News From Around the Web
#1 The Executive Order Everyone Misread - Tracy Beanz and Michelle Edwards for The HighWire, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Thomas Massie, healthbot, Emerald Robinson, and Tom Renz on X
On February 18, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) treating elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides like supply-chain vulnerabilities. Why? Because, in the administration’s framing, they are. Following the EO, sheer panic ensued over an order that people apparently briefly skimmed, and over one word they hate. The order, which leans on the Defense Production Act of 1950, delegates priority-allocation authority to the USDA to ensure “a continued and adequate supply” of both phosphorus and glyphosate and explicitly ties them to defense readiness and food-supply security. Currently importing elemental phosphorus from other countries each year, the order plainly states that US domestic production is extremely limited, with only one domestic producer that is unable to meet annual demand. In reality, the EO, which is more about elemental phosphorus than it is glyphosate, reads less like a permanent stamp of approval to chemicals in our food and more like a national-security procurement memo that has inadvertently set the MAHA movement on fire...#2 Trump’s Global Tariff Takes Effect at 10%, Despite Announcement of 15% - Steve Kopack and Garrett Haake for NBC News, Moneyweb News, HDFC SKY, Economy Middle East, TradingAuthority IO, and DC Brief on X
President Donald Trump's reworked global tariffs began Tuesday at a rate of 10%, even though he said over the weekend that they would start at 15%. On Friday, after the Supreme Court struck down most of Trump's tariff agenda, he announced that he would quickly implement a 10% flat tariff for all trading partners using a different trade law. One day later, Trump posted on Truth Social that "effective immediately" he would be "raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff ... to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level."#3 Trump Endorsement Could Decide Florida Governor Race, Poll Suggests - Jim Rosica for Tallahassee Democrat, Florida's Voice, Florida Politics, I Support Ron DeSantis, and LisaFLA on X
The race for the Republican nomination for Florida governor is still coming down to one big thing: An endorsement from President Donald Trump. And Byron Donalds has it. The Trump factor is perhaps the biggest finding from the latest poll, released Feb. 24 from the Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) at the University of North Florida, of likely Republican primary voters. Of the GOP voters polled, 28% said they'd vote for Donalds, the congressman from Naples, followed by 24% for Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, whose candidacy had been rumored for months. Though insiders now suspect she won't run, she hasn't definitively ruled herself in or out...
#4 Rising Cancer Rates, the Globalist Agenda, and the Big Business Land Grab Making You Poor Interview with Zach Lahn, Gubernatorial Candidate for Iowa - Tucker Carlson Show, Paul A. Szypula, Holden Culotta, Zach Lahn, and Michele Rhoades on X
In a recent interview, Tucker Carlson praised Republican Zach Lahn as one of the most impressive politicians today, as Lahn announced his run for Iowa governor in the 2026 race amid a crowded primary. Lahn criticized Big Ag giants like Bayer, Corteva, and Syngenta for controlling seeds and inputs, driving up costs for local farmers and contributing to health issues like high cancer rates in rural counties linked to herbicides such as paraquat and glyphosate. He called for antitrust action, truth in product risks, higher taxes on out-of-state land buyers, and prioritizing culture and community over corporatism to revive Iowa's agrarian roots...
#5 Trump Whines Over Low Poll Numbers as Athletes, Celebrities Speak Out Against Him - MSN, Fahida Yusufzai, joseph jones, Daily Glimpse Girl/Stevie Nicks Fan Girl, MAHA Action, CALL TO ACTIVISM, and G Elliot Morris on X
Cornell Belcher, Democratic Pollster joins Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House with a look at how public support for the Trump Administration continues to plummet which has set off a permission structure for athletes and celebrities to speak out and use their platforms to condemn the Trump Administration's actions...#6 Social Media Erupts After Stephen King Makes False Claim About Trump’s Family: ‘What Is This Sh--?' - Leo Briceno for Fox News, MikeNoLastName, Donald Trump Jr., NY Pulse, Dat B Rayciss!, Rogue Recap, and Derrick Evans on X
Horror author Stephen King is facing backlash online Monday for a post tearing into President Donald Trump’s personal life, including a line claiming that Trump has no children. "Trump: has never had a child. Has been married 3 times. Ran several businesses into the ground. Never ran a home, couldn’t make a bed to save his a--. Calls people he works with dumb, losers, etc. Has never done sweat labor. Has never served on a local committee," King said in a post to X. "[He] has no life experience," King added...
#7 ‘This Is Going Too Far, Boss’: Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales Appears to Pursue Late Staffer in Explicit Text Messages - Diana Paulsen and John Parkinson for ABC News, john macker, @I_AM_Victoria, Rep. Tony Gonzales/Brian Kwartler, Richard Samples, and Anna Núñez HIRE ME! COMMS
Text messages appear to show Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales pursuing a relationship with his former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles -- more than a year before she died by suicide. The messages were provided to ABC News by Santos-Aviles' widower. In a series of texts from May of 2024, Gonzales, a married father of six, repeatedly requests "sexy" photos from Santos-Aviles. The aide seems initially hesitant, writing, "You don’t really want a hot picture of me." Gonzales continues, saying, "I'm just such a visual person" and "Sorry." He also appears to ask Santos-Aviles about her sexual preferences. Santos-Aviles replies to the request by saying, "This is going too far, boss," but appears to engage in flirtation, saying, "How long have you thought I was this hot?"
#8 We Asked Scientists What They Think We’ll Learn From the Government’s UFO Files Here’s What They Said - CBS News, ChadLM, Jim Ferguson/PowMan, XRP NESARA-GESARA QFS 3.0, Dr. Rita Louise, and Daniel L Collins on X
Questions about what the federal government may know about extraterrestrial life in the cosmos — or possibly even here on Earth — have inspired imaginations, conspiracy theories, sci-fi literature, and blockbuster films. Answers to some of those questions could finally become public after President Trump's call last week for the release of files related to UFOs or any "alien and extraterrestrial life." Mr. Trump posted on social media that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other agency heads should "begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters."#9 Mandelson Released on Bail After Arrest Amid Probe Into Epstein Ties - Callum Sutherland for TIME, John LeFever, Sayer Ji, van00sa, Mario Nawfall, and Guardian Opinion on X
Peter Mandelson, the former U.K. ambassador to the U.S., was released on bail in the early hours of Tuesday morning following his arrest. “A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office has been released on bail pending further investigation,” said a Metropolitan Police spokesperson in a statement published just after 2 a.m., local time. “He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, Feb. 23, and was taken to a London police station for interview.” The police force reiterated that the arrest followed “search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.”
#10 Gavin Newsom’s Wife Mocks Trump After Women’s Hockey Team Declines Invite - Giulia Carbonaro for Newsweek, Ron Cohen, The scoop stateside, Independently, Independent !, Warren Kinsella/Mama Mac, Meme’nOnLibs/Jesse Evans, and The Daily Beast on X
The U.S. women’s ice hockey team brought home a gold medal last Thursday after a stunning 2-1 victory against Canada in the final at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. While the White House shared a message celebrating their victory, the president did not publish a congratulatory post on his personal social media profiles. He did so, however, for the U.S. men’s ice hockey team, who won the final against Canada on Sunday afternoon and broke an Olympic gold medal dry spell that, for the team, that had lasted 46 years. He also called them on the same day, inviting them to attend the State of the Union address and later visit him at the White House...
