Trump live updates: Mexico, Canada tariffs will take effect on March 4 and levy on China will double

A new filing from plaintiffs in another USAID case before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia calls on the court to issue a preliminary injunction that would block the Trump administration from gutting the agency.

Their businesses are shuttering; they are being forced to lay off employees; their personnel are being threatened; food is rotting; medical supplies are expiring; and community relationships that took decades to build are crumbling. All of this is happening due to Defendants’ flagrantly unlawful conduct, which is contrary to the fundamental structure of our Constitution, and breathtakingly arbitrary and capricious. Indeed, Defendants admit they abruptly stopped all funding without considering the potential harms and terminated thousands of awards without meaningful review.

And the madness continues. Just yesterday—instead of working to comply with the Court’s enforcement order—Defendants spent the day cancelling thousands more contracts and awards, including over 200 of Plaintiffs’ contracts or awards. Those terminations and suspensions were across the board—even awards with waivers for life-saving humanitarian aid and essential services. Then, early this morning, the acting Senior Procurement Executive sent an urgent email to the skeleton staff that remains at the agency:

“As you are aware, today USAID issued termination notices for a large number of awards. These awards were identified by the Front Office after a full review of USAID obligations and programs and were personally reviewed and approved for termination by Secretary Rubio and PTDO Deputy Administrator Marocco. We will be sharing a full list of awards terminated with additional details soon.

“We understand that some of these awards may have been for essential services, which the Front Office would like to turn back on. We need your immediate input on any awards that may have been terminated that contain essential services related to the safety, security, and operations of USAID staff.”

Shoot first. Ask questions later. Words like “arbitrary” and “capricious” hardly capture the callous incompetence on display.

After the most election-heavy year in recent history, democracy has hit a record low around the world, according to a new study.

The EIU’s index has a score out of 10 ranked according to the functioning of government, electoral process and pluralism, political culture, and civil liberties. Countries are classified as full democracies (over 8 out of 10), flawed democracies (6-8 out of 10), hybrid regimes (4-6 out of 10), and authoritarian regimes (under 4 out of 10).

Alicja Hagopian looks at the results of the survey.

A memo from Pentagon leadership revealed in court documents on February 26 gives officials 30 days to identify all trans troops, and all removals “must be completed” no later than June 25. The order also immediately bans access to gender-affirming care for all trans service members.

Alex Woodward has the story.

On Thursday, the White House clarified President Donald Trump’s claim from the previous day regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans. Trump had stated that the EPA would cut 65% of its workforce, but the White House indicated that the agency actually plans to reduce its spending by 65%.

Trump surprised EPA employees on Wednesday during his first cabinet meeting when he mentioned that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin informed him the agency would be “cutting 65 or so percent of the people from environmental [sic].”

White House Spokesperson Taylor Rogers provided clarification on Thursday.

“President Trump, DOGE, and Administrator Zeldin are committed to cutting waste, fraud, and abuse across all agencies,” Rogers stated. “After identifying $20 billion fraudulent in [sic] spending, Administrator Zeldin is committed to eliminating 65% of the EPA’s wasteful spending.”

Trump also caused confusion during that cabinet meeting on Wednesday when he was asked about the timing of tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He stated that they would begin on April 2, but a White House official later confirmed that Trump’s earlier March 4 deadline for the 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods was still in effect “as of this moment.”

With reporting from Reuters

The committee voted Thursday to advance the nomination of Trump’s choice to head the Department of Labor, one of the agencies named in lawsuits over moves by Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team to access federal data systems.

Members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions voted 13-9 to recommend Chavez-DeRemer‘s confirmation by the full Senate.

Although the former Republican congresswoman from Oregon is widely viewed as comparatively pro-labor, some Democratic senators have said they would oppose all of Trump’s remaining Cabinet picks to protest his administration’s far-reaching efforts to reshape the U.S. government.

Harrison Kutker, kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, who enraged many with his inflammatory comments about the LGBT+ community, Joe Biden, and women, visited President Donald Trump in the Oval Office today.

Arguably, the most anticipated talks center around Ukraine. The U.K. has vowed to take a proactive role in future peace processes, including sending troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will discuss this plan further with President Donald Trump today at the White House.

There are still some differences of opinion between the US and Europe, which European nations hope can be bridged. British Embassy sources say: “The prime minister will be clear that there can be no negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine and will recognize the need for Europe to play its part on global defense and step up for the good of collective European security.”

In that vein, Sir Keir will tout the U.K.’s recently announced increase in defense spending — “the biggest sustained increase in [British] defense spending since the Cold War”.

By 2027, the UK will spend 2.5 percent of its GDP on defense, increasing from the current 2.3 percent—an uptick of approximately £13.4 billion ($17 billion) annually. The plan is to raise that to 3 percent of GDP by 2035, which U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth described as a “strong step from an enduring partner.

The prime minister also hopes the U.S. will provide security guarantees to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. The so-called “backstop” would act as a deterrent for Russia from breaking any ceasefire agreement.

On the flight over to Washington, D.C., Prime Minister Starmer said: “The reason I say the backstop is so important is that the security guarantee has to be sufficient to deter Putin from coming again. Because my concern is if there is a ceasefire without a backstop, it will simply give him the opportunity to wait and to come again because his ambition in relation to Ukraine is pretty obvious, I think, for all to see.”

A senior U.S. administration official said: “Those discussions about the modality of the security guarantee are ongoing with the caveats [Other SAO] mentioned — that there is no U.S. boots on the ground [and no specific guarantee of funding for future warfighting written into the mineral deal with Ukraine], […] But this is obviously something that’s very high on our European allies’ agenda, looking at what that looks like, seeing what their defense capabilities provide them.”

The official continued: “Whatever force there is is less a deterrent than a peacekeeping force, then I think that would be broadly more popular for many nations. So the type of force depends very much on the political settlement that is made to end the war, and I think that trade-off is part of what the leaders today are going to be discussing.”

Separately, Sir Keir also said: “The world is becoming ever more dangerous, and it is more important than ever that we are united with our allies. A stable economy, secure borders and national security are the foundations of my Plan for Change, and the U.S.-U.K. relationship is integral to delivering them. These principles will be at the heart of discussions with President Trump today. There are huge opportunities for us to deepen our special relationship, deliver growth and security, and improve the lives of working people in both our great nations.”