Plus, a surprise animated hit. On Today’s Episode:White House Failed to Comply With Court Order, Judge Rules, by Mattathias SchwartzAdams May Get His Charges Dropped, but His Re-election Fight Remains, by Dana Rubinstein, Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Jeffery C. MaysHamas Postpones Release of More Hostages “Until Further Notice,” by Lara Jakes, Ronen Bergman, Adam Rasgon and Johnatan ReissTrump Says He May Cut Aid to Jordan and Egypt if They Don’t Take Gazans, by Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Shawn McCreeshNonstop Quakes Leave a Tourist Island Empty and Its Residents on Edge, by Niki KitsantonisWho Needs Hollywood? Chinese Animated Film Shatters Box Office Records, by Claire Fu and Daisuke WakabayashiTune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [email protected].
Full Episode
From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Tuesday, February 11th. Here's what we're covering. The Trump administration and the courts have moved one step closer to a major showdown. On Monday, a federal judge said for the first time that the White House is defying a clear and unambiguous judicial order.
The legal fight is over the billions of dollars in federal funding that the administration froze last month so they could root out any programs they felt weren't in line with President Trump's ideology and agenda. The judge had ordered the administration to keep the money flowing, but they have not fully complied, and there are reports that they've frozen even more money since then.
The judge said yesterday that there is no legitimate reason for the White House not to be following his orders. In a statement, though, a White House spokesman was openly defiant, claiming that, quote, every action of the Trump-Vance administration is completely lawful and that any challenge against it is nothing more than an attempt to undermine the will of the American people.
The administration's refusal to release federal funds might not be the only court order they're ignoring. Yesterday, a federal workers' group said the administration is still putting USAID employees on leave, even after a judge told them to stop.
If the White House continues to openly flout orders from the courts, the government could be headed towards a high-stakes constitutional clash between the executive branch and the judicial branch. Meanwhile, a move by the Justice Department on Monday is raising questions about influence and fairness under the Trump administration.
The department told federal prosecutors to drop their case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Adams was charged last year with conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery, and soliciting illegal campaign contributions. He spent the last several months currying favor with President Trump, attending the inauguration and visiting him at Mar-a-Lago.
The DOJ now says it wants the case against Adams dropped not because of the facts involved, but in part because the charges could interfere with Adams' job, including his ability to cooperate with Trump's immigration crackdown. In Gaza, the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is on edge. Hamas now says it's postponing the release of any more hostages indefinitely.
It was supposed to release more this weekend. The group has accused Israel of violating the agreement by delaying the return of displaced Palestinians, blocking the delivery of some humanitarian aid, and opening fire on civilians. This morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet with his security cabinet about how to respond.
But President Trump has already issued his own ultimatum to Hamas over the ceasefire deal.
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