Trump News for Wednesday, February 18, 2026

White House says Iran would be ‘wise’ to take deal amid military buildup

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

The latest threats come amid ratcheting tensions between the US and Iran despite second round of indirect nuclear talks.

US is withdrawing all 1,000 troops from Syria: WSJ report

Elizabeth Melimopoulos, Al Jazeera English

The report says US officials expect troops to withdraw from remaining positions within two months.

The Trump administration is increasingly trying to criminalize observing ICE

Meg Anderson, NPR

ICE officers often tell people tracking and watching them that they are breaking federal law in doing so, but legal experts say the vast majority of observers are exercising their constitutional rights.

How A Pizza Mogul, The Epstein Files & A $15K MPTF Gala Ticket Has Put A New Wrinkle In An Old Lawsuit Against Casey Wasserman

Dominic Patten, Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: A $15,000 ticket that Jeffrey Epstein bought for Hollywood PR maven Peggy Siegel to attend the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Night Before gala in 2013 has become a prime focus of a long ongoing lawsuit that is now pulling besieged LA28 chair…

FCC reject claims of censorship, announces probe into US show The View

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Federal Communications Commission faces backlash after comedian Stephen Colbert blamed its rules for scuttled interview.

Utah Governor Pushes Back on CFTC’s Prediction Market Power Grab

Kyle Torpey, Gizmodo.com

The Trump administration is going to bat for a hands-off approach to the explosion of gambling in America.

Russia’s Putin meets Cuban FM, says US restrictions ‘unacceptable’

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Meeting comes as White House says it wants to see 'dramatic changes very soon' in Cuba, calls government 'failing'.

Palantir's Florida move is more than just a change of address

Sarah E. Needleman, Business Insider

Even if a company doesn't cite a reason for relocating, experts say the change can signal financial, political, or other motives.

Trump says UK’s Starmer making ‘a big mistake’ with Chagos Islands deal

Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English

The US president warned the military base on Diego Garcia may be needed to respond to possible attack from Iran.

How Close Can AI Get To Writing A Techdirt Post?

Mike Masnick, Techdirt

I’ve talked on Techdirt about just a few of my AI-related experiments over the past few years, including how I use it to help me edit pieces, which I still write myself. I still have no intention of letting AI write for me, but as the underlying technology ha…

Vatican disses 'Board of Peace'...

Reuters, NBC News

The Vatican will not participate in President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace“ initiative, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s top diplomatic official, said on Tuesday while adding that efforts to handle crisis situations should be managed by the United Nat…

53-year-old Home Depot rival closing down, no bankruptcy

Kirk O’Neil, TheStreet

Home Depot and Lowe’s have dominated the home improvement and hardware retail sectors for decades, continuing to rise above hardware cooperatives True Value ...

Is ISIL on the verge of becoming a regional threat once again?

Al Jazeera English

The US has transferred thousands of detainees linked to the group from Syria to Iraq.

What’s Behind the GOP’s Push to Demand Proof of Citizenship to Vote

David A. Graham, The Atlantic

The Trump administration’s support for the SAVE America Act is a ploy to help Republicans win elections.

UNSC moves Gaza meeting to avoid clash with Trump’s Board of Peace

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

UN Security Council meeting addresses Gaza 'ceasefire' and Israeli plans to expand West Bank control.

WATCH: Eight skiers killed in deadliest ski-related avalanche in modern U.S. history

ABC News, Abcnews.com

Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said there were "whiteout conditions" during the rescue mission that saved six survivors.

WATCH: U.S.-mediated Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Geneva end after just two hours

ABC News, Abcnews.com

ABC News' Patrick Reevell reports that there is still a "fundamental gap between the two sides over territory," specifically Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

Trump Appoints CDC Critic as Temporary Agency Head

Edith Olmsted, The New Republic

Jay Bhattacharya has been tapped to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—after spending years criticizing its pandemic response. Bhattacharya will continue his role as the director of National Institutes of Health, as well as lead the CDC on an …

State lawmakers offer partisan responses to Pritzker’s budget address

Jim Talamonti, The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois lawmakers are offering mixed reviews of Gov. J.

California, Colorado and Washington sue Trump administration to unlock funding for clean energy projects

Reuters, Yahoo Entertainment

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - California, Colorado and Washington are suing the federal government to force it to pay out grants approved by Congress for...

Judge Highlights Government Fuckery In Ruling Over Migrant Detainees’ Due Process Rights

Tim Cushing, Techdirt

The ICE surge in Minneapolis, Minnesota was instigated by a far-right click bait artist and encouraged by the president’s portrayal of Somali immigrants as “garbage” people from a “garbage” country. And those were some of the nicer words Trump used to describ…

The End of Reagan-Era Republicanism

David Frum, The Atlantic

Mona Charen on how Trump transformed the conservative movement and what the right got wrong. Plus: Signs of life from America’s guardrails and John Maynard Keynes’s “My Early Beliefs.”

Trump's top economic advisor says Fed researchers should be punished for their recent views on tariffs

Naomi Buchanan, Business Insider

Kevin Hassett said Fed researchers should be disciplined for their views on tariffs, sparking fresh concern from commentators about Fed independence.

WATCH: Unruly passenger detained after incident on Delta flight, police say

ABC News, Abcnews.com

The flight was only in the air for about 15 minutes, according to KTRK.

Trump Boys Talk ‘Retribution’ as CEOs Kiss the Ring at Their Crypto Event

Matt Novak, Gizmodo.com

Donald Trump Jr. insists his father is "not involved."

Do not give away Diego Garcia, says Trump

BBC News

The US president says "it will be a blight on our great ally" if the islands are handed over to Mauritius.

Brendan Carr’s Abuse Of FCC ‘Equal Opportunity’ Rule Completely Blows Up In His Face

Karl Bode, Techdirt

Yesterday we noted how CBS fecklessly tried to prevent Stephen Colbert from broadcasting an interview with Texas Democratic State Representative James Talarico. Which, as you’ve probably already seen, resulted in the interview on YouTube getting way more view…

'You're Kidding, Right?' Karoline Leavitt Gobsmacked After Reporter Asks for Examples of Media Falsely Calling Trump Racist

Mediaite, Yahoo Entertainment

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was visibly stunned when CBS Reporter Ed O'Keefe asked for examples of President Donald Trump being...

FCC DEMANDS TRANSCRIPT OF BAD BUNNY SUPER BOWL

David Shepardson, The-independent.com

FCC DEMANDS TRANSCRIPT OF BAD BUNNY SUPER BOWL (Main headline, 5th story, link) Related stories:COLBERT TORCHES CBS FEUD PLAYS OUT ON AIR INTERVIEW THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE DEM RAKES IN MILLONS AFTER NIXED

The US Navy is pulling more and more warships into its Middle East force buildup

Jake Epstein, Business Insider

The Pentagon has dramatically reduced the number of ships it had in the Caribbean ahead of the Maduro raid, moving vessels toward the Middle East.

US says that it will review Moderna flu vaccine it previously declined

Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English

The pharmaceutical giant expressed optimism that its new flu shot would be available this year, after approval concerns.

FCC Chairman Confirms “Enforcement Action” Underway Against ABC’s ‘The View,’ Calls Stephen Colbert-James Talarico Incident A “Hoax”

Ted Johnson, Deadline

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said that the agency “has an enforcement action underway on ABC’s The View after the show featured James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, as a guest. “We’re taking a look at it,” Carr told reporters on Wednesday, but…

The ‘Most Massive Attack On Free Speech’ Is Happening Right Now, And The Twitter Files Crew Is Mighty Quiet

Mike Masnick, Techdirt

For the last five years, we had to endure an endless, breathless parade of hyperbole regarding the so-called “censorship industrial complex.” We were told, repeatedly and at high volume, that the Biden administration flagging content for review by social medi…

The FCC (probably) didn’t censor Stephen Colbert

Christian Paz, Vox

For the 12 of us who woke up Tuesday morning wondering what we had missed on Monday’s late-night shows, CBS greeted us with a concerning development. Overnight, Stephen Colbert had laid into his network, dedicating time at the top of The Late Show to claim th…

Trump would like the government he leads to pay him billions

Carrie Johnson, NPR

President Trump is asking the federal government for billions of dollars in damages, putting his own Justice Department on the spot and creating an unprecedented ethical morass.

Still Together | Ep 2 – New York

Al Jazeera English

Amid a global polycrisis, new arrivals in New York face a fractured city where sanctuary feels ever more out of reach.

The political fight over prediction markets is heating up

bmetzger@insider.com (Bryan Metzger), Business Insider

The Trump administration is coming down hard on the side of prediction markets as scrutiny of Kalshi and Polymarket pick up.

Student-loan borrowers are now getting checks in the mail through a $100 million settlement with a major lender

Ayelet Sheffey, Business Insider

The checks are from a 2024 settlement with private lender Navient over claims that it "cheated" student-loan borrowers out of lower monthly payments.

Notorious Drug Trafficker Got Five-Star Treatment After Trump Pardon

Finn Hartnett, The New Republic

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was given special treatment and provided with a room in a luxury hotel after Donald Trump pardoned him in December, ProPublica reported Wednesday.Hernández, a member of Honduras’s right-wing National Party, was…

X’s Algorithm Pushes Users to Lean More Conservative, Researchers Find

Ece Yildirim, Gizmodo.com

The algorithm also doesn't like posts by traditional news media, the researchers found.

The Feds Reportedly Want Discord, Reddit, And Others To Doxx Users Who Criticize ICE

Ethan Gach, Kotaku

Companies are being subpoenaed for personal info

EPA faces lawsuits over climate endangerment finding withdrawal

Dan Vergano, Scientific American

Medical and environmental groups are challenging the EPA’s decision to break with the long-standing scientific evidence that climate change endangers human health

‘Playing Checkers’: Trump’s Bid to Revive Coal Is Nonsensical

Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone

Donald Trump ordered the Department of Defense to purchase coal energy. Experts say the move doesn't make sense, economically or otherwise.

Russia-Ukraine talks: All the mediation efforts, and where they stand

Yashraj Sharma, Al Jazeera English

Nearly four years into Russia's war on Ukraine, multiple peace efforts have been started, but no end is in sight.

FDA agrees to review Moderna mRNA flu vaccine in dramatic reversal

Claire Cameron, Scientific American

After initially rejecting Moderna’s application for review, the FDA will now consider the company’s mRNA flu shot

CBS is unraveling — and it goes beyond Bari Weiss

Sophia Tesfaye, Salon

Anderson Cooper departs and Stephen Colbert goes off-script as the network struggles to define its future

Federal ban on TP-Link routers shelved, but Texas fights on

Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac

Badged versions of TP-Link routers are supplied to US customers by more than 300 ISPs, making them the most widely used Wi-Fi routers in the country, found in millions of US homes. It therefore caused grave concern when security researchers at Microsoft fo…

Why is the US targeting Cuba’s global medical missions?

Sarah Shamim, Al Jazeera English

Amid Cuba’s deepening fuel crisis, countries are bowing to US pressure and winding down their Cuban medical programmes.

Jen Psaki and Jasmine Crockett Bust Out Laughing at Trump Over Riff On Senate Race

Yahoo Entertainment

“Doctors Did A Great Job”: Ivanka Trump’s Transformation Scrutinized After Lunar New Year’s Post

Gabija Saveiskyte, Boredpanda.com

Ivanka's Lunar New Year post sparked debate about her image, business ventures, and political ambitions.

James Talarico Raised $2.5 Million After Stephen Colbert Interview Was Shifted From Broadcast To YouTube

Ted Johnson, Deadline

The attention surrounding James Talarico’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert interview has been very good for the Texas Democrat’s campaign for U.S. Senate. He raised $2.5 million in the 24 hours after the segment was shifted from CBS broadcast to YouTube, his l…

Trump’s Board of Peace meets: Who’s in, who’s out, what’s on the agenda?

Yashraj Sharma, Al Jazeera English

Asian and Middle Eastern partners line up in Washington, while Europe tries to keep a distance.

AI Slop Is Destroying the Internet. These Are the People Fighting to Save It

Katelyn Chedraoui, CNET

AI slop is an oil spill in our digital oceans. The cleanup depends on all of us doing our part.

Gorsuch’s ‘told you so’ moment on Trump’s tariffs

Ella Lee, The Hill

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is having an ‘I told you so’ moment when it comes to President Trump’s tariffs. At November’s blockbuster arguments...

Mark Zuckerberg faces a jury today. And, the top DHS spokesperson resigns her post

Brittney Melton, NPR

Mark Zuckerberg takes the stand today in a trial over whether social media companies are fueling the teen mental health crisis. And, Tricia McLaughlin is leaving the Department of Homeland Security.

Reeves rules out immediate increase in defence spending

Tony Diver, Yahoo Entertainment

Rachel Reeves has ruled out an increase in defence spending this year after coming under pressure from military chiefs.

Kristi Noem’s law-and-order pitch is collapsing

Amanda Marcotte, Salon

The DHS secretary and her semi-official aide Corey Lewandowski are to blame for the shutdown

Trump using immigration to subvert the election, official says

Nicholas Liu, Salon

False election fraud claims are nothing new, but the federal immigration crackdown has increased pressure

Restless Trump, 79, Fires Off Ominous Late-Night Election Post

Will Neal, Daily Beast

Donald Trump has issued a warning as vague as it is sinister about this year’s battle for control of the House and Senate. “Crooked Elections cannot be...

Leaked meetings reveal key clues about FBI seizure of Georgia election records

Doug Bock Clark, Jeremy Kohler, Salon

Thomas Albus, the federal prosecutor investigating the 2020 Georgia vote, meet with Trump admin lawyers last fall.

Philadelphia Could Elect Its First Muslim Congressman. He’s Not Sure Where He Stands on Israel.

Akela Lacy, The Intercept

Sharif Street states no Israel policy on his website and was briefly the beneficiary of a pro-Israel fundraising page. He's trying to walk a fine line in a crowded primary. The post Philadelphia Could Elect Its First Muslim Congressman. He’s Not Sure Where He…

The Four Ways Trump Plans to Delegitimize this Fall’s Elections

Harry Litman, The New Republic

Even as diversionary battles flare across the political landscape—immigration raids, diplomatic blunders, legal losses in court, and the lingering Epstein fallout—Donald Trump is making his move where it matters most: elections.The administration is pressing …

Whoopi Goldberg addresses her mention in Epstein files on The View

Drew Gillis, Jezebel

Since 2007, Jezebel has been the Internet's most treasured source for everything celebrities, sex, and politics...with teeth.

“Madness”: RFK Jr.’s “Deranged” New Workout Video With Kid Rock Sparks Wild Reactions

Karina Babenok, Boredpanda.com

Just when netizens thought politics couldn’t get any weirder in 2026, they laid eyes on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kid Rock sitting shirtless in a hot tub.

Microsoft asks UK Parliament to correct Trump sanction evidence

Lindsay Clark, Theregister.com

Apologizes for 'inaccuracy' after telling MPs the International Criminal Court turned off email service to sanctioned prosecutor, 'not Microsoft' Exclusive Microsoft has said one of its leading spokespeople gave a testimony to the UK Parliament containing an …

Student-loan borrowers in public service are in a growing debt relief bind

Ayelet Sheffey, Business Insider

Student-loan borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness are facing worse delays in paperwork processing and looming limits to debt relief.

Gold price below $5,000 as investors wait on Fed guidance for clues

Pedro Goncalves, Yahoo Entertainment

Markets currently expect the Fed to cut rates in June

WATCH: Lavender marriages appeal to new generation

ABC News, Abcnews.com

While lavender marriages were often a necessity for the LGBTQ community in the 1950s, some younger generations are curious about them and other modern takes on partnership.

Trump administration is erasing history and science at national parks, lawsuit argues

The Associated Press, NPR

Conservation and historical organizations sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over National Park Service policies that the groups say erase history and science from America's national parks.

Judges reject Trump admin's bid to deport 2 pro-Palestinian college students

Armando Garcia, Abcnews.com

Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed Columbia's Mohsen Mahdawi and Tufts University's Rümeysa Öztürk posed a threat to foreign policy.

Washington appoints new US envoy on Tibetan human rights

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

China has previously criticised the role, accusing the US of interfering in China’s internal affairs.

Indonesia tightens control on nickel as the US and China scramble for critical minerals

ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL and ANTON L. DELGADO, Yahoo Entertainment

Indonesia is tightening state control over the world’s largest nickel supply after years of betting the metal would anchor a homegrown electric-vehicle...

‘Tug of war’: Democrats push Trump to release New York City tunnel funds

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the $77m released Tuesday falls short of the amount owed for the transport project.

Man with shotgun running towards US Capitol building arrested by police

Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English

The suspect, identified as Carter Camacho from the US state of Georgia, was wearing a tactical vest and gloves.

UN panel says Epstein abuses may constitute ‘crimes against humanity’

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Experts say newly released documents show the need for an independent investigation into Epstein's sex-trafficking ring.

Stephen Colbert says CBS barred interview with Texas Democratic candidate

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

US late-night show host says CBS pulled interview from Monday's broadcast over fears it could violate new FCC guidance.

Nevada sues Kalshi as federal regulators say back off

Jack Newsham, Business Insider

Nevada officials sued Kalshi, calling it an illegal betting website. The same day, a top Trump finance regulator said states should butt out.

How Jesse Jackson helped empower US Arabs and lift up the Palestinian cause

Ali Harb, Al Jazeera English

Arab American advocates eulogise Jackson as a civil rights giant who embraced their communities and defended Palestine.

Under pressure from Trump, Venezuela's new president has aces up her sleeve

BBC News

Delcy Rodriguez knows its in America's interests for her to be a success

What To Know About The FCC Rule At The Center Of Trump Administration Efforts To Crack Down On Stephen Colbert And Other Late-Night Hosts

Ted Johnson, Deadline

When Stephen Colbert announced that CBS restricted him from airing an interview with a Democratic candidate, it set off a range of reactions: Some argued that it reflected Trump’s efforts to censor late-night content; others that it was merely enforcement of …