Transcript

2.3.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Happy Monday, everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
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Washington Post for this Monday, February third. As a reminder,
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Radio I is reading service intended for people who are
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blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
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read printed material. Your reader for today is Rod Brotherton,
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and since it's Monday's by listener request, we began by
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reading Paul Prather's weekly column from the Lexington Herald Leader.
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This week's article is entitled Researchers find that ministry is
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the most fulfilling career of all. The size of the
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paycheck is not the only predictor of whether we'll be
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satisfied with our job. Another way is to measure the
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worth of our employment. It is by the psychological or
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spiritual fulfillment it gives us. I would argue this second
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measure is at least as important as the first, and
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probably more important over the long term.
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Speaker 2: I've always wanted to do.
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Speaker 1: Work I felt had meaning that benefited others around me,
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and that in some tiny way helped society as a whole.
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I stumbled into that job when I became a minister,
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more or less against my will. I soon discovered that,
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indeed the clergy may have the most fulfilling vocation there is, turns.
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Speaker 2: Out that statistically verifiable.
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Speaker 1: Recently, the Washington Post looked at data from AmeriCorps, an
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independent agency that funds the Civic Engagement and Volunteering Supplement,
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which is part of the US Census Bureau's Current Population survey.
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In twenty twenty one and in twenty twenty three, researchers
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working on the Civil Engagement and Volunteering Supplement ask Americans
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whether they agreed or disagreed with four statements. One I
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am proud to be working for my employer. Two my
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main satisfaction in life comes from work. Three my workplace
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contributes to the community, and four I contribute to the
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community through my work. There is this expectation or this
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desire for people to find meaning in the work they're
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doing and feeling like it contributes to some greater good.
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America Core researcher and evaluation director Mary Morrison Hyde explained
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to the newspaper the Post's Department of Data crunched a
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lot of numbers from the supplement and looked in detail
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at one hundred occupations. They're finding clergy or most likely
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to strongly agree on every question. That is, ministers were
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proud of their employer, said their work gave them great satisfaction,
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felt their workplace contributed to the community's well being, and
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believed they personally were making a contribution. This might be
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surprising at first glance. Most ministers are modestly paid. They're
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also in a declining profession. Church membership and participation have
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been falling like stones. Preachers often have to navigate among
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surly board members, demanding perishioners, immature youth leaders, and temperamental
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music directors. Being a minister isn't an easy job, for sure.
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Some preachers get burned out. I've been burned out at
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times myself. But diggled a little bit deeper into the data,
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and these high satisfaction numbers aren't so surprising, the Post said.
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Research shows Americans rank religious and spiritual activities as the happiest,
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most meaningful, and least stressful things we do, even more
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so than sports, which sometimes seems to be America's true religion.
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Americans also rank places of worship as literally the happiest
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places on earth, the Post said, more joyous than the
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outdoors or socializing with friends. If all that's true, it
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kunderstands no reason that the clergy who lead those spiritual
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activities and preside over those houses of worship would more
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often than not share in the joy and.
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Speaker 2: Sense of peace.
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Speaker 1: Economist Olga Papava and other scholars have found a strong
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relationship between religion and well being. The Post explained, and
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they found that active participation in religion, beyond simple affiliation
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with a mosque or temple, increases the well being bo
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boost and nobody participates more actively in religion than the clergy. Listen,
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I've been a minister for forty five years. I have
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first and experience with this. Consider the four areas of
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job fulfillment that the Civic Engagement and Volunteering Supplement ask
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Americans about. Am I proud to be working for my
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employer and unqualified?
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Speaker 2: Yes? Since I'm working for G O. D.
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Speaker 1: There's inordinate satisfaction in that. And as they say, the
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retirement plan is out of this world. Does my main
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satisfaction in life come from my work? I'm not sure
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how to even answer that one. Since God is everywhere,
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all the time, permeating every atom of our being, every
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breath and our lungs, I find work and life inseparable in.
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Speaker 2: A good way.
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Speaker 1: When I'm preaching a sermon, God's there. When I'm standing
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by a coffin, God's there. When I'm laughing across the
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dinner table with my wife, God's there too. When I'm
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watching my granddaughter ride in a horse show, God's there.
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My life is my work, and my work is my life.
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It's all God, all the time. Does my workplace contribute
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to the community. At the churchill I lead people get
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their hearts changed by the Holy Spirit. They find hope. Occasionally,
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somebody kicks an addiction, somebody else's hopeless marriage gets restored.
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We've contributed to a local food bank, and we visit
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the sick. We raise money for school teachers. We make
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a difference every day. Do I contribute to the community
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as a in a meaningful way?
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Speaker 2: We read that last answer.
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Speaker 1: I've been at the honor of leading the folks who
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are all doing those wonderful things, who wouldn't be fulfilled.
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Speaker 2: By a job like this.
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Speaker 1: And as you know, Paul Prather is pastor of Bethesda
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Church near Mount Sterling. You can email him at prtpd
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at yahoo dot com. Now let's turn to the news
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and the lead story.
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Speaker 2: This morning.
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Speaker 1: In national security, Trump moves to rest control of USAID
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as much says we're shutting it down. The Trump administration
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and its allies moved to titan control of the US
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Agency for International Development over the weekend, signaling an intent
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to act forcefully to bring the US foreign policy apparatus
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in line with the president's America First approach to engaging
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with the world. Current and former officials said the administration
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removed the top two security officials at USA on Saturday
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after they refused to allow representatives of the office, led
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by billionaire Elon Musk, access to restricted spaces in the agency.
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The placement of the security officials, John Vorhees and his
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deputy on administrative leave as alarming several lawmakers concerned about
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security protocols as the Trump administration and Musk aimed to
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rest control of the world's largest provider of food assistance.
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Since President Trump took office two weeks ago, the agency
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has been under siege and whip saw it by AID frenzies,
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personal purges, and confusion. Musk, heading a government efficiency effort
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under Trump, set on ex early Monday that he is
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in the process of closing the agency with Trump's blessing.
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I went over with it him in detail, and he
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agreed that we should shut it down, Musk said. And
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I actually checked with him a few times and said,
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our are you sure. The answer was yes, he said,
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so we're shutting it down, Musk said. USAID staffers were
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told that the agency's headquarters in Washington will be closed
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Monday amid the turmoil. In an email to staff early Monday,
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the agency's leadership said agency personnel normally assigned to work
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at USAID headquarters will work remotely, with the exception of
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personnel with essential on site and building maintenance functions individually
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contracted by senior leadership. The decision was first reported by
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d Veks. The episode over the weekend had added to
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the speculation that Trump would attempt to abolish the agency
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or merge it into the State Department, and underscores the
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role of unelected figures led by Musk, the richest man
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in the world, in the administration's push to remake the
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federal government. It also highlights the new administration's more transactional
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view of global engagement and its determination to refocus public
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spending on activities that yield tangible impacts for US citizens.
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Amid the turmoil, Matt Hopson, the USA Chief of Staff
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and a political appointee, resigned. According to a current and
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former USAD official who spoke on the condition of anonymity
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to discuss the sensitive situation, Hopson did not respond to
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requests for comment. Worehes was put on leave after he
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did not allow officials from the Department of Government Efficiency
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to access a sensitive Compartment Information facility commonly known as
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a SCIF, an ultra secure room where governments, officials, contractors
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take extraordinary precautions to review highly classified information. According to
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three current and former USAD officials, a group of about
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eight DOGE officials entered the USAID building Saturday and demanded
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access to every door and floor, despite only a few
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of them having security clearance. According to a Senate Democratic
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staff member who also spoke on the condition of anonymity
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to describe the incident, when USAID personnel attempted to block
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access to some areas, DOGE officials threatened to call federal marshals.
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Speaker 2: The age said.
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Speaker 1: The DOGE officials were eventually given access to secure spaces,
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including the security office. The Senate staff are also said.
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Top officials from USAID's office and The bulk of the
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staff in USAID's Bureau of Legislative and Public Affairs were
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put on leave later Saturday. Some of them were not notified,
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but had their access to agency terminals suspended. Katie Miller,
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a spokeswoman for DOGS, said on X that no classified
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material was accessed without proper security clearances. Over the weekend,
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Musk repeatedly detegrated USAID without offering evidence that those working
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there were corrupt. On X, he called the long standing
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government agency evil and a vipa's nest of radical left
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Marxists who hate America. US eight is a criminal organization.
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He haded, time for it to die. Musk also had
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sharp words for the agency during an X space's live
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stream early Monday, where he was joined by vvk Ravaswami,
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former co head of Dodge and its prior iteration when
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it was an outside group empowered to make recommendations, and
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Senator Jony Ernst, Republican of Iowa, USA is a ball
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of worms, Musks. There is no apple. It's got to go.
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It's beyond repair, he added. Established in nineteen sixty one
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by President Kennedy, US eight oversees a vast portfolio of
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programs designed to provide humanitarian relief, combat poverty, support, global health,
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and more. In twenty twenty three, it managed appropriations worth
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forty billion dollars. According to the Congressional Research Service, USAID
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is president more than one hundred countries, from Ukraine to Peru.
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The agency staff numbers more than ten thousand, the majority
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of whom are overseas. But Sunday afternoon, USAID's ex account
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had been taken down, with a message saying the account
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doesn't exist. The agency seas Instagram account was also taken offline.
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USAID's website has been closed down since Saturday. It was
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not immediately clear whether it was taken down because of
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the Trump administration's focus on the agency or it was
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down because of technical problems. The purge of USAID personnel
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and freezing of foreign assistance have caused tension between Trump
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officials and congressional staff members, who have clashed over the
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value of key projects and the administration's plans to fold
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USAID within the State Department, said US officials familiar with
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the matter. During those discussions, senior State Department official Peter
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Moroco was enabled to provide answers on what AID was paused,
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including sensitive programs in Ukraine, which is fending off an
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invasion from Russia.
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Speaker 2: The official said.
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Speaker 1: State Department spokespeople have also been unable to provide answers
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about what cases are exempt from Trump's freeze. The news
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of the top two security officials being put on leave
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was earlier reported by CNN. News of Hopson's resignation was
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first reported by Reuters late Sunday. Trump also implied that
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the ousters of USAD officials were justified, without citing any evidence.
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It's been runn by a bunch of radical lunatics, and
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we're getting them out, he told reporters after returning to
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Washington from spending the weekend in Palm Beach, Florida. Top
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ranking Democrats on Sunday demanded explanations for the DOGE officials'
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actions and the sudden departure of the USAID security leaders.
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Ten Democratic senators, including Senator Gene Shaheen of New Hampshire,
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the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Warren
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a letter that any
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steps to dismantle USAID would need congressional approof and asked
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for an update on the weekends events. Shaheen, in a
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separate message to The Washington Post, said she is seeking
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immediate answers about any implications for our national security and
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bringing a group of bipartisan senators together on this as
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soon as the Senate comes back tomorrow. Reports that individuals
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without appropriate clearance may have access to classified USA spaces
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as well as American citizens' personal information, are incredibly serious
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and and precedented, Shahin said. Senator Tim Kane, Democratic Virginia,
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who sits on the same committee, said there is no
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circumstance under which individuals without proper security clearances should be
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given access to our nation's most sensitive secrets and systems.
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This is exactly what China, Russia, in Iran, want Caine said.
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This potentially criminal incident must be investigated thoroughly and immediately.
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I command the efforts of USAID staff, who have shown
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time and again that their first and foremost priority is
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serving in their country, not the whims of an unelected
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and corrupt billionaire. But Congressional Republicans have expressed interest in
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shrinking or losing US eight as an independent agency. Representative
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Brian mast Republican of Florida and chairman of the House
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Foreign Affairs Committee told CBS news is Face the Nation
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Sunday that he absolutely would be in support of changing
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USAID's status. Mast however, did not answer a question on
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whether congressional approval would be required to close USAID as
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an independent agency, as would likely be required by law. Instead,
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he said that the office needs to be restructured and
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that purging officials throughout the State Department and other agencies,
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as well as freezing foreign aid are all very important
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and necessary steps to make sure that we secure America.
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Trump named Musk as head of DOGE, a new government
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office that was initially promised to comb through the whole
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federal bureaucracy searching for deep spending cuts.
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Speaker 2: Since then, Musk has sought.
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Speaker 1: To exert sweeping control over the inner workings of the
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US government, installing long time surrogates at several agencies, including
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the Office of Office of Personnel Management, which essentially handles
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federal human resources, and the General Services Administration, which manages
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real estate. DOGE is now housed in a White House
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office formerly known as the US Digital Service, but now
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it's called the U S DOGE Service, and has brought
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odd visibility into technology across the government. The administration's move
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to push out the top security officials at USAID came
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a day after Musk's doged deputies gained access to a
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sensitive Treasury Department system responsible for trillions of dollars in
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US government payments, after the administration ousted a top career
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official at the department, According to three people who spoke
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on the condition of anonymity to describe government deliberations and
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next on the worldview, Israel is building outposts in Syria,
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raising local.
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Speaker 2: Fears of occupation.
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Speaker 1: As the Israeli military swept into a string of Assyrian
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villages nearly two months ago, the soldiers assured locals that
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the presence would be temporary, the aim limited to seizing
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weapons and searching the u area after the collapse of
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President Bashar al Assad's regime, But the earth moving vehicles
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that followed suggest more permanent presence. They are building military bases.
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How is that temporary? Asked Mohammed Muhrawid, the mayor of
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Jubata al Shashab, who has watched Israel move construction a
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new military outpost on.
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Speaker 2: The edge of his village.
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Speaker 1: Satellite imagery examined by The Washington Post shows more than
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half a dozen structures and vehicles in the walled Israeli base,
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with nearly identical construction five miles to the south. Both
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are linked by new dirt roads to territory in the
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Golan Heights that Israel captured in its nineteen sixty seven
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war with its Arab neighbors.
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Speaker 2: An area of cleared land.
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Speaker 1: Which experts say appears to be the beginnings of a
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third base, is visible another few miles south. Hours after
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Asad's grip on his country crumbled in December, Israeli tanks
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and troops broke through the Alpha line that has marked
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the seasfire boundary over the past half century and moved
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into a United Nations patrolled buffer zone inside Syrian territory
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and in some cases beyond. Israeli troops now come and
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go in the ninety square mile buffer zone, which is
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supposed to be demilitarized according to the nineteen seventy four
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ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria. Israel has said it
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considers that del void following the Assad regime's collapse. At
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its widest, the buffer zone is about six miles across,
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but at certain points Israeli troops have event several miles
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beyond it, local official said. In an interview with a
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Post on Sunday, Syrian Defense Minister murhaf Abu Kasu described
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the Israeli advance as a violation against the Syrian people.
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This incursion is unjustified, he said, adding that the Iranian
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threat at the heart of Israeli concerns over Syria no
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longer exists. They had a problem with Iran. We saved
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them from Iran. The Israeli military has the capability to
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protect its borders from its previous.
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Speaker 2: Positions, he said, calling on it to withdraw.
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Speaker 1: The two new construction sites, located within what had until
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recently been Syrian controlled territory, appear to be forward observation bases,
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similar in structure and style to those in the Israeli
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hell part of the Golan Heights, said William Gudhind, an
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imagery analyst at contested ground. The base in Jubata al
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Kashab is more fully developed, while the one to the
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south appears to be under construction. The former would provide
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better visibility for troops, while the latter has better access
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to the area's road network, as would a third base
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if built on the area. Cleared of land farther south,
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he said. The BBC originally reported construction at the site
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in Jubata al Kashab. Satellite imagery Offal also shows a
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new road located about ten miles south of the city
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of Kunitra, stretching from the boundary line to the top
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of a hill near the village of Kodana, providing Israeli
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forces with a new surveillance point to build the outpost
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near Jubata al Kashab, Muri Weed said, Israeli bulldozers have
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ripped down villages, fruit trees and other trees and part
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of a prospective protected nature preserve. We told them we
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consider this an occupation, the mayor said. Since entering Syria,
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Israeli soldiers have also set up checkpoints, closed roads, rated houses,
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displaced residents, and fired on protesters who have demonstrated against
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their presence. Officials say at night, patrols have been spotted
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on back roads with lights turned off before returning to base.
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No one knows what they were doing, no one dares
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to ask, said Budour Hassan, fifty five, as she picked
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leaves for tea a few dozen yards from an Israeli
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roadblock in response to questions about the nature and duration
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of its activities in Syria, the Israeli Defense Forces said
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IDF forces are operating in southern Syria within the Baffer
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Zone and its strategic points to protect the residents of
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Northern Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu has previously said
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the troop presence is indefinite, citing security concerns. Regarding reports
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that Israeli troops had fired on protesters, the IDF said
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it had operated in accordance with standard operating procedures after
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demonstrators had been asked to distance themselves from soldiers. The
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push into territory previously controlled by Syria comes at a
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time where Israel is operating beyond its borders on multiple
25:26
fronts to keep its enemies at a distance. Following Hamas's
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October seventh, twenty twenty three, murderous attack in Israel, which
25:35
indeed murdered about twelve hundred Israelis in Gaza, Israeli forces
25:40
have destroyed thousands of buildings within about half a mile
25:44
of the border fence to establish a special security zone.
25:49
During the war with Hezbollah and Lebanon, the Israeli military
25:53
has systematically leveled villages near the border between the two countries.
25:59
The militants who now controlled the vast majority of Syria
26:03
are noticeably absent from the areas near the boundary. Syria's
26:07
new leader, Ahmad al Shahrah said he is committed to
26:11
upholding the nineteen seventy four agreement that created the demilitarized
26:16
buffer zone between the Israelis and Syrians. Maybe they have
26:20
a deal with Israel, We do not know, said Haiel
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At Abdullah seventy seven, the tribal leader in the tiny
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village of Sandiana al Garabiya. When Israeli troops blocked a
26:33
road just south of Abdullah's home with earthen rocks, he said,
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he objected. I told him this is not Ghazi. He said,
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you can't just block us in. The Defense minister said
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a unit of Syrian forces has been prepped to return
26:48
to old regime positions in the area, some of which
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are now occupied by Israeli troops. Negotiations are ongoing through
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both the United Nations and the United States to enable
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them to do so. Abu Sarah said. Israel has said
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part of its mission is seizing weapons to prevent at
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tax on its communities, but Muriwad said there are none left.
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When Israeli troops arrived at Muriwad's village, they demanded that
27:19
residents turn over weapons that had been abandoned by fleeing
27:22
regime troops. He said that locals agreed to collect the
27:26
weapons and hand them over to avoid the kind of
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raids Israeli troops were conducting elsewhere. They returned twice more.
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The third time they came, I told them, even if
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we had weapons, Syria has a new government and we
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will give them to our new government, Muriwad said, sitting
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in a carpeted meeting room with expansive views of the
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surrounding countryside. The Israeli military said Saturday that its troops
27:54
in Syria had come under fire and responded by firing shots.
27:59
A group itself the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria, claimed responsibility.
28:05
Local rebels played down the incident, saying it occurred when
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the local criminal family thought Syrian forces were trying to
28:13
detain its members. Over international objections, Israel, in nineteen eighty
28:19
one annexed the areas of the Golan Heights that captured
28:23
from Syria. Israel said the move was necessary to prevent
28:27
Syrian shelling of farms in Israeli's Galilee region, but the
28:32
plateau is also vital for Israel's water supplies, feeding the
28:37
Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. The buffer zone
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includes a dam at a reservoir that supplies water to
28:45
swaths of southern Syria, and there are suspicions among local
28:50
residents Israel is at making a grab for water and
28:54
other resources despite its operations in the area. The Israeli
28:59
military said as it does not control the dam. For
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Syrian residents living near the ceasefire line, such as the
29:06
tribal leader Abdullah, their presence on a geopolitical fault line
29:10
has meant decades of tumult caught between Israel and Asaje resime.
29:15
Some buildings here remained scarred by battles involving the government,
29:19
Syrian rebel groups and the Lebanese militant group has Bellah,
29:24
with bullet marks in gaping holds from artillery fire still visible.
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Israel has long been determined to curb the presence along
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the ceasefire line of Iranian backed militant groups that supported
29:37
the Assage regime. In August, Israeli forces began to carve
29:42
anue five and a half mile long trench about one
29:46
hundred feet inside the Syrian side of the boundary fence.
29:49
According to satellite imagery, the trench cuts through the land
29:53
of Ahmed Bakhah thirty five, who lives in a roughly
29:58
constructed two bedroom home with his two wives and ten children.
30:02
Drones buzzing overhead observe his interactions with visitors. He is
30:09
no stranger to interactions with Israelis. Pakar's nine year old
30:13
daughter was actually born in Israel under an Israeli initiative
30:18
to build support and influence on the Syrian side of
30:20
the buffer zone. During the Syrian Civil War, Israel also
30:25
ferried wounded rebel fighters past the dividing fence to be
30:29
treated in Israeli hospitals, and, according to local officials, funded
30:34
a local faction to fight the Asade government and its
30:36
Hesbal allies. Now, the Israelis carry out foot patrols and
30:42
raid houses, and a new Israeli base has cut villagers
30:45
off from grazing lands, forcing the locals to buy more
30:49
grain for their livestock. They say, everyone is worried, not
30:54
only me, but car said. Among those concerns is the
30:59
fear that they may be displaced. The original capital of
31:03
madinat al Bath, a mile from the ceasefire line, was
31:07
built in nineteen eighty six by the Syrian government for
31:11
families displaced from the Golan Heights in previous conflicts with Israel.
31:17
Most of the one hundred thousand Syrians estimated to have
31:20
lived on the territory captured by Israel were never allowed
31:24
to return. Now in Israeli tank sets outside the government
31:30
building former occupied by Assad's Bath Party, locals dart passed
31:35
a street that has been cut off by a makeshift
31:38
Israeli road block of rubble and a downed street lamp.
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We will not let the same thing happen again, said
31:46
Bilal Suliman, head of the local municipality. There is not
31:51
a one in a million possibility.
31:53
Speaker 2: We will leave.
31:55
Speaker 1: Most of those ordered from their homes during the initial
31:58
advance of Israeli troops across the line in December have
32:02
been allowed to return, but some families said they have
32:06
been blocked from doing so. Most people were allowed back,
32:11
but they told me my house is a military zone,
32:14
said Jadalahamud fifty two, who stopped to eye the blocked
32:19
road leading to his home as he returned from buying bread.
32:23
He said he is staying with friends in a nearby
32:25
town with his wife and eight children, and managed to
32:28
get another farmer to take his two cows and fifteen sheep,
32:33
but he had to turn his dogs and chickens loose
32:36
with no place to keep them. The IDEF denies that
32:41
families are still displaced. In an effort to shed its
32:45
association with Asad's bath party, the town renamed itself. I
32:50
did not al Salam or City of Peace in December.
32:55
Maybe they didn't understand the message, said Kasim al Muhammad
33:00
fifty seven, gesturing toward the tank and the next story.
33:06
With tariffs and threats, Trump turns on America's closest allies.
33:13
Denmark's prime minister is jetting around Europe seeking support as
33:17
President Trump takes aim at Greenland. Columbia's president is facing
33:22
Trump's wrath on migration, and Canadian and Mexican leaders scrambled
33:27
Saturday after their countries were blasted by tariffs from their closest.
33:32
Speaker 2: Ally, the United States.
33:35
Speaker 1: Since returning to office last month, Trump has embraced a
33:39
gun blazing approach to imposing US power on the world,
33:43
one in which the friendlier the nation, the greater the
33:46
leverage he has to break ties, cut trade, and force
33:50
leaders to bow.
33:51
Speaker 2: To his demands.
33:53
Speaker 1: Rivals and foes in Mexico and Beijing haven't faced the
33:57
same threats, partly because Trump doesn't have the same power
34:00
over them. Canadian and Mexican imports were hit with a
34:04
twenty five percent tax on Saturday, while Chinese goods were
34:08
slapped with a ten percent tax on top of current tariffs.
34:13
Trump administration officials say that the approach has delivered some
34:17
quick wins, such as forcing Colombian President Gustavo Petro to
34:22
back down last weekend and allow the continuation of deportation
34:26
flights into his country after turning around two military airplanes.
34:31
Danish leaders meanwhile announced a nearly two billion dollar investment
34:36
in Greenland security, a step that is unlikely to satisfy
34:40
Trump's aim of taking control of the territory, but is
34:44
still an attempt to quell his hunger. But critics warned
34:48
that Trump's might makes right style could easily backfire. China
34:53
has fresh agreements in Latin America that is a more
34:57
predictable partner than Washington, some critics say, and in Europe,
35:02
leaders have been forced to focus on a demand for
35:04
territorial conquest by their closest ally and protector, rather than
35:09
strategize about how to bolster Ukraine as Russia continues to
35:14
make advances. Some European policymakers also warn that if Trump
35:19
hits them with tariff, as he said Friday he would
35:22
absolutely do, they'll also be less cooperative on his China policy.
35:30
Any country, Colombia, Brazil, or Chile, if their exports are
35:35
being hit by a certain country, the first natural reaction
35:39
is to go to another country like China that is
35:43
increasing their presence in Latin America, to see if they
35:46
will buy their products in better conditions, said Juan Manuel Santos,
35:51
a former president of Colombia. In the long run, yes,
35:56
this creates damage to the country that is being targeted,
36:00
but the long run consequence is negative for everybody. Trump
36:06
says that he's pushing back on years of US allies
36:09
taking Washington's support for granted. Countries that are dependent on
36:14
Washington's goodwill have no standing to spurn his request for
36:17
territory and accepting deported migrants or any other demands. He says,
36:22
You're going to take them and you're going to like
36:24
it too, Trump said Wednesday about his showdown with Colombia,
36:28
sparking laughter and applause among supporters in the East room
36:31
of the White House, as he signed the first legislation
36:34
of his term, the lacln Riley Act, which will allow
36:39
the detention of undocumented migrants accused of theft related crimes.
36:44
The president boasted that his tariff threats forced a quick
36:47
turnaround by Colombian leaders. Columbia apologized to us profusely within
36:52
an hour based on something I said, meaning you're gonna
36:56
pay tariffs like everybody. Nobody's ever paid tariffs before, Trump claimed,
37:01
revealing on his reveling and his ability to force another
37:05
leader to his will. Trump's tactics are unusual and a
37:10
departure even from his first term, where he imposed tariffs
37:14
on imports of steel and aluminum from Europe and a
37:17
wide range of products from China, among other targets. But
37:21
those actions were typically related in some way to trade issues,
37:25
bolstering US manufacturing or pushing back against what Trump said
37:30
were intellectual property theft and other unfair practices by China.
37:36
This time, though, Trump is using tariffs as a tool
37:40
of broader coerci, a tactic that credits, say weakens Washington's
37:46
principled arguments against other nations like China and Russia that
37:51
have attempted to bully their neighbors into submission. Trump said
37:55
Friday that China, Mexico, and Canada would face tariffs because
38:01
all three haven't treated US very well. China because it
38:05
allowed a fentanyl industry to manufacture illicit drugs for export
38:10
to the United States, Mexico for what he said was
38:14
allowing a porous border, and Canada for an unfair trade imbalance.
38:21
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday vowed a forceful
38:26
response against the United States for the tariffs. Trump has
38:30
also set sights on Panama because of the Canal, Brazil,
38:35
India and others, threatening them not to pursue attempts to
38:39
reduce reliance on the US dollar, and the European Union,
38:44
which he said Friday has treated us so terribly. The
38:48
demands on a close ally have been on particularly vivid
38:52
display as Trump takes aim at Greenland, an autonomous territory
38:57
of Denmark. Trump says he wants Greenland to become part
39:01
of the United States, and he's pushing the issue, even
39:04
over Danish objections. Some Danes say a hostile takeover would
39:09
embolden Beijing's appetite for Taiwan and the Kremlins claims on Ukraine.
39:16
Danish leaders have been especially concerned by Trump's approach after
39:20
a contentious phone call between him and Prime Mister Mette
39:24
Fredrickson the week before the inauguration, three European policymakers said,
39:30
speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly about
39:33
a sensitive discussion. The call was first reported by The
39:37
Financial Times. Danish leaders did not initially take Trump's comments
39:43
about wanting a US taker over of the autonomous territory
39:47
fully seriously, thinking it was a rhetorical flourish intended to
39:51
start a negotiation about improved US access to the island,
39:56
which sets a top a trove of critical minerals and
40:00
also a lookout point for Arctic military activity. That changed
40:05
after the call, the European policymaker said. Danish policymakers privately
40:12
expressed disbelief at Trump's approach, noting that Denmark fought alongside
40:18
Americans in Afghanistan for twenty years as an expression of
40:22
Allied solidarity. Despite the fact that the war was unpopular
40:26
among their electorate. Trump just speaks bluntly and frankly with people,
40:32
and ultimately, I think diplomacy in many cases works better
40:36
when you're straightforward, as opposed to using platitudes and language
40:41
that translates to nothing. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told
40:45
Sirius' ex m Meghan Kelly last week. Frederickson on Tuesday
40:51
made a blitz visit around Europe, dropping by Berlin, Paris
40:56
and Brussels for crisis talks with fellow leaders. That type
41:01
of schedule is more typically reserved for imminent threats of
41:04
invasion rather than conversations about how to deal with an ally.
41:10
Her public appearances, Frederickson held back from referencing Trump or
41:14
his threats by name, but it was clear that the
41:18
demands from Washington were driving her mission. We need to
41:23
step up in Europe. We need a stronger and more
41:26
resolute Europe standing increasingly in its own right, she told reporters,
41:30
and a joint appearance with the German Chancellor OLEF Schultz
41:34
after they met on Tuesday, Schultz backed her in language
41:38
he acknowledged was applied more often to Russia and China,
41:43
the inviolability of borders is a fundamental principle of international.
41:47
Speaker 2: Law, he said.
41:49
Speaker 1: Borders must not be changed by force, he said, switching
41:54
to English to add to whom it may concern. But
41:58
Trump has offered a little sign that he willing to concede.
42:02
I think Greenland will be worked out with US. I
42:05
think we're going to have it, Trump told reporters on
42:07
Air Force One on Monday. I don't know really what
42:11
claimed Denmark has to it, but it would be a
42:14
very unfriendly act if they didn't allow that to happen,
42:17
because that's for protection of the free world. It's not
42:20
for us, it's for the free world. European policymakers say
42:26
to that Trump imposes tariffs, they think that they can
42:30
hold together a level of common European wide response. The
42:34
European Union's common trading market is almost as large as
42:38
that of the United States, giving it economic leverage against
42:42
Washington provided that it's twenty seven countries stay united, but
42:47
any dispute could escalate quickly, especially since the block remains
42:51
dependent on the United States to defend it. Critics of
42:56
Trump's approach say that the president sought to embrace time
43:00
to allies, not take advantage of them to rest away territory.
43:04
We Americans do not want to now join Russian President
43:09
Putin and trying to pull apart a sovereign country. Michael McFall,
43:14
an ambassador to Russia under President Obama, wrote on substack
43:19
not only would that embolden Putin's claim in Eastern Ukraine,
43:23
but greenlight Chinese President Jijin Ping's seizing of Taiwan. If
43:30
we think we need Greenland for national security, he can
43:34
easily argue that he needs Taiwan. One senior European official
43:40
warned that an aggressive approach from Washington could easily backfire.
43:46
The United States is not going to help Europe with Russia.
43:50
Europe will not be able to help the US with China,
43:54
the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to
43:59
speak frankly about frustrations with Washington.
44:03
Speaker 2: Better work together.
44:05
Speaker 1: And now back domestically, as doj probe's FBI's January sixth
44:11
work in ways, firings agents told to detail their roles.
44:18
FBI officials sent out a questionnaire over the weekend to
44:22
determine the involvement of thousands of FBI personnel in cases
44:27
related to the January sixth, twenty twenty one attack on
44:30
the US Capitol, According to multiple people who reviewed the
44:34
documents and spoke on the condition of anonymity because they
44:38
were not authorized to discuss it, The online questionnaire landed
44:44
in inboxes a day after the FBI's acting director said
44:49
the bureau would conduct a broad examination at the request
44:52
of the Justice Department, of anyone who touched the sprawling
44:57
January sixth investigation. It is the latest sign that the
45:02
Trump administration aims to deliver on its promises to make
45:06
dramatic changes in the FBI and the Justice Department and
45:11
root out people who President Trump or his allies claim
45:16
acted inappropriately. The survey and other recent moves prompted a
45:20
letter late Sunday from a team of high profile lawyers
45:25
to Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove threatening legal action
45:30
if FBI or Justice Department personnel or fired without due process.
45:36
Bove has acted for a list by Tuesday of all
45:40
current and former FBI personnel assigned to investigations and prosecutions
45:45
related to the capital attack and a separate terrorism case.
45:50
The questionnaire appears to be part of the FBI's attempt
45:53
to compile that information. It was sent to managers and
45:57
FBI offices across the country who may have overseen agents
46:02
or other staffers who worked on a January sixth investigation.
46:06
According to people familiar with the matter, the managers were
46:10
instructed to tell relevant employees to complete the questionnaire by
46:14
three p m. Monday afternoon. The questionnaire, coupled with the
46:19
recent abrupt firings of top FBI leaders and fears of
46:24
more terminations, have created panic within the bureau about its future,
46:29
according to multiple people familiar with the situation, who, like
46:34
others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of
46:37
anonymity to discuss the sensitive situation. The agency sent out
46:43
an unusual message on Saturday, saying that despite rumors to
46:47
the contrary, the acting director remained in place and had
46:51
not been fired. Others are departing, however, On Friday, David Sundberg,
46:59
Assistant director in charge of the FBI's influential Washington Field office,
47:05
told his staff and an email that he had been
47:07
delivered information that caused him to speed up his retirement
47:11
plans and that Monday would be his last.
47:13
Speaker 2: Day on the job.
47:15
Speaker 1: I've also become aware of other concerns related to the
47:19
collection of employee names Sunberg, wrote an email, which was
47:23
reviewed by The Washington Post. At this time, we do
47:27
not know what names were collected, whether they were shared,
47:32
nor any potential actions regarding those names. The FBI Agents Association,
47:38
a nonprofit advocacy group that represents bureau personnel, gave agents
47:44
guidance on how to assert their legal rights to do
47:46
process when responding to the survey. Questions that employees must
47:52
answer include their current title and their title when they
47:56
worked on that January sixth case. So ask if they
48:00
were involved in the arrest of a January sixth suspect,
48:05
testified at a trial, interviewed witnesses, conducted surveillance on Sun's suspects,
48:11
and more. It's unclear how top FBI officials will use
48:17
the results of the questionnaire, but many FBI personnel involved
48:22
in the January sixth investigations as well as the federal
48:25
criminal probes related to Trump, were told by supervisors last
48:30
week that they could be terminated imminently, According to people
48:34
familiar with the personnel conversations, the online questionnaire focuses on
48:40
the capital attack rather than the two Special Councils investigations
48:44
of Trump, one that focused on his alleged misuse of
48:48
classified documents, and the other that probed his alleged efforts
48:52
to block the results of the twenty twenty election. The
48:55
investigation of the attack has been the biggest Injustice to
48:59
Partartment history, involving what could add up to thousands of
49:04
FBI agents and scores of prosecutors. More than fifteen hundred
49:09
and eighty defendants were charged and more than twelve hundred
49:13
and seventy convicted on charges ranging from misdemeanor parading to
49:18
seditious conspiracy. Soon after Trump was inaugurated, he issued a
49:24
blanket pardon to virtually all of those defendants and commuted
49:28
the sentences of the fourteen he did not immediately pardon.
49:33
On Friday, interim DC US Attorney Edwin R. Martin dismissed
49:38
multiple federal prosecutors who have worked on the Capitol riot
49:42
case over the past four years. Those prosecutors were still
49:48
on probationary status. Since Trump took office, multiple top career
49:54
officials in the Justice Department and FBI have been fired
49:59
to trans to less desirable postings. People familiar with both
50:04
agencies said they expected Trump to transform them once he
50:08
took office, but they said the changes are far more
50:12
drastic and happening faster than they had anticipated.
50:17
Speaker 2: Many FBI agents.
50:18
Speaker 1: And employees who worked on January sixth cases or the
50:21
Trump investigations also had full case loads unrelated to those
50:26
matters focused on violent crime, drug trafficking, under terrorism, and
50:32
national security, among other topics. People familiar with the recent
50:36
personnel changes and examinations said removing the nation's most experienced
50:41
law enforcement officials and agents could result in massive staffing shortages,
50:48
interrupting ongoing criminal cases and investigations, and create public safety
50:52
dangers across the country. One person familiar with the January
50:57
sixth investigation noted that it was initially classified as a
51:01
domestic terrorism probe. That meant the lead agents were typically
51:06
those who also served on Joint Terrorism task Forces, the
51:10
multi agency federal, state local task forces set up around
51:14
the country after the September eleventh, twenty oh one terrorist
51:18
attack to handle some of the country's most significant national
51:21
security cases. Mark Zaid, a lawyer who specializes in federal
51:27
employment law, said he and other attorneys have been contacted
51:31
by numerous Justice Department and FBI personnel who believed that
51:36
they'll be fired in the coming days. Such firings would
51:40
violate protections for the career employees and deny them due process.
51:45
Zaid said he and attorney Norm Eisen, retired federal judge
51:51
Nancy Gertner, and both of whom who served on the
51:54
board of secretary the State Democracy Defenders Fund, sent a
51:58
letter to both Sunday night, warning that the Justice Department
52:02
and the FBI would be held to account through all
52:05
available legal means for any unlawful actions against employees. We're
52:12
planning on taking any and all legal steps and remedies
52:15
to support and protect them.
52:17
Speaker 2: Zaide said.
52:19
Speaker 1: He mass firings would come despite assurances that Cash Patel,
52:23
Trump's nominee for FBI director, gave last week. At his
52:27
confirmation hearing, Patel vowed to follow standard bureau procedures before
52:33
discipline or dismissing any personnel, and told senators his chief
52:38
priorities would be investigating threats to public safety and expanding
52:42
partnerships with state and local law enforcement partners. Patel, who
52:47
was a vocal critic of the FBI and the Trump
52:50
and the Trump and January sixth investigations before his nomination,
52:55
also testified that he had no knowledge of any planned purges.
52:59
Speaker 2: Of agents.
53:00
Speaker 1: He said he would not take action against FBI employees
53:03
simply for the cases to which they'd been assigned. All
53:08
FBI employees will be protected against political retribution, Ptel said.
53:14
A spokesman for Patel did not immediately respond to questions
53:18
Sunday on whether he had been briefed or involved in
53:21
discussions on the personnel review underway. The FBI Agents Association
53:27
encouraged its members to defer to their supervisors on how
53:30
to handle the requests. They ask agents to note in
53:34
their responses to the survey that they were not first
53:38
advised of their rights, given appropriate time to research their answers,
53:43
or seek the advice of counsel before responding. We understand
53:49
that this feels like agents and employees are being targeted,
53:53
despite repeated assurances that all FBI employees will be protected
53:59
against political retribution, the association said in an email on
54:04
Sunday that was reviewed by the Post. Employees carrying out
54:10
their duties to investigate allegations of criminal activity with integrity
54:16
and within the rule of law should never be treated
54:19
as those who have engaged in actual misconduct. Acting FBI
54:25
Director Brian Driscoll has told the Justice Department that he
54:29
opposes any push for a mass.
54:32
Speaker 2: Purge of agents.
54:33
Speaker 1: According to multiple people familiar with his stance, That pushback
54:38
set off a wave of rumors and suspicion among bureau
54:42
employees late Friday that Driscoll was appointed by Trump to
54:46
run the bureau until a permanent director is confirmed, had
54:50
been fired as acting director. The FBI responded by sending
54:56
a message to its workforce Saturday confirming that Driscoll remain
55:00
the acting director. The message, also reviewed by The Post,
55:06
noted that Driscoll remains committed to supporting the administration and
55:10
ensuring a smooth transition to the incoming director. Later that evening,
55:15
Driscoll sent his own message to FBI staff that said
55:19
he has continued to press the Justice Department for discussions
55:23
about the purpose and intentions behind the review of agents
55:27
who worked on January sixth cases. Let it be absolutely
55:32
clear that we do not view anyone's identification on one
55:37
of these lists as an indicator of misconduct, he wrote.
55:42
Driscoll noted that news of the reviews came during a
55:45
week when some agents had been deployed in response to
55:49
a deadly plane crashes in Washington and Philadelphia, and others
55:53
were dealing with personal stress related to the wildfires in California,
55:58
and hundreds more remained focused on the bureau's daily work
56:03
of protecting the United States from national security and criminal threats.
56:08
Driscoll was not intended be named acting director of the Bureau,
56:12
according to multiple people familiar with personnel matter who spoke
56:16
on the condition of anonymity to discuss it. Instead, FBI
56:21
officials expected Driscoll to become the acting deputy director once
56:25
Trump took office. Robert Cassine, a veteran counter terrorism official
56:30
within the FBI, was expected to be the acting director,
56:35
but the White House put Driscoll's name on the acting
56:38
director announcement that was released after Trump's inauguration, and officials
56:43
decided to keep Driscoll as the acting head and Cassine
56:47
as the acting deputy. A White House aid declined to
56:51
comment on whether there was a mix up, but said
56:54
Trump has full confidence in everyone he has appointed as
56:59
acting director of the Executive Branch agencies. The Wall Street
57:04
Journal first reported about the name reversal, and finally quickly
57:10
Rubio threatens Panama's president over canal, saying status quo is unacceptable.
57:17
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panama's president Sunday that
57:22
the status quo of the Panama Canal is unacceptable and
57:25
absent immediate changes, would require the United States to take
57:30
unspecified measures. Rubio's confrontational language, detailed in the State Department's
57:36
summary of the meeting, did not specify whether the United
57:39
States would consider military action, but said the presence of
57:42
two Hong Kong based companies and other Chinese firms around
57:45
the canal is a threat. And this concludes the reading
57:50
of the Washington Post for today, Monday, February third. You're
57:54
reader for today has been Rod Brotherton. If you have
57:58
any questions, comments, or seeing coestions concerning this program, please
58:02
feel free to call us at A five nine four
58:05
two two sixty three ninety. Thank you for listening, and
58:09
now please stay tuned for continued programming right here on
58:15
Radio I