BY MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA |
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We’re going to become so rich.”
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The arrest of a Columbia University student organizer raises new fears about Donald Trump’s crackdown on activists, immigrants, universities — and free speech itself.
- Over the weekend, plain-clothed ICE agents barged into a Columbia University apartment and arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who led negotiations during tense protests at Columbia University last summer over the school’s ties to Israel amid its war with Hamas. Khalil is a Columbia grad student, and his wife is currently eight months pregnant with their first child.
- The raid unveiled a chilling new strategy in Trump’s immigration crackdown. During the arrest, Khalil’s attorney told an ICE agent that Khalil is a permanent resident with a green card — and the agent said that’s being revoked. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later announced that all visas and green cards held by “Hamas supporters” will be revoked so they can be deported. (Green cards can’t be revoked without due process, and a judge temporarily blocked Khalil’s removal from the U.S.) An important point: Student protestors opposed Israel’s mass killing of civilians in Gaza, which is different from supporting the militant group.
- Trump celebrated the detention on social media with the grim triumphalism of a tinpot dictator. “This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump wrote. “We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”
- “The unlawful detention of Mr. Khalil reeks of McCarthyism,” Donna Lieberman, executive director at the New York ACLU, wrote in a statement, referencing the 1950s persecution of alleged communists in the U.S. Trump is punishing the student because Khalil’s views “aren’t MAGA-approved — which is a frightening escalation of Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestine speech, and an aggressive abuse of immigration law,” Lieberman continued.
It’s the first known instance of Trump following through on his pledge to unleash federal forces against student activists — with spooky implications for free speech.
- Some leaders in the Jewish community don’t buy Trump’s argument about arresting protestors: “No one has the right to prevent their fellow students from studying and learning,” Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a prominent liberal pro-Israel think tank, told What A Day. “But rather than taking actions that really address antisemitism, the administration is actually making all students who want to express themselves freely a little less safe today.”
- You know Trump’s doing a really bad thing when even Ann Coulter, the ultraconservative media pundit, rebukes him. “There’s almost no one I don’t want to deport, but, unless they’ve committed a crime, isn’t this a violation of the first amendment?” she wrote on X. You know what, Ann, it does kinda seem that way!
- The Trump administration seems to be telling colleges: Do what we say, or we will march over you in jackboots. Trump pulled $400 million in federal grants from Columbia one day before Khalil’s arrest over what his agencies claimed was a failure to “fight antisemitism.” (It’s worth noting that Columbia did in fact crack down hard on pro-Palestinian protesters, which we covered in this very newsletter.) Today, Harvard announced a hiring freeze amid “substantial financial uncertainties,” which is likely a precaution in case Trump takes action against the school, too.
Detaining student protestors while cutting school funds for political purposes “bears all the hallmarks of police states around the globe that this country used to oppose,” Ben-Ami added. |
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NASA is world-renowned for its science programs and climate studies. But it’s shredding those efforts — in a way that may work out to the benefit of government-size-reduction-enthusiast and space entrepreneur, Elon Musk.
NASA announced today that it’s shuttering three offices: the Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy (OTPS); Office of the Chief Scientist; and part of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
The firings are intended to “optimize our workforce,” NASA spokesperson Cheryl Warner told What A Day.
About 30 experts work at OTPS — including NASA’s chief technologist and chief economist — advising the administrator on “key leadership decisions,” according to office's annual report. Basically, these are some of the smartest people who help ensure that the space agency’s leadership makes well-informed decisions.
Chief Scientist Katherine Calvin also appears to have lost her job today. She serves as a top adviser to the NASA administrator on the agency’s science programs — a massive part of its mission, especially on climate issues. What’s more, cutting her position may not save any money.
Slashing the DEI office was expected, considering Trump’s attacks on similar offices across the government. But the other closing came as more of a surprise, especially because NASA plays a crucial role in studying climate change.
NASA is “having its wings clipped in terms of dealing with one of the biggest scientific problems of our current time,” Victoria Samson, a long-time space expert at the Secure World Foundation think tank, told What A Day.
Another notable factor is SpaceX, the rocket launch company owned by Musk. Trump installed space entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, a Musk ally as the NASA chief. If cuts to the agency continue, SpaceX could end up playing an even larger role with NASA, Samson suggested.
“I am worried there’s a mentality of, ‘Well, why do we need NASA? We have SpaceX,” Samson said. “While SpaceX has been able to do a lot of amazing things, they have a different mandate than a Congress than a government agency — and I’m hoping that we will be able to convince this government to recognize the difference between the two.”
Do you work at NASA? Reach out to me on Signal at mattberg.33 or email at [email protected]. I’ll keep you anonymous! |
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Will the government shut down on Friday? House Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to put forward a stopgap measure on Tuesday, which would allow the government to function through September. House Republicans will likely pass the measure. Then, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer would have to decide whether to rally Democrats to approve MAGA’s stopgap — or force a government shutdown. I hate that this is how Congress works!
The stock market continued to tumble today, after Donald Trump refused to rule out a rescission over the weekend. There’s going to be a “period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big,” Trump told Fox News. Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told NBC News that “there’s going to be no recession in America.” Glad everyone’s on the same page here!
Utah is set to become the first state to ban fluoride in public water systems, ditching a decades-long practice that’s scientifically proven to prevent cavities and improve oral health. But HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doesn’t believe in much public health science, so here we are!
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BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
We’ve got a new podcast from Crooked that we think you’ll love: Shadow Kingdom: God’s Banker.
In the summer of 1982, the Vatican’s top money man was found dead. Roberto Calvi was at the center of a prolific money laundering scheme that put him in the crosshairs of the Sicilian mafia, a secret far-right chapter of the Freemasons, and the Catholic Church. Forty years after his death was ruled a suicide, Shadow Kingdom host Nicolo Majnoni got a tip that there was more to the story. So who killed God’s banker?
Check out the trailer for Shadow Kingdom: God’s Banker right now wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe for episodes starting March 17. Or, better yet, join our Friends of the Pod community to binge all episodes that same day at crooked.com/friends or on the Shadow Kingdom Apple Podcasts feed.
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