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Trump accepts ownership of the current economy: 'I'm very proud of it'

(NBC News) President Donald Trump says it’s his economy now. In an interview with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas that aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday, the 47th president said the country is already experiencing the Trump economy. “At what point are we in the Trump economy?” Llamas asked. “I’d say we’re there now,” he replied. “I’m very proud of it.” His remarks come at a time when most Americans tell pollsters they are not satisfied with the state of the economy.

Dulcinea

5 glaring warning signs for Republicans in this year's midterm elections

(NPR) Times Square's digital screens have nothing on the glaring warning signs for Republicans ahead of these upcoming midterm elections. President Trump, his policies and actions are unpopular. The GOP continues to lose special elections. Republicans are retiring at faster rates than Democrats. And people are saying they'd rather Democrats control Congress. At this point, all of it adds up to trouble for the party in power.

BumRushDaShow

Steve Bannon fires warning shot to Trump over midterms: 'There is a massive lack of enthusiasm among the base'

(The Independent) Steve Bannon has warned President Donald Trump and the Republican Party that there is a “massive lack of enthusiasm” among the MAGA base heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Bannon, Trump’s former adviser during the first administration, complained that Republicans were “running for the hills” over current negotiations on the Department of Homeland Security funding to avoid a shutdown. “Step up and do something,” Bannon said on a recent episode of his War Room podcast. “You have a massive lack of enthusiasm among the base because they're sitting there going, ‘I'm just not feeling it right now.’”

BumRushDaShow

Searing Dem Letter Asks Ghislaine Maxwell If She or Epstein Procured 'Underage Girls to President Trump'

(Mediaite) Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) sent a searing letter in which he stated his intention to ask Ghislaine Maxwell if she or Jeffrey Epstein ever procured “underage girls” for President Donald Trump. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-TN) announced last month that Maxwell would be deposed by the committee, and that deposition is scheduled for this Monday. But on Sunday, Maxwell’s attorney made clear she intends to plead the Fifth Amendment. Congressman Khanna, the ranking member on the committee, responded with a searing letter to Comer listing the questions he planned to ask Maxwell — including a few loaded ones about Trump.

Pototan

Less than 14% of ICE arrests are violent criminals

(CBS News) Less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in President Trump's first year back in the White House had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document obtained by CBS News. The official statistics contained in the DHS document, which had not been previously reported publicly, provide the most detailed look yet into who ICE has arrested during the Trump administration's far-reaching deportation operations across the U.S.

KS Toronado

Monday's Condensed News Cartoons

BumRushDaShow

Activists Hand Out 'ICE OUT' Towels at Super Bowl LX

(Newsweek) At Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, activists distributed 15,000 rally towels emblazoned with “ICE OUT” ahead of Super Bowl LX. The towels, which were handed out by volunteers stationed at multiple entrances. The effort was organized by Contra-ICE, a coalition of musicians and artists, in response to Department of Homeland Security statements that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would be present at the game.

RandySF

Kid Rock Mocked for Lip Syncing Through MAGA Super Bowl Stunt

(Daily Beast) Kid Rock’s own fans were left wondering whether he was lip-syncing at MAGA’s anti-Super Bowl. Rock, 55, jumped up onstage in a fur vest and his signature black hat for a high-powered performance of his 1999 song “Bawitdaba.” He was the headliner for Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show,” intended to counter Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny’s highly anticipated performance in California. Notably, Kid Rock didn’t take the stage until after Bad Bunny had left the official Super Bowl halftime stage.

marmar

Turning Point USA's bid for cultural relevance -- and more money -- just couldn't compete with Bad Bunny

(Salon) Perhaps it’s a sign that I am an empathy-poisoned liberal, but it was hard to choke back the pity watching the alternative halftime show aired by Turning Point USA during Sunday’s Super Bowl game. Despite having months to book and organize an event that was supposed to draw millions away from the real deal, TPUSA couldn’t even pack the small space for audience members on the soundstage — not a stadium, arena, theater or even a club — they rented for the occasion.

applegrove

Zelensky Says Russia Proposing Huge Deals with U.S.

(Political Wire) Days after negotiations to halt Russia’s war in Ukraine ended inconclusively in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia and the United States were discussing bilateral economic agreements worth some $12 trillion, including deals that would affect Ukraine,” the Washington Post reports. Zelensky said intelligence sources showed him documents that laid out a framework for U.S.-Russian economic cooperation that he called the ‘Dmitriev package’ — named for Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has been a central figure in negotiations over a potential ceasefire.

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Khanna says Maxwell should be sent back to maximum security prison

14 min ago - 02/09/26 3:13 PM ET After Ghislaine Maxwell’s closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said she should be transferred back to the maximum security prison in Florida she was moved out of las ... (The Hill)

Trump told Palm Beach police chief 'everyone' knew about Epstein, Maxwell was 'evil'

24 min ago - President Donald Trump has repeatedly maintained that he had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes. But in July 2006, just as Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal case became public, Trump called then-Palm Beach police chief Michael Reiter to ... (Miami Herald)

As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts

34 min ago - -snip- Cerebrospinal fluid reportedly leaked from one patient’s nose. In another reported case, a surgeon mistakenly punctured the base of a patient’s skull. In two other cases, patients each allegedly suffered strokes after a major artery ... (Reuters)

Judge temporarily halts order requiring Trump to unfreeze tunnel funding

39 min ago - February 9, 2026 1:19 PM EST Updated 2 hours ago Feb 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge in New York on Monday temporarily put her ruling on hold forcing the Trump administration to lift a four-month-old freeze on federal funding for the $16 billion Hudson Ri ... (Reuters)

FEMA earmarks threatened by immigration funding standoff

57 min ago - Posted February 9, 2026 at 12:42pm The ongoing fight over fiscal 2026 funding for immigration enforcement is threatening millions of dollars in home-state earmarks for disaster preparedness projects. The compromise full-year Homeland Security bill, w ... (Roll Call)

State officials say the Trump administration has been absent on election security

1 hr ago - Feb. 9, 2026, 5:00 AM EST State election officials got an unusual invitation from the Trump administration last week: a late February call about midterm preparations organized by the FBI. The surprise email came at a tense moment. The Justice Depart ... (NBC News)

Conservative sounds alarm on under-the-radar Trump move to pay off cops to assist ICE

1 hr ago - February 9, 2026 9:51AM ET During an appearance on MS NOW Monday, conservative commentator Matt Lewis raised the prospect of Donald Trump taking over local police departments by paying them off to help out in rounding up immigrants. Using his Substac ... (Raw Story)

Nebraska judge tosses lawsuit to keep state from releasing voter data to feds

1 hr ago - State’s top election official has said he plans to hand the data to the Justice Department later this week By: Juan Salinas II - February 9, 2026 1:49 pm LINCOLN – A Lancaster County District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit without prejudic ... (Nebraska Examiner)

Raskin said unredacted Epstein files indicate DOJ improperly shielded names

2 hrs ago - 02/09/26 3:21 PM ET Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said after reviewing the unredacted Epstein files that the Justice Department (DOJ) appears to have flouted the law when concealing various names in docum ... (The Hill)

Vance is in Armenia, a country no sitting US president or vice president has visited before

2 hrs ago - Updated 1:25 PM EST, February 9, 2026 YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Vice President JD Vance landed in Armenia on Monday — a country that no sitting U.S. vice president or president has visited before — as the Trump administration offered eco ... (AP)

Cuba warns airlines it's out of jet fuel amid US oil blockade

2 hrs ago - Cuban authorities have notified international airlines that they won't be able to refuel at the island's airports, as the country's energy crisis deepens following President Donald Trump's steps to cut the island's oil supply in a push for negotiatio ... (Tampa Bay Times)

Justice Department moves to dismiss Steve Bannon's criminal case

2 hrs ago - Feb. 9, 2026, 2:54 PM EST The Department of Justice on Monday moved to dismiss the long-running criminal case against Steve Bannon. Bannon, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, was convicted in 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress for ref ... (NBC News)

Kaiser Permanente pharmacy, lab employees join Southern California strike

3 hrs ago - by: Will Conybeare Posted: Feb 9, 2026 / 07:51 AM PST Updated: Feb 9, 2026 / 08:05 AM PST Thousands of workers at Kaiser Permanente pharmacies and laboratories in Southern California began a strike over unfair labor practices in Southern California o ... (KTLA)

Trump's immigration crackdown is straining federal courts. Judges are raising the alarm

3 hrs ago - Monday 09 February 2026 13:04 EST Federal judges around the country are scrambling to address a deluge of lawsuits from immigrants locked up under the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign. Under past administrations, people with no crimin ... (The Independent)

Maine shaken by ICE raids as backlash threatens Republican Senate control

4 hrs ago - Mon 9 Feb 2026 06.00 EST Last modified on Mon 9 Feb 2026 10.13 EST Maine, the US’s whitest state, has been shaken by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, a crackdown that could threaten Republican control of the Senate in Novem ... (The Guardian)

Republican calls on Trump ally Howard Lutnick to quit cabinet over Epstein files

4 hrs ago - US House member Thomas Massie has called for the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick – a fellow Republican – to resign over his ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Massie, who co-authored a law mandating the release of the s ... (The Guardian)

Bad Bunny Deletes All His Instagram Posts Following Super Bowl Halftime Show

4 hrs ago - Bad Bunny appears to be taking a break from posting on social media. Just hours after his Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, Feb. 8, the Puerto Rican star (real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio), 31, removed all of the posts on his Instagr ... (People)

Prince William And Kate Middleton Speak Out Amid New Epstein-Andrew Uproar

4 hrs ago - Feb 9, 2026, 05:36 AM EST LONDON (AP) — Prince William and Princess Catherine expressed concern for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein in a statement released Monday, the latest move by the British monarchy to distance itself from revelations about ... (Huff Post/AP)

Purported Nancy Guthrie ransom note deadline approaches as search enters a second week

4 hrs ago - By TY ONEIL Updated 9:50 AM CST, February 9, 2026 TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities investigating the apparent kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie returned to her Arizona neighborhood several times over the weekend, ahead of a Monday evening deadline set ... (AP)

China Urges Banks to Curb Exposure to US Treasuries

5 hrs ago - China Urges Banks to Curb Exposure to US Treasuries WATCH: Chinese regulators have advised financial institutions to rein in their holdings of US Treasuries. Bloomberg’s Ven Ram reports. By Bloomberg News February 9, 2026 at 6:00 AM UTC Chinese ... (Bloomberg News)