Trump administration live updates: President ends ban on ‘segregated facilities’ in federal contracts
President admonished by John Roberts after calling for impeachment of district court judge who ruled against him on deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members
Donald Trump has overturned a 1965 executive order signed by Lyndon B Johnson requiring federal contractors — private businesses paid with taxpayer dollars — to enforce rules against segregation in their workplaces. This conflicts with federal and state anti-discrimination laws, including the Civil Rights Act.
Meanwhile, the president promised that his administration will not openly defy court orders, despite top aides saying they do not care about judges’ decisions, amid a slew of rulings across the country against deportations and federal firings.
Speaking to Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday, the president insisted his team would not flout court orders from judges who have ordered his administration to stop deporting people under the Alien Enemies Act 1798 or blocked other divisive policies arising from his executive orders.
Trump also griped that courts are ruling against him because of “very bad judges” who “shouldn’t be allowed” to make decisions that impinge on his powers.
Earlier, Trump was rebuked by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for calling for the impeachment of a judge.
The administration suffered several more legal setbacks this week, including Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s move to scrap the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) being found unconstitutional.
Kinzinger dares Trump to arrest him after president claims Biden pardons are ‘void’
History tells us Trump’s current stance on Russia won’t end the war. Here’s why
Trump administration says ‘many’ Venezuelans deported to El Salvador prison have no criminal record
Judge blocks Trump’s ‘unabashedly demeaning’ ban on transgender service members for now
Republicans are already getting in line behind Vance for 2028: ‘I think it’s inevitable’
The GOP is backing the vice president to succeed Trump as their next presidential candidate, despite the commander-in-chief recently stating it was “too early” to endorse Vance as his heir apparent.
The one-time “never Trump guy” turned MAGA stalwart was selected by Trump to be his running mate on the campaign trail in July 2024.
Eight months on, the president’s longtime aides and allies have begun throwing their support behind Vance for a possible run at the presidency in 2028.
James Liddell has more.
Republicans are getting in line behind Vance for 2028: ‘I think it’s inevitable’
U.S. and Russian teams to meet in Riyadh in coming days on Ukraine ceasefire
national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Wednesday that he spoke with his Russian counterpart about efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
“We agreed our technical teams would meet in Riyadh in the coming days to focus on implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire President Trump secured from Russia,” he wrote in a post on social media platform X.
There is no mention of the involvement of the Ukrainians in such a meeting.
Is the Mexican crackdown on fentanyl working?
Is the Mexican crackdown on fentanyl at the U.S. border — under pressure from Donald Trump — actually working?
According to figures from Customs and Border Patrol, it seems so...
Seizures of the drug are down 73 percent since September, to the lowest levels in three years.
Trump seeks emergency order to avoid questions on El Salvador deportation flights
The Trump administration is seeking an emergency order that would prevent them from having to answer Judge James Boasberg’s questions about the El Salvador flights.
The deadline to answer the questions is today.
Lawyers for the administration wrote in part: “What began as a dispute between litigants over the President’s authority to protect the national security and manage the foreign relations of the United States pursuant to both a longstanding Congressional authorization and the President’s core constitutional authorities has devolved into a picayune dispute over the micromanagement of immaterial factfinding.”
Trump-Putin meeting will likely happen, special envoy says
Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, says a meeting between the president and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will likely happen.
Witkoff made the remarks in an interview with Bloomberg TV this morning at the White House.
The two leaders spoke by phone yesterday for some 90 minutes in which the Russian president demanded that any cessation of his war on Ukraine would rely on an end to foreign military and intelligence help to the country.
Wikoff also said that Putin gave a direct order not to attack any Ukrainian energy infrastructure targets after his phone call with Trump but an attack had already commenced.
He believes Putin is acting in “good faith.”
Can Tucker Carlson talk Trump down from escalating war with Iran?
The former Fox News star who is deeply embedded within Trump’s inner circle, warned the president this week that a strike on Iran “would certainly result” in a war that would cost billions of dollars and lead to “thousands of American deaths” in the region.
“The cost of future acts of terrorism on American soil may be even higher. Those aren’t guesses,” the MAGA podcaster added on Monday evening.
“Those are the Pentagon’s own estimates. A bombing campaign against Iran will set off a war, and it will be America’s war. Don’t let the propagandists lie to you.”
The far-right commentator’s remarks came on the heels of Trump’s air strikes across Yemen this past weekend that killed dozens, which were followed by an explicit threat to the Iranian government of “dire consequences” if the Houthis engaged in any further retaliatory attacks.
Can Tucker talk Trump down from escalating war with Iran? He’s done it before.
Full story: Judge rejects Trump administration’s attempt to throw out lawsuit from arrested Palestinian Columbia student
A federal judge has denied the Trump administration's move to dismiss a case from Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student activist who was detained by immigration enforcement agents and jailed in Louisiana over his support for pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus.
Khalil is currently detained in a Louisiana facility, more than 1,300 miles from New York, and has been placed in deportation proceedings.
New York District Judge Jesse Furman is moving the case to New Jersey, where Khalil was detained at the time his lawyers filed for his release.
Alex Woodward reports.
Judge rejects Trump administration’s attempt to throw out Mahmoud Khalil’s lawsuit
How Americans really feel about DEI programs and political correctness
U.S. citizens are deeply divided when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and political correctness, according to a poll from NBC News.
The divisions have emerged along partisan and racial lines, with the poll coming as Trump continues his push to dismantle DEI programs.
In the poll, 49 percent of registered voters agreed that DEI programs should end as “they create divisions and inefficiencies in the workplace by putting too much emphasis on race and other social factors over merit, skills, and experience.”
Meanwhile, 48 percent said DEI programs should remain “because diverse perspectives reflect our country, create innovative ideas and solutions, encourage unity, and make our workplaces fair and inclusive.”
How Americans really feel about DEI programs and political correctness
Fox host complains that plunging stock market and recession fears are a ‘media creation’
Amid a multi-week Wall Street sell-off that has seen the major stock market indexes approach correction territory over economic uncertainty largely spurred by Trump’s chaotic trade war, Fox Business anchor Charles Payne grumbled that this was all the media’s fault.
With the Dow Jones index down hundreds of points on Tuesday afternoon, breaking a brief two-day comeback, Payne appeared on Fox’s America Reports to discuss investors’ continued apprehension and the White House’s attempts to tout the “success” of its economic policies.
“As we have said for years as market watchers, markets do not like uncertainty,” anchor Sandra Smith noted.
“Even if the decision is to go forward with an unpopular policy, or economic plan, the markets can accept that as long as they know what’s coming. It is that uncertainty that continues to weigh on markets.”
Payne, however, trumpeted the Trump administration’s long-term vision while blasting the mainstream press for being biased against the president and far too gloomy with its economic coverage.
“Yeah, but what we’re seeing in the last couple of weeks is a media creation,” he groused.
“The media has gone to war with President Trump to make tariffs the scariest thing in the world.”
Justin Baragona has more.
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Fox host gripes that plunging stock market and recession fears are a ‘media creation’
Mahmoud Khalil: Detained Columbia student's case moved out of Louisiana
Detained Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil’s case is being moved from Louisiana to New Jersey per a judge’s order.
Judge Jesse Furman also denied the Trump administration’s move to dismiss the case altogether.
He wrote in part:
These are serious allegations and arguments that, no doubt, warrant careful review by a court of law; the fundamental constitutional principle that all persons in the United States are entitled to due process of law demands no less. But before the Court may review Khalil’s allegations and arguments, it must confront a threshold question: whether it is the proper tribunal to even consider Khalil’s Petition.
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