Politics

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is carrying out his immigration crackdown nationwide, with over 1,000 arrests reported by ICE on Monday.

The actions prompted a tense standoff between the U.S. and Colombia after Colombia’s president turned away deportation flights from the U.S. Trump then threatened tariffs as high as 25% against the South American nation, causing its leader to reverse course and accept deported migrants.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived for his first full day at the Pentagon after being narrowly confirmed by the Senate. Trump’s other Cabinet picks, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, will face confirmation hearings later this week.

Karoline Leavitt, youngest WH press secretary, to hold 1st briefing

Karoline Leavitt will make her first appearance behind the podium in the James S. Brady briefing room on Tuesday.

Leavitt, 27, is the youngest White House press secretary in history. She served as the spokesperson for Trump’s 2024 campaign and transition team.

On Monday, she held her first gaggle with reporters aboard Air Force One. There, she fielded questions on Trump’s upcoming moves on FEMA and his attempts to end birthright citizenship. She’ll face more questions, likely about Trump’s recent actions regarding the military and federal aid programs, at 1 p.m.
 

Trump weighs in on possible deal for Microsoft to buy TikTok

President Donald Trump discussed a possible deal for Microsoft to buy TikTok while speaking with reporters by phone from Air Force One on Monday evening.

Trump was asked whether Microsoft was in discussions to acquire the embattled social media app amid its looming U.S. ban deadline.

“I would say yes,” Trump said, before adding, “A lot of interest in TikTok, there’s great interest there.”

When asked whether he liked the idea of a bidding war for the app, Trump said he likes bidding wars.

“I like bidding wars because you make your best deal,” he said.

“It’s very clear, if I sign, then somebody’s going to buy it, pay a lot of money, have a lot of jobs, keep a platform open and have it be very secure. If I don’t sign, then it closes,” Trump added of TikTok’s future in America.

He was asked about what other companies were looking to buy the app, and he declined to respond but said that they are all “top of the line.”

White House budget office suspends federal financial aid programs for internal review

The White House budget office is ordering federal agencies to cease any financial assistance spending if they suspect the program might conflict with President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

In a memo obtained by ABC News, Matthew Vaeth, acting director of the Office and Management and Budget, told agency chiefs that they must report back by Feb. 10 on all programs that apply.

“The memo requires federal agencies to identify and review all federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President’s policies and requirements,” according to the document.

The memo says it is directed at programs providing “financial assistance for foreign aid, non-governmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology and the Green New Deal.”

The order does not specify which financial aid programs would have to be suspended, although it could have sweeping implications. The federal government funds thousands of programs, including research programs, housing subsidies and educational grants.

Quakers sue to keep ICE out of houses of worship

Five Quaker congregations sued the Department of Homeland Security on Monday over last week’s policy reversal that allows immigration agents to conduct searches and arrests in so-called “sensitive areas” like churches and schools.

The Quaker groups, known as the Religious Society of Friends, alleged that the policy change harms their congregations by deterring immigrants from worshipping in person, violating their First Amendment rights to freely associate and exercise religion.

“Allowing armed government agents wearing ICE-emblazoned jackets to park outside a religious service and monitor who enters or to interrupt the service and drag a congregant out during the middle of worship is anathema to Quaker religious exercise,” the federal lawsuit filed in Maryland said.

Quaker worship generally involves multiple congregants sitting together in silence to await a message from God, which can be received and shared by anyone in attendance, according to the lawsuit.

“Being able to receive those messages is fundamental to Quaker religious exercise,” the lawsuit said.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman said in a statement announcing the policy change on Jan. 24. “The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”

-ABC News’ Peter Charalambous, James Hill and Laura Romero

Trump says he wants to deport ‘repeat offenders’ in US legally

Trump said Monday he wants to deport repeat criminal offenders who are in the U.S. legally, offering that they be held in foreign jails.

“I don’t want these violent repeat offenders in our country any more than I want illegal aliens from other countries who misbehave,” Trump said during his remarks at the House GOP retreat.

“This is subject to getting it approved, but if they’ve been arrested many, many times, they’re repeat offenders by many numbers, I want them out of our country,” he added. “We’ll be seeking permission to do so. We’re going to get approval hopefully to get them the hell out of our country along with others.”

Trump suggested that they could be maintained in a foreign country “for a very small fee.”

-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow

ICE arrests 1,179 undocumented immigrants on Monday

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it arrested 1,179 undocumented immigrants on Monday.

That marks an increase from Sunday, when the agency said it made 956 such arrests.

ICE is operating at an increased tempo since the new administration took office.

-ABC News’ Luke Barr

Trump says DeepSeek is a ‘wake-up call’ for American companies

During his remarks at the House GOP retreat, Trump discussed the emergence of Chinese AI technology DeepSeek, saying it should be a “wake-up call” for American companies.

“The release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win, because we have the greatest scientists in the world, even Chinese leadership told me that,” Trump said.

He also cast the technology as an “asset” for how it could revolutionize technology due to its less-expensive method.

Trump said that he hoped American companies could come up with the “same solutions” without investing billions of dollars and repeated his promise to “unleash” American tech companies to “dominate the future.”

-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart

CDC officials told to cease communications with the WHO

Public health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been told to cease communications with the World Health Organization, an official with the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to ABC News.

This comes after Trump signed an executive order on his first day of office ordering the withdrawal of the U.S. from the WHO. The U.S. is the biggest financial contributor to the global public health organization and public health experts immediately denounced the move as a risk to national security and pandemic outbreak prevention.

Any country’s withdrawal from the WHO is supposed to be preceded by a one year advance notice, which experts interpreted Trump’s executive order to serve as. But the recent order for CDC public health officials to immediately stop communicating with their WHO counterparts suggests that Trump is not adhering to those governing rules.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Trump addresses new executive orders on the military

Trump said “in a little while” he will be signing four new executive orders addressing the military, during his remarks at a retreat of House Republicans at his Doral golf resort in Miami on Monday.

One will direct Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “immediately begin” the construction of an “Iron Dome” missile defense shield, a nod to the Israeli missile defense system.

“We protect other countries, but we don’t protect ourselves,” he said.

Trump said his administration will also “get transgender ideology the hell out of military” and “stop our service members from being indoctrinated with radical left ideologies such as critical race theory.”

Trump didn’t go into detail, though the White House earlier Monday said that Trump is expected to sign an order directing the Department of Defense to update its guidance “regarding trans-identifying medical standards for military service and to rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness.”

The order will also end the use of pronouns in the Department of Defense and will also prohibit males from “sharing sleeping, changing, or bathing in facilities designated for females.”

Another order that Trump is expected to sign takes aim at diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. The order will ban the use of “discriminatory race- or sex-based preferences,” according to a fact sheet about the move.

Trump also addressed another order that will offer a “full reinstatement” to service members who were expelled from the armed forces due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Scott Bessent confirmed as treasury secretary

The Senate on Monday evening confirmed Scott Bessent to serve as secretary of treasury by a vote of 68-29.

Bessent becomes the fifth member of Trump’s team to be confirmed by the Senate, following Marco Rubio, John Ratcliffe, Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem.

The Senate is now taking a test vote on Sean Duffy’s nomination to lead the Department of Transportation. He’s expected to easily clear this procedural hurdle to tee up a final vote likely on Wednesday.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

Trump: ‘Am I allowed to run again?’

During his remarks at a retreat of House Republicans at his Doral golf resort in Miami on Monday, Trump raised the questiion whether he could run for a third term.

“I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not 100% sure, because I don’t know,” he said to some laughs in the crowd. “I think I’m not allowed to run again. I’m not sure, am I allowed to run again?”

Last week, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn. introduced a House joint resolution to allow a president to be elected for no more than three terms, instead of two.

Air Force chief of staff releases statement on Tuskegee Airmen videos

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin wrote a statement Monday regarding curricula on the Tuskegee Airmen and women pilots, saying no such material has been removed from basic military training.

“Allow me to clearly dispel a rumor — while we are currently reviewing all training courses to ensure compliance with the Executive Orders, no curriculum or content highlighting the honor and valor of the Tuskegee Airmen or Women Air Force Service Pilots has been removed from Basic Military Training,” Allvin wrote. “The historic legacy and decorated valor these Airmen embodied during World War II and beyond will continue to guide our newest recruits and all who serve in our ranks.”

The statement comes after an Air Force spokesperson confirmed to the Associated Press that training courses with such videos were removed last week after Trump’s executive order to eliminate DEI initiatives in the federal government. The Air Force later clarified to the AP that the courses were edited but that the Tuskegee Airmen and WASP content would still be shown.

Allvin also said in his own statement on Monday that the Air Force is “faithfully executing” all of Trump’s executive orders, including on DEI.

JD Vance surveys hurricane damage in Virginia

Vice President JD Vance’s first official trip since taking office was to Damascus, Virginia, to survey damage from last year’s devastating Hurricane Helene.

In remarks alongside Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Vance said he was heartened by the stories he’s heard on the ground of “good people helping their neighbors rebuild.”

Without providing evidence, he also criticized the federal response to the flooding, claiming federal agencies had acted as “a barrier, as opposed to a facilitator” of getting resources into the communities who needed it.

This comes on President Donald Trump’s assessment of storm damage in North Carolina last Friday. During that visit, he floated getting rid of FEMA. He also signed two executive orders Friday that focused on emergency response, one of which creates a task force to conduct a “a full-scale review” of FEMA.

Vance was asked about what changes he would like to see made to FEMA, including possibly eliminating the agency. Vance did not mention the agency being terminated, which Trump could not do unilaterally, but once again reinforced the idea that bureaucrats were getting in the way of rebuilding.

-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart

Trump spoke with India’s Modi

President Donald Trump spoke with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, continuing his calls with foreign leaders since taking office. Trump’s first call was to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Trump and Modi discussed “expanding and deepening cooperation” between their countries along with “a range of regional issues, including security in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe,” the White House said.

“The President emphasized the importance of India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship,” according to a readout of the call.

The two leaders also talked about plans for Modi to visit the White House. The prime minister visited the White House as well as former President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington during the previous administration and made visits to the White House during the first Trump administration.

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Mexico’s received 4,094 migrants deported from US, president says

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country has received 4,094 migrants, most of whom are Mexican nationals, deported from the U.S. since Jan. 20.

“Mexico has a very important history of repatriation with the United States. First with the Trump administration and then with the Biden administration. There are coordination mechanisms,” Sheinbaum said. “We ask for respect for human rights.”

Sheinbaum said four planes with deportees arrived this past weekend. But she noted it has happened in the past and that there has not been “a sustained increase” of deportations.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

VA says 60 employees placed on leave after DEI order implementation

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced it has completed its initial implementation of ending its DEI program, which has included placing nearly 60 employees on paid administrative leave. The release said the employees in question had been solely focused on DEI initiatives.

According to the release, the combined annual salary of those employees totals more than $8 million, an average of more than $136,000/year per employee. One such employee is making more than $220,000 per year.”

Additionally, the VA has identified other DEI-related expenses totaling more than $6.1 million, which the department said it is working to cancel.

This comes after President Donald Trump signed an order last week to eliminate DEI initiatives in the federal government. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier Monday indicated Trump would take more executive action toward “fully removing DEI inside the Pentagon.”

-ABC News’ Nathan Luna

Trump to sign executive order reinstating service members removed for refusing COVID vaccine

President Donald Trump will sign two executive orders relating to the military, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.

The first executive order Trump is expected to sign will reinstate service members removed from the military for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, restore their rank, and provide back pay.

The second executive order directs the Department of Defense to determine a policy regarding transgender service members based on readiness. It does not put an immediate ban on trans service members. It simply directs the DOD to come up with a policy.

Last week, Trump revoked a Biden administration order allowing transgender people to serve in the military.

– ABC News’ Hannah Demissie

Trump cabinet confirmation hearings this week

All eyes will be on the Senate this week as confirmation hearings continue for Trump’s cabinet choices.

Health and Human Services pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be facing the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday morning.

On Thursday, FBI nominee Kash Patel’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee will take place, in addition to Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard’s hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Army Secretary nominee Daniel Driscoll’s confirmation will also be voted on Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Texas Gov. Abbott to send 400 troops, military resources to Rio Grande Valley

Texas Gov. Abbott is sending an additional 400 soldiers from military bases in Forth Worth and Houston to assist Border Patrol and the Trump administration’s mission to “secure the border.”

The 400 soldiers join the thousands of troops Abbott has already deployed under his border mission, Operation Lone Star.

In addition to troops, he’ll also be sending C-130s and Chinook helicopters.

“Texas has a partner in the White House we can work with to secure the Texas-Mexico border,” Abbott said in a statement, thanking Trump for his “decisive leadership on the southern border.”

– ABC News’ Armando Garcia

Hegseth responds after uproar over removal of Tuskegee Airmen video

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday had to respond to criticism after videos of Tuskegee Airmen and Women Air Force Service Pilots were removed from basic training courses, according to a report from Reuters.

An official told Reuters the videos were removed pending a review to comply with Trump’s order to eliminate DEI efforts in the federal government. Hegseth, too, has made eliminating DEI from the military a top priority.

But uproar quickly grew over the removal of the videos, including from Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt. Britt called the removal of the videos “malicious compliance” that had to be corrected.

“We’re all over it Senator. This will not stand,” Hegseth said in response. Hours later, he posted, “This has been immediately reversed.”

Reuters reported on Sunday that the Air Force said the videos will be taught.

Trump signs executive orders for ‘full-scale review’ of FEMA, seeks control over California water system

President Donald Trump signed two executive orders Friday focused on emergency response, one which creates a task force to conduct a “a full-scale review” of FEMA to “recommend to the President improvements or structural changes to promote the national interest and enable national resilience.”

The task force — which is intended to be no larger than 20 people — is expected to “meet regularly” for a year. Among the directives in the order is to evaluate “whether FEMA can serve its functions as a support agency, providing supplemental Federal assistance, to the States rather than supplanting State control of disaster relief.”

They could recommend that FEMA be dismantled, but Congress would need to act in order to do away with the agency.

The second executive order, called “Emergency Measures To Provide Water Resources In California And Improve Disaster Response In Certain Areas,” calls for a plan for the federal government to assert power over California’s water system.

One section outlines actions for the government to go around state and federal law to more directly assert control of California’s water management — though it’s not clear how much of an impact this order will have.

– ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Pete Hegseth arrives for 1st full day at Pentagon as defense secretary

Arriving for his first full day at the Pentagon as defense secretary, Pete Hegseth stopped to talk to reporters to lay out some of his priorities.

“It’s an honor to be here,” Hegseth said after being greeted by Gen. CQ Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Hegseth said that would include removing DEI efforts inside the Pentagon, reinstating service members discharged because of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and building an Iron Dome — though experts have said the latter may not be realistic for the U.S.

He also said the Pentagon would provide “whatever’s needed” at the southern border as Trump carries out his immigration crackdown.

Hegseth previously suggested the firing of Brown as well as other senior officers who were involved either in the chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan or “woke” DEI initiatives.

Asked on Monday if he wants to fire Brown, Hegseth said: “I’m standing with him right now. Look forward to working with him.”
 

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(NEW YORK) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined an immigration enforcement operation in New York City on Tuesday.

Noem posted a brief video of an arrest to her social media account.

The secretary is witnessing both criminal and civil enforcement operations, according to sources familiar with the actions in New York.

The criminal case involves a member of a Venezuelan gang that took over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, the sources said. One alleged gang member was arrested in the Bronx.

The New York division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said it was working with partners at the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to assist the Department of Homeland Security with enforcement efforts.

Noem’s appearance for the operations came just days after she was confirmed by the Senate.

Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, will be charged with overseeing Trump’s immigration crackdown along with “border czar” Tom Homan.

“The Trump Administration will once-again empower our brave men and women in law enforcement to do their jobs and remove criminal aliens and illegal gangs from our country,” she said in a statement after her confirmation. “We will fully equip our intelligence and law enforcement to detect and prevent terror threats and will deliver rapid assistance and disaster relief to Americans in crisis.”

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(WASHINGTON) — In a case that sits squarely at the intersection of his business and political interests, President Donald Trump is trying to stop a civil lawsuit against his multibillion-dollar social media company by arguing that he should be immune from civil litigation filed in state court while he serves as president.

Trump and his co-defendants — including FBI director nominee Kash Patel and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino — asked a Delaware judge to either issue a four-year delay of the case or dismiss a lawsuit filed by Trump Media & Technology Group co-founders Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, who alleged that Trump and company executives orchestrated a scheme to prevent them from getting their full stake in the company after it went public.

Facing an “unprecedented” number of civil lawsuits, Trump argued that having to fend off the litigation would be a “distraction” from his presidential duties and “interfere substantially” with the function of the executive branch.

“Without the protections of temporary Presidential immunity, the President will be forced to defend against these cases — and the many more that are sure to arise during his second term — all to the detriment of his office and the American people he serves,” attorneys John Reed and Theodore Kittila wrote in a filing on Friday in Delaware Chancery Court.

In December, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Morgan Zurn agreed to temporarily pause the claim so Trump could make his immunity argument, though she noted that Trump “is not presently deemed to be immune” from the civil case. Lawyers for Trump Media and the president asked the court to establish a “brightline deferral rule” to delay any civil litigation Trump faces in state court by four years.

“State courts across the country are being called upon to sit in judgment of the sitting President, to tax his time, and to second-guess his priorities. That state of affairs — President Jefferson’s nightmare — dishonors the Presidency and debases the state courts that purport to control his actions,” the filing said.

During his first term in office, Trump was sued at least 10 times, and he returned to the presidency with at least 14 lawsuits pending, including multiple suits related to his social media company. Trump placed his stake in the company — 14,750,000 shares worth more than $3 billion — into a trust controlled by his sons before entering office this month.

If successful, Trump’s claim of “temporary presidential immunity” could provide the president an additional layer of legal protection, having already entered office with newly broadened presidential power and protection from criminal liability following the Supreme Court’s ruling last year on presidential immunity.

Defense lawyers, in Friday’s filing, claimed without evidence that Trump’s “billionaire adversaries” are funding a wave of litigation “to destroy the president.”

“The President has already been sued more than all his predecessors combined, yet his rivals promise that there is still more to come,” the lawsuit said. “That swell of litigation will pose an even greater threat to the operations of the Executive Branch and the standing of state courts that purport to sit in judgment of his conduct.”

While the Supreme Court established in Clinton v. Jones that a president does not have immunity from civil lawsuits related to personal conduct, lawyers for Trump Media argued that the decision only applies to cases in federal court. Though the Trump Media lawsuit does not center on official acts, Trump argued that the burden of defending himself would intrude on his official duties, citing an example of how President Bill Clinton consulted his personal attorney three times on the same day he was deliberating whether to go to war with Iraq.

“With the benefits of hindsight and lived experience, it now is clear that state civil litigation against the President causes real ‘diversion’ and ‘harassment’ of the Presidency, sufficient to interfere substantially with the operations of the Executive Branch,” the filing said.

The defense lawyers claimed that the lawsuit would occupy Trump’s limited “energies and attention,” which is already strained by the demands of the presidency.

“During his first term, President Trump … slept just four to five hours per night — because the burdens of the Presidency dwarfed even his responsibilities as a global business leader,” the filing said.

In a separate filing on Friday, Trump’s personal lawyers told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that the president should be immune from any civil claims related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack because he was acting in his official capacity as president when he sought to challenge the results of the 2020 election.

When reached for comment, regarding the Trump Media lawsuit, Richie Jones, an attorney for Moss and Litinsky, provided a quote by former President Theodore Roosevelt, saying it was “the best we can do in terms of comment.”

“No man is above the law, and no man is below it. Nor do we ask any man’s permission when we require him to obey it,” Jones wrote.

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(WASHINGTON) — Just months after calling for his ouster, incoming Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was greeted at the Pentagon on Monday by Gen. CQ Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Brown saluted Hegseth as his motorcade arrived, then shook his hand as the two exchanged pleasantries. With Brown by his side, Hegseth approached a line of waiting reporters and took several questions, including one on whether he intends to fire the general.

“I’m standing with him right now,” Hegseth said, patting Brown, only the second Black officer after Colin Powell to serve in the job, on the shoulder. “I look forward to working with him.”

Hegseth’s past comments on Brown were not so sanguine.

“First of all, you’ve got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” Hegseth said in a November appearance on the “Shawn Ryan Show,” days before President Donald Trump nominated him to lead the Defense Department.

He continued, “But any general that was involved — general, admiral, whatever — that was involved in any of the DEI woke s— has got to go. Either you’re in for warfighting, and that’s it. That’s the only litmus test we care about.”

Hegseth also lambasted Brown several times in his book, “The War on Warriors.”

“The military standards, once the hallmark for competency, professionalism, and ‘mission first’ outcomes, have officially been subsumed by woke priorities,” he wrote. “You think CQ Brown will think intuitively about external threats and internal readiness? No chance. He built his generalship dutifully pursuing the radical positions of left-wing politicians, who in turn rewarded him with promotions.”

Brown has been vocal about what he sees as the importance of race-based diversity in the military. In 2022, while chief of staff of the Air Force, Brown signed a memo calling for the service to work toward lowering the percentage of white officer applicants while raising those of other races.

“These goals are aspirational, aligning resources to invest in our long-term objectives and will not be used in any manner that undermines our merit-based processes,” the memo said.

In his new role, Hegseth could recommend removing Brown and other military leaders, and Trump would have the authority to do so.

Both Hegseth and Trump have sharply criticized military leaders involved in the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan as well as those allegedly pushing “woke” ideology. While there could be legal challenges in trying to outright kick generals or admirals out of the military should they refuse a request to resign, the commander in chief has the authority to remove senior officers from their current positions and reassign them, effectively ending their careers.

Brown drew praise for a June 2020 video titled “Here’s what I’m thinking about” that he released in response to the nationwide protests and unrest sparked by Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer.

In the highly personal video, Brown recounted his own experiences with racism and his perspective as a Black man and Black military leader.

There were some positive signs for Brown even before Monday’s polite greeting, when he had an amiable encounter with Trump at last month’s Army-Navy football game.

During the second quarter, Trump and Brown talked for roughly 20 minutes about football as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, a U.S. official told ABC News. Brown also had a quick introduction and handshake with Hegseth at the game.

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(WASHINGTON) — Internal communications reviewed by ABC News show that the Trump administration plans to strictly implement an executive order from the president mandating a 90-day freeze on almost all U.S. foreign aid amid a review, a measure that already has sparked widespread concern among humanitarian organizations.

“We get tired of giving massive amounts of money to countries that hate us, don’t we?” President Donald Trump said in a speech during the House Republicans’ annual retreat in Florida on Monday, touting a blizzard of executive actions he had taken since returning to the White House.

In a memo sent to U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) staff over the weekend, a high-level official within the agency stressed their “responsibility” to carry out Trump’s directive and signaled that it would be difficult to secure waivers to continue funding for programs during the pause, which he called “a complete halt.”

“It is important to emphasize that it is no longer business as usual. Every program will be thoroughly scrutinized,” Ken Jackson, USAID’s assistant to the administrator for management and resources, wrote.

Jackson said that the agency’s only exceptions currently in place covered spending on emergency humanitarian food aid and travel for government officials who were returning to their duty stations, adding that employees should be ready “to provide detailed information and justification” for these expenses.

Any waivers for other spending would need to clear multiple hurdles for approval, including proving that the program receiving funding was lifesaving or necessary for U.S. national security.

Failure to comply with the pause or other new policies “will result in disciplinary action,” Jackson warned USAID staff.

A separate memo sent to State Department employees last week which was also reviewed by ABC News instructed officials overseeing projects funded by grants and awards that have already been distributed to issue immediate “stop-work orders,” making exceptions for some travel and administrative expenses, emergency food aid, and foreign military financing to both Egypt and Israel.

An administration official said on Monday that a template for submitting waiver requests had been made available and that the State Department was reviewing numerous applications that had already been submitted, but could not give a timeline for when any decisions would be made.

The State Department officially announced the implementation of the freeze on Sunday.

“Secretary Rubio has paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review,” the department’s spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, said in statement. “He is initiating a review of all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda.”

By then, panic had already set in among international aid groups that rely on U.S. funding. Sources within the international community said the freeze was so expansive that they could hardly believe it was real.

“The recent stop-work cable from the State Department suspends programs that support America’s global leadership and creates dangerous vacuums that China and our adversaries will quickly fill,” InterAction, the largest alliance of international aid organizations, said in a statement.

“This halt interrupts critical life-saving work including clean water to infants, basic education for kids, ending the trafficking of girls, and providing medications to children and others suffering from disease. It stops assistance in countries critical to U.S. interests, including Taiwan, Syria, and Pakistan. And, it halts decades of life-saving work through PEPFAR that helps babies to be born HIV-free,” the statement continued.

Beyond concern for their work, some organizations and officials have also expressed confusion. Many were caught off guard by the State Department’s implementation of Trump’s order, which they initially believed wouldn’t impact programs funded through congressional appropriations.

“The aid community is grappling with just how existential this aid suspension is – we know this will have life or death consequences for millions around the globe, as programs that depend on this funding grind to a halt without a plan or safety net,” Abby Maxman, the president and CEO of Oxfam, said in a statement to ABC News.

“This decision must be reversed, and funding and programming must be allowed to move forward. But at the very least, the administration must communicate clearly so the aid community can plan for the future and determine how to carry on our lifesaving work,” Maxman added.

Critics of the freeze believe dissent from international aid organizations and U.S. officials has been muted due to fear of retribution from the administration.

In his memo to USAID employees, Jackson stipulated that one of the new policies they must comply with if they wished to avoid disciplinary action was a requirement that all external communication, including with the State Department, first be approved by the agency.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump signed four executive orders on Monday that reverse several Biden administration initiatives related to the military and deliver on promises he made on the campaign trail.

Trump signed the orders while onboard Air Force One, White House staff secretary Will Scharf told reporters.

“First is an executive order, as he alluded to in his speech earlier, reinstating members of the military who were terminated or forced to separate because of the vaccine mandates. The second item was an executive order establishing a process to develop what we’re calling an American Iron Dome; a comprehensive missile defense shield to land the American homeland,” Scharf said.

“The third executive order that President Trump signed relates to eliminating gender radicalism in the military, and the fourth is about eliminating DEI set asides and DEI offices within the military,” Scharf added.

In addition those items, Trump signed a proclamation commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Reinstating military members who refused vaccinations

Trump signed an order directing the secretary of defense to “reinstate service members who were dismissed for refusing the COVID vaccine, with full back pay and benefits,” according to the White House.

The fact sheet on the order estimates that more than 8,000 troops were discharged between 2021 and 2023 following the Biden administration’s policy requiring vaccinations for service members. The order adds that the discharged military personnel will “receive their former rank.”

In August 2021, then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for all military personnel. The fact sheet said that the decision was made in “spite of the scientific evidence,” and added that it led to the discharge “healthy service members — many of whom had natural immunity and dedicated their entire lives to serving our country.”

The White House also says the vaccine mandate had a “chilling effect on recruitment,” noting that the Department of Defense fell 41,000 recruits short of its fiscal year 2023 recruiting goals.

Service members were given the opportunity to rejoin the military in 2023 when the vaccine mandate was rescinded, but the White House fact sheet said that only 43 service members elected to do that. The issue of full back pay is complex and would likely require congressional approval.

The order follows one of Trump’s promises from his speech on Inauguration Day, when he said he would make this move shortly after he was sworn in.

Transgender service members

Trump signed an order directing the Department of Defense to update its guidance “regarding trans-identifying medical standards for military service and to rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness.”

The order will require DOD to update all medical standards “to ensure they prioritize readiness and lethality.”

The order will also end the use of pronouns in the Department of Defense and will also prohibit males from “sharing sleeping, changing, or bathing in facilities designated for females.”

Last week, Trump revoked a Biden administration order allowing transgender people to serve in the military. In 2016, the Pentagon under then-President Barack Obama lifted restrictions on transgender people serving in the armed forces. But in 2017, Trump announced on what was then Twitter that transgender service members would no longer be able to serve openly in the armed forces, citing concerns over costs and readiness. The policy was implemented in 2019 and required transgender service members to serve in line with their biological sex unless they had already successfully transitioned or were grandfathered in under the Obama-era policy.

In 2021, the Trump policy was reversed under the Biden administration, allowing transgender service members to again serve openly and access related medical care.

“This change to the standards meant that men and women could join the military for the express purpose of transitioning, be nondeployable for a year, and take life-altering hormone therapy that would mean they would be nondeployable unless the military could guarantee the supply of medication,” now-Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said of the changes under Biden in one of his books.

Iron Dome

Trump has now officially begun the process of creating “the Iron Dome for America,” a nod to the Israeli missile defense system.

The order “directs implementation of a next generation missile defense shield for the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next generation aerial attacks,” according to a fact sheet obtained by ABC News.

There are very few details about how this type of a system would be developed. There are no details in the fact sheet on a timeline for creating such a system, nor any mention of cost to construct it.

The order follows through on a pledge Trump made a number of times on the campaign trail.

“Americans deserve an Iron Dome and that’s what we’re gonna have we’re gonna have an Iron Dome,” Trump said during an New Hampshire rally in October 2023.

As ABC has previously reported, experts say replicating an Iron Dome system for the U.S. wouldn’t make much sense, given the U.S. has allies to the north and south, and oceans on either side.

Banning DEI

Another order that Trump signed takes aim at Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs at the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. The order will ban the use of “discriminatory race- or sex-based preferences,” according to a fact sheet about the move.

The order directs Hegseth to internally review cases of “race- or sex-based discrimination” based on past DEI policies and requires DOD and DHS to review curriculum to “eliminate radical DEI and gender ideologies.”

The fact sheet adds that Trump is committed to a merit-based system with “sex-neutral policies and colorblind recruitment, promotion, and retention.” It blamed the so-called “‘woke’ assault” for the military’s flagging recruitment numbers.

This is just the latest of actions the Trump administration has taken to shut down DEI programs throughout the federal government and among federal contractors and to put pressure on private entities to end similar programs.

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(WASHINGTON) — The White House’s Office of Management and Budget has instructed all federal agencies to cease spending on any financial assistance programs if they suspect it might conflict with President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders.

Agencies must comply beginning at 5 p.m. EST on Tuesday, according to the OMB memo obtained by ABC News.

However, the order does not specify which financial aid programs would have to be suspended.

Given the spate of orders issued this month — some of which have prompted lawsuits — the memo could have sweeping implications.

The federal government funds thousands of programs, including research projects, housing subsidies and educational grants.

“The use of Federal resources to advanced Marxist equity, transgenderism and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day to day lives of those we serve,” wrote Matthew Vaeth, acting director of the OMB.

Vaeth told agency chiefs they must “identify and review all federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President’s policies and requirements.”

They are being told they must report back by Feb. 10 on all programs that apply.

“In the interim, to the extent permissible under applicable law, Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activity related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to financial assistance for foreign aid, non-governmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,” Vaeth wrote.

In response to the OMB memo, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement late Monday calling on the Trump administration to immediately “reverse course.”

“Congress approved these investments and they are not optional; they are the law,” Schumer said. “These grants help people in red states and blue states, support families, help parents raise kids, and lead to stronger communities.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department is firing “over a dozen” officials who were part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s teams that prosecuted President Donald Trump, officials confirmed to ABC News Monday.

Acting Attorney General James McHenry transmitted letters to the officials informing them of their termination, officials said, that said given their part in the prosecutions they couldn’t be trusted in “faithfully implementing the president’s agenda.”

It’s not immediately clear the exact number of officials who were fired on Monday, but the move was largely expected after President Trump’s threats leading up to the 2024 election stating he planned to fire Smith “on day one.”

Smith resigned prior to Trump taking office and submitted his final report to former Attorney General Merrick Garland. Garland released Vol. 1 of Smith’s final report detailing Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, but he was blocked by District Judge Aileen Cannon from sharing with Congress the second volume of Trump’s report detailing his investigation of Trump’s mishandling of classified documents after leaving his first administration.

Separately, an official confirmed to ABC News that the top career official in the Justice Department, Bradley Weinsheimer, was recently informed he was being reassigned out of his role. Weinsheimer was a longtime career public official and gained notoriety last year in exchanges with President Joe Biden’s attorneys as they sought to prevent Special Counsel Robert Hur from releasing portions of his final report that detailed Biden’s diminished capacities.

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(WASHINGTON) — The official portrait of first lady Melania Trump was unveiled by the White House on Monday.

The image, released in black and white, was taken in the residence by photographer Régine Mahaux.

The first lady’s office confirmed the photo was taken on Jan. 21, 2025, though the initial release mistakenly said it was taken in 2024.

The portraits of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were released earlier this month ahead of the inauguration. Those images were put out by the transition team.

Melania Trump attended the inaugural events, and made a statement with her style choices. She first wore a navy and ivory ensemble, complete with a hat, from American designer Adam Lippes for the swearing-in ceremony. For the evening’s inaugural balls, she donned a black-and-white gown designed by her longtime stylist Herve Pierre.

She also joined President Trump as he surveyed hurricane damage in North Carolina last Friday.

The two celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary last week. President Trump took to his social media platform to wish her a happy anniversary.

ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — In 2020, as a pandemic raged across the globe, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to social media to appeal to his hundreds of thousands of followers on Facebook.

The son of the late U.S. Attorney General and New York Sen. Bobby Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, the younger Kennedy said he was looking for parents whose children had been vaccinated against a different virus — human papillomavirus or HPV — and later grew sick.

Public health researchers and doctors said there was no evidence that the vaccine, Gardasil, was linked to the health problems he cited, noting 160 favorable studies on safety. A federal court created to compensate people injured by vaccines also had already rejected a similar claim, citing “insufficient proof” that the vaccine was behind the plaintiff’s health issues.

But in his posts, Kennedy said that he and lawyer Michael Baum – “one of my closest friends” — believed there was still a path forward. The families could sue the manufacturer Merck in civil court claiming marketing fraud – allegations Merck denies.

“If you have been injured by Gardasil, call us,” Kennedy wrote on Facebook, posting a toll-free number invoking his famous initials “RFK.”

According to financial disclosure documents released last week, Kennedy’s primary source of income in the past year were large sums of referral fees from multiple law firms, including Baum’s office, whose civil lawsuit against Merck’s Gardasil vaccine went to trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court last week.

Kennedy’s leading role in building a case against Merck is now raising questions about how he might wield his power as the nation’s next health secretary – a job intended as an impartial overseer in public health – while in line for potential payouts from a major pharmaceutical company.

“This disclosure shows that RFK Jr. made millions off of peddling dangerous anti-vaccine conspiracies,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which will oversee Kennedy’s nomination.

“Even worse, if he is confirmed, his finances will still be tied to the outcomes of anti-vaccine lawsuits — even as he’d be tasked with regulating them as health secretary. These are outrageous conflicts of interest that endanger public health,” Warren said in a statement provided to reporters.

Kennedy, who is expected to testify for the first time Wednesday before the Senate panel, said he has resigned his work with several law firms, including Wisner Baum, and that if confirmed he would not be involved in legal cases.

But in a plan greenlit by federal ethics officials, Kennedy said he plans to retain his right to 10 percent of fees awarded in contingency cases with Wisner Baum so long as the cases don’t involve the U.S. government. The federal government is not a party in the civil lawsuit against Merck.

“I am entitled to receive a portion of future recovery in these cases based upon the set percentage as set forth in the referral agreement,” he wrote.

Kennedy disclosed another $856,559 in income from Wisner Baum referral fees, although the documents do not say which legal cases were tied to those fees. Other income included $8.8 million from his firm Kennedy & Madonna. Kennedy said he was terminating his relationship with the firm, which would no longer use his name.

A spokesperson for Kennedy declined to comment on the record on the Wisner Baum payouts and ongoing lawsuit. Baum did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement on the civil lawsuit, Merck said “an overwhelming body of scientific evidence, including more than 30 years of research and development along with real world evidence generated by Merck and by independent investigators, continues to support the safety and efficacy of our HPV vaccines. The plaintiff’s allegations have no merit, and we remain committed to vigorously defending against these claims.”

Robert Krakow, a New York lawyer who specializes in vaccine injury cases and has worked with Kennedy in the past, said referral fees are fairly standard when it comes to personal injury claims.

Kennedy has been a “galvanizing force” when it came to questioning vaccine safety, providing a special touch when talking to families because “he was very sincere and listened to people,” Krakow said. Using social media platforms to recruit clients is a natural extension of that work, he said.

“It’s not often you have a celebrity do that,” Krawkow said of Kennedy’s work to find clients who claim vaccine injuries. “But there’s nothing inherently wrong with recruiting people for referral fees.”

Reuters was first to report Kennedy’s extensive role in the Gardasil vaccine lawsuit.

Because Kennedy’s financial arrangement was allowed by ethics officials, it’s not clear whether the issue will be a sticking point for Republicans eager to align with Trump. According to the agreement released last week, Kennedy can keep the fees from Wisner Baum so long as the independent ethics office at the Health and Human Services Department determines the case does “not involve the United States as a party and in which the United States does not have a direct and substantial interest.”

Kennedy also has insisted in private meetings with senators that he is not “anti-vaccine,” but only wants more study, according to one person familiar with the discussions.

The messaging aligns with what Kennedy has said publicly. Kennedy often notes he was vaccinated as a child and opted to vaccinate his own children decades ago. His work as chair and chief litigator of the Children’s Heath Defense, which opposes the recommended schedule of vaccines for children, did not begin until around 2015.

“What I’ve said is I’m pro-science and pro-safety,” he told a local New Hampshire television station in 2023.

Still, public health experts and many senators — several of them old enough to remember serious outbreaks of measles and polio in the 1950s — have expressed serious concerns about his role in eroding confidence in vaccines even if he says he won’t outright block access to them.

“We potentially face a massive health hazard, maybe especially for our children,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, the top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Sanders, a Vermont Democrat who had been seen as someone who might be able to find common ground with Kennedy on environmental and food policy, said the concern with the incoming administration was that “we may revert back to those terrible days when so many children died” before age 3.

As head of the Health and Human Services Department, Kennedy would be responsible for the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the selling and marketing of vaccines, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which collects data on vaccines to issue public health recommendations that are closely followed by doctors.

If confirmed, he could insist upon appointing vaccine skeptics to the independent group that reviews FDA data on vaccines.

Kennedy also could alter how information is used from CDC’s public reporting system known as “VAERS” that allows anyone to flag possible adverse reactions from vaccines. The reports are unverified but used to look for potential patterns that can be investigated.

Health officials say symptoms reported in VAERS are often found to be unrelated from a person’s immunization history.

Dorit Reiss, a professor at UC Law San Francisco and expert in legal issues on vaccinations, said handing over that process to someone with Kennedy’s track record would be unprecedented.

“Kennedy has been a committed anti-vaccine activist for a long time. I have seen no indication that his views have changed,” Reiss said.

ABC’s Sony Salzman and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.

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