Epstein Files!
In the near future, we will report only very selectively on the released Epstein files. The reason is simple journalistic responsibility. It is completely unrealistic to seriously evaluate or immediately integrate millions of documents, images, and videos into ongoing investigations without comprehensive contextual review. In the United States, several international research teams made up of journalists have now formed to systematically analyze the individual parts of the files. We have joined one of these teams and will nevertheless continue to conduct independent research. The sheer volume of around three million documents makes it clear that a thorough examination cannot be completed within a few days or weeks. Even in human rights cases, we regularly work with files ranging from 400 to 900 pages – and even these often require weeks or months of intensive review.
Our goal is a fact-based, robust assessment. Realistically, a more comprehensive evaluation of the files will not be possible before early 2027. At the same time, we are currently observing a massive spread of misrepresentations, manipulated content, and materials deliberately taken out of context. We therefore strongly advise critically questioning a large portion of the content currently circulating. Sensation-driven portrayals often distort reality. The actual backgrounds are often more complex, more difficult to work through – and not infrequently far more disturbing than any speculation. We are consistently adhering to our research plan in the Epstein complex. This includes a particular focus on Europe, Asia, and Australia. The most important emphasis lies in clarifying unresolved missing persons cases and identifying possible victims. In doing so, we deliberately pursue an approach that does not prematurely construct suspicions of guilt, but instead carefully examines each individual case. Only when facts are secured will results be published or forwarded to the relevant investigative authorities.
Our standard remains unchanged: thorough research, careful documentation, and the consistent examination of responsibility – regardless of names, influence, or public pressure.
Trump ties Gateway funding to personal renaming
In a conversation with Chuck Schumer, Donald Trump reportedly made the release of billions of dollars for the Gateway Project conditional on one specific demand: Penn Station in New York and Dulles Airport would have to bear his name. The Gateway Project is one of the central infrastructure initiatives in the Northeastern United States. It includes new tunnel connections and the modernization of existing rail lines between New York and New Jersey. For years, the federal government and Congress have been wrestling over funding and jurisdiction. According to accounts of the exchange, Trump linked the allocation of funds to the renaming of both transportation hubs. Schumer immediately rejected the demand. As a result, the proposal produced no outcome. Funding for the project remains the subject of partisan negotiations.
Diplomatic Break in Warsaw – Criticism of Trump Draws a Line
The U.S. ambassador in Warsaw has ended exchanges with the Polish parliamentary speaker. The reason: public criticism of Donald Trump’s policies and a clear refusal to support his bid for a Nobel Peace Prize. From the American side’s perspective, a personal boundary was crossed. The accusation is that Trump was publicly demeaned. The step is unusually blunt. Diplomatic talks are not postponed, but stopped. Not because of a decision, but because of an opinion. Poland counts among the United States’ closest partners in Europe. Precisely for that reason, the incident carries weight. Criticism is not questioned, but answered with radio silence. What once counted as a political difference is now treated as an affront. This is how foreign policy turns into a Buffalo Bill show. Negotiations do not continue after sunset.
Halftime to Taste – Trump Switches Channels
Bad Bunny spoke about humanity and belonging, Billie Eilish declared that no one is illegal on stolen land and ended her speech with an explicit break with ICE. Amy Allen accepted her award wearing a clearly visible “ICE out” pin. Justin and Hailey Bieber also publicly signaled their support for the movement.
Donald Trump is unlikely to watch the Super Bowl halftime show where millions are watching. While the broadcaster relies on Bad Bunny, one of the world’s most listened-to artists and an open critic of Trump’s deportation policy, the conservative network Turning Point USA is organizing its own counterprogram. Instead of global pop, Kid Rock is set to perform, a long-time Trump supporter, patriotically marketed as an “All-American Halftime Show.” It will not be streamed in the stadium, but on YouTube, parallel to the official broadcast.
Asked which show would be playing at Mar-a-Lago, the White House left no doubt. Trump clearly prefers Kid Rock over Bad Bunny. Halftime thus becomes a political matter of taste. Pop versus patriotism, streaming versus stadium, separation instead of a shared event. Where sports once briefly brought everyone together, now even the playlist decides belonging.
TrumpRx – When the President Becomes a Brand in the Pharmacy
Donald Trump has launched a new platform bearing his name that promises discounts on prescription medications. TrumpRx is intended to help patients obtain drugs at lower prices at a time when rising living costs and high health care expenses are straining many households. The president said people would save a fortune and emphasized that this would also benefit the entire health care system. The government-hosted website does not function as a traditional sales platform, but instead redirects users. Either to direct offers from pharmaceutical companies or to discount coupons that can be redeemed at pharmacies. At launch, the offering includes more than forty medications, among them well-known weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, which have been in high demand in recent years.
Mehmet Oz, head of the federal agency for Medicare and Medicaid, publicly recommended not purchasing any prescription medication without first checking TrumpRx. The project thus receives not only political but also institutional support. The move is notable both economically and symbolically. A sitting president is directly linking a government initiative with his own name. While the administration argues that the goal is relief for citizens, a personal label is simultaneously placed at the forefront. Trump is presenting himself not only as a political officeholder, but as a direct interface between patients and the pharmaceutical industry.
Whether the platform will actually lead to noticeable savings or primarily make existing direct distribution models more visible remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that in a sensitive area such as health care, the role of the state is shifting. It is not only acting as a regulator, but becoming part of the marketing process – under the name of the president himself.
Olympics Behind the Fence – Italy Tightens the Screws
Hours before expected protests surrounding the Winter Games, the Italian government is tightening the right to assembly. A new decree allows police to detain people for up to twelve hours if there is suspicion they could disrupt the course of a demonstration. The regulation is set to take effect within a few days and thus applies precisely to those protests announced in northern Italy against the Olympic Games. At the center are rallies against construction projects, displacement, and the security architecture of the opening, further fueled by criticism of ICE’s presence to protect the U.S. delegation. The government says the package of measures serves to protect the population and the police, and that civil liberties are not being curtailed. Prime Minister Meloni speaks of better working conditions and more protection for officers. The opposition strongly disagrees. Giuseppe Conte warns that this does not create security, but rather corrals dissent. It does not create more police officers, but expanded powers of intervention. The trigger was recent clashes in Turin, where a largely peaceful demonstration escalated and images of violence shaped the debate. Now the government is reacting – timed exactly to the Olympics.
ICE at the Ballot Boxes – A Thought Experiment with Many Open Questions
Question: Steve Bannon said ICE officers would surround polling stations during the midterm elections. Is that something the president is considering?
Leavitt: I cannot guarantee that no ICE officer will be near a polling place, but I have not heard the president speak about concrete plans in that direction.
The question was on the table, and the White House responded evasively. Whether ICE officers could appear at polling stations during the November midterms was described from Washington as an absurd assumption. The press secretary said she could not guarantee that no federal officer would be present somewhere on election day, but dismissed the concern as exaggerated. At the same time, she avoided a clear rejection. There were no known plans to deliberately deploy ICE at polling places, she said, and the president had not spoken about it. The question itself was improperly posed.
“If you cannot convince voters, you have to monitor them.” (Kaizen Blog)
Steve Bannon makes his position very clear: “We will position ICE around polling stations. We will never again allow an election to be stolen.”
The trigger was a statement from Trump’s circle suggesting that ICE could theoretically surround polling places. In several states, this set off alarm bells. The governor of Illinois had already warned that deploying federal agencies could damage trust in free elections. What remains is a fog of non-answers. No assurance, only deflection. In a political America marked by intimidation and mistrust, that is enough to fuel doubt.
Trump Blesses Orbán – Election Help from Florida
Donald Trump has openly intervened in the Hungarian election campaign and publicly supported Viktor Orbán. In a post, he declared that Orbán fights tirelessly for his country and his people, just as he himself does for the United States. The message comes at a sensitive moment, as Hungary is heading toward an election on April 12 that could become the greatest challenge of Orbán’s career. For the first time in years, his power does not appear assured, but contested. Orbán’s campaign deliberately relies on fear. He claims that a loss of power would force Hungarians to fight and die on the front in Ukraine. There is no evidence for this, yet the claim continues to be spread daily and systematically. Trump’s support gives this line an embarrassing form of international backing. This is not accidental solidarity, but political kinship: isolation, loyalty, enemy images. That a sitting president strengthens an authoritatively governing prime minister shortly before a decisive election is no small matter. It is a signal to all who place power above truth.
Canada’s Auto Pivot – Carney Pulls the Emergency Brake Toward E-Mobility
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is setting the future of the auto industry on a radical course change. With billions in incentives, tax breaks, and investment support, Canada is to become a global hub for electric vehicles. At the same time, it is a conscious departure from one-sided dependence on the U.S. market, which has become a burden under Trump’s trade policy. Around 125,000 jobs in Canada depend directly on the auto industry, which has so far been almost entirely oriented toward exports to the United States. New tariffs and open threats from Washington have shaken this interdependence. Carney speaks openly of Canada needing to learn to protect itself and open up new markets.
The plan is oriented toward developments in Europe and China, where electromobility is already advancing, while the United States under Trump is sticking with fossil drives. Canada is deliberately opening itself to new partners, including in Asia, and signaling to investors that the location should remain viable regardless of the outcome of trade talks. Subsidies for plants, tax advantages for manufacturers, and new purchase incentives for consumers form the foundation. Instead of a rigid ban, the government relies on stricter emissions standards that push the market toward electric vehicles. It is a break with previous logic. Canada is not catching up, but moving ahead. And it is consciously risking distance from a neighbor that is standing still technologically.
ICE Funds Under Pressure – Washington Struggles for Control
In Washington, the dispute over funding for the Department of Homeland Security is intensifying. Democratic senators are threatening to block the funds in two weeks unless there are deep changes and real accountability requirements for ICE and other federal agencies. The focus is on the Trump administration’s hard-line approach, most recently particularly visible in Minnesota, but long nationwide. Clear rules are being demanded: officers should identify themselves, obtain judicial warrants in certain cases, and work more closely with local authorities. Whether the president or enough Republicans will agree remains open. Resistance from within their own ranks is already evident.
At the same time, Republican lawmakers are tying their approval to their own conditions. Requirements regarding citizenship in voter registration are to be included in the budget law, as well as tougher measures against so-called sanctuary cities. What exactly falls under that category is deliberately left vague. Thus, a budget dispute becomes a fundamental question. It is not just about money, but about power, control, and the direction of domestic policy.
Trump Threatens Military Force Again – Diego Garcia Becomes a Question of Power
Donald Trump makes it openly clear that the United States is prepared to secure its military base on Diego Garcia by force if necessary. The trigger is an agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius that regulates sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and provides for the island to be leased back for at least 99 years. Trump expressed his displeasure in a phone call with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and subsequently made it public that he accepts the agreement only with reservations. While he conceded that Starmer had, in the view of many, achieved the best possible outcome, he left no doubt that Washington would decide for itself in a serious case.
Should the lease agreement fail in the future or should American operations on the island be endangered, he reserves the right to secure and expand the U.S. presence militarily. Diego Garcia is a strategically central location in the Indian Ocean for the U.S. military. The message is clear. Sovereignty applies only as long as it does not stand in the way of American interests. Diplomacy ends where military security begins.
