Trump Officials Pushed Ahead With Mass Layoffs

The federal work force is facing a sharp reduction after President Trump’s Office of Personnel Management ordered agencies to terminate most of an estimated 200,000 workers still in their probationary period. The cuts primarily target employees who have been in their roles for less than two years and do not enjoy as much job protection.

By this afternoon, the scope of the layoffs was becoming clearer. More than 1,000 workers were terminated at the Department of Veterans Affairs and about 1,000 more were let go at the Energy Department. The Consumer Financial Protection and the personnel office itself each laid off dozens more. The I.R.S. is expected to fire thousands of workers.

The layoffs are part of an effort by Trump and a team led by Elon Musk to reshape the federal government, which employs about 2.3 million workers. This week, the administration also cut spending on groups that helped Americans enroll in Obamacare and advanced diversity initiatives at the Education Department. During Trump’s first term, the education secretary had championed those efforts.

The cuts seem likely to continue: The agriculture secretary said today that she would welcome Musk’s team to help assess her department’s spending, which includes food stamps. “Are we really giving people a hand up, or is it a handout?” the secretary said.

Vance signaled support for Europe’s far-right parties

Vice President JD Vance met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine today at the Munich Security Conference. He said the U.S. was intent on securing “a durable, lasting peace” in Ukraine, but declined to discuss specifics.

Vance also gave a speech that many European diplomats and officials had hoped would clarify the Trump administration’s vision for Ukraine. Instead, he told the Europeans that their biggest security threat was “the enemy within,” accusing them of suppressing free speech and sidelining parties considered extremist.

He singled out his German hosts, telling them to drop their objections to working with a party that has often reveled in banned Nazi slogans, which elicited some gasps in the hall. Vance did not mention the party, the Alternative for Germany or AfD, by name, but he did meet with its chancellor candidate.

Top Democrats called for Eric Adams to resign

A growing number of elected officials in New York called today for the resignation of Mayor Eric Adams, one day after Danielle Sassoon, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, resigned rather than obey an order to drop a criminal case against the mayor. She accused Adams’s lawyers of suggesting to Trump’s aides that he would help with the president’s immigration crackdown if his indictment were dropped.

Several other officials quit alongside Sassoon in protest of the order, which came from a top Justice Department official. Hagan Scotten, the lead prosecutor on the case, said in a resignation letter: “I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.”

The latest: Attorney General Pam Bondi said the case against Adams “is being dismissed today.” Follow for updates.

A man in Chile was briefly ‘swallowed’ by a whale

Adrián Simancas was rafting with his father in the waters of Chilean Patagonia when a humpback whale suddenly lunged at him, mouth open, from the waves below. In an interview, Simancas said he quickly realized he was trapped in the whale’s mouth: “Something dark blue or white enveloped me, and a slimy texture brushed my face.”

He emerged unharmed, and his father caught it all on video.

More top news

Live from New York, it’s been 50 years

Since “Saturday Night Live” premiered its 50th season last fall, the show has been hailed over and over for its central role in shaping American comedy and television. The celebrations culminate on Sunday with a live three-hour anniversary special.

Behind it all is Lorne Michaels, the man who created “S.N.L.” and became America’s impresario of funny, as a recent major biography attests. When he sat down with Maureen Dowd to discuss his legacy, Michaels said he had no plans of quitting anytime soon.

This Valentine’s, say it with tulips

Every year, Americans import hundreds of millions of flowers in the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day. Most of them, of course, are roses — the classic symbol of love. But the tulip is becoming an increasingly popular alternative.

They are usually less expensive and more environmentally friendly. And florists we spoke to said they actually preferred the aesthetic of tulips, which, unlike roses, continue to change and grow after they’re cut. “It’s just a nice spring flower, especially during this time of year, where it’s chilly and kind of bleak,” one florist said.

Have a romantic weekend.

Thanks for reading. We’ll be off on Monday for George Washington’s birthday. I’ll be back on Tuesday. — Matthew

Kirsten Luce was our photo editor today.

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