President Biden and Donald Trump both traveled to southern Texas today to use the border with Mexico as a backdrop for their push to convince voters that they would best handle the recent surge in migrants crossing into the U.S.
The day offered a split-screen preview of a debate that is likely to continue in the months leading up to November’s presidential election. Recent polls showed voters’ views on immigration have shifted to the political right, including one that found that Americans are most likely to say that immigration is the country’s top problem.
Biden, who has in recent months changed his tune on immigration and begun to favor a border crackdown, visited Brownsville. He met with border officials there and delivered a speech criticizing Republicans for blocking a recent bipartisan immigration bill and daring Trump to team up with him in tightening border security.
“We can do it together,” Biden said. “You know and I know it’s the toughest, most efficient, most effective border security bill this country has ever seen. Instead of playing politics with the issue, why don’t we just get together and get it done.”
Trump, who was more than 300 miles away in Eagle Pass, delivered a darker address, highlighting what he called an “invasion” of migrants into the U.S. “This is like a war,” Trump said, repeating the anti-immigration message that has been central to his political identity since he first ran for president.
In related news, a federal court blocked a Texas law that would allow police to arrest migrants who cross from Mexico without authorization.
Many Gazans were killed and wounded in a chaotic scene
Scores of Palestinians in Gaza City who had been waiting for a delivery of food from a convoy of aid trucks were killed or injured before dawn this morning. The details of what happened remain unclear, with Gazan and Israeli officials offering starkly different accounts.
An Israeli official said thousands of people had surrounded the trucks in an attempt to take supplies, leading to a deadly stampede. Israeli soldiers opened fire “only in face of danger when the mob moved in a manner which endangered them,” an Israeli military spokesman said. The Gazan health ministry described the scene as a “massacre” in which more than 100 people were killed and 700 wounded. A hospital in Gaza City said it had treated 100 people with gunshot wounds. We talked to a witness about what he saw.
In related news, the Gazan health ministry reported that the war’s death toll had surpassed 30,000 people. Experts say the tally is most likely an undercount.
Putin threatened nuclear war over NATO intervention
President Vladimir Putin used his annual state-of-the-nation speech today to threaten NATO countries with the prospect of nuclear conflict if they intervened more in the war in Ukraine.
His threat came in response to comments by France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, who raised the possibility this week of sending troops from NATO countries to Ukraine. Macron’s remarks drew quick rebukes from other Western officials, who have ruled out such deployments, and analysts say the prospect is unlikely.
In related news, U.S. officials said they are considering tapping into military stockpiles to provide Ukraine with badly needed weapons, even though the government has run out of money to replace those munitions.
The Smokehouse Creek fire is now Texas’s largest ever
Firefighters from all over Texas were deployed to the state’s Panhandle in an effort to contain the Smokehouse Creek fire — the largest of several burning in the area — before higher winds and hotter, drier air make the battle even more challenging over the weekend.
The fire has burned at least 1,075,000 acres, more than five times the size of New York City, making it the largest in the state’s history. As of this afternoon, it was just 3 percent contained.
More top news
A second chapter of ‘Dune’
It has been three years since Denis Villeneuve’s ambitious movie adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science-fiction opus, “Dune,” premiered. Now he’s back, directing Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya in “Dune: Part Two,” which arrives in theaters this weekend and manages to be even bigger and more far out than the first film. Our critic Manohla Dargis called it “a blast.”
But adapting a novel that’s over 500 pages is a feat only slightly less daunting than riding a monstrous sandworm across the desert. Luckily, my colleague Danielle Dowling is here to explain what you need to know about the “Dune” universe.
Richard Lewis is remembered for his neurotic wit
A month before his death this week at 76, the comedian Richard Lewis called up my colleague Melena Ryzik. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few years ago, but he remained as funny and sharp as ever. He joked to Melena about playing a prank on his friend and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” co-star Susie Essman just to get a chance to bear her wrath.
Celebrating leap day
My colleague Remy Tumin, who wrote a previous iteration of this newsletter, can celebrate extra hard today. That’s because she is one of the 0.001 percent of Americans who were born on Feb. 29 — which arrives only once every four years to keep the winters in the winter.
It might sound unfortunate to have a birthday only twice a decade, but Remy wants you to know that she and other leap-day babies consider it special. They’ve heard all of your jokes about still being school-age, but few other days have such cultural significance. Even Superman was said to be born on a leap day.
Have an exceptional evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
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