As President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk work to overhaul the federal government, they’re forcing out thousands of workers with insider knowledge and connections who now need a job. These mass layoffs and resignations are prompting concerns that a disgruntled former employee may seek to sell secrets to a foreign power.
Here's the Latest:
Trump’s schedule for Monday
The president and the Governor of Louisiana are planning to deliver remarks in the Roosevelt Room this afternoon, according to the White House. Later, Trump will participate in a Greek Independence Day Celebration.
2 months into
Trump’s second administration, the news industry faces challenges from all directions
During the first Trump administration, the biggest concern for many journalists was labels. Would they, or their news outlet, be called “fake news” or an “enemy of the people” by a president and his supporters?
They now face a more assertive Trump. In two months, a blitz of action by the nation’s new administration — Trump, chapter two — has journalists on their heels.
Lawsuits. A newly aggressive Federal Communications Commission. An effort to control the press corps that covers the president, prompting legal action by The Associated Press. A gutted Voice of America. Public data stripped from websites. And attacks, amplified anew.
“It’s very clear what’s happening. The Trump administration is on a campaign to do everything it can to diminish and obstruct journalism in the United States,” said Bill Grueskin, a journalism professor at Columbia University.
“It’s really nothing like we saw in 2017,” he said. “Not that there weren’t efforts to discredit the press, and not that there weren’t things that the press did to discredit themselves.”
▶ Read more about how the media is being impacted by the Trump administration
Security is enhanced in Greenland as US vice president’s wife plans visit to island coveted by Trump
Danish police have sent extra personnel and sniffer dogs to Greenland as the mineral-rich island steps up security measures ahead of a planned visit this week by U.S. second lady Usha Vance, which has stirred new concerns about the Trump administration’s interest in the autonomous Danish territory.
Greenland’s prime minister lamented a “mess” caused by the visit from Vance, who reportedly will be accompanied by Trump’s national security adviser.
The visit — in which Vance plans to learn more about Greenland’s cultural heritage and see a national dogsled race — comes against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump ’s ambition for the United States to seize control of Greenland.
▶ Read more about the second lady’s trip to Greenland
If you’re just catching up on the news from the weekend, here are some of the highlights from the past few days:
Here are some of the headlines from the weekend
Concerns about espionage rise as Trump and Musk fire thousands of federal workers
As President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk work to overhaul the federal government, they’re forcing out thousands of workers with insider knowledge and connections who now need a job.
For Russia, China and other adversaries, the upheaval in Washington as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency guts government agencies presents an unprecedented opportunity to recruit informants, national security and intelligence experts say.
Every former federal worker with knowledge of or access to sensitive information or systems could be a target. When thousands of them leave their jobs at the same time, that creates a lot of targets, as well as a counterespionage challenge for the United States.
“This information is highly valuable, and it shouldn’t be surprising that Russia and China and other organizations — criminal syndicates for instance — would be aggressively recruiting government employees,” said Theresa Payton, a former White House chief information officer under President George W. Bush, who now runs her own cybersecurity firm.
▶ Read more about the growing fears of espionage in the federal government
