🗞️Inaugural 'Board of Peace' meeting

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February 19th, 2026

What happened today 🇺🇸,

• President Trump hosted the inaugural ‘Board of Peace’ meeting in Washington D.C. today that was attended by representatives from nearly 50 countries, including 27 official members and observers like the EU…Trump announced a $10 billion U.S. pledge for Gaza reconstruction alongside $7 billion from other members…other key points included oversight of U.N. efforts, troop commitments for stabilization from nations like Indonesia and Morocco, and warnings to Iran amid stalled nuclear talks

• Congressmen, Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY), are pushing to force a House vote next week on a bipartisan War Powers Resolution that would require congressional authorization before President Trump can initiate military action against Iran

• Virginia Governor, Abigail Spanberger, has been selected by House Minority Leader Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Schumer to deliver the Democratic response to President Trump's State of the Union address on February 24th

• New Mexico authorities are investigating a 2019 anonymous email allegation that surfaced in recent DOJ Epstein file releases, claiming that Jeffrey Epstein ordered the bodies of two strangled foreign girls to be buried near his Zorro Ranch in New Mexico

• Amazon surpassed Walmart as the world's largest company by revenue in 2025, reporting $716.9 billion compared to Walmart's $713.2 billion for its fiscal year, ending Walmart's 13-year run at the top

• NY Governor Hochul withdrew her proposal to allow commercial driverless rideshare services like Waymo outside NYC due to opposition from labor unions, transit workers, and rideshare drivers concerned about safety and job losses…this blocks Waymo's expansion despite its ongoing human-supervised testing in Manhattan and Brooklyn through March 31st

• The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 6.01% for the week ending February 19th, down from 6.09% the prior week and the lowest level since 2022

• The U.S. trade deficit for goods and services totaled $901.5 billion in 2025 down from 903.5 billion (a 0.2% drop) in 2024…read more here

• DOW down .54% / S&P down .28%

• Former Prince Andrew, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, linked to newly released Jeffrey Epstein files alleging he shared confidential U.K. trade reports with Epstein in 2010 while serving as trade envoy

• Former South Korean President Yoon has been found guilty of leading an insurrection over his failed December 2024 declaration of martial law and has been sentenced to life in prison

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Bonus: A look at the average IQ by state

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