Donald Trump Administration

Europeans to respond to US at Munich conference as Trump admin upends norms

European leaders trying to make sense of a tough new line from Washington on issues including democracy and Ukraine's future were set to express their reactions on Saturday, as the Trump administration continues to upend trans-Atlantic conventions that have been in place since after World War II. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were to speak on the second day of the Munich Security Conference, a day after US Vice President JD Vance all but scolded European allies over democracy and raised questions about the US commitment to help Ukraine's defence against Russian forces. US President Donald Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week in which he said the two leaders would likely meet soon to negotiate a peace deal. Trump later assured Zelenskyy that he, too, would have a seat at the table. The war was sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine three years ago. Already Friday, the Ukrainian leader said that his countr

Trump's reciprocal tariffs likely to create chaos for global businesses

President Donald Trump is taking a blowtorch to the rules that have governed world trade for decades. The reciprocal' tariffs that he announced Thursday are likely to create chaos for global businesses and conflict with America's allies and adversaries alike. Since the 1960s, tariffs or import taxes have emerged from negotiations between dozens of countries. Trump wants to seize the process. Obviously, it disrupts the way that things have been done for a very long time,' said Richard Mojica, a trade attorney at Miller & Chevalier. Trump is throwing that out the window ... Clearly this is ripping up trade. There are going to have to be adjustments all over the place.' Pointing to America's massive and persistent trade deficits not since 1975 has the U.S. sold the rest of the world more than it's bought -- Trump charges that the playing field is tilted against US companies. A big reason for that, he and his advisers say, is because other countries usually tax American exports at .

Asia-Pacific example of peace, not arena for geopolitical games: China

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun criticised the move from US President Donald Trump's administration paving the way to provide India with F35 stealth fighters

Trump forms energy dominance council, boosts LNG exports, offshore drilling

President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order formally creating a National Energy Dominance Council and directed it to move quickly to drive up already record-setting domestic oil and gas production. Trump's administration also announced it has granted conditional export authorisation for a huge liquefied natural gas project in Louisiana, the first approval of new LNG exports since former President Joe Biden paused consideration of them a year ago. And Trump said he has directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to undo Biden's ban on future offshore oil drilling on the East and West coasts. Biden's last-minute action last month viciously took out more than 625 million acres offshore that could contribute to the nation's net worth, Trump said. Trump also vowed to revive a cancelled pipeline that would carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to New York, saying it could slash energy prices in the Northeast by as much as 70 per cent. Taken together, the actions underscored Trum

Internal issues bigger threat than China or Russia: Vance warns EU leaders

In his first significant speech at the Munich Security Conference as vice president, Vance condemned European politicians, accusing them of suppressing free speech, mishandling immigration

Trump calls for halting funds to schools, colleges that need Covid vaccines

Schools, colleges and states that require students to be immunised against COVID-19 may be at risk of losing federal money under a White House order signed Friday by President Donald Trump. The order is expected to have little national impact because COVID-19 vaccine mandates have mostly been dropped at schools and colleges across the United States, and many states have passed legislation forbidding such mandates. The order directs the Education Department and Health and Human Services to create a plan to end vaccine mandates for COVID-19. It isn't clear what money the plan would use as leverage. Most federal education money is ordered by Congress. It aims to fulfil a campaign promise from Trump, who often said he would not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate. The order applies only to COVID-19 vaccines. All states have laws requiring that children attending schools be vaccinated against certain diseases including measles, mumps, polio, tetanus, whooping cough a

Second judge pauses Trump's order against gender-affirming care for youth

A second federal judge on Friday paused President Donald Trump's executive order halting federal support for gender-affirming care for transgender youth under 19. US District Court Judge Lauren King granted a temporary restraining order after the Democratic attorneys general of Washington state, Oregon and Minnesota sued the Trump administration last week. Three doctors joined as plaintiffs in the suit, which was filed in the Western District of Washington. The decision came one day after a federal judge in Baltimore temporarily blocked the executive order in response to a separate lawsuit filed on behalf of families with transgender or nonbinary children. Judge Brendan Hurson's temporary restraining order will last 14 days but could be extended, and essentially puts Trump's directive on hold while the case proceeds. Hurston and King were both appointed by former President Joe Biden. Trump signed an executive order last month halting federal funding for institutions that provide th

WH restricts AP access to Air Force One as 'Gulf of America' rift deepens

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich said the administration would seek to replace its reporters with those from other outlets in the Oval Office and on the presidential plane

Donald Trump set to announce new tariffs on automobiles around April 2

The move is the latest in a rapidly widening trade war as Trump delivers on his campaign pledges to institute sweeping tariffs on US allies and rivals alike

Trump hostility to US offshore wind reverberates through supply chain

Trump last month issued an order to pause new federal offshore wind leasing, calling wind turbines ugly, expensive and harmful to wildlife

China rights monitor NGOs suspend work, lay off staff after US aid freeze

The groups are key to documenting a years-long crackdown by President Xi Jinping on minorities, rights defenders and lawyers

Shein's IPO to be delayed to second-half after US 'de minimis' repeal

Shein was aiming to go public in London in the first-half of this year, assuming it secured approvals from regulators in the UK and China, Reuters reported last month

US VP Vance to meet Zelenskyy amid worries over Trump-Putin war talks

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday discussed the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin and separately with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Taiwan pledges chip talks with US, more investment in bid to appease Trump

Trump has threatened specifically to put tariffs on imported semiconductors, which could threaten Taiwan's economy given the island's major role in producing chips

Federal judge orders US govt to restore funds for foreign aid programmes

The order blocks the Trump administration from canceling foreign aid contracts and awards that were in place before Trump took office on January 20

US consumer watchdog CFPB broadens layoffs beyond probationary staff

Some staff discovered they had lost access to the agency's IT systems before receiving their termination letters, two of the sources said

Thousands fired in US govt as Donald Trump, Musk purge federal employees

Trump and Tesla CEO Musk's overhaul of the federal government appeared to be widening as Musk aides arrived for the first time at the federal tax-collecting agency

Donald Trump's foreign aid freeze stops anti-fentanyl work in Mexico

In Mexico, INL also donates drug-detecting canines that helped Mexican authorities seize millions of fentanyl pills in 2023 alone, according to a March 2024 INL report

Trump says US, Russian officials to meet in Munich today, Ukraine invited

Not sure exactly who's going to be there from any country, but high-level people from Russia, from Ukraine and from the United States, Trump told reporters

Trump admin lays off probationary govt workers, warns more cuts to come

The Trump administration has intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the US' largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers. In addition, workers at some agencies on Thursday were warned that large workplace cuts would be coming. The decision on probationary workers, who generally have less than a year on the job, came from the Office of Personnel Management, which serves as a human resources department for the federal government. The notification was confirmed by a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss it publicly. It's expected to be the first step in sweeping layoffs. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that told agency leaders to plan for large-scale reductions in force. Elon Musk, whom President Trump has .