Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released this copy of Donald J. Trump’s 50th birthday letter (which the president denies is his work)from 2003 to Jeffrey Epstein, later convicted of sex trafficking (per USA Today).
WEDNESDAY 9/10/25
Russian Drones Over Poland – Polish and Dutch warplanes shot down several Russian drones over Poland, The Wall Street Journalreports, the first time NATO has engaged Russian drones over a member territory.
Poland has evoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for consultation with fellow NATO members over whether its security is threatened, without triggering a military response, The Kyiv Independent reports.
“We are dealing likely with a provocation on a large scale,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said following an emergency meeting of NATO member ministers Wednesday, per the WSJ report. Poland temporarily closed four of its major airports after the Russian drone attack.
Tusk later said Poland had identified three Russian drones shot down over his nation, according to the BBC. The Kyiv Independent reported seven projectile fragments “of unknown origin” found after the Russian incursion. Moscow claimed there is “no evidence” that drones shot down over Poland came from Russia.
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As Trump Flails Over Qatar Attack – Russia’s attack on Poland follows “Judgment Day,” the Israeli military’s attack on senior Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday. Amidst confusion over when, precisely, the Israeli government informed the White House of the attack, President Trump noted on his Truth Social that Qatar is a “strong ally” and he felt “very badly” about the location of the attack, according to TIME magazine.
The US in 2012 asked Qatar to host Hamas officials to facilitate negotiations with Israel over Palestinians in Gaza.
“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, the Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social.
The White House at first said special envoy Steve Witkoff warned Qatar of an “impending attack” ahead of Israel’s strike. But the White House later clarified the statement to say Witkoff’s call was placed only after the US military told the White House that the bombing already was underway. –TL
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TUESDAY 9/9/25
Israel Strikes Hamas in Qatar – Israel announced Tuesday it had launched a strike targeting Hamas’ leadership in Doha, Qatar, The Associated Press reports. The air strikes, condoned by the US, follow stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas over ending the war in Gaza. It is unclear whether the strikes have resulted in any injuries.
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SCOTUS Allows Immigration Stops – For now.
The scenario is beginning to look familiar: A federal court ruling that puts a stop on President Trump’s various attempts to set strict policy whether he has authority to do so or not is itself put on hold while his administration is given the chance to appeal. That’s how the US Supreme Court ruled Monday in the case of Central District Court of California US District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong’s ban barring federal agents from making immigration stops without reasonable suspicion.
As SCOTUSblog’s Amy Howe reports, the Supreme Court puts Frimpong’s ruling on hold while the Trump administration’s appeals continue.
Frimpong ruled that federal agents in the Central District of California, with its population of approximately 20 million people, cannot rely on “apparent race or ethnicity,” speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent, being present in a location where undocumented agents “are known to gather,” or those working such jobs as landscaping or construction.
Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavenaugh said judges “may have views on which policy approach is better or fairer. But judges are not appointed to make these policy calls. We merely ensure that the executive branch acts within the confines of the Constitution and federal statutes.”
Justice Sonya Sotomayor issued a scathing dissent, calling the ruling “yet another grave misuse of our emergency docket. We should not have to live in a country where the government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our Constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.”
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French PM Done – French lawmakers Monday voted out, 364-194, centrist Prime Minister François Bayrou after nine months as President Emmanuel Macron’s choice for the job, Newsweek reports. Bayrou had imposed strict fiscal discipline to tackle France’s high debt, equal to 114% of gross domestic product.– Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa