Significant News Update: Major New Epstein files, America's Allies Consider Abandoning Trump's Trade Deals, and FB…

                                                

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Significant News Update: Major New Epstein files, America's Allies Consider Abandoning Trump's Trade Deals, and FBI Caught in Big Lie

Aaron Parnas Feb 22

Good afternoon, everyone. There is a lot to cover today. Trump is attempting to send a hospital ship to Greenland even though there is no medical crisis there and Greenland already has universal health care through Denmark. Multiple countries are now scrambling to reassess trade deals with the United States after the Supreme Court’s tariff decision threw global markets into uncertainty. Kash Patel has been caught in a lie while reportedly partying with Olympians in Italy on the taxpayer’s dime. Major cartel violence has erupted across Mexico. And that is only the beginning.

A couple of updates. First, the surprise party for my wife was a huge success. Thank you all for the kind messages and support. Second, this week is shaping up to be one of the busiest in recent memory.

Tomorrow I will be meeting with members of Congress ahead of Trump’s State of the Union on Tuesday. On Tuesday, I will be watching the speech so you do not have to. I will also be featured in the alternative State of the Union, interviewing more than a dozen members of Congress who are boycotting the address.

If you are able, please consider subscribing ahead of what will be an extremely intense week. Subscriptions are not just support. They are fuel. They allow us to keep investigating, keep asking hard questions, and keep pressing forward long after the headlines move on. Your support directly powers the reporting we will be doing for the rest of this year and beyond.

Here’s the news:

• In 2020, one year after Jeffrey Epstein died, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York discusses a confidentiality agreement "in connection with the investigation into the murder of Jeffrey Epstein."

• President Trump said he is sending a U.S. hospital ship to Greenland, renewing his push for influence over the Danish territory, but Danish and Greenlandic leaders rejected the move, saying their health care systems are sufficient and no special U.S. intervention is needed.

• Kash Patel was caught partying with Team USA today despite his office publicly claiming he was not using taxpayer dollars to go to the Olympics.

• The TSA announced that its PreCheck expedited screening program will remain operational during the Department of Homeland Security funding lapse—reversing earlier plans to suspend it—though operations may be adjusted due to staffing constraints, while other services like Global Entry were initially slated for suspension amid the shutdown.

• India has delayed high-level trade talks in Washington after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s previous tariffs and he quickly imposed new global import levies of up to 15%, prompting both sides to reassess an interim agreement that would have reduced India’s 25% reciprocal tariff to 18% and forcing negotiators to rethink strategy before rescheduling the visit.

• The European Union has demanded “full clarity” from Washington after President Trump proposed a new 15% global tariff following a Supreme Court ruling striking down his earlier trade measures, with a top EU lawmaker calling to suspend ratification of the EU-U.S. trade deal amid concerns the move breaches the agreement and creates transatlantic trade uncertainty.

• CSPAN confirms Donald Trump did not call into the show over the past couple of days despite it sounding like him:

• Here is the original call:

• According to Politico, the Trump administration has halted FEMA funding for long-term disaster recovery projects during the partial government shutdown, limiting aid to “bare-minimum, life-saving operations” and pausing non-emergency rebuilding work as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cites funding constraints tied to the DHS budget standoff.

• Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and one of the world’s most wanted drug traffickers, died after being killed in a Mexican military operation in Jalisco, triggering widespread violent clashes, road blockades and arson across multiple states as authorities warned residents to shelter in place.

• Tourists in Puerto Vallarta were told to remain inside their resorts as violent clashes, vehicle burnings and road blockades erupted across parts of Jalisco and other Mexican states following a federal security operation, prompting a U.S. State Department advisory urging Americans to shelter in place.

• Passengers were seen fleeing onto the tarmac at Puerto Vallarta International Airport in Jalisco after heavily armed members of the CJNG cartel reportedly carried out attacks in the area, escalating fears amid ongoing cartel-related violence.

• If you are an American in Mexico:

• A Guardian analysis of nearly 140,000 DHS deportation records from 2025 found that 77% of immigrants newly placed in deportation proceedings had no criminal convictions and most convictions were for nonviolent offenses, undercutting the Trump administration’s claim that it is targeting “the worst of the worst.”

• Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County deputy shot and killed a 21-year-old North Carolina man who entered Mar-a-Lago’s secure perimeter carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and fuel can, after he allegedly raised the weapon when ordered to drop it; President Trump was not at the property and the incident remains under investigation.

• President Trump has privately asked advisers whether JD Vance or Marco Rubio should head the GOP’s 2028 presidential ticket, reportedly favoring Vance while increasingly complimenting Rubio’s growing national profile.

• Donald Trump warned Netflix to remove Democrat Susan Rice from its board or “face the consequences,” escalating his involvement in the company’s high-stakes bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery and raising fresh political tensions around the proposed media mega-merger.

• A powerful winter storm is bringing blizzard conditions to the Northeast, with more than 35 million people under warnings, forecasts of up to 2 feet of snow and 50–70 mph wind gusts, widespread travel bans and school closures, and officials warning of dangerous whiteout conditions and historic impacts.

• U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee drew fierce backlash from Arab and Muslim nations after suggesting in a podcast interview that Israel has a biblical right to expansive Middle East territory promised in the Old Testament, comments critics called extremist, inflammatory and contrary to U.S. policy, while Huckabee later said his remarks were taken out of context.

• The New York Times has confirmed that President Trump is reportedly considering an initial military strike on Iran within days to pressure Tehran to abandon its nuclear weapons capability, with plans for a far larger campaign later in the year aimed at toppling Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei if Iran refuses to comply.

• Facing nationwide unrest and the threat of U.S. military strikes, the New York Times is reporting that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has empowered national security chief Ali Larijani to effectively steer the country—overseeing protest crackdowns, nuclear negotiations, military preparations and detailed contingency plans for leadership succession and state survival in the event of war or assassination of top officials.

• Oman’s foreign minister confirmed that U.S.–Iran talks will take place Thursday in Geneva, with the United States represented by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

See you soon.

— Aaron