The Times of Israel is liveblogging Saturday’s events as they happen.
Trump says ‘pretty good vibes coming out of Russia,’ thinks Moscow will make deal on Ukraine
JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Maryland — US President Donald Trump says that he sees good news coming out of Russia, and he thinks Russia will make a deal on the Ukraine war.
“Pretty good vibes coming out of Russia,” he says.
US expels South African ambassador, saying he ‘hates’ Trump
The United States is kicking out South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says, accusing the envoy of hating the country and President Donald Trump.
“We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA,” Rubio posts on X about ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, calling him a “race-baiting politician.”
South Africa's Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country.
Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS.
We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.https://t.co/mnUnwGOQdx
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) March 14, 2025
Shin Bet head: I intend to keep organization stately and focused on missions
In a missive to retired Shin Bet employees today, Director Ronen Bar distances himself from former chief Nadav Argaman’s statements against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and rejects Netanyahu’s assertions that he is acting against him.
“A state body and its head do not use the organization’s power unnecessarily. This has not been and will not be our way,” Bar wrote. “Not in words, and certainly not in actions. I disapprove of discourse that is not stately.”
Referring to “last night’s events and the various reports, he says the Shin Bet “is a state agency that carries out its missions according to the law. The organization’s strength and resilience lie in its values. I intend to keep the Shin Bet stately and focused on its missions for the sake of the country’s security.”
Trump calls US media outlets critical of him ‘illegal’
US President Donald Trump says in a speech at the Department of Justice that US media outlets that cover him critically are “illegal” and “corrupt.”
Trump says CNN, MSNBC and unidentified newspapers “literally write 97.6 percent bad about me” and “it has to stop. It has to be illegal.”
Speaking to prosecutors and law enforcement officers at the Department of Justice headquarters, Trump describes the media outlets as “political arms of the Democrat party. And in my opinion they’re really corrupt and they’re illegal. What they do is illegal.”
He says the media is “influencing judges and it’s really changing law, and it just cannot be legal. I don’t believe it’s legal. And they do it in total coordination with each other.”
Trump has made attacks on the US media a central part of his message ever since his first election to the presidency in 2016.