Elon Musk Spreads Falsehoods About Social Security, Calling It a “Ponzi Scheme”

Musk pushed the repeatedly debunked claim that Social Security was making payments to “dead people.”

By Chris Walker , 

Truthout

March 3, 2025

CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on February 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Maryland.Alex Wong / Getty Images

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, head of the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), purported on Friday that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” — a false claim that is likely an attempt to lay the groundwork for DOGE to target the highly popular agency for mass spending cuts.

Musk made the comments on Friday in an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” — a podcast with a long history of allowing guests to peddle disinformation without pushback.

“We found just with a basic search of the Social Security database that there were 20 million dead people marked as alive. Some of them are getting money,” Musk told host Joe Rogan, parroting a long-debunked Republican talking point.

The claim was most recently debunked by Trump-appointed acting Social Security Commissioner, Lee Dudek. “People in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record…are not necessarily receiving benefits,” Dudek said in February.

Indeed, Musk’s comments reveal his unfamiliarity with how systems within the Social Security Administration (SSA) work — when the system is unsure about a certain date, for example, it defaults to the year 1875. And despite Musk’s claims that dead people are still receiving benefits, recipients are automatically disenrolled after age 115 as a failsafe to prevent that from happening.

Related Story

Report: Acting Leader of Social Security Administration Moves to Demolish It
Leland Dudek instructed managers earlier this week to draw up plans for a 50 percent cut to the agency’s workforce. By Jake Johnson , Common Dreams February 27, 2025

Democratic lawmakers in Congress blasted Musk’s comments, particularly his claims that Social Security is a “pyramid scheme” and a “Ponzi scheme.”

“You don’t need to scratch your head and wonder what’s going on when you see that the Trump administration is decimating Social Security offices and staff,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said in a statement. “And you don’t need to ponder what might happen next when Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, says that the tens-of-millions of seniors, families, and children who depend on these earned benefits are part of some scam — because that’s a real threat and a real promise: they are coming for your Social Security.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) also criticized Musk’s statements on the podcast, pointing out that the tech billionaire was spreading lies about Social Security while receiving lucrative federal contracts.

Musk “is a leech on the public,” Ocasio-Cortez said on X. “No matter how many billions he gets in tax cuts and government contracts, it will never be enough for him.”

“Now he’s going after the elderly, the disabled, and orphaned children so he can pocket it in tax cuts for himself. It’s disgusting,” she added.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) condemned Musk’s comments in an appearance on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” program on Sunday.

“I think what Musk, the wealthiest guy in the world, just said is totally outrageous. It’s a hell of a ‘Ponzi scheme’ when for the last 80 years Social Security has paid out every nickel owed to every eligible American,” Sanders said.

TRUMP MERCANTILISM

BlackRock acquires Panama ports from Hong Kong firm amid Trump pressure

Panama City (AFP) – Hong Kong firm Hutchinson sold its Panama Canal ports to US company BlackRock after US President Donald Trump's refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to retake control of its strategic canal, which Trump says China controls.


Issued on: 04/03/2025 - 
By:FRANCE 24   

US President Donald Trump has refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to regain control of the canal © MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP


Under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump, Hong Kong firm Hutchison said Tuesday it had agreed to sell its lucrative Panama Canal ports to a US-led consortium.

CK Hutchison Holdings said it would offload a 90-percent stake in the Panama Ports Company (PPC) and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock.

The sellers will receive $19 billion in cash, the company said in a statement.

Hutchison subsidiary PPC has for decades run ports at Balboa and Cristobal on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the interoceanic waterway.


But since taking office in January, Trump has complained that China controls the canal -- a vital strategic asset that the United States once ran.

Read moreThe Chinese interests behind Trump’s Panama Canal bluster

Trump refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to regain control, sparking angry protests and a complaint to the United Nations by the Central American nation.

In a joint press release with the buyers, Hutchison said the deal was motivated by business, not politics.

"I would like to stress that the transaction is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports," co-managing director Frank Sixt said.

"This transaction is the result of a rapid, discrete but competitive process in which numerous bids and expressions of interest were received," said Sixt, who described the chosen agreement as "clearly in the best interests of shareholders."

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the transaction demonstrated his consortium's capacity to "deliver differentiated investments for clients."

"These world-class ports facilitate global growth," he added.

The Panamanian government, for its part, said the sale was "a global transaction, between private companies, driven by mutual interests."

It added that an audit launched into the PPC by the Panamanian comptroller's office that oversees public entities will continue in spite of the sale.
43 ports

The deal entails 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries.

CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong's largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.

It is owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.

In February, Marco Rubio visited Panama on his first overseas trip as secretary of state, proof of the canal's importance to the new administration.

Rubio won a commitment from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino to exit the Belt and Road Initiative, China's signature infrastructure-building program.

He also pressed for free passage of US vessels through the Panama Canal, which was denied.

Since 1999, the canal has been run by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) -- an autonomous entity whose board of directors is appointed by Panama's president and National Assembly.

The 80-kilometer (50-mile) long canal handles five percent of global maritime trade, and 40 percent of US container traffic.

Beijing has consistently denied interfering in the canal.

(AFP)

Ports sale offers Panama way out of Trump row: experts


By  AFP
March 4, 2025


Under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump, Hong Kong firm Hutchison has agreed to sale two ports it operates at the entrance to the Panama Canal to a US-led consortium - Copyright AFP Pedro Pardo

Juan José Rodríguez

The decision by Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison to sell its Panama ports to a US-led consortium provides the Central American country with a convenient way out of its standoff with President Donald Trump, experts said Tuesday.

Trump has been fixated on the question of who controls shipping in the Panama Canal, which was built by Washington over a century ago to link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and later handed over to Panama.

The Republican leader has repeatedly threatened the use of force to seize the canal, claiming that Hutchison’s ownership of two ports, one at either entrance to the canal, gave China control over the strategic waterway which links the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Panama rejected the claim that China had de facto control over the canal, which handles 40 percent of US container traffic, while taking various actions to appease Trump.

Its campaign to dodge his fury received a major boost on Tuesday with Hutchison’s announcement that it would offload its ports to a group led by giant US asset manager BlackRock.

The sale offers Panama “a way out of the diplomatic crisis without needing to cancel (Hutchison’s) concession, which would further damage the investment climate in Panama,” Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America program at the Washington based Wilson Center think tank told AFP.

Panama’s government insisted that it had no hand in Hutchison’s sale, insisting it was a deal “between private companies.”

Frank Sixt, co-managing director of CK Hutchison, also argued that the deal was “purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports.”

But analysts said it came as a relief nonetheless for President Jose Raul Mulino, who had been under fierce pressure to reduce China’s footprint in the country, without riling the second-largest user of the canal after the United States.

In January, his government ordered an audit of Hutchison’s Panamanian subsidiary, Panama Ports, in what was seen as a shot across the bow at the group owned by businessman Li Ka-shing, one of Asia’s richest men.

In the end, one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates decided itself to bow to Trump’s pressure.

“In the Trump era, business is the new geopolitics,” Sabrina Bacal, a Panamanian political scientist, told AFP.

– ‘Taking back’ the canal –



In his inauguration speech on January 20, Trump declared the United States was “taking back” the Panama Canal, claiming China operated it.

On a visit to Panama two weeks later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued Mulino with an ultimatum to immediately reduce Chinese influence on the canal or face unspecified “measures.”

Panama sought desperately to appease the Trump administration by first pulling out of China’s massive Belt and Road infrastructure program and then offering to act as a beachhead for Trump’s mass migrant deportations.

Panamanian authorities also began piling pressure on Hutchison, which handled 39 percent of the containers that passed through Panamanian docks in 2024, according to the Panamanian Maritime Authority.

The country’s Supreme Court agreed to consider two requests to annul the ports concession granted to Hutchison, which Panama’s attorney general claimed was unconstitutional.

The concession was first awarded in 1997 and extended for 25 years in 2021.

While Hutchison’s sale of the ports is expected to silence Trump’s criticism of Chinese involvement in the canal, he could however continue to complain that US vessels are being overcharged to use the waterway.

Last month, the US State Department claimed that Panama had agreed to let US naval vessels through for free — a claim denied by the Panama Canal Authority, the independent agency that runs the shipping route.

Critics Warn Trump 'Flatly Illegal' Firings at NOAA Will 'Cost Lives'

"Today's mass layoffs of NOAA staff signals a grim new reality: one where career federal scientists will be recklessly discarded," said one campaigner.

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) speaks at Ritchie Coliseum on the campus of the University of Maryland on June 24, 2024 in College Park, Maryland.
(Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Brett Wilkins
Feb 28, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

Critics on Thursday decried the Trump administration's firing of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration staffers, part of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency's plan to eviscerate the federal government.

Following the playbook of Project 2025, a blueprint for gutting the federal government, the Commerce Department this week fired hundreds of NOAA staffers, many of them specialized climate scientists and weather forecasters.

In addition to issuing weather watches and warnings, NOAA monitors and studies the planet's climate.



U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen's (D-Md.) office said in a statement that the senator stressed that the firings "would be plainly unlawful and pointed to the Merit Service Protection Board's decision yesterday that stayed the terminations of multiple federal employees on probationary status."

"I take this opportunity to remind the department of its legal obligation to notify the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations regarding the large-scale termination of employees," the senator added. Specifically, Section 505 of Title V, Division C of Public Law 118–42—a provision of the American Relief Act, 2025 (Public Law 118–158)—states, in part:
None of the funds provided under this act, or provided under previous appropriations acts to the agencies funded by this act that remain available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal year 2024... shall be available for obligation or expenditure through a reprogramming of funds that... reduces by 10% funding for any program, project, or activity, or numbers of personnel by 10%; or…results from any general savings, including savings from a reduction in personnel, which would result in a change in existing programs, projects, or activities as approved by Congress; unless the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations are notified 15 days in advance of such reprogramming of funds.

"Other agencies in my subcommittee's jurisdiction have cited ' poor performance' to move forward with drastic layoffs," Van Hollen added. "This has been exposed as a lie. Many terminated probationary employees have already come forward with evidence of recent glowing performance reviews, laying bare the flimsy pretext of these firings as gross misrepresentations of fact. The department must not become a purveyor of such lies and must comply with its legal obligations."

Juan Declet-Barreto, senior social scientist for climate vulnerability in the Climate and Energy Program at Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement that "today's mass layoffs of NOAA staff signals a grim new reality: one where career federal scientists will be recklessly discarded, and the lifesaving science they do will be significantly undermined."

"When testifying under oath, Howard Lutnick assured congressional members that if confirmed as commerce secretary, NOAA wouldn’t be dismantled under his watch—a promise that was broken today," Declet-Barreto added. "It seems either Lutnick willingly lied to Congress and the American people or that he has caved in record-breaking time to the destructive agenda of the Trump-Musk regime."

Oceana U.S. vice president Beth Lowell said that "our oceans have become political carnage, but the real victims are hardworking Americans—the people you care about—and our future generations."

"These are American jobs that warn us about severe weather, protect our most vulnerable marine life like whales and turtles, ensure abundant fisheries, and maintain a healthy ocean for those whose livelihoods depend on it," Lowell added. "We're calling on Congress to save NOAA from these disastrous cuts, while also protecting American jobs, communities, and the oceans."

More than 2,000 scientists have signed a letter to members of Congress and the Commerce Secretary urging protection of NOAA.

'The Chaos Is the Point': Union Blasts Trump Mass Firings as Attack on All Taxpayers


"This administration has targeted every single federal worker and does not seem to care how much turmoil they cause for either the employees or the American public," said the president of AFGE.


President Everett Kelley of the American Federation of Government Employees speaks at a protest against firings of federal employees during a rally to defend federal workers in Washington, D.C. on February 11, 2025.
(Photo: Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Eloise Goldsmith
Feb 28, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees decried the latest move by the Trump administration to drastically reduce the federal workforce, writing in a statement Wednesday that AFGE will not stand idly by as President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their lackeys "run roughshod over the Constitution, federal law, and basic human decency."

"Laying off potentially hundreds of thousands of federal workers will mean fewer services at higher costs for the American taxpayer," said Kelley, whose union represents 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers and has been active challenging Trump administration measures in court.

Kelley's comments came in response to a Wednesday memo released by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management, which gave agency leaders guidance on how to come up with "large-scale" reduction in force and reorganization plans that are due March 13.

"Agencies should also seek to consolidate areas of the agency organization chart that are duplicative; consolidate management layers where unnecessary layers exist; [and] seek reductions in components and positions that are noncritical," according to the memo, which also touches on reducing "real property footprint," "increased productivity," and other goals.

The guidance in the directive does not apply to positions that "are necessary to meet law enforcement, border security, national security, immigration enforcement, or public safety responsibilities," according to the memo, which outlines a few other exemptions as well.

Trump told agencies to prepare for "large-scale" workforce layoffs in an executive order this month.

Although pushback is expected, and courts have blocked some of the administration's actions to date, the latest move underscores just how far Trump and his allies are willing to go to radically reshape the federal government.

"Once you do this damage, it's going to be incredibly hard to rebuild the capacity of these organizations," Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan, toldThe Associated Press. "It's not like you can turn the switch back on and everything is going to be the way it was before."

The Trump administration—with the help of billionaire Elon Musk's advisory group the Department of Government Efficiency—have targeted various agencies with the aim of reducing budget and staff. On Wednesday, during a Cabinet meeting, Trump signaled his continued support for Musk and his efforts to reshape government.

So far, the Trump administration has culled some 30,000 federal employees, according to an analysis from Bloomberg Law.

"This administration has targeted every single federal worker and does not seem to care how much turmoil they cause for either the employees or the American public," said Kelley. "The chaos is the point."

ICYMI

'When Big Oil Says Jump, Republicans Ask How High?' GOP Sends Climate-Killing Bill to Trump's Desk


"It's a sorry testament to the influence of Big Oil on Capitol Hill that one of the top priorities of Congress is a blatant handout to the worst actors in the fossil fuel industry," said one critic.

Natural gas is flared off as oil is pumped in Watford City, North Dakota 
(Photo: Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Jessica Corbett
Feb 28, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


Climate advocates are blasting congressional Republicans this week for their latest gift to fossil fuel industry: sending a resolution to kill the federal Methane Emissions Reduction Program to the desk of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Big Oil-backed Trump is expected to sign the Congressional Review Act resolution, which senators passed along party lines on Thursday. That followed a Wednesday vote in the House of Representatives, where Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine), Vincente Gonzalez (Texas), Adam Gray (Calif.), Kristen Donald Rivet (Mich.), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) supported the measure alongside all Republicans present except Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.

Methane has more than 80 times as much warming power as carbon dioxide during its first two decades in the atmosphere. The pollution program was established by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last November. The Associated Press reported Thursday that "most major oil and gas companies do not release enough methane to trigger the fee, which is $900 per ton, an amount that would increase to $1,500 by 2026."

The GOP resolution will end the program, but not the mandate from the 2022 law. Mahyar Sorour, Sierra Club's director of beyond fossil fuels policy, declared that "this attack on EPA's implementation of the methane waste emissions charge is short-sighted and harmful. It remains a legal requirement for EPA to hold the biggest methane polluters accountable for their negligence."

"Forcing the agency to implement the charge some other way after conducting a thorough, well-researched process is as wasteful of taxpayer resources as these oil and gas operators are wasteful of harmful methane," Sorour argued. "Technology to monitor and stop leaks is readily available and easy to implement, so only wasteful, careless corporations will face a fee for excessive methane pollution. Despite this setback, Sierra Club will not stop fighting to make polluters pay for their egregious actions."




The resolution hit Trump's desk just over a month after his return to office. Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen's Energy Program, said that "it's a sorry testament to the influence of Big Oil on Capitol Hill that one of the top priorities of Congress is a blatant handout to the worst actors in the fossil fuel industry. Congress is showing its hypocrisy by claiming to seek to rein in government spending, while voting to repeal a revenue-raising fee that only applies to wasteful oil and gas companies."

"The methane fee was paired with a $1.5 billion government spending program to help oil and gas companies reduce harmful emissions," noted Slocum, who then took aim at Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency. "Voting to repeal the fee while allowing profitable corporations to pocket hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars is an affront to the millions of working Americans disrupted by indiscriminate DOGE cost-cutting."

"It should not be too much to ask fossil fuel producers to do the bare minimum to capture leaking methane," he added. "Any child knows that when you make a mess, you should clean it up. The fee was intended to be a key part of enforcing standards on an industry that has repeatedly cut corners in its endless drive to extract more fossil fuels."

Critics highlighted how the rollback is expected to affect not only the warming planet but also public health. Moms Clean Air Force national field director Patrice Tomcik said that "as a mother living with oil and gas operations in my neighborhood, I have concerns about the impact of oil and gas pollution on the health of my children and neighbors."

"Polling shows that support for stronger standards on oil and gas operations is widespread across the country, including in oil and gas states, such as Pennsylvania, where my family lives," Tomcik pointed out. "Protecting the air our children breathe and combating the global heating fueling extreme weather should be nonnegotiable."

  SPEAK WHITE  

Trump to Make English Official US Language, Reversing Nearly 250 Years of Tradition

"Press 1 for English. Press 2 for Trump is a fucking pandering asshole," said one critical observer in response.

A sign welcomes visitors to Miami International Airport in three languages 

(Photo: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Brett Wilkins
Feb 28, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Friday designating English as the official language of the United States, the first time the nearly 250-year-old multilingual nation will have one.

The Republican president's order "promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement," according to a White House fact sheet obtained byThe Associated Press.

"While over 350 languages are spoken in the United States, English remains the most widely used across the country,” the White House added. "This order celebrates multilingual Americans who have learned English and passed it down, while empowering immigrants to achieve the American Dream through a common language."



The directive will allow government agencies and federally funded organizations to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in foreign languages. The directive rescinds an order signed by former President Bill Clinton that was retained by each subsequent administration requiring federal agencies and federally funded groups to offer language assistance to non-English speakers.

Over 30 states have already enacted legislation making English their official language, according to the advocacy group U.S. English.

"Gas up. Groceries up. Inflation up," wrote one user on the social media site Bluesky. "But Trump wants to focus on making English the official language of the U.S."

Another social media user quipped: "Press 1 for English. Press 2 for Trump is a pandering fucking asshole."

Ocasio-Cortez Prods Trump AG to Say Whether She's Under Investigation


"Tom Homan (DEPORTATION  CZAR)  has gone on multiple forums threatening political prosecution against me, citing resources I distributed informing my constituents and the American public of their constitutional and legal rights."

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) advocates for temporary protected status for Ecuadorian immigrants outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on November 19, 2024.
(Photo: Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Jessica Corbett
Feb 28, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is demanding answers from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi over whether she is facing a probe for hosting a "Know Your Rights" webinar as the Trump administration pursues mass deportations and other attacks on immigrants.

"I write to request clarity on whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) has yielded to political pressure and attempts to weaponize the agency against elected officials whose speech they disagree with," Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote a letter she made public on Friday.

"Over the past two weeks, 'Border Czar' Tom Homan has gone on multiple forums threatening political prosecution against me, citing resources I distributed informing my constituents and the American public of their constitutional and legal rights," she noted.

"Mr. Homan's repeated attempts to use your agency to politically intimidate duly elected officials are a textbook threat to the right to free speech in the United States."

Ocasio-Cortez—who has publicly stood up to Trump's border czar—wants a clear response from Bondi by March 5. She pointed out Thursday that "it has been 14 days since Mr. Homan first threatened to weaponize your agency, but I have not yet heard any referral from the federal government. Homan's actions undercut core constitutional rights and further transparency is necessary."

The president and his allies have long accused Democrats of weaponizing the DOJ for efforts to hold the Republican accountable for mishandling classified materials and trying to overturn the 2020 election, which culminated in him encouraging supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, an attack that did not reverse Trump's loss and resulted in multiple deaths.

The congresswoman's letter quotes the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and highlights that Vice President JD Vance recently claimed that "we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square."

She then argued that "Mr. Homan's repeated attempts to use your agency to politically intimidate duly elected officials are a textbook threat to the right to free speech in the United States. Threatening criminal proceedings for exercising the First Amendment is itself a violation of the First Amendment."

"Educating the public about their rights, especially in a time of rising uncertainty, is a key part of our responsibility as elected officials," Ocasio-Cortez added. "A government that uses threats of DOJ investigations to suppress free speech is a threat to all, regardless of political ideology."

BBC Rebuked for Canceling Documentary 'Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone'

Hundreds of British artists and media personalities argue that the film "deserves recognition, not politically motivated censorship."


A screenshot of the cancelled BBC documentary film "Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone," is shown here.
(Photo: BBC screenshot)

Brett Wilkins
Feb 28, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


Hundreds of U.K. artists and media personalities have signed an open letter decrying the British Broadcasting Corporation's removal of a documentary film about the horrifying impacts of Israel's Gaza onslaught on children.

The BBC pulled Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone—which was produced by Hoyo Films—after the broadcaster learned that its 14-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official.

Juliet Stevenson, Gary Lineker, Khalid Abdalla, Anita Rani, and Miriam Margolyes are among the more than 800 film, television, and media workers who, as of Friday, have signed the Artists for Palestineletter condemning what signers called the censorship and racism behind the BBC's cancellation.

"We are U.K.-based film and TV professionals and journalists writing in support of the BBC documentary Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone, which aired on February 17 on BBC Two and was subsequently made available on iPlayer," states the letter, whose signatories include a dozen BBC employees.

"This film is an essential piece of journalism, offering an all-too-rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinian children living in unimaginable circumstances, which amplifies voices so often silenced. It deserves recognition, not politically motivated censorship," the letter continues.

"Beneath this political football are children who are in the most dire circumstances of their young lives," the signers added. "This is what must remain at the heart of this discussion. As program-makers, we are extremely alarmed by the intervention of partisan political actors on this issue, and what this means for the future of broadcasting in this country."

The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 17,000 Palestinian children have been killed and thousands more wounded by Israeli attacks on the coastal enclave, 10,000 of them in the first 100 days of the war, according to the charity Save the Children. The International Rescue Committee published a report last October revealing that as many as 50,000 children in Gaza have been orphaned or separated from their parents.

Hundreds of thousands more children have been forcibly displaced, with some dying from exposure to cold, windy, rainy conditions. Many other Gazan children have been sickened and starved, sometimes to death—their deaths partly attributed to the "complete siege" imposed on the strip by Israel, which is facing genocide charges at the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands.



The Israeli assault has wrought what Save the Children called the "complete psychological destruction" of Gaza's children, 96% of whom feared imminent death, according to a survey conducted last December by the Gaza-based Community Training Center for Crisis Management, and supported by War Child Alliance.

The international charity Doctors Without Borders has called Gaza "the most dangerous place in the world to be a child."

Another documentary about Palestine, No Other Land, has been nominated for an Academy Award but is unavailable to stream in the United States because no distributor was willing to take it.

Israel suspends aid to Gaza as first phase of truce ends

Washington announced late Saturday it was boosting its military aid to Israel.

AFP
March 2, 2025

A Palestinian man carries a girl injured in an Israeli shelling on the Ahli Arab hospital, to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, hundreds of people were killed and injured in an Israeli airstrike on Ahli Arab hospital that houses thousands of refugees. Mohammad Abu Elsebah/dpa

Israel said Sunday that it was suspending the entry of supplies into Gaza, with artillery fire and an air strike reported in the territory after it and Hamas hit an impasse over how to proceed with their fragile ceasefire.

As the 42-day first phase of the ceasefire drew to a close, Israel gave its backing to an extension it said was put forward by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which would cover the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Hamas has repeatedly rejected an extension, instead favouring a transition to the truce deal's second phase, which would see the release of all remaining hostages and a more permanent end to the fighting in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided that, from this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will be suspended," his office said in a statement.

"Israel will not accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages. If Hamas persists with its refusal, there will be other consequences," it added.

Hamas slammed the move, saying in a statement that the "decision to suspend humanitarian aid is cheap blackmail, a war crime and a blatant coup against the (ceasefire) agreement".

Gaza's civil defence agency, meanwhile, reported that "artillery shelling and gunfire from Israeli tanks" targeted areas east of Khan Yunis city, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Approached for comment, the Israeli army said it was looking into the matter.

The army also said it had conducted an air strike in northern Gaza targeting suspects it said had "planted an explosive device in the area" near its troops.

Following the announcement of the aid suspension, Netanyahu spokesman Omer Dostri wrote on X: "No trucks entered Gaza this morning, nor will they at this stage."

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose party is crucial to keeping Netanyahu's government in power, welcomed the decision to suspend aid.

Stopping aid "until Hamas is destroyed or completely surrenders and all our hostages are freed is an important step in the right direction", he said on Telegram, calling for a renewed fight "until total victory" against Hamas.


"We have remained in government to ensure this," he added.

- 'Punitive measures' -

According to the Israeli statement, the truce extension would see half of the hostages still in Gaza freed on the day the deal came into effect, with the rest to be released at the end if an agreement was reached on a permanent ceasefire.


Hamas called on "mediators and the international community to pressure" Israel to "put an end to these punitive, immoral measures against more than two million people in the Gaza Strip".

Its spokesman Hazem Qassem later said Israel "bears responsibility for the consequences of its decision on the people of the Strip and the fate of its prisoners".

A senior Hamas official had earlier told AFP the Palestinian militant group was prepared to release all remaining hostages in a single swap during the second phase.


Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said Sunday that proceeding to the second phase was "the only way to achieve stability in the region and the return" of the hostages.

Under the first phase, Hamas returned 25 living hostages and the bodies of eight others, in exchange for the release of about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners.

Of the 251 captives taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 58 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.


More than 15 months of war created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with the UN repeatedly warning the territory was on the brink of famine before the ceasefire allowed a surge of aid to enter.

But Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Sunday dismissed warnings of famine in Gaza as a "lie".

"With regards to this starvation [claim], that was a lie during all this war. That was a lie," Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem.

The suspension of aid comes as Palestinians in Gaza, alongside much of the Muslim world, mark the second day of the holy month of Ramadan, during which the faithful observe a dawn-to-dusk fast.


The war has ravaged the vast majority of Gaza and killed more than 48,388 people there, mostly civilians, according to the territory's health ministry, figures the UN has deemed reliable.

It began with Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Washington announced late Saturday it was boosting its military aid to Israel.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was using "emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance".

SOTU

Trump touts accomplishments, taunts opponents in speech to Congress

In his first joint session to a visibly divided Congress, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday flaunted his second administration's accomplishments and derided his opponents, while reiterating his promises to restore the US economy, achieve peace in Ukraine, and reshape the federal government.

 05/03/2025 - 
By: FRANCE 24
Video by: Fraser JACKSON

10:45

US President Donald Trump said 'America is back' in a speech celebrating his tumultuous first six weeks in power. © Jim Watson, AFP





Trump declared "America is back" Tuesday in his first address to Congress since returning to power, facing instant Democratic hostility as he touted radical social and economic policies, while hailing his billionaire adviser Elon Musk.

With Musk, the world's richest person, among those attending the primetime televised speech, the 78-year-old Republican said after less than two months back in power he is "just getting started".

The "American dream is unstoppable," he declared.

Almost every line got loud applause from Republican Party members, including on two occasions when Trump singled out Musk, who stood up to salute the Congress.

But protests also began within minutes.

One Democratic congressman, Al Green, was ordered ejected because he refused to stop heckling, claiming Trump has no mandate to dismantle healthcare programs, and shaking his walking stick at the president.

Other Democrats silently held up placards including "False" and "Musk steals" and "That's a lie!"

And at one moment, numerous Democrats yelled "January 6!" at Trump, referring to his supporters' violent attack on the Capitol in 2021 after he refused to concede his election loss.

The Republican president was undeterred, hailing his first six weeks and vowing to press on with his polarising bid to reshape the US government and end the Ukraine war – whatever the cost.
Reality TV style

Trump reverted to his tried-and-tested reality TV instincts. At one point he called attention to a boy with brain cancer who dreamed of becoming a policeman and – in front of Congress – was handed an official ID by the head of the Secret Service.

But in what mostly sounded like a campaign speech rather than an address to the nation, Trump made no attempt to reach out to opponents.

He got big cheers from supporters on pronouncing that his culture war on diversity programs and transgender rights meant "our country will be woke no longer".

He claimed that he was trying to resolve an "economic catastrophe", despite actually inheriting the strongest developed economy in the world from his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.

Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib protests against President Donald Trump during his speech to Congress

 © SAUL LOEB / AFP

He defended his disruptive economic moves – even as the trade war he launched against Canada, China and Mexico is prompting jitters on world markets.

After a torrent of warnings that tariffs will badly hurt US exporters, including politically powerful farmers, he conceded they would bring "a little disturbance".

"Have a lot of fun," Trump said to farmers, whom he said "I love".

And after enumerating a series of murders committed by migrants, Trump got big applause when he vowed to "wage war" on Mexican drug cartels.

Well before he had finished, dozens of Democrats had already walked out.
Quest for power

Trump is pushing to extend presidential power to its limits, with the popular vote behind him and a Republican-controlled House and Senate doing his bidding.

Aided by tech tycoon Musk, Trump has cracked down on the federal bureaucracy, firing thousands of workers, shuttering entire agencies and decimating foreign aid.

But there are early signs in the polls that Trump's sweeping cuts and his failure to tackle inflation are hitting his popularity.

Trump is also upending US foreign policy with his pivot to Moscow over the Ukraine war, which has stunned Kyiv and allies alike.

Days after a televised row in the Oval Office with Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump reiterated it was time to end the "senseless war" but did not address growing accusations that he is following the Kremlin's lead, while ignoring ally Ukraine.

He said he had just received a letter from Zelensky in which the Ukrainian president said he was "ready" for peace negotiations and could sign a US-Ukraine minerals sharing deal "any time".

Trump also doubled down on his controversial vows on "taking back" the Panama Canal and getting Greenland from Denmark by "one way or another".

Democrats have so far struggled to counter Trump's flood-the-zone strategy and his hogging of the news cycle with constant press conferences.

The Democratic rebuttal to Trump's address will be provided by new Michigan senator Elissa Slotkin, a 48-year-old former CIA analyst and rising star in the party.

On the Democrats' rebuttal speech, Senator Elissa Slotkin aimed her sober address at middle class Americans, calling Trump and Musk "reckless" at home and giving up on "American leadership" abroad.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

'The litany of lies is endless': Internet rips Trump apart over 'utterly bonkers' speech

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a speech to a joint session of Congress, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 4, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Carl Gibson

March 05, 2025
ALTERNET



On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump gave his first joint address to Congress. He was almost immediately picked apart by journalists, fact-checkers, elected officials and others for his rapid pace of outright lies and false claims.

In just the first few minutes of the speech, Trump proclaimed that he won the 2024 election with "a mandate like has not been seen in many decades." New York Times reporter Kenneth Vogel pointed out that Trump won the popular vote by just a 1.48% margin, while Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama each had margins of victory of 4.45% and 7.27%, respectively.

This led Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) to stand up and shout that he has "no mandate to cut Medicaid." House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) then ordered the House sergeant-at-arms to remove the longtime lawmaker from the chamber. Aaron Fritschner, who is the deputy chief of staff for Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) posted the viral photo of Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) shouting during Biden's State of the Union address with the text: "They weren't removed."

READ MORE: 'Remove this gentleman from the chamber': Johnson kicks out Dem rep for shouting at Trump

Trump also used a significant portion of his speech to falsely assert there was widespread fraud in the Social Security Administration (SSA), arguing that people well over 100 years old were receiving benefits. On Bluesky, Washington Post columnist Philip Bump called that claim "total horses---" and posted a link showing that Trump was misreading data from the SSA. The agency has a database of every American who has been issued a Social Security number, but many of them don't have a date of death listed, as they passed away before electronic records were put in place.

Kansas University law professor Corey Rayburn Yung described the president's remarks about Social Security as "a lengthy diatribe that is all false." And Social Security Works executive director Alex Lawson called Trump a "f---ing liar" who is "coming to steal our Social Security."

"Trump is making up stats about Social Security so he has an excuse to cut your benefits," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wrote on Bluesky.

At one point, Trump gave a shout-out to centibillionaire Elon Musk, and mentioned that he leads the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Multiple legal experts immediately flagged this claim and pointed out that the Trump administration has argued in federal court that Musk does not lead DOGE. This may result in legal problems down the road, with Tech Policy Press journalist Cristiano Lima-Strong reminding his Bluesky followers: "This is a point of contention in ongoing lawsuits over its work."

Trump also promised to cut Americans' taxes. But as Brendan Duke of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities pointed out, Trump's new 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico "would wipe out any tax cuts the bottom of 40% of Americans would receive." And he noted that this "doesn’t count additional import taxes he’s considering or the cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance."

"Donald Trump, who is trying right now to pass a $4 trillion tax cut that would give households in the 0.1% a $278k tax cut, says he's going to balance the budget," wrote Center for American Progress senior director of federal budget policy Bobby Kogan.

Other journalists were amazed at the dizzying speed at which Trump lied. Journalist Mythili Sampathkumar observed that "quite literally every line of this State of the Union is a lie and/or has factual error." Former CBS News journalist Zev Shalev wrote: "The litany of lies is endless — it's impossible to keep track of."

"This is a rally speech, but it's also a list of things he claims to have done that he actually hasn't done," tweeted Atlantic contributor Tom Nichols. "It's utterly bonkers."

 

'Remove this gentleman from the chamber': Johnson kicks out Dem rep for shouting at Trump

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) being carried out of the House of Representatives chamber on March 4, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via X)


Carl Gibson

ALTERNET

March 05, 2025

During the first few minutes of President Donald Trump's joint address to Congress, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) stood up and yelled at him, pointing his cane at the speaker's dais.

Trump had been speaking about the size of his 2024 election victory, in which he had the smallest margin of victory among all popular vote winners since 2000. At that point, many Democrats started loudly booing, prompting Republicans to drown them out by chanting "USA! USA!"

owever, Green continued to yell at Trump after he resumed his speech, which led to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) giving Democrats a "warning" to stop. When Green refused, Johnson then deployed security staff to forcibly carry him out. Republicans could be heard chanting "na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" as Green was removed.

"The chair now directs the sergeant-at-arms to restore order," Johnson said. "Remove this gentleman from the chamber!"

Watch the video of Green's removal below, or by clicking this link

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'Righteous civil disobedience': Dem's protest during Trump speech stirs up social media

Matthew Chapman
March 4, 2025 

RAW STORY


WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 04: U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-TX) is removed from the chamber as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Pool via REUTERS

Just as President Donald Trump was about to start speaking in his address to Congress, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) stood up, shouted, "You don't have a mandate to cut Medicaid!" and forcefully waved his cane. Republicans immediately directed the sergeant-at-arms to remove him from the chamber.

The GOP quickly mocked Green on social media, and some political pundits expressed skepticism of the move, with MSNBC's Michael Cohen writing on X, "Don't think Rep. Al Green did Democrats any favors with that stunt."

But elsewhere, many figures celebrated Green's act of opposition.

"How so? What's the cost? Norms?" posted writer Tom Watson in response to Cohen.


"I stand with Al Green!" wrote Marcus Flowers, a former congressional candidate who ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

"Looks like there's gonna be arrests in the chamber tonight! Righteous civil disobedience," wrote investigative reporter Lauren Windsor.

"Lmao it sounds like Rep. Al Green's protest hurt Trump's feelings," wrote Mashable reporter Matt Binder.

"Good for Al Green — f--- these liars," wrote Democratic strategist Mike Nellis.

"Every single Democrat should be doing what Al Green just did," wrote Sam Weinberg of the youth group Path to Progress.

Watch a clip of the protest below or at this link.

'Sell the White House too': Trump could sell DOJ, FBI headquarters, agency says to outrage

Newly sworn-in President Donald Trump speaks with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) following a signing ceremony in the President?s Room following the 60th inaugural ceremony on January 20, 2025, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Melina Mara/Pool via REUTERS


David Badash

THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

March 04, 2025

The jokes may write themselves, but critics are outraged after the General Services Administration—an independent federal agency that President Donald Trump claims reports to him—signaled that iconic government buildings, integral to the nation’s landscape for decades, may go up for sale.

“The US government is considering selling a sprawling portfolio of properties across 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to shrink the federal workforce — and the buildings it occupies,” Bloomberg reports.

Care to buy the U.S. Department of Justice’s headquarters? You may be able to. In fact, the GSA has listed more than 400 federal buildings as not being central to the mission of the U.S. government, and thus, ripe for the auction block.

“An inventory of 443 ‘non-core’ assets posted by the General Services Administration Tuesday included many of the prime commercial buildings that house local and regional offices for federal agencies and provide services for taxpayers, Social Security recipients, farmers and workers.”


Also on the possible auction block: buildings that house the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“The names of the buildings also suggest their historic legacies. The John F. Kennedy Federal Building in Boston and the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco could be sold, as well as the Rosa Parks Federal Building in Detroit and the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building in Atlanta,” Bloomberg reports. “Some of the properties could also be sold and leased back to the federal government.”

That last point hit some critics hard, many of whom suggested the Trump administration would sell top government buildings and then lease them back to the federal government at exorbitant rates.

“Just because something is on the non-core list doesn’t mean it’s for sale by any means,” former investment banker Michael Peters, who was “tapped by Trump to lead the Public Buildings Service,” told Bloomberg. “But if someone put an offer on the table, we would evaluate it.”

The Independent also reports that the “GSA also says a large swath of prime real estate near the White House, including the Office of Personnel Management’s Theodore Roosevelt Building HQ, the building used to house offices of the United States Trade Representative, the headquarters of the American Red Cross, and the Old Post Office building — a national historic landmark that was formerly leased by President Donald Trump’s eponymous real estate company for use as a hotel — are ‘non-core’ and therefore ripe for disposal as well.”

According to attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, the GSA’s list includes “11 buildings with immigration courts (and often ICE), in Baltimore, Boston, El Paso, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Tucson, Portland, Sacramento, Seattle, and Van Nuys.”

Appearing to walk through the GSA list, Reichlin-Melnick added, “This list is insane. It even includes things like the GSA-run HEATING PLANT which ensures that federal buildings have steam heat and cold water.”

“Further insane things on this list include a PORT OF ENTRY into the United States along the U.S.-Canada border, nearly a dozen federal courthouses, and the IRS National Computer Center, which houses the agency’s primary mainframe,” he noted. “It’s legit nuts.”

Appearing to mock the idea of selling off iconic federal buildings, The Bulwark’s Sam Stein asked, “why stop there? Sell the White House too. Do we really need both the House AND the Senate. Let’s get rid of one of those.”

AFRIKANER AMERIKAN

'Devoid of humanity': Musk’s call to pardon George Floyd’s killer ignites fierce backlash

Sarah K. Burris
March 4, 2025 

RAW STORY


A person holds a sign as activists attend a protest against cuts to government agencies by tech billionaire Elon Musk and his young aides at the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), outside the SpaceX's facility in Hawthorne, California, U.S., March 1, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson

Tech billionaire and close adviser to President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, is lending his voice to encourage the pardon of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who killed George Floyd in May 2020.

Far-right commentator Ben Shapiro posted a link to a Daily Wire letter to Trump, asking to pardon Chauvin. Musk shared the post and called it "something to think about."

While Chauvin pleaded guilty to federal civil rights violations and tax evasion charges, the murder of Floyd was a state charge, which Trump can't pardon, explained legal expert Andy Craig.

His federal sentences are running concurrently with his longer state sentence for murder.

"A federal pardon would have no effect on how long he'll be in prison," wrote Craig.

Reuters crime reporter Brad Heath also pointed out that currently Chauvin is in federal prison, where he's serving time, "Pardoning him for one wouldn't impact the other. (But a federal pardon would move him back to state prison.)"

He recalled that Chauvin did not want to be in state prison. He's currently in the federal prison in Big Springs, Arkansas, The Associated Press wrote in Aug. 2024.

"He'll be 'rotting in prison' regardless," Reason reporter Billy Binion agreed.

Critics were disgusted, commenting about it on social media Tuesday afternoon.

"As I was saying, any person supporting Derek Chauvin is a sociopathic racist devoid of humanity," said Radicalized Podcast co-host and journalist Jim Stewartson.

"It does not get more white power than Ben Shapiro and Musk calling for Derek Chauvin who murdered George Floyd to be pardoned," said SiriusXMProgress host Dean Obeidallah.

Others were shocked Trump hadn't already issued the pardon.

Brett Johnson, who was previously on the "Most Wanted" list for cyber crimes, referred to Musk as the "co-President" when pointing out Musk's comments.

"Let that racist idea sink in," said Johnson. "Then think about a law enforcement officer kneeling on your neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds as you slowly suffocate to death, crying for your mother, other cops watching."