Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy comes to the White House on Friday to ink a deal that would give the U.S. access to his country’s mineral resources — an agreement that President Donald Trump has cast a way to ensure American taxpayers get paid back for supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia.

“We’ll be digging. We’ll be dig, dig, digging. Dig, we must,” Trump said on Thursday, saying the U.S. would be “doing a substantial amount of work” in Ukraine “taking the rare earth, which we need in our country very badly.”

“It’ll be great for Ukraine,” he continued. “It’s like a huge economic development project. So, it’ll be good for both countries.”

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has spoken about the deal in different terms — describing it as a means to an end: keeping U.S. backing.

If not the full-fledged military security guarantee he wants, Trump administration officials have said a U.S. economic investment on the ground in Ukraine could serve as a kind of barrier to a further Russian invasion.

“I will meet with President Trump,” the Ukrainian leader said on Wednesday. “For me, and for all of us in the world, it is crucial that America’s assistance is not stopped. Strength is essential on the path to peace.”

ABC News spoke to officials and analysts to break down what’s in the deal, and what the agreement could mean for Ukraine’s future and efforts to end the war after three grueling years.

What is — and isn’t — in the deal

Officials familiar with the negotiations say that under the terms of the deal, the U.S. and the Ukraine will work together to unearth deposits of valuable minerals and other natural Ukrainian resources.

Unlike the original proposal, this framework does not call for Kyiv to use the proceeds from the sale of those resources to pay the U.S. $500 billion — which the Trump administration previously characterized as “payback” for the roughly $183 billion spent in response to Russia’s invasion, according to the U.S. special inspector general in charge of overseeing Ukrainian aid.

Instead, the deal aims to create an investment fund for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction that will be jointly owned by both countries, they say, and that additional negotiations on the control of that fund and its operation will take place will take place after the initial deal is cemented.

Other factors will depend on the free market.

“The profitability of the fund is entirely dependent on the success of new investments in Ukraine’s resources,” said Gracelin Baskaran, the director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Meredith Schwartz, a research associate at the same program.

“Therefore, the response of private industry is key to the success of the fund and will determine how much value the United States ultimately derives,” they added.

But officials say the Ukrainians also made concessions. Officials say Kyiv initially wanted the terms of the deal to include concrete security guarantees for Ukraine — something the current framework lacks.

“However, the idea is that with joint U.S.-Ukraine investment in the nation’s resources, the United States will continue to have a stake in Ukraine’s security, stability, and lasting peace and therefore be incentivized to uphold and defend Ukrainian security,” Baskaran and Schwartz said.

If it proves successful, Baskaran and Schwartz say the U.S. may boost its mineral security — but that the results could take decades to come to fruition.

“Mining is a long-term effort — so the United States may not yield benefits for another 20 years,” they said.

Trump himself has acknowledged the uncertainty.

“You know, you dig and maybe things aren’t there like you think they’re there,” he said on Thursday.

A different tune from Trump

After repeatedly bashing Zelenskyy in recent days, Trump softened his tone on Thursday.

Asked if he still believed Zelenskyy was a dictator — an assertion he made just over a week ago — Trump answered, “Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that,” before brusquely moving on to the next questioner.

Later in the day, Trump also offered praise for Zelenskyy and Ukrainian fighters’ valor on the battlefield.

“We’ve given him a lot of equipment and a lot of money, but they have fought very bravely. No matter how you figure it, they have really fought,” he said. “Somebody has to use that equipment. And they have been very brave in that sense.”

Ukrainian officials who have been urging Zelenskyy to accept the mineral pact are likely to see this turnaround as proof positive for their main argument — that signing off on Trump’s deal will boost ties between the Trump administration and Kyiv, while drawing out negotiations would further sour the president’s view of Zelenskyy.

But whether any bonhomie will last is unclear.

“Critical mineral resource access is the latest arena for Trump to focus his transactional methods of diplomacy,” Baskaran and Schwartz argue. “But the viability of the deal remains to be seen as tensions continue to rise between the two world leaders.”

Trump is not known for his patience, and some U.S. officials anticipate slow-moving results from the agreement could leave Trump frustrated.

Or, if the two clash during their high-stakes White House meeting, the president could become embittered toward Zelenskyy again even sooner where Trump is likely to spotlight potential benefits the mineral agreement holds for the U.S. and the Ukrainian leader is likely to push for additional American security guarantees.

But the president shared only positive predictions on the eve of the meeting.

“I think we’re going to have a very good meeting,” he said. “We’re going to get along really well. Okay. We have a lot of respect. I have a lot of respect for him.”

John E. Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, argues the very fact that the meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump is taking place is a good sign for Ukraine.

“Zelenskyy’s visit highlights how far he has come from two weeks back, when Trump spoke of seeing Putin as many as three times in the near future, or even last week, when senior Russian and US officials were meeting in Riyadh,” he said. “Yet now it is Zelenskyy, not Putin, in the Oval Office.”

The other negotiations

While much of the public focus has shifted toward negotiations over the mineral deal in recent weeks, talks ultimately aimed at ultimately ending the war in Ukraine have quietly continued on a separate track.

On Thursday, American and Russian officials met in Istanbul for more than 6 hours to discuss increasing staff at their respective embassies in Moscow and Washington — a move Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously said was essential for furthering potential areas cooperation between the countries, including resolving the war in Ukraine.

Officials from sides reported a favorable outcome from the meeting, and predict that an larger diplomatic footprint could create momentum for peace talks and a potential summit between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

As a chorus of European leaders have tried to encourage Trump to include American security guarantees for Ukraine to enforce a truce with Russia, the president has continued to say he trusts Putin to hold up his end of a deal.

“I’ve known him for a long time now,” Trump said. “I don’t believe he’s going to violate his word. I don’t think he’ll be back. When we make a deal, I think the deal is going to hold.

But ahead of his meeting with the U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he added a potentially important caveat.

“You know, look, it’s, trust and verify, let’s call it that,” he said.

Clifford D. May, founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, argues it’s imperative that the president is clear-eyed in his dealings with Putin.

“As President Trump attempts to negotiate a halt to Russia’s war against Ukraine, it’s not unreasonable for him to show respect for Mr. Putin (as he has been) if he believes that will make Mr. Putin more likely to agree to concessions,” he said.

“But it’s imperative that President Trump harbor no illusions about Mr. Putin – about his character, ambitions, ideology, and his abiding hatred for American greatness,” May added.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Education launched a first-of-its-kind website, “EndDEI.Ed.Gov,” just hours before a deadline warning institutions to end discrimination or they will be subject to federal funding consequences.

The new online portal went live on Thursday for the community to submit discrimination-focused complaints.

“The Department of Education will utilize community submissions to identify potential areas for investigation,” the new website said. The Education Department also vowed to maintain the confidentiality of the submissions to the fullest extent permitted by law.

“DEI needs to go,” Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice, who helped orchestrate the launch of the site, told ABC News. “DEI has re-segregated our schools in many ways, and our children are forced to see race in ways that they never did.”

The conservative firebrand, who called herself a messenger for parents, said she’s been working on the website for a long time. Justice added that the site demonstrates that President Donald Trump’s Department of Education is putting power back in the hands of parents.

“For years, parents have been begging schools to focus on teaching their kids practical skills like reading, writing and math, instead of pushing critical theory, rogue sex education and divisive ideologies — but their concerns have been brushed off, mocked or shut down entirely,” Justice said in the release.

The new website says, “Schools should be focused on learning,” and has four boxes to fill out, including email, school district, ZIP code and description of complaint. At the bottom of the site, there’s a spot to upload an optional file.

The launch comes as a 1,000-word “Dear Colleague” letter sent by acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor emphasized the agency will strictly enforce the Title VI civil rights law stressing that discrimination on the basis of race is “illegal.” The letter is critical of diversity, equity and inclusion practices and programs, which conservatives have criticized for years.

But education advocates decried the letter for its attacks on DEI. The Education Trust Senior Vice President Wil Del Pilar told ABC News that DEI was designed to “provide opportunities.”

“The whole point of these types of policies is, No. 1, to end segregation, right?” Del Pilar said. “Programs that were designed to provide opportunities or to create awareness for folks were designed to improve diversity at those institutions, not to further harm diversity at the institution.”

And education groups opposing the memo, including the American Federation of Teachers, sued the department, acting Education Secretary Denise Carter and Trainor because it could “irreparably harm” students and educators, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit said the memo chills free speech and violates the First Amendment, and it labeled the letter as vague and unconstitutional.

National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues said the Trump administration has struck a tone of retribution with its recent actions and that the nation’s most vulnerable students will be harmed if the department goes after school districts.

“I just think that they’re looking for any weapon to attack and cause chaos,” Rodrigues told ABC News. “And basically, this [deadline] is just going to be adding another log to the fire at this point.”

Cato Institute education analyst Neal McCluskey said “Dear Colleague” letters are inherently nebulous and don’t have the force of law.

“They’re basically the administration telling you this is how we’re going to enforce the law,” McCluskey told ABC News. “It itself doesn’t have any force of law. It’s really just informing people, ‘Hey, we have a new view of what the regulations are.'”

The letter gave institutions a Feb. 28 deadline to comply with the Department of Education.

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(DES MOINES, IOWA) — Iowa lawmakers voted Thursday to strike gender identity from state civil rights protections.

The state’s civil rights law currently protects against discrimination in the workplace, school, accommodations, housing and more based on someone’s “age, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, or disability.”

The recent legislation on gender identity quickly made its way through the legislature, though not without facing large protests from critics who believe the bill will open up further discrimination against transgender people.

Transgender Americans — who are estimated to make up less than 1% of the U.S. population over the age of 13 — have been the target of hundreds of Republican-backed bills each year in recent years.

The new Iowa bill is one of more than 450 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S. being tracked this year by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Supporters of the legislation came to the Thursday hearing with a plethora of arguments — including concerns about religious freedoms, privacy in public accommodations and the belief that there are only two sexes.

“It would not be wise on the slippery slope of the sand using fluid definitions and feelings. Instead, let’s courageously build it on the tested, immovable foundations of fixed endings and historical truth,” said one community member.

The bill notes an exception for people who experience differences or disorders in sexual development — sometimes known as intersex — as covered by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Opponents say that the legislation targets a small, vulnerable population and will worsen discrimination often faced by transgender people.

One community member, who said they were an Iowa educated and trained family medicine physician, said the lives of their patients depend on the outcome of the bill.

“As a doctor, I see firsthand how social determinants like stable housing, employment and access to public spaces are critical to my patients’ health,” they said. “The protections in our Civil Rights Code are not abstract. They are lifelines. When a person is denied housing because of their gender identity, they face higher risks of homelessness, violence and worsened physical and mental health.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Several U.S. Agency for International Development staffers cleared out their offices at the agency’s Washington headquarters on Thursday, saying they were disheartened after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency laid them off or placed them on leave.

“The more I talk about it, the more I want to cry,” said Amanda, who worked in science and technology at USAID and did not want to share her last name out of fear of retribution, as she waited to enter the building to get her things. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Many staffers said they received an email late Sunday informing them they were placed on administrative leave and were later assigned 15-minute windows to enter the building and gather their belongings. Worldwide, 4,080 USAID workers were placed on leave on Monday, and there was a “reduction in force” of an additional 1,600 workers, a State Department spokesman told the Associated Press.

Those picking up their belongings on Thursday were cheered on by hundreds of friends, family and supporters outside as they exited the building with bankers boxes, reusable bags and suitcases.

“It feels profoundly disrespectful to workers, to people who are dedicating themselves to making things better globally, making things better elsewhere so that they don’t come here, so the problems don’t come here,” Melissa, who also did not share her last name, said of the short time they were allotted.

She previously worked on democracy programs in Ukraine and anti-corruption efforts.

“I mean and we’re all people, right,” she added. “We have kids to take care of, we have parents to take [care] of who are aging and we’re all struggling with that as well.”

Caitlin Harwood, a mother of a 4-year-old girl and a 9-month-old, said she is “worried” about her next paycheck and is unsure what is next for her.

A country desk officer with USAID for Mozambique, she told ABC News that while she believes the government could be made more efficient, she takes issue with the way Musk’s team has done it.

“I think there’s a way to go about that. I don’t think anybody would have been as terrified as they are now if they had come through and said we are going to have a program review,” Harwood said.

“So, this is not efficiency, and it’s actually costing the American people billions in dollars in wasted food, wasted medicine,” Harwood added.

Ben Thompson worked in communications prior to being laid off by USAID and said he had been under a “communications freeze” since the early days of the Trump administration.

“Powerful, evil men are targeting a lot of good people who have dedicated their lives to something bigger than themselves, which is something that somebody like Elon [Musk] can’t relate to,” Thompson told reporters. “This clearly isn’t about government waste, fraud and abuse. He’s not going through with a fine-toothed comb — he’s tearing down our institutions for fun.”

Samantha Power, the USAID administrator under former President Joe Biden, went inside the Ronald Reagan Building, which houses the agency’s headquarters, and spoke with workers Thursday morning.

“What is being done is one of the biggest blunders in American foreign policy history. It is one that generations of Americans will look back on in horror,” Power told ABC News. “But the way it’s being done, the cruelty, the savagery, the mercilessness, is an outrage, and it should, whatever you think about foreign assistance — to treat American public servants who want to do nothing more than serve their country, serve the American people, to treat them in the way they are being treated should chill and horrify all of us.”

Power said she hoped USAID workers “remember the lives you’ve touched.”

Some supporters gathered outside had traveled hours to be in Washington to cheer on workers as they exited the building.

Diana Putman told ABC News she drove 3 1/2 hours to get to Washington from Pennsylvania that morning “because I needed to be here to support my colleagues.”

Putman retired from USAID in 2022 after spending her entire decadeslong career with the agency. She followed in the footsteps of her father, who had begun working with USAID in March 1962 — just five months after it was founded.

“USAID literally is the preeminent development agency of the world, and our soft power has meant so, so much around the world for the last 60-plus years,” Putman said. “The positive face of the American people will no longer be seen around the world.”

When supporters arrived, black tape had been placed over the name of USAID on the signs outside of the Ronald Reagan Building. Kate Parsons, a worker who was laid off last week from the the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, ripped the tape off. She said she’d come out to support her colleagues.

“I don’t know who put that tape up, but I know that USAID is still here. We are still here,” Parsons told ABC News.

“Only Congress can shut down USAID — it’s a government agency. The current leadership is trying to dismantle it. They’re trying to do it so quickly and so sloppily that people don’t notice or people can’t stop it, but they haven’t fired us all yet,” Parsons added. “This fight is not done yet.”

USAID workers said they want the public to be proud of the work they did.

“We love the American people. We’re here to serve. That’s what bureaucrats are,” Harwood, the mom of two young children, said when asked about her message to the public. “We are nonpartisan. We had a mission. We were so proud to serve it. And we hope we did you proud.”

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is hosting United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Thursday.

The two leaders will hold a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office shortly after noon ET before a press conference in the East Room slated for 2 p.m. ET.

Senior administration officials told reporters that much of the conversations between Trump and Starmer will focus on a peaceful resolution for the Russia-Ukraine war.

The meeting comes after Europe was left out of talks between the U.S. and Russia on how to end Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, which recently stretched into its fourth year.

Trump has since said Europe will have to bear primary responsibility for any security guarantees for Ukraine, as nations such as France and the United Kingdom urge the U.S. to support peacekeeping efforts post-conflict.

“Well, I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much,” Trump said at his first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “We’re going to have Europe do that because it’s in, you know, we’re talking about Europe is the next-door neighbor, but we’re going to make sure everything goes well.”

Trump also implied the mineral resource deal between the U.S. and Ukraine would be “automatic security,” because the U.S. will be investing in the nation and that would serve as a barrier to Russia.

Starmer has said he will ensure the United Kingdom is a “leading country” in European nations stepping up to support Ukraine, but said there needs to be a U.S. “backstop” to deter Putin.

“I don’t believe it will be a guarantee if there isn’t the U.S. backstop behind those security guarantees,” Starmer said after European leaders held an emergency meeting in Paris on Ukraine last week as Trump officials gathered with Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia.

Administration officials said the U.S. has been in constant contact with European partners and providing updates on negotiations regarding an agreement to end the war.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to travel to Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Ukraine is working to win a U.S. security agreement as part of the proposed minerals deal, Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to travel to Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Ukraine is working to win a U.S. security agreement as part of the proposed minerals deal, Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

“I would say that there’s a balance between the size of the force needed and the strength of the diplomacy that backstops that, that secures it,” an official said.

“If that conflict level, as we want, is dialed down to a functional ceasefire, they would have fewer concerns … So the type of force depends very much on the political self settlement that is made to end the war,” the official continued. “And I think that trade off is what the leaders today, part of what the leaders today are going to be discussing.”

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(WASHINGTON) — While President Donald Trump’s proudest supporters on Capitol Hill shower him with legislation proposing putting his portrait on a $250 bill, declaring his birthday a national holiday or adding his likeness to Mount Rushmore — a new effort across the aisle isn’t as flattering — as House Democrats take aim at the president’s $TRUMP meme coin.

Since launching a little over a month ago, the $TRUMP coin has tanked in value after early investors dumped the cryptocurrency. Members of Congress have noticed as hundreds of thousands of investors have taken hard hits and billions in value have quickly vanished.

California freshman Democrat Rep. Sam Liccardo told ABC News on Thursday he will introduce legislation to prohibit the country’s top officials and their families — from Congress to the White House — from capitalizing on personal meme coins.

The Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act would prohibit the president, vice president, members of Congress, senior executive branch officials and their spouses and dependent children from issuing, sponsoring or endorsing a security, future, commodity or digital asset.

Liccardo said he believes that the president and first lady Melania Trump cashed in on their meme coins and enriched investors around the world who initially supported the cryptocurrency.

Trump launched the coin in January, days before he took office. A similar Melania coin had been issued a week earlier. Trump in July said he wanted to turn the U.S. into the “crypto capital of the planet.”

While Liccardo’s legislation is not expected to become law over the next two years under Republican majorities in the House and Senate, the freshman Democrat said that the president and first lady made a windfall on their respective meme coins and is working to build support that culminates behind a Democrat majority.

“Let’s make corruption criminal again,” Liccardo, a former federal and local criminal prosecutor, said. “Our public offices belong to the public, not the officeholders, nor should they leverage their political authority for financial gain. The Trumps’ issuance of meme coins financially exploits the public for personal gain, and raises the specter of insider trading and foreign influence over the Executive Branch.”

The proposal would forbid federal officials from promoting a range of financial assets or from participating in any conduct likely to financially benefit themselves, according to Liccardo. The legislation would impose criminal and civil penalties and includes a prohibition that applies to any financial asset, such as the stock of Truth Social.

Liccardo wants to subject violators to criminal and civil penalties while stopping them from profiting from an asset issued before the bill’s enactment — giving it retroactive element intended to address the launch of $TRUMP.

Liccardo said he has a dozen Democratic cosponsors as he prepares to introduce the legislation on Thursday.

ABC News’ Max Zahn contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Transgender U.S. service members will be separated from the military unless they receive an exemption, according to a new Pentagon policy disclosed in a court filing on Wednesday.

According to the memo, the Pentagon must create a procedure to identify troops who are transgender by March 26 and orders that the separation of individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria must be completed by June 25.

Those to be separated from the military will include service members receiving some form of treatment or hormones for that diagnosis of gender dysphoria or who have gone through a gender-affirming surgery.

The new policy was included as an exhibit in the federal case of Talbott v. Trump, a federal lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order that rolled back the previous policy allowing transgender service members to serve in the military.

“Military service by Service members and applicants for military service who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria is incompatible with military service,” the memo said.

“Service by these individuals is not in the best interests of the Military Services and is not clearly consistent with the interests of national security,” said the memo.

“Individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria are no longer eligible for military service,” it added.

The service members who will be separated will receive honorable discharges unless their record indicates they should receive a lower-level discharge. Receiving an honorable discharge means they would be able to receive benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“The Department only recognizes two sexes: male and female. An individual’s sex is immutable, unchanging during a person’s life. All Service members will only serve in accordance with their sex,” according to the memo.

The new policy will allow certain exemptions from separation or allow enlistment on a case-by-case basis separation if they can provide that “there is a compelling Government interest in retaining the Service member that directly supports warfighting capabilities.”

Current service members can also apply for an exemption if they can prove that they have been stable in their sex for three months “without clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning,” and that they never attempted to transition to another sex; and will adhere to all standards for the service member’s sex.

On Feb. 7, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo that lifted the Pentagon’s previous policy on transgender service and said the U.S. military would no longer allow transgender individuals to join and would stop performing or facilitating procedures associated with gender dysphoria. He also set a timeline for the Pentagon to develop an implementation plan for the new policy.

There are currently 4,240 active-duty, Guard and Reserve service members who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, according to a defense official.

Since 2014, the total number of diagnoses for gender dysphoria was 5,773 with 1,000 of those having gone through gender-affirming surgery. The total costs for treatments, hormones and surgeries during that time frame was $52 million, said the official.

There are about 2.1 million service members in the U.S. military — and about 1.3 million of them are on active duty.

 

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(WASHINGTON) — One day after the Department of Veterans Affairs celebrated an estimated $2 billion in savings on canceled contracts, the agency began reversing some of the cancellations that may have affected veterans’ medical care and other benefits, according to multiple sources familiar with the contracts and agency records reviewed by ABC News.

“We were taking in millions of dollars in contracts to create things like PowerPoint slides and meeting minutes,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said on Tuesday. “Millions of dollars in contracts for ‘coaching and training.'”

“Don’t feed the line of what D.C. is wanting to sell you,” he added. “We are putting money back to veterans’ health, back to veterans’ benefits. And don’t let nameless sources, even senators and House members, who want to scare you, and the media, who want to perpetuate the line. We’re taking care of veterans.”

But the hundreds of contracts set for cancellation included some for legally required technical inspections of medical equipment that produce radiation at VA facilities, including CT scanners, MRI machines and dental X-ray units.

Without annual inspections, some of which are conducted by contractors in part to save the agency money, VA staffers are not permitted to use the equipment.

“We’re a really good deal for them,” said one contractor with multiple agency contracts, including several that were initially canceled — and then reversed by Wednesday afternoon. “They can’t afford to have that done in-house.”

Canceling the contracts “100% will impact care,” a VA official told ABC News. “If [the machines] get serviced or a part is replaced, they need to be inspected as well.”

Asked for comment Tuesday, a VA spokesperson told ABC News, “We’re reviewing VA’s various contracts, and we will be canceling many focusing on non-mission critical things like PowerPoint slides, executive support and coaching. Our review is ongoing and not final.”

“We will not be eliminating any benefits or services to veterans or VA beneficiaries, and there will be no negative impact to VA healthcare, benefits or beneficiaries,” the spokesperson added. “We are always going to take care of veterans at VA. Period.”

Some of the contracts marked for termination on Monday included contracts to provide employee and workplace benefits services to tens of thousands of VA employees and their families. Others included work overseeing hazardous waste disposal, conducting safety inspections at VA medical facilities, supporting cancer programs and burial services, according to agency records review by ABC News.

Some of the contracts marked for termination on Monday included contracts to provide employee and workplace benefits services to tens of thousands of VA employees and their families. Others included work overseeing hazardous waste disposal and conducting safety inspections at VA medical facilities.

Many of these contracts are labeled as some variations of consulting, a sweeping category of federal contracts that the Department of Government Efficiency’s team has aggressively gone after as part of its efforts to cut wasteful government spending.

“Everyone can agree that there is waste, likely fat, and there may very well be some fraud,” Arthur Mabbett, a disabled veteran and CEO of Mabbett & Associates, a government contractor with dozens of contracts with the VA and other agencies, told ABC News.

“Doing it in a businesslike fashion, rather than pure chaos, which is what they’re doing right now, would be a better approach,” said Mabbett, whose company has not had its stop-work orders rescinded as of Wednesday evening.

Some of that work includes working with VA facilities to make sure expansion and renovation projects comply with federal environmental law.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on Tuesday slammed Collins’ previous move to cancel the contracts, saying many of those contracts provide “critical and direct services” to veterans.

“To say abruptly cancelling these services won’t impact veterans’ care and benefits is another unrealistic promise from Collins,” Blumenthal wrote in a statement. “Make no mistake — this is just another reckless cost-cutting decision that will harm veterans and taxpayers for years to come.”

Agency leaders directed employees to begin terminating hundreds of contracts on Monday, with some stop-work orders issued that evening.

Already, some of those stop-work orders have been rescinded — one of several DOGE-led efforts across the federal government that have been slowed or partially reversed by various agency leaders.

“I like what they’re doing, I just think they made a mistake, and they need to fix it,” one contractor told ABC News about the overall DOGE efforts. “If it goes quickly, I’ll be happy. And if it takes three to four months, I won’t be.”

The VA has already gone through two rounds of layoffs: The first affected 1,000 workers, and the second, announced this week, affected 1,400 “non-mission critical positions,” according to the agency’s statement.

Some of those terminated employees were asked to return to work days later, workers told ABC News.

Other layoffs may be on the horizon. On Wednesday, the Trump administration directed agencies to begin preparing for “large-scale” layoffs and reorganizations and to present plans for doing so to the Office of Management and Budget by March 13, according to a memo obtained by ABC News.

-ABC News’ Soorin Kim and Nathan Luna contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans signaled they’re going full steam ahead on significant changes to Medicaid, despite pressure from Democrats and even some moderates in their party.

The suggested overhauls to the program, which provides health care for lower-income Americans and those with disabilities, are part of an effort to slash federal spending and hit the House GOP’s goal of cutting $2 trillion over a decade from the federal budget.

“I support any plan that helps Medicaid be sustainable. And the current trajectory of Medicaid is not,” said Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, who recently declared he’s running for governor of Florida — a state with millions of Medicaid recipients.

“Medicaid is supposed to be for people who are disabled, for children, for single parents with multiple kids. That’s what Medicaid is for. And if we continue down this line where it just becomes a bigger and bigger portfolio of beneficiaries, the federal government is not going to be able to afford the match,” Donalds added.

In a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson, moderate Republican members of the Congressional Hispanic Conference warned “slashing Medicaid would have serious consequences, particularly in rural and predominantly Hispanic communities.”

Asked what he would say to Republican colleagues who are worried cuts to Medicaid will have a serious impact on lower income Americans, Donalds replied, “I think some of that is, quite frankly, fear-based. We know the Democrats are already running ads about Medicaid and about how what we’re trying to do is damaging to people and it’s just simply not true.”

Some GOP members have floated adding new work requirements to the program and capping the amount of money states receive to run their Medicaid programs — a pitch that could drastically reduce the number of people on Medicaid and limit the funding available for beneficiaries.

“I don’t consider that a cut,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said about work requirements. “I don’t consider block-granting to the states a cut. The Democrats are using that but it’s just not right.”

The exact plan is still unclear. Approving the House budget blueprint Tuesday night was just the first step in a months-long budgeting process that could stretch into the summer.

“We’re very early in this process,” New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a moderate who represents a Staten Island district with a significant number of Medicaid recipients, said.

“Maybe you should wait until we actually do the work and highlight what we’re going to do,” she said.

Republicans also believe they can achieve a significant amount of their spending cuts by targeting fraud in Medicaid and Medicare. But eliminating all fraud and waste would likely only chip away at Republicans’ goal.

Asked about that approach, Malliotakis said, “There’s about $50 billion a year in fraud, just within the Medicaid program.”

But whether Republicans can get to the kinds of numbers they’re talking about by just eliminating fraud, Malliotakis said, “Well, yes. Within the health care. You’re going to look at that, you’re going to look at the loopholes the states have put in place.

Meanwhile, Democrats are pouncing.

An internal Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee memo first obtained by ABC News shows Democrats aim to make Medicaid cuts “politically perilous for House Republicans” in the November 2026 midterm elections.

“Rather than delivering on their campaign promises to lower the high cost of living, [Republicans] are poised to pass an extreme budget scheme that would decimate affordable health care and take food off the tables of millions of American families,” the memo reads.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump held the first Cabinet meeting of his second term on Wednesday and In the room, and at times taking center stage, was Elon Musk.

For little more than an hour, Trump sought to tout his administration’s work so far and fielded questions on everything from the status of Musk’s efforts to force federal firings to negotiations to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Despite not being a member of the Cabinet, Musk has outsized influence in the administration as he oversees the Department of Government Efficiency’s work to reduce the size and scope of the government.

“We put together a great Cabinet,” Trump said as he began the meeting. “And we’ve had tremendous success.”

Here are key takeaways from the gathering.

Elon Musk in the spotlight

Musk was the first to speak at the meeting after Trump’s introduction. Donning a “Tech Support” t-shirt and a black “Make America Great Again” cap, Musk stood in the corner of the room to talk about DOGE.

Musk defended the entity’s controversial actions, saying the overall goal is to cut the deficit and warned if cuts aren’t made the country will “become de facto bankrupt.”

“That’s the reason I’m here. And taking a lot of flack, and getting a lot of death threats, by the way,” he said.

His presence among Trump’s agency heads came amid confusion stemming from a Musk-directed ultimatum to federal workers to list their weekly accomplishments or possibly face termination. Senior White House officials were initially caught off guard, ABC News reported, when Musk first posted about the directive and it’s since created tension among Cabinet members as multiple agency heads told employees to hold off on replying.

When Musk was asked by a reporter if any Cabinet members were unhappy, Trump interrupted.

“Is anybody unhappy with Elon?” Trump said to the group, many of whom started laughing.”If you are, we’ll throw him out of here. Is anybody unhappy? They have a lot of respect for Elon and that he’s doing this,” as members started applauding.

1 million workers ‘on the bubble’

Trump said federal employees who didn’t respond to Musk’s email are on a firing “bubble.”

“I’d like to add that those million people that haven’t responded though Elon, they are on the bubble. You know, I wouldn’t say that we’re thrilled about it,” Trump said. He went on to claim, without evidence, that maybe those employees “don’t exist.”

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked Trump about his interest in doing another round of emails demanding federal workers’ accomplishments and what the requirements would be.

“I think Elon wants to, and I think it’s a good idea because, you know, those people, as I said before, they’re on the bubble,” he responded, emphasizing his desire to find out if workers exist,” Trump said.

Not ‘much’ in security guarantees for Ukraine

Trump signaled the United States will not be providing much in security guarantees to Ukraine — a key factor for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in any agreement to bring the conflict to a close.

“Well, I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond, very much,” Trump said. “We’re going to have Europe do that because it’s in you know, we’re talking about Europe is the next-door neighbor, but we’re going to make sure everything goes well.”

Trump later said the mineral resources deal between the U.S. and Ukraine will be “automatic security” because the U.S. will be investing in the nation, suggesting that would be a barrier to Russia.

“Nobody’s going to be messing around with people when we’re there,” Trump said. “And so we’ll be there in that way.”

Trump says Putin will have to make concessions

After weeks of public statements on what Ukraine will likely have to sacrifice in negotiations, including their goal of returning to pre-war borders, Trump indicated for the first time that Russia’s Vladimir Putin may have to make concessions.

“Yeah, he will. He’s going to have to,” Trump said of Putin.

Notably, he did not elaborate on what those would be.

When later asked what concessions Putin would have to make, Trump shifted toward Ukraine and said they could “forget” about NATO membership.

Medicaid and Social Security to be left ‘untouched’

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked Trump about the budget bill that passed in the House Tuesday night — which includes a goal of at least $2 trillion in cuts to mandatory federal spending — and whether Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security would be cut.

“I have said it so many times … This won’t be read my lips anymore. We’re not going to touch it,” Trump responded, echoing the statement George H.W. Bush famously made about “no new taxes” and then later had to reverse.

Trump claimed that there would be a reduction in fraud in those programs. Trump has echoed false claims stemming from Musk that dead Americans are receiving Social Security.

Experts told ABC News that is not true, and that Musk is misreading Social Security’s network of databases when he claims 200-year-olds are in the system.

Trump vows tariffs on the European Union

Trump stressed that he is still planning to push tariffs on foreign countries to improve the economy and claimed the European Union in particular left the U.S. with billions in debt and was formed to “screw the United States.”

“We have made a decision, will be announcing it very soon and it’ll be 25%, generally speaking, and that’ll be on cars and all other things,” he said.

Trump said the tariffs against Mexico and Canada are expected to go into effect next week on April 2, after a monthlong pause.

But then Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested another pause may be possible based on fentanyl prevention and progress on the border.

“If they can prove to the president they’ve done an excellent job,” Lutnick said. Trump quickly jumped in: “It’s going to be hard to satisfy.”

ABC News’ Ivan Pereira and Emily Chang contributed to this report.

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