by Soren Ryan-Jensen & Daniel Covington
What’s been going on in the US? Here’s the latest scoop.
Changing foreign policy
The Trump administration has been making quite a few changes to their foreign policy. The United States originally had a big hand in creating and financing NATO. Countries typically spend a percentage of GDP on defense to be a part of the treaty organization. However, the Trump administration says that nowadays, “Countries need to pay their fair share.” Many countries have since increased their spending on their militaries, as the required 2% for pledging will be increased to 5% by 2035.
At the same time, there have also been some changes in the Middle East. Trump’s Board of Peace was started a little less than two months ago, and has had its first official meeting. At this meeting, members pledged 7 billion for a Gaza relief package.
It is notable that there are some naysayers. Both Democrats and Republicans, along with some European members of government, question exactly how effective this board can be.
ICE and Minneapolis
Alex Peretti, a 37-year-old resident of Minneapolis, was killed on January 24th during the ongoing protests against immigration enforcement activity in Minnesota. Peretti was filming Border Patrol agents when an agent pushed a woman to the ground. After stepping between the agents and the woman, Peretti was pepper sprayed before being tackled and then shot ten times. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that the agents fired after Peretti resisted attempts to be disarmed (Peretti was a legal gunowner who had a gun on his person during the shooting). However, witnesses claimed in their testimonies that Peretti made no attempt to brandish the weapon. Weeks earlier, Renee Good, another 37-year-old American citizen, was shot by federal agents who the vice president stated as having “absolute immunity,” which would prevent agents from having civil liability for actions taken within the scope of their duties.
This all comes at a period of increased public scrutiny on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. There are worries that the agency’s enormous increase in employees has come at the cost of reduced time for background checks and training; issues which have come to light as more than 170 American citizens have been detained, many of whom have been in custody for longer than what is allowed by federal law.
Pam Bondi and the Epstein files
On February 11th, the House had a contentious hearing with Pam Bondi, the Attorney General of the Department of Justice. In a hearing that lasted over five hours,
many questioned the DOJ’s response to what was in the files. Many members of the committee noted that there were issues with the redactions, as well as issues with not complying with releasing the files within thirty days. As victims and the world alike watched, this hearing turned from a way to get answers, to a screaming and insult match—both sides arguing. At one point, Bondi said, ”You’re a washed-up loser lawyer” to Jamie Raskin, a US House Representative. After quite a bit of back and forth, Democratic Representative Becca Balint of Vermont stormed out following a confrontational exchange regarding antisemitism.
Meanwhile, in other countries, there have been attempts to hold those in power accountable for wrongdoings enumerated in the Epstein Files. According to NYT, “Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, is under suspicion of ‘misconduct in public office’ during his time as Britain’s trade envoy. The accusation follows years of reports about his ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.” The former prince was arrested on February 19th, at the Royal Sandringham Estate on his 66th birthday. It is possible he will face a life sentence if the prosecution continues.
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