yahoo! News [2/15/2025 4:36 PM, Jessica Schladebeck, 57114K] reports a high school teacher in south Jersey is being investigated by the Secret Service over a social media post mulling the assassination of President Donald Trump. Fred Wilson, an 11th grade special education and social studies teacher at Egg Harbor Township High School, originally made the remarks on his Facebook page, which has since been deleted, the Press of Atlantic City reported. "I think we are at the moment where assassination is at least a talking point," wrote Wilson, who has been with Egg Harbor School District since 2003. Though it’s unclear when exactly the post written, screenshots have been shared across several social media platforms since at least Feb. 7. The screenshots also include a photo of Wilson at school wearing a T-shirt that says: "I support trans rights because I’m not an idiot," as well as his Facebook cover photo, which reads, "F— Trump and f— you for voting for him.” Egg Harbor Township Capt. Cherie Burgan confirmed that authorities had received several reports about Wilson’s alleged social media activity. She told NJ Advance Media the post has since been passed along to the Secret Service and that the matter is currently under investigation. "The U.S. Secret Service is aware of the incident involving comments made online by a teacher in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey," Hazel Cerra, resident agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Atlantic City Resident Office, told the news site. "As a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence," the statement continued. "We can say, however, that the Secret Service takes all threats related to our protectees seriously.” Schools Superintendent Kim Gruccio said the district has also launched its own investigation into the posts. "We take comments about and suggestions of violence very seriously," Gruccio said in an email. "The district is cooperating with law enforcement and is conducting an investigation; however, as this is a personnel matter under New Jersey law, I cannot comment further at this time.” During his latest presidential campaign, Trump was the target of two assassination attempts — the first during a July rally in Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed his right ear, and another in September while he golfed in Florida.

Yahoo! News [2/16/2025 5:07 AM, Collin Bestor, 57114K] reports the Fort Walton Beach Police Department seized more than 129 grams of fentanyl last week following a tip from Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers, authorities said. Officers responded to a call at 209 Miracle Strip Parkway late Tuesday night, where they encountered four adults in a motel room, according to a news release from the Fort Walton Beach Police Department. The occupants allowed officers inside, where narcotics and hypodermic needles were in plain view. Investigators with the department’s Special Investigations Unit obtained a search warrant for the room. While waiting for the warrant to be approved, one suspect attempted to escape by leaping from the second-story breezeway and was quickly apprehended, police said. A second suspect fled on foot and was taken into custody after a brief struggle, during which an officer suffered a minor injury, according to the release.

CBS 7 [2/15/2025 8:06 PM, Gina Dvorak and Akim Powell, 11K] reports counterfeit $100 bills featuring President Trump are circulating on social media. The fake money has similar markings to a modern $100 bill, but features President Trump’s likenesses and “In Trump We Trust” printed on the front and back of the paper. The bad bill also has Trump’s signature and “RE-ELECT TRUMP IN 2024″ on the front. While U.S. currency has no such denomination, the fake bill in the image also has similar modern money markings and Trump phrases as the counterfeit $100.

Yahoo! News [2/16/2025 1:02 AM, Anna Ashcraft, 57114K] reports as efforts to recover the crashed military plane in San Diego Bay continue, authorities have issued a public notice to stay away from the wreckage that is still in the water off of Shelter Island and any debris that might wash up. The United States Navy Saturday evening said crews with Mobile Diving and Salvage Company 3-8, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Three (EODMU-3), were busy Saturday positioning and anchoring a barge to support the upcoming salvage operations that is expected to take up to two weeks. The Navy and Coast Guard are also asking the public not to approach, touch, or collect any debris that may wash ashore.

CBS News [2/15/2025 6:22 PM, Doug Myers, 52225K] reports Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company that his office says is connected to the Chinese Communist Party. According to Paxton’s office, the probe will scrutinize the company’s data privacy practices and assertions that its AI model is on par with sophisticated models like OpenAI’s Model o1. DeepSeek has been notified that its platform violates the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, the attorney general’s office said in a news release. Paxton expressed concerns that DeepSeek is a proxy for the Chinese Communist Party to undermine American AI dominance and steal data. "The United States and Texas will continue to be at the forefront of global AI innovation, and any CCP (Chinese Communist Party)-aligned company that tries to undermine that dominance by violating the rights of Texans and illegally undercutting American technology companies will face the full force of the law," Paxton said in the release. Paxton has called on Google and Apple to provide all relevant documents related to the DeepSeek app.

Yahoo! News [2/15/2025 9:34 PM, Staff, 57114K] reports a 19-year-old man learned how long he will be behind bars for his role in a deadly shooting near a Dayton elementary school last year. William Brown Jr., 19, was sentenced to a total of 18 to 21 years in prison on Thursday, Feb. 13, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records. Brown will receive credit for 300 days served in jail. When released, he will be on parole for an additional two to five years. Court documents indicate that Brown will have to pay approximately $7,169.63 in restitution. Brown pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and three counts of complicity to commit aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon on Jan. 28, according to court records.

Yahoo! News [2/15/2025 6:45 PM, Scott Brown, 57114K] reports Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies say they have arrested a Roswell man for making bomb threats at several Albuquerque locations on Friday. According to BCSO, two separate bomb threats were called into Albuquerque Public School’s headquarters and city hall in the morning. Law enforcement was able to clear the scenes with no threat found. BCSO says the caller was identified as Roswell resident, Jeffrey Diaz. According to the criminal complaint, federal law enforcement says Diaz has a history of making similar calls to several other government departments. Diaz was arrested by Chaves County deputies and is facing two counts of making a bomb threat.

Yahoo! News [2/15/2025 1:01 PM, Staff, 57114K] reports Tri-Cities police investigated a potential threat of violence at Richland High School on Thursday. Richland police officers responded to a report of a student at the high school allegedly threatening violence the next day. When officers investigated they found the student had already been suspended for 10 days on an unrelated matter, according to a social media post. It’s unclear if this was a shooting related threat, but the department said the student did not have access to firearms at home. Police and school resource officers interviewed the student, their parents and witnesses. The student and their family were fully cooperative, police said. The department referred commenters to Richland schools for more information about potential disciplinary action. Richland police said they take every school threat seriously, and their officers remain vigilant in protecting the community and its schools. Richland schools were closed Friday due to inclement weather and will be closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.

Yahoo! News [2/15/2025 3:53 PM, Joe Wilkins, 57114K] reports we’ve all made mistakes before. Maybe we did something in the heat of the moment, or said something we couldn’t take back. Point is, it happens, and that’s okay — because however bad our mistakes were, at least they didn’t risk spelling doom for the entire human race. Elon Musk, the richest man in the history of currency, is in the news yet again — is he ever not now? — for spearheading a massive round of government layoffs. This wave, carried out over Thursday and Friday, targeted recent hires across the CDC, Small Business Administration, Homeland Security, Veteran’s Affairs, Department of Education, and crucially, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The NNSA is a little-known group charged with building, designing, and organizing the US Nuclear arsenal — at one time the largest in the world, now said to be a close second to Russia. It’s the kind of agency you hope not to read about in the news. The whole "nuclear" part evidently wasn’t enough to deter Musk and his DOGE boys from sending between 300 and 400 nuclear arms personnel to the bread line in a confusing flurry of termination emails on Wednesday. As reported by multiple outlets in the wake of the firings, it turned out that the officials overseeing the dismissals didn’t understand that the sacked workers were responsible for overseeing nuclear weapons — leading them to turn around and beg some of the now-fired workers to come back. But that’s turning out to be a difficult task for Musk’s hatchet men, sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News, because the now-former staffers can’t access their government email addresses anymore. Hindsight is 20-20, it seems. It’d be one thing if DOGE was accomplishing its stated goals of uncovering fraud and ending bureaucratic waste. But since Donald Trump has taken office, his billionaire buddy’s misadventures have repeatedly disrupted crucial programs like Education Department training, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau operations, and National Institute of Health biomedical research — while achieving only paltry savings that it claims are around $37 billion.

Washington Post [2/16/2025 2:00 AM, Katharine Houreld, Rachel Chason, Susannah George, and Mustafa Salim, 40736K] reprots President Donald Trump’s sweeping freeze on U.S. foreign assistance has threatened programs intended to counter al-Shabab bombmakers, contain the spread of al-Qaeda across West Africa and secure Islamic State prisoners in the Middle East, according to U.S. officials and aid workers. Hours after taking office last month, Trump put a 90-day pause on foreign aid programs, signing an executive order that said the “foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests” and “serve to destabilize world peace.” But four current and former U.S. officials, who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared government retaliation, said that many of the affected programs were specifically designed to respond to national security threats, and that their suspension could endanger America and its international allies. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FOX News [2/15/2025 2:23 PM, Greg Norman, 57114K] reports Kalob Wayne Byers was identified as the American citizen taken into custody in Russia on a drug smuggling charge, according to media reports. The 28-year-old was detained at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on Feb. 7 after a K-9 with the Russian Federal Customs Service detected something in his luggage, Russia’s TASS news agency reported. Byers will remain in custody for 30 days, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the Moscow City Court’s Press Office. It released an image Saturday purportedly showing Byers behind bars as he appeared by video link at a court hearing. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday by Fox News Digital. U.S. citizen, Kalob Wayne Byers, detained on suspicion of drug smuggling, appears on a screen in the courthouse during a video link to a court hearing in Moscow, Russia on Feb. 15. Byers was allegedly carrying cannabis gummies at the time of his detention. He has been charged with smuggling narcotic drugs into the country and could face up to 10 years in prison, TASS reported. Russian prisoner Alexander Vinnik, left, was swapped for American Marc Fogel this week. "A chemical analysis revealed the presence of narcotic substances from the cannabinoid group," the customs service reported, according to TASS, adding the man claimed his U.S. doctor had prescribed the gummies.

Wall Street Journal [2/15/2025 6:35 PM, Laurence Norman and Alexander Ward] reports U.S. officials sought to reassure Ukraine that it would be at the negotiating table with Russia, after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that his country wouldn’t agree to a peace deal imposed on it from above. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told his Ukrainian counterpart that Washington had no intention of keeping it away from talks and that it would be foolish to do so, according to diplomats who were present at a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. The Trump administration’s Ukraine envoy, Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, set out further details of the administration’s thinking later Saturday. He said it would be for Russia and Ukraine to hold direct negotiations, and the U.S. would mediate. He had a much tougher message for European leaders, telling them he didn’t see a place for them at the negotiating table. “I think that’s not going to happen,” Kellogg said, adding that they could have input. U.S. officials, including national security adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, will travel to Saudi Arabia next week to start the talks with Russia over Ukraine. The message from Kellogg came at the end of a week that has shaken trans-Atlantic relations and sowed doubts among Ukrainian leaders about the U.S.’s intentions. On Wednesday, President Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin before announcing that negotiations over Ukraine would begin soon. Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested there would be no Ukraine entry into NATO and that a direct U.S. role in enforcing a peace deal in Ukraine was off the table. Hegseth later appeared to partly walk the comments back, after Europeans objected that he was giving up key concessions before talks had even begun.

Wall Street Journal [2/16/2025 5:13 AM, Feliz Solomon] reports a shipment of two-thousand-pound bombs withheld by the Biden administration arrived in Israel overnight Sunday, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio was set to meet with the Israeli prime minister, a sign of how the Trump administration is pursuing a starkly different policy in the Middle East than its predecessor. President Trump announced last month that he had authorized the shipment of the heavy MK-84 bombs, reversing a Biden-era pause. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a critical moment in cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The meeting also comes after Trump laid out a contentious plan for the U.S. to take control of Gaza and empty the strip of its two million inhabitants. Rubio has said Israel needs to destroy Hamas and both he and President Trump have appeared more willing to give Israel wide leeway in its military campaign than the Biden administration. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the shipment “serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States.” Trump has called on neighboring Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinian refugees while the enclave is rebuilt, which could take more than a decade. The proposal, while welcomed by Israeli officials, was swiftly rejected by Arab and many Western governments over concerns that the mass displacement could result in their permanent exile. The U.S. has been a key provider of weapons to Israel since the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked its war against the militant group. Early in the conflict, the Biden administration provided more than 5,000 of the MK-84 munitions but paused shipments over concerns about the humanitarian fallout of the war, particularly as Israel moved to invade the southern Gazan city of Rafah last year. Trump’s willingness to provide the heavy weapons show he is prepared to give Israel more leeway in its fight to crush Hamas. The president threatened to cancel the cease-fire that began in late January if Hamas didn’t release all of the remaining living hostages by this past Saturday, warning that he would “let hell break out” if the group comply.

New York Times [2/15/2025 8:12 PM, Aaron BoxermanFatima AbdulKarim, and Johnatan Reiss, 153395K] reports Hamas freed three more Israeli hostages on Saturday as Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners, prolonging a fragile cease-fire in the Gaza Strip that appeared to be teetering only days ago. The hostages — Alexander Troufanov, 29, known as Sasha; Iair Horn, 46; and Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, one of the few Americans still held in Gaza — were noticeably thinner and paler after spending 16 months in captivity. They had been abducted from the Israeli border village of Nir Oz during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited the war in Gaza. But they did not appear as emaciated as the three hostages released last Saturday, whose condition prompted outrage and horror in Israel. Palestinian militants once again used the exchange, the sixth carried out under the first phase of the cease-fire, to stage a show intended to demonstrate that they still dominate Gaza, despite Israel’s devastating bombardment and ground invasion in response to the 2023 attack. Dozens of gun-toting fighters affiliated with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad forced Mr. Troufanov, Mr. Horn and Mr. Dekel-Chen to mount a stage in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis and to give speeches in Hebrew, with portraits of Hamas leaders on the stage behind them. On the stage, the militants also displayed photos of Matan Zangauker, an Israeli hostage still in captivity, and of his mother, Einav Zangauker, who has been campaigning for his freedom. They were shown alongside an hourglass and the words, “Time is running out.” In a jab at President Trump’s recent call for Palestinians to leave Gaza en masse, a banner on the stage read “there is no migration except to Jerusalem.” Hamas — and much of the Arab world — have roundly rejected Mr. Trump’s proposal. The exchange could sustain the cease-fire, at least for now. But the truce’s long-term future remains uncertain. The arrangement, which began in late January, is set to expire in early March unless Israel and Hamas agree to an extension.

The New York Times [2/15/2025 9:11 PM, Edward Wong, 153395K] reports three top foreign policy aides in the Trump administration plan to meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia next week to discuss a path to ending the war in Ukraine, the first substantial talks between the superpowers on the conflict. The meeting would come less than a week after President Trump spoke on the phone with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Mr. Trump told reporters afterward that talks on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine would take place in Saudi Arabia. The plan for meetings next week in Riyadh was described to reporters on Saturday by a person familiar with the schedule who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss national security concerns. The meeting will most likely draw criticism from some top Ukrainian officials. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said Thursday that his country must be involved in any talks over its own fate, a statement he made after learning about the Trump-Putin call. Ukrainian officials fear Mr. TrumWhen asked whether any Ukrainian officials would attend, the person did not say — a sign that Ukraine will probably not take part in the talks, despite Mr. Trump saying this week that Ukrainians would participate in discussions in Saudi Arabia.p could try to reach a deal with the Russians that would not have strong security guarantees or viable terms for an enduring peace for Ukraine, which has been trying to repel a full-scale Russian invasion for three years. The top American officials who plan to attend are Marco Rubio, the secretary of state; Mike Waltz, the national security adviser; and Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy who also works on Ukraine-Russia issues, the person familiar with the schedule said. Reuters [2/15/2025 6:23 PM, Jonathan Landay and Steve Holland, 36472K] reports U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul told Reuters. It was not immediately clear who they would meet from Russia. On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, McCaul said the aim of the talks was to arrange a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskiy "to finally bring peace and end this conflict." A source with knowledge of the plans confirmed the planned talks in Saudi Arabia between U.S. and Russian officials. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CNN [2/15/2025 5:41 PM, Betsy Klein, Samantha Waldenberg, Jennifer Hansler and Mariya Knight, 987K] reports sources declined to say which Russian officials would be in attendance, but CNN has previously reported the Kremlin is assembling a high-level negotiating team to engage in direct talks with the US, including top-level political, intelligence and economic figures, and Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian official who played a key behind-the-scenes role in a recent US prisoner release deal. President Donald Trump said earlier this week that negotiations to end the nearly three-year Ukraine war will start “immediately” after holding a “lengthy and highly productive” phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The call, which was the first known conversation between the presidents since Trump assumed office last month, came as Trump makes clear to his advisers he wants to bring the Ukraine conflict to a swift end.

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NBC News [2/15/2025 3:17 PM, Peter Alexander, Courtney Kube and Alexandra Marquez, 50804K]
The Hill [2/15/2025 7:48 PM, Ailia Zehra, 18752K]
Washington Examiner [2/15/2025 11:28 PM, Zach LaChanve, 2365K]
Yahoo! News [2/15/2025 2:47 PM, Staff, 57114K]

Washington Examiner [2/15/2025 5:29 PM, Zach LaChance, 2365K] reports President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Ukraine-Russia conflict signaled on Saturday that Europe would not be involved in the peace talks to end the war, leading to outrage from European leaders and a call for an emergency meeting by French President Emmanuel Macron. At the Munich Security Conference, where top European leaders have gathered this weekend to discuss the war in Ukraine among other issues, U.S. special envoy Keith Kellogg was asked whether he could pledge that both Ukrainians and Europeans would be at the negotiating table for talks to end the three-year conflict. In response, Kellogg said that "the answer to that last question, just as you framed it, is no," while adding that Ukraine will "of course" be involved in the peace talks. However, he still urged European countries to "get into the debate" about the war, including by increasing their defense spending. "And to my European friends, I would say: ‘Get into the debate, not by complaining that you might, yes or no, be at the table, but by coming up with concrete proposals, ideas, ramp up [defense] spending,’" Kellogg said. European leaders were quick to respond to the comments, with Finnish President Alexander Stubb saying there’s "no way" any peace talks can go on without Europe. "There’s no way in which we can have discussions or negotiations about Ukraine, Ukraine’s future or European security structure, without Europeans," Stubb said. "But this means that Europe needs to get its act together. Europe needs to talk less and do more.” Macron also immediately called for an emergency meeting in Paris with European leaders that is likely slated for Monday, shortly after the conference’s conclusion. The countries in attendance will be the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, and Germany, according to the Guardian. That meeting is expected to include discussions on U.S. efforts to exclude European leaders from the peace talks and the position Europe should adopt on NATO membership for Ukraine, something that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said is unrealistic in any peace negotiations. Talks on an end to the war in Ukraine have accelerated over the past week after Trump on Wednesday spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who agreed to "start negotiations immediately." The president tasked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, national security adviser Michael Waltz, and Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff to lead those negotiations. Kellogg was not named in the announcement. Newsweek [2/15/2025 3:48 PM, Ellie Cook, 6595K] reports retired U.S. Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, said on Saturday, although he said the continent’s "interests" would be considered in talks to secure peace in Eastern Europe. When asked whether European countries would have a seat at the negotiating table when discussing a deal to end the war in Ukraine, Kellogg responded: "I think that’s not going to happen." This might be like "fingers on a chalkboard" and "may grate a little bit, but I am telling you something that is really quite honest," he said during the Ukrainian Lunch, a side event at the Munich Security Conference organized by Ukraine’s Victor Pinchuk Foundation. He added: "There was a lot of people at the table that really had no ability to execute some kind of peace process and failed miserably. We’re not going to go down that path." CNN [2/16/2025 2:26 AM, Sugam Pokharel and Simone McCarthy, 22417K] reports UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to join an emergency summit in Paris on Monday, Britain’s PA news agency reported, as European leaders scramble to respond to the Trump administration’s push to work with Russia to end the war in Ukraine – potentially without them at the negotiating table. “The UK will work to ensure we keep the US and Europe together,” Starmer was quoted as saying in a statement released by Downing Street on Saturday. “We cannot allow any divisions in the alliance to distract from the external enemies we face.” The UK confirmation of the emergency summit follows US President Donald Trump and his top officials upending in recent days what had largely been a united front between Washington and its European NATO allies on supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, which is nearing its third anniversary. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference that French President Emmanuel Macron had called for a summit of European leaders in Paris. France is yet to confirm the event. Trump spoke with both Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, while his top administration officials visited Europe and presented elements of a vision for ending the war that appeared to allow for key concessions to Russia and raised fears that Ukraine could be marginalized and Europe left out of peacemaking. “This is a once in a generation moment for our national security where we engage with the reality of the world today and the threat we face from Russia,” Starmer said in his statement. “It’s clear Europe must take on a greater role in NATO as we work with the United States to secure Ukraine’s future and face down the threat we face from Russia.”

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