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As protests arise and First Amendment questions mount surrounding the immigration detention of Mahmoud Khalil, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. penned and circulated a letter demanding the immediate release of the recent Columbia University graduate. 

It found little support among Tlaib’s colleagues in Washington, with a mere 14 Democrats signing their names on the letter condemning Khalil’s detention as an “illegal abduction.” 

Instead, statements from prominent Democrats suggest much of the party is taking the Trump administration’s targeting of Khalil in good faith.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., who counts Khalil as one of his constituents, did not sign the letter. When contacted by The Intercept about the case, Espaillat said he expects the Trump administration – which has explicitly flouted and sought to circumscribe federal legal protections for civil liberties – to adhere to the rule of law.

“Regarding the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a constituent who lives in my district, my office has been following this case closely and as a former green card holder, I expect the Department of Justice to work within the confines of the law and that due process is guaranteed to him and his family,” Espaillat said in a statement Tuesday morning. “The rule of law must be respected.” 

In a statement on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., condemned Khalil’s activism and “antisemitic actions at Columbia,” without providing examples of those actions. He said that the administration should release Khalil if it could determine he had not broken any laws. 

The Trump administration itself has admitted the case against Khalil does not hinge on allegations that he broke the law and told a conservative news outlet that it will these proceedings as a blueprint to target other students.

Tlaib’s letter — first reported by Jewish Insider — specifically calls out the Trump administration’s campaign for pushing to expel Khalil despite the fact he “has not been charged or convicted of any crime.”

Related

If Trump Can Deport Mahmoud Khalil, Freedom of Speech Is Dead

“As the Trump administration proudly admits, he was targeted solely for his activism and organizing as a student leader and negotiator for the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Columbia University campus, protesting the Israeli government’s brutal assault on the Palestinian people in Gaza and his university’s complicity in this oppression,” the letter said. “This illegal justification has been stated clearly by figures throughout the administration, including the president himself.”

In a bid to find additional backers, the letter was distributed among all 100 House members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Monday evening with a 10 a.m. deadline, according to a source familiar with the letter. Less than 15 percent of CPC members signed onto the letter, which was published Tuesday morning.

Signatories of the letter include: Andre Carson, D-Ind., Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, Al Green, D-Texas, Summer Lee, D-Penn., Jim McGovern, D-Mass., Gwen Moore, D-Wisc., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Reps. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Lateefah Simon, D-Calif., Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y. and Nikema Williams, D-Ga. 

At least one Democrat reportedly consulted about Khalil prior to his arrest. According to The Forward, an aide for Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., discussed Khalil’s situation with a former operative for the Zionist group Betar. The group has taken credit for sending a list of students it wanted deported to the White House. Betar named Khalil, misspelling his first name, in a tweet in January.

In response to a tweet on Monday from the Senate Judiciary Democrats calling to free Khalil, Fetterman replied: “Free all the hostages who have been tortured, starved, raped, beaten and STILL in tunnels in Gaza by Hamas since October 7th, 2023.” Fetterman’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Correction: Tuesday, March 11, 11:09 p.m. ET
An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the publication that first that reported an aide for Fetterman discussed Khalil prior to his detention. That was first reported by The Forward.

The post Dems for Some Reason Expect Trump to Follow the Law on Detention of Mahmoud Khalil appeared first on The Intercept.

Several anti-Israel agitators were arrested in New York on Tuesday after clashing with police during a protest against the detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student activist and foreign national whom the Trump administration moved to deport over his pro-Hamas campus organizing. It was part of a nationwide student and faculty walkout at several elite colleges across the nation.

BREAKING: Mass arrests outside NYC City Hall as Pro-Palestine Protesters refuse to leave the roadway as they marched against Mahmoud Khalil arrest.

Video by @yyeeaahhhboiii2 @FreedomNTV Desk@freedomnews.tv to license pic.twitter.com/vsUyTjUEWV

— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) March 11, 2025

NYPD moved in after the protesters refused to clear the roadway in front of City Hall. Agitators pushed back, and police began making arrests.

Among the crowd was Aidan Parisi, a Columbia graduate student who was arrested for storming Hamilton Hall last year. He was suspended last spring over his involvement in an event that featured a number of terror-tied speakers who advocated for violence against Jews. Also in attendance was Barnard College student and anti-Israel activist Maryam Iqbal, who was arrested with Parisi during last spring’s illegal encampments at Columbia.

The crowd first gathered at Washington Square Park before marching to City Hall as part of a protest organized by New York University’s Faculty and Students for Justice in Palestine chapters and joined by the anti-Semitic group Within Our Lifetime. During the event, billed as a “rally against compliance with fascist policies,” hundreds chanted in unison, “We want justice, you say how, release Mahmoud Khalil now.”

One attendee sported a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine headband, while others displayed posters of militants holding AK-47s with the caption “Palestine will be free.”

Spotted at this protest organized by several student and faculty groups at NYU (including SJP, FSJP, SDS, and others): A PFLP headband and posters promoting armed “resistance” (aka violent terrorism).

cc: @DHSgov @StateDept https://t.co/WNNcnL90d4 pic.twitter.com/vT8IF998xZ

— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) March 11, 2025

“By resistance … we mean action. We mean taking to the streets, mobilizing in our thousands, no, in our millions, and dealing blow after blow to our enemies,” one agitator told the crowd.

NOW: NYU students and protesters stage a WALK OUT in NYC to protest against ICE arrest of Former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.

Video by @olgafe_images @FreedomNTV Desk@freedomnews.tv to license pic.twitter.com/e0jTYKhGEJ

— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) March 11, 2025

At Columbia, a smaller crowd of about 40 faculty and students walked out of their classes and assembled outside the Low Memorial Library. Similar walkouts were staged at the City University of New York, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Los Angeles—most of which have faced anti-Semitism in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack. National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP)—an anti-Israel group accused of providing material support to Hamas—urged the protests, calling on “individuals to walk out of class, take over central spaces on campus, and assert our mass power” on Tuesday.

“In the face of the state’s existential attacks on the Student Movement and popular education, we declare that we, the united students, faculty, staff, and workers, are the university,” NSJP posted to Instagram on Monday. “The popular movement against Zionism, imperialism, and fascism will not shy away in the face of federal threats; we will show our Board of Trustees, administrators, and the state that we will not back down.”

At Columbia, protesters wore shirts and held signs sporting slogans like “FUCK ICE” and “PIGS ARE NOT KOSHER.” Among the crowd was Joseph Howley, a Columbia classics professor and member of Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (FSJP). Also in attendance was Bruce Robbins, a Columbia humanities professor who falsely denied that protesters at the encampment chanted for the “destruction of civilian lives.”

The crowd sang the “Ruth Song,” which agitators also crooned the evening the New York Police Department cleared Hamilton Hall after a mob stormed it. They also chanted, “Free Mahmoud,” and “Immigrants are welcome here.” The protesters called out the interim Columbia president, chanting, “We will never let this slide, Katrina Armstrong you can’t hide” and “Katrina Armstrong what do you say, how many boots did you lick today.”

 

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A post shared by Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC) (@columbia.psc)

Aharon Dardik, a founding member of the anti-Israel student group CU Jews4Ceasefire, which condemned Columbia’s Hillel for hosting an exclusive event with former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett last week, led the crowd in prayer to bring Khalil home safely, a protest attendee told the Washington Free Beacon.

One demonstrator asked bystanders to bring the protesters food, water, and sunscreen since they were exposed to the “very hot sun,” a witness told the Free Beacon. “We need that support from our communities so if you are someone who has access to those things, please pull up and help us!”

“We are aware of a small protest on the steps of Low Library,” a Columbia spokesperson told the Free Beacon. “Our public safety and University delegates were monitoring for any disruptions to campus activity. Our focus is to preserve our core mission to teach, create, and advance knowledge.”

Khalil was taken into ICE custody Saturday night after the Trump administration pulled his visa and green card.

“This should serve as a warning to foreign students on temporary status in America—under this administration, if you support terror groups, we will deport you,” a State Department official told the Free Beacon. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a similar statement on Sunday, saying he will “be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

President Donald Trump issued his own statement Monday, declaring Khalil’s detention marks “the first arrest of many to come.”

That same day, a federal judge paused deportation proceedings pending a ruling on a petition Khalil filed in court claiming there was “no basis” for his arrest and subsequent detention.

In April, Khalil spearheaded negotiations with Columbia administrators during the pro-Hamas student encampments, representing Columbia University Apartheid Divest—the Ivy League institution’s most anti-Semitic student organization—and demanding divestment from Israel. He pledged further unrest in the buildup to the fall semester, telling The Hill he would continue to push Columbia to divest from the Jewish state by “any available means necessary.”

“And we’ve been working all this summer on our plans, on what’s next to pressure Columbia to listen to the students and to decide to be on the right side of history,” Khalil said in August. “We’re considering a wide range of actions throughout the semester, encampments and protests and all of that. But for us, encampment is now our new base.”

Last week, Khalil again served as a negotiator for CUAD after a mob of radical Columbia activists stormed a Barnard library. Once inside the building, the agitators distributed Hamas propaganda meant to justify Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack. A week earlier, CUAD stormed a separate campus building at Barnard, resulting in the hospitalization of a security guard and $30,000 in damages.

On Monday at least three Columbia professors canceled in-person classes in support of Khalil, the Free Beacon reported. English professor Joseph Albernaz, philosophy lecturer Ruairidh MacLeod, and an unnamed third emailed students to cancel courses or remove attendance requirements. MacLeod ditched the “discussion requirement for [his] Marx class,” citing “sensitivity to the situation arising from the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil.” Albernaz went as far as to give every student an “A” on an upcoming midterm scheduled for Thursday, saying he was “sickened at the news of the ICE detainment of a student.” The third instructor canceled courses for the rest of the week, arguing it was “unsafe to continue teaching as usual.”

Update, 11:30 p.m.: This story has been updated to include comment from a Columbia spokesperson.

The post Anti-Israel Agitators Arrested in New York Amid Nationwide Walkouts Protesting Pro-Hamas Activist’s ICE Arrest appeared first on .

(NewsNation) — As Ukraine agrees to a 30-day ceasefire proposal brokered by the United States, experts remain skeptical Russian President Vladimir Putin will reciprocate without adding demands that could derail peace efforts.

“Putin does not want a ceasefire. He wants to take more Ukrainian territory,” John Herbst, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, told NewsNation Tuesday following the announcement of the agreement reached in Saudi Arabia.

President Donald Trump’s administration announced it would immediately resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after the ceasefire agreement, reversing a controversial freeze implemented in late February.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “The ball is now in Russia’s court,” but military experts caution against optimism.

“He could agree to a ceasefire but then continue to fight,” said retired Gen. Wesley Clark, former NATO supreme allied commander. “There could always be accusations of provocations by Ukraine. There’s no one to monitor the ceasefire.”

‘Lot of games’ until Putin agrees to ceasefire deal: Ex-NATO commander

Clark outlined several potential scenarios where Putin might undermine the agreement, including demanding substantial Ukrainian territorial concessions or using the pause to rebuild Russian forces.

“He could say ‘yes’ and then put some really tough demands on the table, like Ukraine expected to give up the rest of these oblasts provinces,” Clark said.

The ceasefire announcement comes after Ukraine launched its largest drone attack of the conflict, with approximately 90 drones targeting Moscow, reportedly killing three people.

Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel to Russia in the coming days to present the ceasefire proposal to Putin.

Trump said he hoped that an agreement could be solidified “over the next few days.”

“I’ve been saying that Russia’s been easier to deal with so far than Ukraine, which is not supposed to be the way it is,” Trump said later Tuesday. “But it is, and we hope to get Russia. But we have a full ceasefire from Ukraine. That’s good.”

Herbst suggested Putin may try to “probe some Ukrainian weak spots during the ceasefire period” to test American resolve in enforcing the agreement’s terms.

“The United States can push back on this,” Clark said, noting that sanctions relief could be a powerful bargaining chip. “The question is, will we do so?”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

(NewsNation) — The Department of Education announced Tuesday almost half of its staff will be laid off starting March 21.

“Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.

The statement added that the department will continue to deliver on programs, including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for students who are disabled and competitive grantmaking. 

This makes it so the department’s workforce will total 2,183 workers, down from 4,133 when President Donald Trump first took office.

Included in this number are almost 600 employees who took buyouts.

According to a note obtained by NewsNation, all Washington, D.C., offices in the National Capital Region will be closed for “security reasons” starting 6 p.m. ET Tuesday and also Wednesday.

“Employees will not be permitted in any ED facility on Wednesday, March 12 for any reason,” the note said. “All offices will reopen on Thursday, March 13, at which time in-person presence will resume.”

Several federal agencies have seen layoffs and firings through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which Trump created at the beginning of the year. This includes the Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other agencies.

Apple addressed a zero-day vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-24201, that has been exploited in “extremely sophisticated” cyber attacks.

Apple has released emergency security updates to address a zero-day vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-24201, in the WebKit cross-platform web browser engine.

The vulnerability is an out-of-bounds write issue that was exploited in “extremely sophisticated” attacks.

An attacker can exploit the vulnerability using maliciously crafted web content to escape the Web Content sandbox. Apple released this fix as an additional measure after blocking a similar attack in iOS 17.2.

“Maliciously crafted web content may be able to break out of Web Content sandbox. This is a supplementary fix for an attack that was blocked in iOS 17.2. (Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals on versions of iOS before iOS 17.2.)” reads the advisory published by the company.

The company addressed this vulnerability with improved checks. Apple released iOS 18.3.2, iPadOS 18.3.2, macOS Sequoia 15.3.2, visionOS 2.3.2, and Safari 18.3.1 to address the zero-day.

The flaw impacts iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later, Macs running macOS Sequoia, and Apple Vision Pro.

Apple did not disclose details about the attacks or attribute them to any threat actor.

CVE-2025-24201 is the third zero-day since the start of the year. Below are the other flaws the company has fixed:

• January 2025 – CVE-2025-24085 – The vulnerability is a privilege escalation vulnerability that impacts the Core Media framework.
• February 2025 – CVE-2025-24200 – An attacker could have exploited the vulnerability to disable the USB Restricted Mode “on a locked device.” Apple’s USB Restricted Mode is a security feature introduced in iOS 11.4.1 to protect devices from unauthorized access via the Lightning port.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Zero-day)

The House of Representatives on Tuesday voted 217-213 to approve a stopgap funding bill to keep federal agencies running for the next six months, staving off a partial government shutdown while cutting overall spending by around $7 billion.

The vote was mostly along party lines, with one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (Maine), voting for the bill and one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), voting against. The bill cuts non-defense discretionary funding by $13 billion while increasing defense spending by $6 billion to fund warship construction and a pay raise for junior military personnel, Reuters reported.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it will need the support of at least eight Democrats to pass.

The House bill comes as President Donald Trump works to rein in government waste. Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, says its cost-cutting measures have saved taxpayers an estimated $55 billion since Trump’s inauguration. Musk’s team is also reviewing the Pentagon’s $890 billion budget, which accounts for around half of all federal discretionary spending.

This bill, however, excludes DOGE’s proposed cuts, which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) said Republicans will incorporate in next fiscal year’s budget. It also preserves funding for major spending programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

In addition to cutting funding, the House bill also strips more than $1 billion from Washington, D.C.’s budget for the remainder of the fiscal year. D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser (D.) protested the bill outside the Capitol on Monday, arguing the cuts are “not savings for the federal government” but “simply damage to the District.”

The post House Passes Funding Bill To Avert Government Shutdown, Slash Spending by $7 Billion appeared first on .

Ukraine has agreed to a United States proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, representing a potentially significant breakthrough in US-led diplomatic efforts to end the largest European conflict since World War II. The agreement on a potential ceasefire came following eight hours of negotiations between high-level US and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia.

In a joint statement issued following the talks in Jeddah, Ukraine expressed its readiness to accept the United States proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation. The United States will now communicate to the Kremlin that Russia’s readiness to accept the ceasefire proposal is the key to achieving peace. “We’ll take this offer to the Russians. We hope the Russians will reciprocate,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented.

As the world watches the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfold, UkraineAlert delivers the best Atlantic Council expert insight and analysis on Ukraine twice a week directly to your inbox.

There was more positive news for Ukraine from Saudi Arabia, with the US delegation announcing the immediate lifting of a freeze on military assistance and intelligence sharing. This decision to renew US support reflects a thaw in bilateral ties following weeks of increased tension including a disastrous Oval Office meeting in late February that saw US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance clash publicly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump responded to his White House confrontation with Zelenskyy by claiming that the Ukrainian leader was “not ready for peace.” The change in tone from US officials following today’s meeting was palpable. “The Ukrainian delegation today made something very clear, that they share President Trump’s vision for peace, they share his determination to end the fighting, to end the killing, to end the tragic meat grinder of people,” commented White House national security adviser Michael Waltz.

With Ukraine now clearly backing the US peace initiative, the world will be watching closely to see Russia’s reaction. Trump has stated that he may speak directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week. If Putin decides not to support the push for a temporary ceasefire, it will dramatically alter the optics of the war and position Russia as the main obstacle to peace.

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Developments in the coming few days will reveal much about Trump’s personal relationship with Putin. The US leader has long claimed to be on good terms with the Russian dictator and has talked up the progress being made during initial negotiations with the Kremlin over a potential peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. If his efforts are now rebuffed, Trump will face mounting pressure to adopt a far tougher stance toward Moscow.

This places Putin in something of a quandary. Despite suffering heavy battlefield losses, his armies continue to advance slowly but steadily in Ukraine. Meanwhile, dramatic recent changes in US foreign policy have increased his sense of confidence that the international coalition supporting the Ukrainian war effort is finally fracturing. Putin will therefore be understandably reluctant to embrace US calls for an immediate ceasefire. At the same time, he knows that if he rejects Trump’s peace overtures, this will likely derail the broad reset in US-Russian relations that the new United States administration has been signaling since January.

The US has been pushing for a ceasefire as the first step toward comprehensive negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to reach a peace agreement. While a peace deal is still a long way off, this initial step from the Ukrainian side could create much-needed momentum. If Russia chooses not to reciprocate, calls will grow for the US and Europe to strengthen Ukraine’s position militarily while increasing sanctions pressure on Russia.

Peter Dickinson is editor of the Atlantic Council’s UkraineAlert service.

Further reading

UkraineAlert
Mar 6, 2025

US peace initiative can help bring Ukraine’s abducted children home

By
Kristina Hook, Iuliia Hoban

Securing the return of the thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia since 2022 must play a part in the peace efforts recently initiated by US President Donald Trump, write Kristina Hook and Iuliia Hoban.

Civil Society
Conflict

UkraineAlert
Mar 4, 2025

Europe has the resources to defend itself and back Ukraine against Russia

By
Agnia Grigas

By leveraging its economic strength, demographic advantage, and military potential, Europe can confidently counter Putin’s imperial ambitions and provide Ukraine with the support it needs to resist Russia’s invasion, writes Agnia Grigas.

Conflict
Defense Industry

UkraineAlert
Feb 25, 2025

US sides with Russia against Ukraine and Europe at the United Nations

By
Shelby Magid

A diplomatic clash at the UN has illustrated the dramatic divide that has emerged between the United States and Europe since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump just over one month ago, writes Shelby Magid.

Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity

The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.

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UkraineAlert is a comprehensive online publication that provides regular news and analysis on developments in Ukraine’s politics, economy, civil society, and culture.

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia in the East.

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The post Pressure is now on Putin as Ukraine agrees to Trump’s ceasefire proposal appeared first on Atlantic Council.

Nearly 70 percent of voters in battleground districts see congressional Democrats as out of touch, prioritizing political correctness over real issues, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Only 39 percent of voters believe Democrats have the right priorities, while 69 percent say Democrats are “too focused on being politically correct,” a poll by the Democratic group Navigator Research found. The survey, conducted in 62 swing districts, also showed that more than half of voters think the Democratic Party is “elitist” and does not share their values.

The findings come as Democrats still struggle to regain their footing nearly two months into President Donald Trump’s second term. House Democrats are set to hear from one of the poll’s researchers at a Wednesday conference as they work to rebuild the party’s image ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Politico reported.

“The Democratic brand is still not where it needs to be in terms of core trust and understanding people’s challenges,” said Molly Murphy, a Democratic strategist who worked on the Tuesday poll, adding that “criticism of Trump doesn’t translate into trust in Democrats.”

While the Democratic Party has long sought to brand itself as the working-class party, for example, less than 40 percent of those polled think the party truly values work, with 56 percent saying Democrats are not looking out for working people.

Murphy acknowledged the disconnect, saying, “How can you care about working people if you don’t care about work? It’s going to be really hard in the midterms if voters don’t think we care about work.”

Democrats also trail Republicans on the economy, 41 percent to 46 percent, according to the poll. Only 27 percent of independents, meanwhile, think Democrats prioritize people like them, while 55 percent say the party is more focused on others.

The post Poll: Overwhelming Majority of Voters Say Dems Are Out of Touch and ‘Elitist’ appeared first on .

What happened: Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci won a prestigious journalism award this week for his iconic shot of President Donald Trump moments after he was nearly assassinated during a 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pa. The unforgettable image, featuring Trump surrounded by Secret Service agents, his fist raised in defiance under a crane-mounted American flag as blood trickles down his cheek, was named Photo of the Year on Monday by the White House News Photographers Association.

Crucial context: This is the same photo journalists denounced as “dangerous” propaganda, or “photoganda,” in the days following the failed assassination attempt. Axios spoke with “multiple” media photographers in July 2024 about Vucci’s photo and other enduring images from the Butler rally, many of whom “worried privately in conversations” that the photos might help Trump win the election, but wouldn’t deepen the public’s appreciation for heroic journalism. One photographer from a major news outlet warned that it was “dangerous for media organizations to keep sharing [Vucci’s] photo despite how good it is.” Another complained that the award-winning photo would be used by Trump’s “propaganda machine” to portray him as “a martyr.”

Analysis: Journalists would never say these things about a (purely hypothetical) photo of a Democratic politician looking awesome and courageous after surviving an assassination attempt.

Bottom line: Professional journalists want Democrats to win.

Flashback: Iconic Trump Photos Are ‘Dangerous’ Propaganda, Journalists Say

The post Iconic Trump Photo, Decried by Journalists as ‘Dangerous’ Propaganda, Wins Journalism Award appeared first on .

A Florida judge sided with President Donald Trump this week in his defamation lawsuit against members of the Pulitzer Prize Board, who sought to delay the lawsuit until Trump leaves office.

The lawsuit centers on the board’s awards to the New York Times and Washington Post for their Russiagate coverage. Last week, Pulitzer board members argued that Trump’s participation in the suit “could interfere with his duties as president” and render him unable to “devote his time and energy to the problems and issues facing the nation.” Judge Robert Pegg of the 19th circuit court of Okeechobee County, Fla., disagreed, accepting an argument from Trump’s attorneys that Trump himself is “in a better position” to determine whether the suit is a distraction.

The ruling marks another victory for Trump in the lawsuit. Last month, Pegg rejected the board’s request to shield internal communications regarding the award. An appeals court, meanwhile, ruled against the board’s motion to dismiss the case over jurisdictional concerns.

Trump sued Pulitzer board members in December 2022 over their prizes, awarded four years earlier, to the Times and Post for a series of stories about Trump’s purported ties to Russia. The board said the stories “dramatically furthered the nation’s understanding of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections.” In his lawsuit, Trump said the board “rewarded” the newspapers “for lying to the American public” about the “now-debunked theory” of collusion with Russia.

Federal investigations have since debunked claims that Trump, his 2016 campaign, or members of his first administration colluded with Russia. In his lawsuit, Trump said the stories were “based on manufactured political disinformation paid for by the Clinton Campaign,” a reference to the infamous Steele dossier, which accused the Trump campaign of a “well-developed conspiracy of coordination” with the Kremlin.

The case could reveal the internal communications of some of the nation’s most prominent liberal journalists. New Yorker editor David Remnick and Atlantic writer Anne Applebaum serve on the board. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson chaired the board when it gave its prestigious award to the Times and Post.

One of the jurists who voted for the 2018 prize has peddled debunked conspiracy theories about Trump-Russia collusion. Former McClatchy editor Kristin Roberts, a member of the five-person Pulitzer jury in 2018, defended two controversial reports that same year that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen met with Kremlin operatives in Prague in 2016. If true, the stories would have corroborated a central claim of the Steele dossier. Roberts accused Cohen of lying after he denied the McClatchy stories. She doubled down on the stories even after Special Counsel Robert Mueller revealed in a report in 2019 that Cohen never traveled to Prague.

The post Florida Judge Rejects Pulitzer Prize Board’s Attempt To Delay Trump Russiagate Lawsuit appeared first on .