Monday News: “Blame Canada — Our warmongering, drugged-out conspiracy theory”; “Lawless” – “Trump Deports Hundreds Despite Judge’s Order”; “Even critical observers underestimated the speed and scope of the Trumpist assault”; “Trump’s takeover depends on creating this alternate reality”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, March 17. And yes, we really are at the “moment of crisis,” as Robert Hubbell writes, as “Trump intentionally violates multiple court orders.” So now what? Because if the law and the constitution become meaningless, we are to all extents and purposes not a democracy wirth rule of law anymore. And that would be really dangerous for all Americans.

• Trump’s Trade Wars Tip World to Slower Growth, Faster Inflation
• OECD cuts U.S. and global economic outlooks as Trump’s trade tariffs weigh on growth
• Trump says he will be speaking with Russia’s Putin on Tuesday (Ugh, this will not be good.)
• Trump says Ukraine-Russia peace talks looking at ‘dividing up certain assets’
• National security adviser Mike Waltz says ‘all options’ on the table in responding to Iran
• Ukraine Retreats From All but a Sliver of Land in Russia’s Kursk Region
• Kremlin confirms Trump-Putin call on Tuesday as European leaders question Russia’s intentions
• China vows to ‘vigorously boost consumption’ to revive its weak economy
• Iran rejects Trump’s ‘bullying’ on nuclear talks, as threats ratchet up
• Fresh US strikes in Yemen with 53 now dead, Houthis say
• What other countries are taking away from Trump’s battle with Canada (“As world leaders weigh how to respond to the president’s tariffs, Canada and Mexico offer cautionary tales.”)
• Blame Canada — Our warmongering, drugged-out conspiracy theory
• Nervous about Trump, international tourists scrap their U.S. travel plans
• As Voice of America Goes Dark, Some Broadcasts Are Replaced by Music
• Trump tapped Kari Lake to run VOA. Then he dismantled it.
• Trump is ending democracy promotion abroad even as he assaults democracy at home (“Defunding Voice of America and Freedom House only helps the world’s despots.”)
• Venezuelan Families Fear for Relatives as Trump Celebrates Deportations
• US deports hundreds of Venezuelans despite court order
• The Week Ahead (“It’s going to be an eventful week. That’s already clear. Chief among the issues is whether this is the week we reach the tipping point where the administration flagrantly ignores a federal court’s order, and we begin to see the ensuing constitutional crisis, which would be full blown at that point, play out. It’s not a prospect any of us relish focusing on, but nothing gets better just because you look the other way.”)
• Trump administration deports hundreds of immigrants even as a judge orders their removals be stopped
• Exclusive: How the White House defied a judge’s order to turn back deportation flights
• White House Denies Violating Judge’s Order in Deporting Venezuelans
• White House denies ignoring court order halting Venezuelan deportations
• Brown University Professor Deported Despite Valid Visa And Judge’s Order: Lawyers
• Doctor and Professor Is Deported Despite a Judge’s Order
• Judge demands Trump admin. explain why doctor was deported despite order
• With Deportations, Trump Steps Closer to Showdown With Judicial Branch
• The Case of Mahmoud Khalil (“If the Trump Administration comes out on the wrong side of this fight, it will be because defending free speech remains a politically lucid and powerful principle.”)
• Trump’s takeover depends on creating this alternate reality (“When Trump does the heretofore impossible, he is emotionally training and conditioning the American people to accept a new reality by challenging if not breaking their expectations of what is normal and acceptable in their society and lives. The result is a great amount of collective fear, anxiety and disorientation. As these expectations of what is normal are repeatedly shattered, a type of collective exhaustion and state of learned helplessness sets in.”)
• Scientists Say NIH Officials Told Them To Scrub mRNA References on Grants (Uh, why?)
• Young scientists see career pathways vanish as schools adapt to federal funding cuts
• The View Inside Trump’s Assault on Universities
• What Authoritarianism Means (“Even critical observers underestimated the speed and scope of the Trumpist assault, they overestimated democratic resilience. What is America now, and what comes next?”)
• Chris Murphy: ‘If We Continue to Engage in Business as Usual, This Democracy Could Be Gone’
• Wall Street sees no guard rails for Trump 2.0, with Bessent embracing MAGA
• Bessent Not Worried About Market, Calls Corrections Healthy (Uh huh.)
• Trump says the economy ‘went to hell’ under Biden. The opposite is true (“By standard measures such as job and GDP growth and the stock market, the US economy was in excellent shape”)
• ‘Full of despair’: Senate Dems look to regroup after losing shutdown fight (“Democrats are openly questioning whether they lost their last point of leverage by ceding to Republicans in the latest skirmish over funding the government.”)
• The dystopian “freedom cities” dream fueling Elon Musk’s destruction (“Tech’s plans for billionaire-rule expose why Musk wants to end government by the people”)
• Democrats demand investigation into Musk over possible criminal corruption (“Leading figures urge Pam Bondi to examine ‘Mr Musk’s activities at the FAA’ amid conflict-of-interest concerns”)
• Democrats train fire on Musk as unelected billionaire dips in popularity
• Who DOGE Hurts: Gutting NOAA
• DOGE’s Cuts Reach Key Nuclear Scientists, Bomb Engineers and Safety Experts
• Top broadband official exits Commerce Department with sharp Musk warning
• Why Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race might be the most important of 2025
• Black Medal of Honor recipient removed from US Department of Defense website (Unadulterated, virulent racism.)
• MAGA Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA09) Claims Town Halls Are “Inefficient” So He’s Not Holding Any; In Stark Contrast, His Predecessor Rick Boucher (D) Says *HE* “held 70 or more in-person town halls across the district” (Also: VA05 townhall today “with or without” Rep. John McGuire (R); “Where’s Wittman”; Fake Jen Kiggans town hall)
• Video: Rep. Gerry Connolly’s St. Patrick’s Day Event Has Record Turnout of 1,200; Straw Poll Results (Shannon Taylor 62%-Jay Jones 38% for AG; Aaron Rouse 25%-Levar Stoney 24%-Babur Lateef 22%-Ghazala Hashmi 15.5%-Victor Salgado 8.5% for LG)
• United behind Spanberger, Va.’s Democratic Party reminds voters of Republicans’ three-way primary
• Trump used to be kryptonite for GOP in Virginia, but not this year (“Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and other Virginia Republicans are fully embracing President Donald Trump despite his losses in the state’s elections.”)
• “Progressive Prosecutors” take the spotlight in AG primary race
• Virginia public schools face uncertainty due to federal government changes
• Northern Virginia has more data centers than anywhere else in the world. Here’s its advice for Southside. (“Elected officials and residents in Prince William and Loudoun counties want Southside to draw on their experience with the data center industry.”)
• Hundreds protest Trump, Musk and plans for a Tesla showroom in Cville
• City releases 8 years of severance records, but omits critical information
• Former state Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Koontz dies. He’s hailed as ‘one of the most consequential judges in Virginia history.’
• CWG Live updates: Cool and blustery today but then a swift warm-up