The Free Press
It’s Thursday, February 6. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Coming up: Why government workers won’t be paid to quit. Should noncitizens who support Hamas be deported? Trans athletes get pulled from female locker rooms. And more.
But first: What’s going on with Trump’s policy on Gaza?
On Tuesday, in a press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump called war-torn Gaza a “pure demolition site.” He added that the U.S. should turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Gazans in neighboring Arab countries like Egypt and Jordan. The response, so far, has not been great. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, called the plan to move Palestinians out of Gaza “tantamount to ethnic cleansing.” Numerous countries including Saudi Arabia, China, and Canada have all voiced their discontent with Trump. And a Texas Democratic congressman has vowed to file articles of impeachment against him.
I guess that’s the risk you take when you put yourself out there creatively!
But seriously, what the hell is going on? Here are four possibilities:
#1: Trump is, as usual, saying the first thing that comes to his mind—a mind that has mostly been dedicated to the real estate industry for most of his life. His use of the term demolition site suggests this. As The Free Press reported last year, Trump also has a history of trying (and failing) to evict people in pursuit of construction projects in Scotland. Obviously, the geopolitical consequences are a bit higher in Gaza.
#2: Trump has a habit of repeating the last thing he hears. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, also a real estate developer, said last February that Gaza’s waterfront property could be “very valuable.” Or could Bibi Netanyahu have signaled the idea to Trump? Proposals to evict Palestinians from Gaza have been floated by far-right elements in Netanyahu’s coalition, most notably by finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who reportedly spoke with Netanyahu immediately after his meeting with the president. Bibi needs the far-right to maintain his fragile coalition.
#3: It’s a negotiating tactic. Trump’s bluster has a pretty good track record so far. Just this week, his threat to implement a 25 percent tariff on Mexican and Canadian goods won quick concessions on border security from both our northern and southern neighbors. Could this be something similar? Trump’s plan implies direct American involvement in Gaza, but his press secretary has since said that the U.S. has made “no commitment” to sending troops to Gaza, and that American taxpayers will not pay for any rebuilding.
#4: Trump might be serious. That’s what Michael Oren suggests today in The Free Press. Or at least, Trump should be serious.
Michael writes: “[J]ust as Trump’s retreat from the brink with Canada and Mexico did not signal an abandonment of tariffs as an economic and political weapon, he is sticking with what was most transformational about his initial statement: Neither Gaza nor the West Bank will become a Palestinian state on his watch, and that indeed, a Palestinian state is not necessary to a resolution of the regional conflict.”
Read Michael’s essay: “Trump Takes a Wrecking Ball to the Middle East Status Quo.”
Elon’s “Fork in the Road” for Government Workers
Eight days ago, over 2 million federal workers received an email titled “Fork in the Road” from the Office of Personnel Management, which is currently implementing Elon Musk’s DOGE plans to downsize the federal government. (Musk used the same headline when he bought Twitter in 2022 and laid off 80 percent of the staff.)
The email offered everyone in the federal bureaucracy something called “deferred resignation”—the ability to quit their jobs and still get pay and benefits until September of this year.
By corporate standards, the payout is pretty generous. But few are taking it.
Today, our reporter Madeleine Rowley explains why. Some of the two dozen federal employees she’s spoken to say they find the offer offensive and even question its legality. Others say it isn’t about the money; they just want to do the jobs they’ve dedicated their lives to.
“It was a slap in the face,” one told her. “There’s this picture being painted that we’re sitting on our couch eating chips or something.” And it’s “just so far from the truth, and also really insulting.”
Read Madeleine’s new report: “When Elon Musk Offers Government Buyouts.”
Should Noncitizens Who Support Terrorists Be Deported?
Less than two weeks after his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order mandating that noncitizens in America who show support to foreign terrorist groups must be deported. Trump also directed federal agencies to identify those who have “joined in pro-jihadist protests” on campuses and elsewhere in the recent past. For protesters who have demonstrated against Israel since October 7, and expressed antisemitic or even pro-Hamas views, it’s a shot across the bow.
Which brings us to a Free Press debate.
In one corner is Ilya Shapiro, a constitutional scholar at the Manhattan Institute, who thinks the deportation order is a good thing. In the other is Robert Shibley, special counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), who sharply disagrees. Today in The Free Press, they debate one of Trump’s most controversial executive orders, and ask: Will it have a chilling effect on free speech? Will it curb antisemitism on college campuses? And will anyone actually get deported?
Read “Deporting ‘Pro-Jihadist’ Students: Censorship or Good Governance?”
But Honestly—What’s Going On with DeepSeek?
Early last week, all of America’s assumptions about its supremacy in the AI race were turned upside down after DeepSeek, a small Chinese start-up, released a free AI chatbot that rivals advanced U.S. competitors like ChatGPT. What’s more, DeepSeek produced their bot without the benefit of newer, more cutting-edge American microchips, the sale of which are restricted to China.
The stock market freaked out and we did too. Questions like—How could this happen? And could America actually lose the new tech war?—coursed through the heart of Silicon Valley.
So for the latest episode of Honestly, Bari invited two guests to break it all down. Tyler Cowen is an economics professor, AI expert, and must-read writer at his blog, Marginal Revolution. He is joined by Geoffrey Cain, an expert on China and the author of The Perfect Police State: An Undercover Odyssey Into China’s Terrifying Surveillance Dystopia of the Future.
Is this a twenty-first-century Sputnik? And if so, is China now officially ahead of us in the AI arms race?
To find out, watch the conversation here, or listen to it below:
A federal judge has blocked Trump’s Day 1 executive order to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants and foreigners who are in the U.S. legally but temporarily, such as tourists, saying it’s likely unconstitutional and “runs counter to our nation’s 250-year history of citizenship by birth.” Other legal challenges to the executive order are underway across the country, and legal experts say the matter will likely make its way to the Supreme Court.
Trump signed an executive order yesterday banning biological males from women’s sports and locker rooms. It calls for immediate enforcement—including against schools and athletic associations that “deny women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms”—and will direct state attorneys general to identify best practices for enforcing the rule. Railing against what he called “transgender lunacy,” Trump was surrounded by female athletes at the signing ceremony, including Riley Gaines, the NCAA athlete who was among the first to sue the association over its decision to allow trans athletes who are biological males to compete against biological women at the college level. The Free Press was first to report on her case last March.
Sweden saw its worst mass shooting in the country’s history Tuesday, after a gunman entered an adult education center west of Stockholm, killing 11 people and injuring five more. Now, a suspect has been named by Swedish media: Rickard Andersson, 35, described as a “loner” who “doesn’t seem to like people.” A motive for the crime has not been established. According to police, the shooting was carried out with an automatic firearm, which Sweden’s public broadcaster suggested was a hunting weapon legally owned by the suspect.
Yesterday afternoon, the wing of a Japan Airlines flight hit the tail of a parked Delta jet while taxiing at the Seattle airport. Reportedly, the incident occurred in an area “not under air traffic control,” which raises the question: Why are there parts of the airport not under air traffic control? The news comes just days after an American Airlines jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter in D.C., killing everyone on board both flights; investigators still haven’t explained exactly what caused the crash. Luckily, no one in Seattle was seriously injured, but can we please get it together?!
Gwynne Wilcox, a former member of the National Labor Relations Board, has sued President Trump for firing her last week. Wilcox says her firing was without cause and runs afoul of “Supreme Court precedent that has ensured the independence of critical government agencies” like the NLRB, which enforces American labor law in relation to collective bargaining (unions) and unfair labor practices. Labor experts say her case could quickly reach the Supreme Court. And I’m taking it as inspiration for what I should do if The Free Press ever tries to fire me. Tell Clarence Thomas how much you didn’t like that tweet, Bari!
Mitch McConnell was spotted in a wheelchair after he suffered a nasty fall yesterday after a confirmation vote for Housing and Urban Development secretary nominee Scott Turner. The former Senate Majority Leader, 82, is now on the mend—but he’s not the only one governing well into his silver years. While working as a Senate page, our own Suzy Weiss observed, “even on their sharpest days, the lawmakers would fall asleep and get confused.” For an account of the falls, gaffes, and senior moments on Capitol Hill, read her piece, “It’s Not Just Kay Granger. All of Congress Is an Old Age Home.”
Paradise Burning
Last month, Southern California burst into flames, exposing a vast web of bureaucratic incompetence. As fire stations fell apart, hydrants ran dry, and thousands of homes burned, local officials formed a circular finger-pointing squad, bickering publicly about who was to blame for the carnage.
Many said the fires were an indictment of progressive governance in the state, but Free Press columnist Eli Lake says radicals have burned California before. In the latest episode of Breaking History, Eli traces the rise of George Moscone, who was elected mayor of San Francisco in 1975 with support from gays, hippies, and environmentalists, and went on to smoke joints in the Haight and appoint an American flag–hating “sociological cop” as chief of police. He even attended something called the “Hookers Ball.”
In short, Moscone was willing to work with anyone and everyone to get power and keep it. Even a murderous cult.
To find out more, listen to episode 2 of Breaking History below, or read the print adaptation.
The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.
To respond to closed comments on another post: yes, many of us in USAID and the development field do important work around the world. Why don’t we do that at home? (In the USA)? Well, to give a few examples, fortunately, we do not have to clear residential and agricultural land of millions of land mines, where in many cases the land is de-mined one leg at a time. I have photos I can’t share here of a person who was carried into my vehicle missing his leg- we naively thought if we packed it in ice and brought it along it could be reattached. It wasn’t.
In other cases, I worked to feed, shelter and care for displaced persons and refugees by the hundreds of thousands who have lost everything, including their children who they witnessed being bashed against trees by marauding soldiers.
It is not all doom and gloom. In recovering war-torn Cambodia my team and I were able to help farmers boost rice yields 4-fold in one season. I multiplied the impact of that on the 20,000 families assisted and in the years following the value was North of $100,000,000 USD.
Total cost of the project? $500,000 USD.
To respond to closed comments on another post: yes, many of us in USAID and the development field do important work around the world. Why don’t we do that at home? (In the USA)? Well, to give a few examples, fortunately, we do not have to clear residential and agricultural land of millions of land mines, where in many cases the land is de-mined one leg at a time. I have photos I can’t share here of a person who was carried into my vehicle missing his leg- we naively thought if we packed it in ice and brought it along it could be reattached. It wasn’t.
In other cases, I worked to feed, shelter and care for displaced persons and refugees by the hundreds of thousands who have lost everything, including their children who they witnessed being bashed against trees by marauding soldiers.
It is not all doom and gloom. In recovering war-torn Cambodia my team and I were able to help farmers boost rice yields 4-fold in one season. I multiplied the impact of that on the 20,000 families assisted and in the years following the value was North of $100,000,000 USD.
Total cost of the project? $500,000 USD.