• Trump and Omar trade barbs: Donald Trump couldn’t stop himself. When asked about the attack on Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar at a town hall event, the president mused, “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.” He did admit, “I haven’t seen” the video, adding, “I hope I don’t have to bother.” The attacker’s weapon of choice, apple cider vinegar sprayed from a syringe, may be odd, but there is no evidence that this attack was staged at this time. Omar argued that Trump’s rhetoric caused the attack, saying she wouldn’t need security “if he wasn’t so obsessed with me.” Omar also suggested that the attack was motivated by displeasure with the speed of Somali deportations. The suspect, Anthony Kazmierczak, is being held in jail and faces third-degree assault charges. The FBI took over the investigation on Wednesday.

• FBI searches Fulton County election hub: Last month, election officials in Fulton County, Georgia, admitted an error during the 2020 election that violated state regulations. That “error” affected about 315,000 votes that were not properly verified. Election officials, however, downplayed concerns about potential fraud, suggesting that the error was a minor clerical processing mistake and did not affect the election outcome. Well, on Wednesday, FBI agents descended on the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center. It was not clear what they were looking for, as the FBI stated it was executing a “court authorized law enforcement action,” adding, “Our investigation into this matter is ongoing so there are no details that we can provide at the moment.” However, given last month’s admission by county election officials, it would not be surprising if this FBI visit is related.

• Fed holds rates steady: Yesterday, the Federal Reserve voted 10-2 to take no action on interest rates and hold them steady at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the economic outlook was better than at their last meeting, explaining, “We’re not trying to articulate a test for when to next cut. … What we’re saying is we’re well positioned.” While the inflation rate is stubbornly stuck at roughly 2.7%, the Fed is unlikely to cut rates before May, when Powell’s term as chair ends. It will be interesting to see who President Trump names to replace Powell. The decision could lead to more dissent within the institution, which has long embraced consensus as its preferred operating model. This change will largely be due to Trump’s open criticism of Powell and the ongoing DOJ investigation into the Fed chair.

• Soros-backed group targets ICE: The American people elected Donald Trump largely on the promise of a closed border and mass deportations. In 2026, mass deportations have still not materialized, with the administration still mainly limiting itself to pursuing illegals with a criminal record. Despite that levelheaded approach, the Left has lost its mind. Now, a coalition of Soros-backed district attorneys has formed a group called The Project for the Fight Against Federal Overreach (FAFO). The group plans to share strategies “for pushing back against the lawless actions of federal forces in states and cities around the country” at its first meeting next month. One member, Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner, promised that once leftists regain power, they will “hunt down” ICE agents like the Nazis were hunted down. The Left is pulling out all the stops to protect illegals, betting that the Right does not have the will for this fight.

• “No Kings” … again: The same group that organized the “No Kings” protests last year, Indivisible, a left-wing “grassroots” group, is planning its next protest for March 28. This event will focus on Minnesota due to the ongoing immigration enforcement effort there. The flagship protest for “No Kings 3” will, of course, be in the Gopher State’s Twin Cities, but organizers expect (read: will pay for) protests nationwide. Indivisible’s co-executive director reported, “We expect this to be the largest protest in American history,” with as many as nine million Americans. Conservatives and Republicans may be asking themselves when they last coordinated millions of Americans to simultaneously show support for a policy position.

• Klobuchar announces MN gubernatorial run: When Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz ended his reelection bid due to his state’s massive welfare fraud scandal, it created an opening for a prominent Democrat to step into the race. And Sen. Amy Klobuchar has done just that, announcing today that she is throwing her hat into the ring. The Gopher State has “been through a lot,” she lamented in her launch video. “These times call for leaders who can stand up and not be rubber stamps of this administration, but who are also willing to find common ground and fix things in our state.” On leaving her Senate seat, she says, “I like my job in the Senate. But I love our state more than any job. I love the people of Minnesota.” The four-term senator is likely seeking to align herself for another presidential run.

• Population growth drops to 0.5%: The U.S. population grew by 1.8 million last year, the lowest growth it has experienced since the COVID pandemic. That is a growth rate of 0.5%. This represents a significant drop from the prior year, when 3.2 million people were added. Almost all of this decrease in growth is due to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. As Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for Estimates and Projections at the Census Bureau, observed, “With births and deaths remaining relatively stable compared to the prior year, the sharp decline in net international migration.” Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Simon Hankinson noted, “The basic goal here was to stop people coming over the border illegally and being released, and to ramp up interior enforcement to actually remove people. This is an indicator that much of the strategy is working.”

• Pentagon cuts red tape: In line with Secretary Pete Hegseth’s vision of putting the warfighter first, the War Department announced the elimination of 2,700 acquisition rules to cut back on burdensome bureaucratic regulations. Michael Duffey, the undersecretary of war for acquisition and sustainment, conveyed the new cuts on Tuesday at the Apex Defense conference. Duffy highlighted these cutbacks as “the most ambitious revamping of the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) and DFARS (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement) in recent memory,” and noted the need for a faster and more competitive acquisition system. “These eliminated mandates represent the death by a thousand cuts of excess regulatory requirements on both our government workforce and industry, removing the burdens of doing business with the Pentagon to invite new business and maximize innovation and competition,” Duffey elaborated. This is a step in the right direction toward streamlining the acquisition process by reducing cumbersome regulations.

• CCP targeting America’s three “centers of gravity”: Military theorist General Carl von Clausewitz introduced the concept of a military center of gravity, the source of power, strength, and will to act. A new report indicates that China is targeting three of these sources of power within the U.S. political decision-making, the American network of geopolitical allies and partners, and power projection. The Chinese United Front Work Department is responsible for intelligence gathering and influence units aimed at disrupting American decision-making. Chinese diplomatic efforts to rewrite history in Southeast Asia, framing Taiwan as the last remaining bastion of WWII-era fascism, attempt to peel off American allies and partners. And the hacking operations code-named Vault Typhoon and Salt Typhoon are intended to sow chaos internally in the U.S. to prevent effective power projection. China remains our chief geopolitical foe and does not appear to want that to change.

Headlines

• Letitia James fires lesbian who warns that “gender-affirming care” for kids is consumer fraud (Daily Signal)

• Trump urges Iran to “make a deal” as U.S. fleet moves in (NewsNation)

• UPS to cut additional 30,000 jobs (CNBC)

• Trump admin determines SJSU violated Title IX with handling of “trans” volleyball player (Fox News)

The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.