National Populist Newsletter

February 9th-16th

United States

• Immigration

The Trump Administration struck a deal with Panama to accept illegal immigrants from countries that make it difficult to return their citizens. Last week, 119 illegal aliens from China, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan were deported to Panama. The Central American country is looking to win over more favorable opinions from U.S. leadership because of Trump’s criticism of the Panama Canal. More planes are expected to arrive in Panama this week, where they’ll quickly be deported to their national origin. (The New York Times)

New York City Mayor Eric Adams struck a deal with Border Czar Tom Homan to allow ICE agents to operate on Rikers Island, as they had until a decade ago when a “sanctuary city” law forbade cooperation. Progressives on the New York City Council were outraged and were mobilizing against Adams. Many people believe that this deal came after the DOJ agreed to drop the case against Adams, but there is no concrete evidence of this. (The City)

A New York court is hearing the case on whether non-citizens can vote in the city’s local elections. If Democrats are successful, it will allow 800,000 non-Americans to vote for mayor, public advocate, judges, and city council. The New York State Constitution explicitly forbids non-citizens from voting. (Breitbart News)

• Economy

As the new FCC Chairman probes NBC Universal’s DEI practices, Amazon Studios has announced that it is rescinding its inclusion program, which laid out standards for achieving racial diversity. (Variety)

Apple and Google returned TikTok to their app stores weeks after Trump gave a 75-day extension for the Chinese-owned to sell ownership from their subsidiary ByteDance. Apple and Google had recently received letters from the Justice Department assuring them that they would not face fines for carrying TikTok in their app stores, but a future administration could prosecute them. (The New York Times)

• Trump Administration

President Trump signed an executive order forcing federal agencies to work with Elon Musk's DOGE team to cut staff and limit hiring, aiming to "significantly" reduce the federal government's size. I'll write an entire article on Musk for Monday and a podcast episode. (Semafor)

The State Department is preparing to label about half a dozen criminal groups with roots in Latin America as foreign terrorist organizations. MS-13, Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa cartel, the Jalisco New Generation cartel, the Northeast cartel, the Michoacán family, the United cartels, and the Cartel del Golfo are some of the Latin American gangs expected to receive this designation. Once this happens, it will be much easier for the State Department, the CIA, and the military to eliminate their leadership and high-ranking officials. (The New York Times)

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Trump Administration plans on suing New York State over its sanctuary state policy, shielding illegal aliens from deportation. (Axios)

As President Trump and the DOGE Team led by Elon Musk prepare to sack hundreds of thousands of federal jobs in a cost-cutting and efficiency move, many Republican states are preparing to feel the heat. The Wall Street Journal did a breakdown of which congressional districts have the most federal workers besides the military and the post office. In the DC metro area, just 14 percent of federal workers live in Republican districts, but the number rises to 73 percent in the Southern U.S.

A Trump-appointed judge named Carl Nichols extended his previous ruling, allowing USAID employees to be forced onto administrative leave or called home from overseas posts. His main reasoning was the short-term harm to workers overseas doing jobs in national security. (Politico)

Senate Republicans are opposing the appointment of Elbridge Colby, an outspoken critic of foreign interventionism, to a top Pentagon position. Trump allies are opposing war hawks like Sen. Wicker (MS) and several Israeli-aligned think tanks. (Semafor)