Page 80 - Donald Trump Administration

CIA offers staff buyouts as Donald Trump looks to shrink workforce

As part of the offer sent to the workforce on February 4, employees could receive pay and benefits through Sept 30, without having to work

Tariffs on China 'retaliatory' for fentanyl distribution: US press secy

'I don't have any updates on when that call will take place,' adding that the call is being scheduled and would 'happen very soon' Karoline Leavitt said

Greenland approves ban on foreign political donations amid Trump threat

Greenland's parliament passed a bill Tuesday that bans political parties from receiving contributions from foreign or anonymous contributors after President Donald Trump expressed his wish that the United States take over the vast and mineral-rich Arctic island that belongs to Denmark. The bill is aimed at protecting Greenland's political integrity" and will take effect immediately, according to a translation of a parliamentary document in Danish outlining the measure. The bill must be seen in light of the geopolitical interests in Greenland and the current situation where representatives of an allied great power have expressed interest in taking over and controlling Greenland, the document said. Before taking office for his second term on January 20, Trump said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of Greenland, calling it vital to US national security. His oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., visited Greenland last month and told citizens: We're going to treat

USAID direct hires put on leave worldwide, except those deemed essential

The Trump administration is placing US Agency for International Development direct-hire staffers around the world on leave, except those deemed essential. A notice posted online Tuesday gives the workers 30 days to return home and targets the aid agency's six-decade mission overseas. Thousands of USAID employees already had been laid off and programs worldwide shut down after President Donald Trump imposed a sweeping freeze on foreign assistance after taking office. Elon Musk's budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency had taken USAID's website offline over the weekend as it steadily dismantled the agency, which has been a special target of Musk, Trump and Republicans in the first two-and-a-half weeks of Trump's second term. The website came back online Tuesday night, with the notice of recall or termination for global staffers its sole post. The move had been rumoured for several days and was the most extreme of several proposals considered for consolidating the agency i

Elon Musk tightens grip on federal govt as Democrats raise alarms

Elon Musk is rapidly consolidating control over large swaths of the federal government with President Donald Trump's blessing, sidelining career officials, gaining access to sensitive databases and dismantling a leading source of humanitarian assistance. The speed and scope of his work has been nothing short of stunning. In a little more than two weeks since Trump took office, the world's richest man has created an alternative power structure inside the federal government for the purpose of cutting spending and pushing out employees. None of this is happening with congressional approval, inviting a constitutional clash over the limits of presidential authority. Trump says Musk is doing his bidding Musk has been named as a special government employee, which subjects him to less stringent rules on ethics and financial disclosures than other workers. Trump has given Musk office space in the White House complex where he oversees a team of people at the so-called Department of Governmen

Donald Trump vows to close Department of Education, seeks Congress' help

Trump said that some of his advisers had said he could shutter the Education Department through an executive order, but that his preference was to work with Congress as well as teachers' unions

Trump administration begins flying detained migrants to Guantanamo Bay

Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the expansion of a migrant detention center at the military installation to full capacity

Trump, Musk demand termination of federal office leases through GSA

One of the next moves in President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's sweeping effort to fire government employees and curtail operations is using the agency that manages thousands of federal employee worksites around the country to cut down on office space. Last week, regional managers for the General Services Administration, or GSA, received a message from the agency's Washington headquarters to begin terminating leases on all of the roughly 7,500 federal offices nationwide, according to an email shared with The Associated Press by a GSA employee. The order seems to contradict Trump's own return-to-office mandate for federal employees, adding confusion to what was already a scramble by the GSA to find workspace, internet connections and office building security credentials for employees who had been working remotely for years. But it may reflect the Trump administration's belief that it won't need as many offices due to its efforts to fire employees or encourage them to resign. Here's

Donald Trump's proposed tariffs risk $29,000 rise in US home building costs

Housing inflation has remained stubbornly high month after month amid a national shortage, becoming a major issue for voters in the recent election

Families sue over Trump's order to halt funds for gender-affirming care

A group of families with transgender children filed a lawsuit Tuesday over President Donald Trump's executive order to halt federal support for gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age 19. PFLAG, a national group for family of LGBTQ+ people; and GLMA, a doctors organisation, are also plaintiffs in the court challenge in US District Court in Baltimore. It comes one week after Trump signed an order calling for the federal government to stop funding the medical care through federal government-run health insurance programs including Medicaid and TRICARE. Kristen Chapman, the mother of one of the plaintiffs in the case, said her family moved to Richmond, Virginia, from Tennessee in 2023 because of a ban on gender-affirming care in their home state. Her 17-year-old daughter, Willow, had an initial appointment scheduled for last week with a new provider who would accept Medicaid. But Trump signed his order the day before and the hospital said it could not provide care.

El Salvador's offer to jail violent US criminals faces 'legalities': Rubio

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that El Salvador's offer to accept and jail violent American criminals raises clear legal issues but described it as very generous and said President Donald Trump would make a decision on whether to move forward with it. Rubio reached an unusual agreement with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele a day earlier that the Central American country would accept US deportees of any nationality, including American citizens and legal residents who are imprisoned for violent crimes. There are obviously legalities involved. We have a Constitution, Rubio said at a news conference Tuesday in San Jose with Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves. But it's a very generous offer. No one's ever made an offer like that and to outsource, at a fraction of the cost, at least some of the most dangerous and violent criminals that we have in the United States. But obviously, the administration will have to make a decision. Rubio discussed immigration with Chaves a .

Trump sees 'long-term' US ownership of Gaza, doesn't dismiss using military

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he isn't ruling out deploying U.S. troops to support reconstruction of Gaza and he envisions long-term U.S. ownership of a redevelopment of the territory. We'll do what is necessary, Trump said about the possibility of deploying troops to fill any security vacuum. If it's necessary, we'll do that. The comments came after Trump said he wants the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere. We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, Trump said a start of a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump added the U.S. would level destroyed buildings and create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. The comments came after Trump earlier suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-t

Tulsi Gabbard clears Senate panel vote for nomination as director of NI

The vote came just hours after Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.), a key swing vote, announced that he would support Gabbard

Trump exits UNHRC, announces halt to funding for Palestinian refugees

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the United States will withdraw from the top U.N. human rights body and will not resume funding for the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees. The US left the Geneva-based Human Rights Council last year, and it stopped funding the agency assisting Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, after Israel accused it of harboring Hamas militants who participated in the surprise October 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel, which UNRWA denies. Trump's announcement came on the day he met with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country has long accused both the rights body and UNRWA of bias against Israel and antisemitism. Trump's executive orders also call for a review of American involvement in the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, known as UNESCO, and a review of US funding for the United Nations in light of the wild disparities in levels of funding among different countries. The United

Trump's foreign aid freeze may prove to be boon for authoritarian strongmen

When President Donald Trump froze foreign assistance for 90 days, he argued that such a drastic step was needed to eliminate waste and block what he derides as woke spending that doesn't align with American interests. Experts say the suspension has another, far more serious consequence: emboldening authoritarian strongmen. Wrapped into the billions the US spends annually on foreign aid more than any other nation are hundreds of grants for grassroots groups dedicated to fighting for democracy in authoritarian countries around the world. Among the groups that won't be receiving critical funding is an organisation that trained poll workers to detect fraud in Venezuela's recent presidential vote, pro-democracy activists in Cuba and China and a group of Belarusian exiles behind a campaign to block the country's strongman from winning a sham election. Cutting funding to these essential efforts sends the wrong signal to dictatorships and undermines the brave individuals fighting for ...

Trump's proposed tariffs come with inflation risks: Fed officials

Tariffs on China are set to begin on Tuesday, and Trump has signaled he will impose duties on other trading partners as well

Trump's proposed tariffs could mean higher costs for Canadian whisky in US

Brands like Don Julio tequila and Jack Daniel's whiskey from producers like Diageo and Brown-Forman would become more expensive for drinkers if importers hike prices to cover tariff costs

Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico and Canada for 30 days, but not China

Both Canadian PM Trudeau and Mexican President Sheinbaum said they had agreed to bolster border enforcement efforts in response to Trump's demand to crack down on immigration and drug smuggling

USAID staff locked out of Washington headquarters after shutdown order

The developments come after Musk, who's leading an extraordinary civilian review of the federal government with the Republican president's agreement

Trump's anti-DEI policies impact public, private sectors across US

The impacts will be felt among underrepresented groups, along with a shrinking number of people in DEI-related positions in both the public and private sectors, experts said