March 31, 2025: Donald Trump presidency news

Our live coverage of Donald Trump’s presidency has ended for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.

Anthony D'Esposito attends the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024.

President Donald Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, who lost reelection last year amid reports of potential ethics violations, to serve as inspector general at the Department of Labor.

As CNN reported in October, D’Esposito’s campaign raised ethics questions after spending tens of thousands of donor dollars at steakhouses and bars, on Ubers and unaccountable payments to a close aide and friend, according to a review of federal filings.

A spokesperson for D’Esposito said at the time that “the expenditure of funds are associated with raising funds and running political campaigns.”

D’Esposito also made headlines, after giving part-time jobs to his lover and fiancee’s daughter at his office in Long Island. He denied acting unethically.

“My personal life has never interfered with my ability to deliver results for New York’s 4th district, and I have upheld the highest ethical standards of personal conduct,” the congressman said in a statement to CNN at the time.

D’Esposito lost his seat in the House to Democrat Laura Gillen in November.

Trump fired more than a dozen inspectors general across federal agencies shortly after he was inaugurated in January.

He also gutted his administration of independent government watchdogs he saw as disloyal during his first term.

An IG conducts investigations and audits into any potential malfeasance, fraud, waste or abuse by a government agency or its personnel, and issues reports and recommendations on its findings. An inspector general’s office is intended to operate independently.

Rep. Don Bacon speaks with reporters following a closed-door House Republican caucus meeting in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2024.

GOP Rep. Don Bacon, who represents a swing Nebraska district in the House, said President Donald Trump’s lack of focus on the key issues he campaigned on will make it harder for Republicans to win in the midterm elections in 2026.

In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Bacon also sharply disagreed with Trump’s contention that the Signal chat controversy was a “hoax” and argued that the president’s trade war is already hurting some of his constituents.

Ahead of key elections tomorrow, Bacon also suggested the voter unrest could hurt the GOP, saying there is “a lot of consternation” over the recent firings and rehirings at federal agencies.

If Trump doesn’t shift the focus back to his campaign promises on immigration, the economy, and crime, Bacon said it will make for “a tougher midterm.”

Attorneys representing the Venezuelan nationals challenging President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport them are pushing back strongly on his administration’s attempt to invoke the state secrets privilege to withhold information from US District Judge James Boasberg that he’s seeking to decide whether the government flouted his judicial orders.

In a filing this evening, the lawyers told the judge that he should reject the government’s state secrets claim, arguing that the court already possesses the information needed to conclude that the orders were violated and that upholding the privilege invocation would set a bad precedent in the nation’s courts.

The lawyers for the Venezuelan nationals told the judge they “are unaware of any case in which the state secrets privilege has been invoked to withhold evidence from a court seeking to enforce its own orders.”

“If the government’s reasoning here were accepted more broadly, it could thwart judicial investigation of contempt whenever the government asserts a nexus to ‘foreign affairs’ or ‘national security’ — allowing the executive to defy court orders with impunity,” they wrote.

US President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday.

GOP senators largely dismissed President Donald Trump’s talk of a third term in the White House but some didn’t rule it out.

Pressed on whether he thinks Trump could actually serve a third term, Tuberville acknowledged that “a change of the Constitution would be a hard pull. I don’t think that’s going to happen,” before again warning against counting out Trump.

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, another Trump ally, rejected talk of a third term.

“We have a constitutional amendment to prevent that,” he said.

President Donald Trump on Friday commuted the sentence of Jason Galanis, who was sentenced to 189 months in prison after pleading guilty to multiple securities fraud schemes, including a scheme to defraud a Native American tribe.

Galanis described himself as a “business partner” of Hunter Biden during 2014 to 2015 in written testimony to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability during House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden in 2024. His sentence was unrelated to Hunter Biden.

At the invitation of Republicans, Galanis testified to the committee last year via video-link from the federal prison in Alabama where he was serving a 16-year sentence.

He described, among other things, a phone call where Hunter Biden dialed his father into the conversation to “say hello” to his foreign business partners. Republicans claimed this showed that Joe Biden was intimately involved with his son’s business dealings – which both Bidens denied.

Congressional Democrats lambasted their GOP colleagues for relying on a convicted felon like Galanis to bolster their impeachment push against Joe Biden, which ultimately sputtered out.

“I believe I am putting myself at grave risk” by testifying, Galanis told the House committee at the time.

Trump signed the pardon behind closed doors on Friday, and the executive grant of clemency was posted on the Justice Department’s website today. It is the latest instance of Trump using his clemency power to reward political allies. Through Trump’s action, Galanis will also not have to pay any further fines, restitution or probation.

Florida Republicans acknowledged today that Democrats in their state are energized ahead of special elections tomorrow, including one race where the Democratic candidate is vastly outraising the Republican.

But they remain confident that Republicans will hold on to both up-for-grabs seats.

Rep. Byron Donalds, who recently entered the state’s gubernatorial race, told CNN’s Manu Raju that he thinks Florida Democrats “obviously” are motivated “because they just got beat down so badly last November,” but expressed confidence that Republican voters are “starting to turn out.”

The special elections will fill the two House seats vacated by national security adviser Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz, Trump’s initial choice to be attorney general before controversy sank the selection.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart told Raju there’s “no doubt that the Democrats are energized,” explaining, “the Trump derangement syndrome is real.”

“What you’re seeing in elections, the Republicans are pretty content with what they’re seeing. Democrats are up in arms. But that can still be made up if you have a candidate that’s working, and I feel pretty confident that’s what’s going to happen tomorrow,” he said.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez said all that mattered is that the GOP candidates win. “It doesn’t matter the margin, we just need the Republican seats.”

On the eve of the election, liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford slammed her conservative opponent Brad Schimel and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has poured millions into the race.

“We have two candidates in this race and only one of the candidates wants to be a fair and impartial justice on the Supreme Court, wants to interpret our laws and our constitution to protect the rights of every Wisconsinite. The other candidate is a partisan politician who wants to politicize our court and is willing to sell our court out to the highest bidder — the richest man in the world,” Crawford said.

Crawford has put Musk’s involvement at the center of her campaign strategy, hoping it will mobilize voters frustrated with his Department of Government Efficiency efforts and big spending in the race.

“I never could’ve dreamed as a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls that I’d be fighting the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin,” she said.

In a gaggle with reporters, Crawford criticized Musk’s $1 million giveaways.

“I think it’s wrong. I think it’s undemocratic. And you know, voters shouldn’t stand for it. I’m encouraging voters to think twice about the temptation to accept some of those financial offers,” she said.

On Sunday, the tech billionaire made the trek to Wisconsin to directly pitch voters and handed out two $1 million checks to attendees at a town hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Josh Weil, the Democratic nominee running to represent Florida’s 6th Congressional District, said that voters tomorrow have a chance to send a message to the country about how the first months of President Donald Trump’s second term are being felt by Americans.

The remarks came on the eve of a closely watched special election to replace national security adviser Michael Waltz, who represented the seat before he resigned to join the administration. While Trump won the district by 30 points in November, Republicans have grown increasingly nervous about the outcome. The concerns hit a crescendo in mid-March after Weil reported outraising his Trump-endorsed Republican opponent, outgoing state Sen. Randy Fine, by a 10-to-1 margin.

In the district, which spans six counties across central and east Florida, Republicans outnumber Democrats 2-1. National politics have loomed large over the contest, which is being fought between two candidates who don’t reside in the district.

Fine, meanwhile, held a tele-rally with US Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, a close Trump ally, and conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro. During the brief event, Fine acknowledged the Democratic energy permeating throughout the race.

Fine said if Republicans lose the seat, it could bring Trump’s agenda to a standstill.

“Tomorrow is America First versus socialism,” he said.

Sen. Susan Collins and Thom Tillis converse on their way to a vote at the US Capitol on July 26, 2022.

GOP Sen. Susan Collins slammed proposed tariffs on Canada, warning that they would be particularly harmful to Maine and dismissing the Trump administration’s argument that the levies would pressure Canada in the fight against fentanyl trafficking.

Collins also said that she intends to vote for a resolution aimed at blocking the tariffs against Canadian goods, though she noted that she wants to review it before she makes a final decision. The vote is expected tomorrow.

GOP Sen. Thom Tillis also said that he is considering backing the resolution, and Republican Sen. Rand Paul has signed on as a cosponsor.

“This may be one of those rare instances when I’m interested in what Rand’s interested in,” Tillis said.

“We need to fight battles with our foes first and then try to figure out any inequalities with our friends second,” he added.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order today establishing an “Investment Accelerator” office under the Commerce Department with the purpose of driving investments above $1 billion in the United States.

Here’s what the new office would do, according to the order:

The order also notes that the new office will be “responsible” for the CHIPs Program Office within the Commerce Department, “which shall focus on delivering the benefit of the bargain for taxpayers by negotiating much better deals than those of the previous administration.”

During his joint address to Congress, Trump called the CHIPs Act — the bipartisan bill aimed at boosting the domestic semiconductor industry and signed by President Joe Biden — a “horrible, horrible thing.”

CNN previously reported that the Trump administration is pulling certain federal CHIPs contracts based on words like “immigrant” and “diversity.”

Elon Musk visited the Central Intelligence Agency today, as planned, according to a source familiar with the meeting.

Officials declined to offer details on the meeting, but CNN had previously reported that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had told staff that Musk was visiting the intelligence agency to discuss “technology” and “advancing the mission.”

CNN has reached out to the CIA for comment.

Elon Musk leaves a meeting with House Republicans at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 5.

President Donald Trump said Monday that “at a certain point,” the Department of Government Efficiency will end, given Elon Musk is only available to him as a special government employee for 130 days.

“He’s got a big company to run, and so at some point, he’s going to be going back,” Trump said of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO. “I’d keep him as long as I can keep him. He’s a very talented guy, you know, I love very smart people, and he’s very smart, and he’s done a good job.”

“At some point, Elon’s gonna want to back to his company,” Trump added.

Asked if DOGE will continue in Musk’s absence, Trump said he believes his federal agency heads have “learned a lot” about how to do the work on their own and some will want to keep DOGE employees aboard.

“You know, at a certain point, I think it will end,” Trump said. “There’ll be a point at which the secretaries will be able to do this work and do it very, you know, as we say, with the scalpel, and that’s what we want.”

Republican senators expressed an uneasiness with President Donald Trump’s planned tariff announcement this week, acknowledging the pain that the policies will likely inflict on their states.

Sen. Ron Johnson said Trump has admitted that “tariffs will create pain for some businesses,” adding that his home state, Wisconsin, “will be particularly hard hit with all the manufacturing and agricultural interests.”

Asked if Trump should pull back, Johnson said he’ll “wait to see what he does on April 2.”

Trump has promoted an April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement in the Rose Garden, when a number of massive tariffs will be announced to fulfill the administration’s ambitious economic agenda. The plan has largely remained a mystery, however, as Trump and his administration have floated a number of conflicting proposals.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said he thinks “everybody’s concerned” about the potential impact, but he hopes Trump will communicate on Wednesday “what he’s doing and why he’s doing it, what direction we’re going to go.”

Tuberville acknowledged that there would be “slow pain” inflicted by rising prices due to reciprocal prices, but he thinks “there’s gonna be a lot of gain from it.”

A reporter asked President Donald Trump if he was comfortable with how the arrest of Tufts University Ph.D. student Rumeysa Ozturk was handled last week, to which Trump said he “hasn’t looked at it in any detail.”

Six plainclothes officers surrounded Ozturk as she walked alone on March 25 and arrested her, neighborhood surveillance video appears to show. She is being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

As many as 50 senior IT professionals at the Internal Revenue Service, including some of the agency’s top cybersecurity experts, were placed on administrative leave Friday as the Trump administration finalizes controversial plans to share taxpayer data with federal immigration authorities, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The dozens of IRS employees who were placed on leave Friday evening saw their access to the agency’s computer systems immediately cut off, according to the sources. Some of the employees tried to go into the office Monday morning but were rebuffed, one source said.

CNN reported last week that the IRS is close to reaching an unprecedented agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to share location information of suspected undocumented immigrants as the administration works to ramp up deportations. That has sparked a legal battle over the information that’s typically confidential.

The so-called “separation email” sent Friday, which was obtained by CNN, didn’t include an explanation. The email said their leave status was “effective immediately” and that “access to agency IT systems will be suspended, and you should not attempt to use them.”

Two sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN they believe the IT employees may have been targeted for pushing back on some of the sensitive taxpayer data that the Department of Government Efficiency is seeking as part of the deportation efforts. The source said some of DOGE’s requests have not been in line with the privacy and disclosure laws that impose strict rules for when IRS data can be shared.

The IRS did not comment for this story. DOGE did not respond to a request for comment.

US soldiers attend a Holy Mass for the four US soldiers who went missing at the Pabrade training ground, at the Cathedral Basilica in Vilnius, Lithuania on Sunday.

President Donald Trump confirmed that the bodies of three of the four US soldiers who were reported missing after their vehicle was submerged in a bog in Lithuania last week have been recovered.

“Three are no longer with us and one is unfortunately probably in the same category, but they haven’t declared that yet,” Trump said today from the Oval Office.

Search and recovery operations continue to find the fourth soldier, the Army said earlier today.

The soldiers and vehicle, an M88 Hercules, have been missing since the early morning of March 25 when they were conducting a maintenance training mission, recovering another US vehicle in a Lithuania training area.

The president said that it “would seem that the bank of a lake collapsed” under the weight of the truck the soldiers were in.

“It’s a massively heavy vehicle and if they slipped a little bit they… that’s probably what happened, and it flipped,” he said.

Trump said last Wednesday that he had not been briefed about the missing soldiers.

CNN’s Haley Britzky and Natasha Bertrand contributed reporting to this post.

President Donald Trump today floated names of people who “have asked about” becoming his new pick for US ambassador to the United Nations after he pulled GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination due to the narrow GOP majority in the House.

The president mentioned David Friedman, who was the US ambassador to Israel during the first Trump administration, and Ric Grenell, a longtime confidant already serving in multiple administration positions, including as Trump’s envoy for special missions and the interim executive director of the Kennedy Center.

“And many 30 other people,” Trump added. “We have a lot of people that are interested in going to the United Nations, as you can imagine.”

The president said he didn’t want to “take chances” on Stefanik’s open seat in northern New York. Currently, Republicans hold 218 seats to Democrats’ 213 in the House and there are four vacancies.

Trump said Stefanik will “take a big leadership position” in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson previously said that he will find a leadership role for the congresswoman, but it is not yet clear what that will be after the 10-year House veteran had forfeited her hard-fought leadership spot in order to join the administration.

CNN’s Sarah Ferris, Kevin Liptak and Betsy Klein contributed reporting to this report.

President Donald Trump said that he will likely visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in the near future.

“It could be next month, maybe a little bit later,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday. “We’re going to Qatar also, and also we’re going to possibly a couple of other countries. UAE is very important.”

“Probably stop at UAE and Qatar,” Trump added. “And Saudi Arabia, the three of them, and then we’ll go other places, also, but in the Middle East those seem to be the three.”

As CNN reported earlier, the White House is considering a potential Saudi Arabia trip for Trump, but an official plan is not set in stone.

“Last time I went to Saudi Arabia, I put it first on the list because they agreed to buy $450 billion worth of American goods, military and otherwise,” Trump said. “I agreed to do it again, but — and they’ve agreed to spend close to a trillion dollars of money in our American companies, which to me, means jobs.”

President Donald Trump said Monday that “that’s a big deal” when asked to comment on French far-right leader Marine Le Pen receiving a five-year ban from running for political office after being found guilty of embezzling European Union funds.

“That’s a big deal. That’s a very big deal. I know a lot about it and a lot of people thought she wasn’t going to be convicted of anything and I don’t know if it means conviction but she was banned for running for five years and she was the leading candidate,” Trump said.

The president went on: “That sounds like this country.”

The conviction of Le Pen, who was the frontrunner for the 2027 presidential election, has shattered her hopes of winning. Her lawyer has said she will file an appeal.