Trump’s border czar says ‘I don’t care what judges think’ as deportations may have violated court order: Live updates
D.C. court to hear questions Trump administration intentionally defied court order over Venezuelan deportation flights
The Trump administration has deported hundreds of people from the U.S. after invoking a wartime law to speed up the deportations of individuals connected to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, in defiance of a court order.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the administration’s ability to use the law, the Alien Enemies Act 1798, and ordered any planes flying migrants out of the country to turn around.
Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News: “We’re not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the left thinks. We’re coming.”
A further court hearing is set for 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump declared that presidential pardons issued by his predecessor, Joe Biden, are “void, vacant, and of no further force or effect” because the Democrat allegedly signed off on them using an autopen rather than his real signature.
The president claimed without evidence that Biden was not even aware of the pardons. Trump further threatened members of the House select committee that probed the events of January 6, 2021, warning they can expect to be investigated.
Senator Adam Schiff responded on X: “The members of the Jan 6 Committee are all proud of our work. Your threats will not intimidate us. Or silence us.”
Canadian PM Carney makes first foreign trip to ‘reliable allies’ in Europe, not Washington
Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney emphasized the importance of strengthening ties with “reliable allies” in Europe during his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, marking his first overseas visit amid tensions with the U.S.
Carney's decision to visit Paris instead of Washington, as is customary for Canadian leaders, follows President Donald Trump's escalation of trade tensions with both Canada and Europe, along with his threats of annexing Canada.
“[It] is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with reliable allies like France,” said Carney, ahead of a working lunch with Macron at the Elysee Palace, describing Canada as “the most European of non-European countries.”
Carney visits London later today.
In a veiled reference to Trump, Macron noted that Canada exemplifies a country that protects its national interests while also cooperating on the global stage.
“I think we both believe that fair trade that respects international rules is good for everyone's prosperity, and is certainly more effective than tariffs,” Macron said.
As the two men were leaving, a Canadian reporter in the room asked whether they wanted to tell Trump to “back off,” but neither Carney nor Macron took questions from the media.
With reporting from Reuters
Watch: NEC director says 'uncertainty' between now and implementation of reciprocal tariffs
Fox News presses car salesman senator on Trump’s White House auto show
A Fox correspondent grilled Ohio’s newest Republican senator on Sunday over whether Trump’s White House Tesla photo opp was an appropriate use of the presidency.
Bernie Moreno, a car dealership mogul who defeated former Senator Sherrod Brown for the latter’s seat in the 2024 election, was asked by Fox senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich on Fox News Sunday over the ethics of the president turning the White House lawn into an auto showroom promoting Tesla, which is owned by his special adviser Elon Musk.
Moreno sidestepped the question of Musk’s obvious conflict of interest and told Heinrich he thought it was good for the president to be celebrating an American brand at a time when the Trump administration is threatening a full-scale trade war with a number of US allies, including Canada.
John Bowden reports.
Fox News presses car saleman senator about Trump’s White House auto show
Conor McGregor visits White House
Irish UFC fighter Conor McGregor is at the White House today and will meet with President Donald Trump, according to press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Speaking in the briefing room on St.Patrick’s Day, McGregor said that “Ireland is at the cusp of potentially losing its Irish-ness,” and he’s here today to highlight that.
McGregor was also at Trump’s inauguration.
ACLU demands Trump administration explain decision to ignore court order on deportations
In a new filing overnight, the plaintiffs insist that the administration explain, in sworn statements, why it violated a court order blocking the deportation of two planes ferrying alleged Venezuelan gang members to jail in El Salvador.
They go on to list a timeline of Saturday’s chain of events, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio retweeting El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s crying emoji tweet, mocking the order as “too late”.
Here’s White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s indignant response:
Project 2025 author says Trump’s moves are beyond ‘wildest dreams’
Eight months after then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump publicly distanced himself from Project 2025, the conservative blueprint appears to have had a huge influence over his early decision-making in the White House.
So much so, in fact, that one of the authors of the 900-page manifesto now says that the reality is “beyond his wildest dreams.”
Kelly Rissman reports.
Project 2025 author says Trump’s adoption of his ideas are beyond ‘wildest dreams’
Recap: Trump says Biden’s pardons are now ‘void and vacant’ after autopen controversy
If you missed this one earlier, the president has claimed that presidential pardons are illegitimate because they were allegedly signed with an autopen and he is therefore entitled to investigate those the pardons were intended to protect, notably members of the House select committee on January 6.
Here’s Trump saying as much on Air Force One, prior to posting about it on social media:
Trump says Biden’s pardons are now ‘void and vacant’ after autopen controversy
Inside MAGA’s obsession with the Jeffrey Epstein files
As U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi finds herself in the middle of a storm over the Epstein files, Rhian Lubin looks at why the movement is so focused on the documents.
Inside the MAGA’s obsession with the Jeffery Epstein files
Trump officials ordered to court to explain deportation of Ivy League doctor to Lebanon
A judge has ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to court on Monday morning to explain why Ivy League doctor Rasha Alawieh was deported to Lebanon on Friday, defying a previous court order.
Alawieh was detained at Boston’s Logan Airport on Thursday after returning from a trip visiting family in Lebanon.
U.S. District Judge Leo T Sorokin ordered that Alawieh, a Lebanese citizen, not be deported without giving the court 48 hours’ notice but, despite the order, the medic arrived back in Lebanonon Sunday morning, The Providence Journal reports.
Alawieh was reportedly on a valid H-1B visa she acquired from the American consulate in Lebanon, according to Thomas S Brown, a lawyer who works on immigration and visa applications and cases for medics attached to Brown Medicine.
The doctor has studied and worked in the U.S. for six years.
She has been working at Rhode Island Hospital for the last year caring for kidney transplant recipients, the transplant division’s medical director Dr George Bayliss said.
Rhian Lubin has more.
Trump officials ordered to court to explain deportation of doctor Rasha Alawieh
Marco Rubio doubles down on Trump’s visa cancellations
Trump’s secretary of state yesterday defended the administration’s push to target and cancel the visas of individual students living in America for participation in protests against the government of Israel.
Rubio deflected questions from CBS’s Margaret Brennan about Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and legal U.S. permanent resident who was arrested and immediately targeted for deportation last weekend after the Trump administration canceled his visa and arrested him.
Khalil was a leader in the student protests that developed around campus but was also outspoken against antisemitism.
His arrest has outraged Democrats and civil rights advocates because Khalil is not charged with a crime and did not enter the U.S. illegally. His removal has been temporarily blocked by a judge.
Rubio would not say, when pressed by Brennan, whether the government would attempt to accuse Khalil with a crime.
Instead, he offered a defense of the effort that conceded that visa holders did not have a right to free speech at all.
John Bowden has more.
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