February 3, 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.

The former assistant US attorney for the District of Columbia called his removal from President Donald Trump’s Justice Department and the firing of other prosecutors who worked on January 6, 2021, cases a “threat to national security.”

CNN previously reported that more than a dozen prosecutors in the US attorney’s office in Washington, DC, who worked on January 6 cases were fired by the Justice Department.

Trump previously vowed to seek retribution as a key pledge of his campaign against those who investigated the US Capitol riot.

Struebing said that while “on some level” he’s concerned for his safety, he and his colleagues fulfilled their oath to the Constitution. The firings, he said, hurt public safety.

On his first day in office, Trump issued a blanket pardon for convicted January 6 rioters.

Federal agencies have sent out the formal documentation that government employees may use to take a so-called buyout in the coming months.

The exit plan for eligible civil servants had been expected as part of Donald Trump’s stated interest in reducing the federal workforce.

Most employees at the Department of Commerce received information about the “deferred resignation program” — essentially an exit package — on Monday afternoon, according to a person familiar with employees receiving it.

The draft contract provided to them is in essence a contract that, if signed by the employees, would waive some of their rights, making it appear to be a legal way for federal government officials to leave their jobs voluntarily, the person said.

Department of Health and Human Services employees also began receiving the Deferred Resignation Agreement, according to a second source familiar with the matter and a copy of the memo reviewed by CNN.

Another third source said Department of Energy employees began receiving the documentation Monday and that there have been 60 Department of Energy employees placed on administrative leave related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

There have been questions, however, over whether the administration is able to offer such a downsizing plan to employees.

“By making it a contract, it does give more of a veneer of legality to it, than some scammy-looking email from DOGE,” the first source said.

The deadline to sign the contract is February 6, and the employees would stop working by March. The federal government says those employees would receive pay and benefits — without having to work–through September 30.

This post has been updated with information on the Department of Energy and Department of Health and Human Services.

CNN’s Makayla Humphrey contributed to this post.

Taiwan’s economic affairs ministry said it will assist Taiwanese companies that could be affected by potential US tariffs.

Taiwan is a key producer of cutting-edge semiconductor chips and electronics. Many of its companies have factories in countries — including Mexico, Canada and China — that could be hit by fresh tariffs. US President Donald Trump has indicated he would “pause” tariffs on Mexico and Canada after speaking with those countries’ leaders Monday.

In a statement issued on Monday before Trump’s latest trade update, the Taiwanese ministry said it had activated “corresponding measures” to help local companies that are looking to adjust their investment strategies, including setting up new factories in the United States.

Among the new measures is a hotline for affected companies, along with information for firms planning to relocate to the United States. This includes guidance on local laws in different states and assistance in finding business partners.

Additionally, a new investment and trade center will be set up in the US to help Taiwanese firms assess the investment environment in each US state and adapt to supply chain changes.

Last week, Taiwan’s Premier Cho Jung-tai said authorities would look at helping its domestic industry following President Trump’s threats to put new tariffs on imported semiconductor chips, of which Taiwan is a major global supplier

The US Department of the Treasury building seen on January 11, in Washington, DC.

Federal unions and others sued the Treasury Department on Monday evening over the access associates of Elon Musk have been granted, as reported by CNN and others, to the sensitive processing system the federal government uses to make government payments.

Last week, a confrontation between a top career employee at Treasury and associates of Musk over the Musk allies’ access to the bureau’s payment system led to the career employee’s departure, CNN reported. The Treasury’s system for effectuating the payments, a historically apolitical task, has been a flashpoint in the efforts by Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to make sweeping changes to the shape of the federal government. Musk’s comments about the system have raised concerns he’ll seek to use his access to unilaterally shut off government payments that he believes to be unlawful.

The new legal challenge, filed in DC federal court, comes on top of the lawsuits the administration is facing for attempting to implement a blanket, government-wide freeze on federal financial assistance.

The Treasury Department press office did not immediately respond to CNN’s inquiry about the new lawsuit.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, meets with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele at his residence at Lake Coatepeque in El Congo municipality, El Salvador, on Monday.

The US and El Salvador are finalizing a deal on migration, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said Monday during US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to the Central American country.

“It is a much larger agreement that has no precedent in the history of relations, not only between the United States and El Salvador, but I believe with Latin America,” Bukele said.

His remarks came after a reporter asked if both sides would reach a so-called “third safe country” deal, which would require migrants who pass through a certain country to apply for asylum there, rather than continuing on to the US.

“We are finalizing it,” Bukele said adding that Rubio would announce the deal later, which the Salvadoran leader said would be bigger than another migration deal signed in 2019. That deal allowed the US to send some asylum seekers back to El Salvador if they didn’t first claim asylum when passing through the country.

Tulsi Gabbard arrives to testify during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on January 30, in Washington, DC.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to vote Tuesday in a closed session on Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to be the director of national intelligence.

People close to Donald Trump and those helping to confirm his nominees are most concerned about Gabbard’s confirmation chances, specifically after the former Democratic representative from Hawaii refused to say whether she believed the actions of Edward Snowden were traitorous to the US.

Here’s the latest on where senators stand on Gabbard’s nomination:

And here’s a look at other updates on Trump’s Cabinet and beyond:

CNN’s Elise Hammond, Lauren Fox, Manu Raju, Haley Talbot, Morgan Rimmer, Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck, Jennifer Hansler, Alejandra Jaramillo and Zachary Cohen contributed reporting.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, after signing a series of executive orders and proclamations.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday pausing the imposition of tariffs on Mexican goods while recognizing Mexico’s efforts to address illegal migration and drugs.

Trump paused a planned 25% tariff, delaying its implementation until March 4, 2025, to allow further assessment of Mexico’s actions.

The pause provides time for US officials to evaluate whether Mexico’s steps are sufficient to resolve the crises at the US-Mexico border. If the situation worsens, the President could proceed with the tariffs.

Vice President JD Vance is expected to make his first international trip as vice president next week, heading to the AI Action Summit in Paris and the Munich Security Conference in Germany, according to a source familiar.

The AI Action Summit will take place at the Grand Palais on February 10 and 11. United States vice presidents have often appeared at the Munich Security Conference, this year held February 14-16.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the Munich Security Conference, including in February 2022, just on the cusp of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Vance, who opposes continued federal aid to Ukraine, previously argued in a New York Times op-ed that the US lacks “the capacity to manufacture the amount of weapons Ukraine needs us to supply to win the war.”

Vice President Mike Pence also appeared at the Munich conference in 2017 and 2019.

The Washington Post first reported Vance’s plans to travel to Munich and Paris.

Chris Wright arrives to testify before a US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on his nomination to be Secretary of Energy, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 15.

The Senate voted to confirm Chris Wright to serve as secretary of energy.

The vote was 59-38.

President Donald Trump made energy independence a key aspect of his agenda, and the GOP-led Congress is looking to pass major energy policy changes this year, aimed at increasing oil and natural gas production.

President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will participate in a joint news conference Tuesday during Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, a White House official tells CNN.

The official did not provide specific details on the format or timing of the news conference but said it would be in the afternoon.

Some background: Though Trump has fielded numerous questions from the news since taking office, this will mark the first formal press conference of his second term. Trump held 88 news conferences during his first term, according to data from the University of California at Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project. Former President Joe Biden held 37 news conferences during his term.

The news conference was first reported by CBS News.

The Canadian province of Ontario will pause its own retaliatory measures against the US after President Donald Trump agreed to halt tariffs on Canada for a month.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned that if the US decides to carry out its tariffs later, Ontario “won’t hesitate” to remove American products from shelves or ban Americans companies from provincial procurement.

Both British Columbia and Ontario had previously directed their liquor boards to remove American alcohol from shelves.

He urged both sides to remain united and focus on countering China instead.

“If we want to win, we need to fight together — not each other,” he said.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are calling on the Trump administration to turn over records related to the firing of senior FBI officials and Justice Department officials who worked on the criminal investigations into President Donald Trump as well as the potential termination of thousands of FBI agents who investigated the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.

A seal reading "Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation" is displayed on the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building in Washington, DC, on August 9, 2022.

Advocacy groups representing federal law enforcement officers are pleading with congressional leaders to prevent the Trump administration from firing career FBI employees.

In a joint letter Monday to leaders of the House and Senate and of committees overseeing the FBI, law enforcement organizations expressed their “urgent concerns” over recent dismissals of senior FBI leaders and the potential for thousands of agents to be fired.

The letter was from the FBI Agents Association, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, and Judge William Webster, who previously served as director of both the FBI and CIA.

The groups cited “recent actions taken by acting officials at the Department of Justice that threaten the careers of thousands of FBI Special Agents and risk disrupting the Bureau’s essential work,” according to the letter.

As CNN reported, the Justice Department provided thousands of FBI employees with questionnaires on Sunday, demanding they provide information about their specific role in January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot investigations, a move employees believe is meant to be a precursor to mass firings.

In their letter, the organizations said recent personnel actions, including the dismissal of the FBI’s senior leadership, were “wholly inconsistent” with comments from President Donald Trump, Justice Department leaders and Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, pledging to keep the bureau out of politics. In a recent congressional hearing, Patel testified that no bureau employee would be fired based on their case assignments.

A federal judge has extended the temporary block on the Trump administration’s ability to freeze federal grants and loans. It’s another legal setback to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget a week after it created mass chaos and confusion over plans to lock up trillions of dollars.

The temporary restraining order from US District Judge Loren AliKhan was issued just before a previous block she ordered against the aid freeze was set to expire at 5 p.m. ET.

“Each day that the pause continues to ripple across the country is an additional day that Americans are being denied access to programs that heal them, house them, and feed them,” AliKhan wrote.

For example, a charity organization in West Virginia that drives the ill and elderly to dialysis appointments, grocery stores and pharmacies, told the court it was in a funding crisis, unable to access its accounts over the weekend.

AliKhan’s order prohibits the Trump administration from blocking the release of funding for “open awards” that were previously granted by the federal government. The new block will remain in effect for at least 14 days.

The Washington, DC, judge and appointee of former President Joe Biden said in her order that a group of nonprofits that sued the administration over the funding issue “are likely to succeed” in their case against the government

Donald Trump is pausing the implementation of planned tariffs on imports from Canada for at least 30 days, the president said in a Truth Social post. Trump said the pause is to see “whether or not a final economic deal with Canada can be structured,” according to the post.

The announcement follows a call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday.

Trudeau posted on X that in exchange for the tariff pause, Canada will invest heavily in border security, create a “Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering,” appoint a “Fentanyl Czar,” and join the US in listing cartels as terrorist groups, Trudeau said.

“I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl, and we will be backing it with $200 million,” the Canadian leader added.

Trump said that he is “very pleased with this initial outcome” and also outlined the border commitments made by Canada.

“Canada has agreed to ensure we have a secure Northern Border, and to finally end the deadly scourge of drugs like Fentanyl that have been pouring into our Country, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, while destroying their families and communities all across our Country.” Trump wrote in his post.

Asked for additional commnet on Trump’s call with Trudeau, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “Canada is bending the knee, just like Mexico.”

This post has been updated with Trump’s post on social media and the White House press secretary’s comments.

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Trump announces 30-day pause on US tariffs on Canada

02:23 • Source: CNN

Trump announces 30-day pause on US tariffs on Canada

02:23

Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick stand behind President Donald Trump as he speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on February 3, in Washington, DC.

President Donald Trump said his call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went “very good” when asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in the East Room of the White House.

Trump was quick to answer “watch” when asked if he was still going to enact tariffs on Canada tonight.

Earlier on Monday, Trump said he had an initial phone call with Trudeau regarding the looming 25% tariffs on imports from Canada, which are still set to take effect at midnight.

“What I’d like to see Canada become our 51st state,” Trump also said earlier from the resolute desk from the Oval Office.

Correction: An earlier version of his post misquoted President Trump’s description of his call with Trudeau. He said it went “very good.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune defended President Donald Trump over his handling of USAID but he wouldn’t say if Trump has the authority to shutter it without congressional approval.

Elsewhere, Thune told reporters there are ongoing conversations occurring with members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and Finance committees ahead of tomorrow’s vote on whether to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the department of health and human services.

“It’s occurring with members on both the finance committee and the HELP committee, but mainly the finance committee because that’s where he’s going to be voted out,” Thune said.

Asked about if he was confident Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for national intelligence director, would advance out of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Thune did not answer and entered into his office.

Immigrant rights group filed a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump’s executive action sealing off the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, arguing the move is an unprecedented overreach of authority.

Moments after taking office last month, Trump effectively suspended US asylum law until what he’s called an “invasion at the southern border has ceased.” He also directed federal agencies to “repel, repatriate, or remove” migrants coming across the border.

The move cut off asylum to migrants arriving at the US southern border.

Monday’s lawsuit cites the invoking of 212f, which gives the president broad authority to implement immigration restrictions to restrict border crossings but argues the authority doesn’t empower the president to “summarily expel” noncitizens already in the United States.

“The Proclamation is as unlawful as it is unprecedented,” the filing states. Plaintiffs include RAICES, Las Americas, and the Florence Project.

The suit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, doesn’t seek a temporary restraining order.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio notified the leaders of key congressional committees on Monday that he had delegated the authority of acting administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to Pete Marocco.

Rubio sent a letter to the heads of congressional committees on foreign affairs and appropriations.

Marocco is a Trump appointee who served at USAID in the president’s first term. He has been accused of by aid groups and officials of intentionally dismantling the organization.

Marocco, who is also serving as the State Department’s head of foreign assistance, drafted the directive to freeze almost all foreign aid. One aid official said that Marocco “knows how the system works and is dismantling it at every turn.”

Rubio told the committee leaders that he has authorized Marocco “to begin the process of engaging in a review and potential reorganization of USAID’s activities to maximize efficiency and align operations with the national interest.”

“The Department of State and other pertinent entities will be consulting with Congress and the appropriate committees to reorganize and absorb certain bureaus, offices, and missions of USAID,” he wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by CNN.