Donald Trump highlights: EU offers ‘open invitation’ to new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio

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Donald Trump news LIVE updates: The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has paused all ongoing environmental litigation and reassigned four career Justice Department attorneys specializing in environmental issues, according to three sources familiar with the matter, as reported by Reuters on Friday.

The four officials, who are career employees rather than political appointees, were moved from their roles overseeing the natural resources, environmental enforcement, appellate, and environmental crimes sections. This is part of a series of similar actions as the new Republican administration restructures the federal government’s 2.2 million-strong workforce.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump pledged to back anti-abortion protesters during his second term as tens of thousands gathered in Washington for the annual March for Life on Friday.

In a pre-recorded video message, Trump stated, “We will again stand proudly for families and for life.”

For decades, protesters travelled to Washington to push for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, which protected abortion rights. With the Roe decision overturned in 2022, the protesters now find themselves in a stronger position, as they seek to capitalize on the shift with Trump returning to the White House and Republicans in control of Congress.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he has revoked security protection for Anthony Fauci, his former Covid advisor, who has faced death threats due to his pandemic response, AFP reported.

Speaking to reporters in North Carolina while inspecting flood damage, Trump said, "You can't have a security detail for the rest of your life because you worked for government."

Earlier this week, Trump also withdrew Secret Service protection from former national security advisor John Bolton.

According to The New York Times, Trump has similarly revoked government security for former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and a key Pompeo aide, Brian Hook.

Donald Trump arrived in hurricane-hit North Carolina on Friday on his first official trip of his second term. "FEMA has really let us down. Let the country down. I don't know if that's Biden's fault or whose fault it is, but we're going to take over an we're going to do a good job," he told the media after landing at North Carolina.

He is also scheduled to visit Los Angeles that is battling with uncontrollable wildfires.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi by phone on Friday, China's foreign ministry said, the first call between the two top diplomats since President Donald Trump's administration took office on Monday, reported news agency Reuters.

The call is the first publicly disclosed contact between an official in the second Trump administration and a Chinese counterpart.

According to a Chinese foreign ministry readout of the call, the two discussed US-China relations and Taiwan.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: A federal judge has barred Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the far-right Oath Keepers group, and some other Jan. 6 defendants from entering Washington, D.C., as well as the U.S. Capitol, as a condition of their release from prison.

"You must not knowingly enter the District of Columbia without first obtaining the permission from the Court," read the order signed by Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: "He is not only a smart person, but a pragmatic person. I have a hard time imagining there will be decisions taken that are detrimental to the American economy,” Putin told state media.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: “We have common topics to discuss with the US administration such as strategic stability, oil,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said to state media.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: Mexico President Claudia Sheinbuam has told reporters she has appointed a team of lawyers in place to analyse the ‘impact’ of US President Donald Trump's declaration that Mexican drug cartels are ‘terrorist groups.’

Sheinbuam added that the Trump decree is not ‘helpful,’ and that collaboration between both governments would be 'better.'

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: The White House on Friday said that deportation of illegal immigrants from the United States has begun as it shared photos of people boarding a military aircraft.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a post on X, said that President Donald Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world. Read more

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas has invited Marco Rubio, the new US Secretary of State, a meeting with the bloc in Brussels.

"In my letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, I offered an open invitation for his participation in one of our meetings at his earliest convenience," Kallas wrote to EU foreign ministers.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: UK's business and trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has told the BBC that the United States did not have a trade deficit with the UK on manufactured goods, which would make tariffs unnecessary.

"We've obviously got a services-based economy. The US does not have that deficit with us so if that's the logic of that position, I think we've got an argument to engage with," said Reynolds.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: The Afghan USRAP Refugees advocacy group has urged Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif to ‘ease’ a visa regime on ‘humanitarian grounds’ after President Donald Trump paused the US refugee programmes.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: President Donald Trump’s blitz of executive actions align with many of the ideas promoted in a conservative policy blueprint he once distanced himself from.

A Bloomberg Government analysis found that dozens of executive actions rolled out by the new administration this week mirror recommendations in the sweeping plan. In all, more than 30 out of Trump’s 47 initial executive actions as of Thursday afternoon match or partially align with ideas promoted in Project 2025, the analysis found.

(Bloomberg)

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: “For Indian nationals, whether in the United States or elsewhere, if they are overstaying or residing in a country without proper documentation, we will bring them back, provided the necessary documents to verify their nationality are shared with us,” said Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson for the ministry of external affairs (MEA). Read more

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: "All states are entitled to exercise their jurisdiction along their international borders, (but) they need to do so in line with their human rights obligations. The right to seek asylum is a universally recognised human right," UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: Earlier, US President Donald Trump said, “My message to every business in the world is very simple. Come make your product in America, and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth. But if you don't make your product in America, you will have to pay a tariff.”

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskvo has said ‘the ball is in Washington’s court,' after US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wanted to 'work towards cutting nuclear arms.'

“President Vladimir Putin has made clear he wants to restart nuclear arms cuts talks as soon as possible,” Peskov said.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: The World Health Organization will cut costs and review which health programmes to prioritise after the U.S. announced its exit, its chief told staff in an internal memo seen by Reuters.

"This announcement has made our financial situation more acute...," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a memo to staff dated Jan. 23. It said that the agency planned to significantly reduce travel expenditure and halt recruitment as part of a series of cost-saving measures.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told NBC News he is “very grateful to President Trump” for signing an executive order today to declassify documents related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his late uncle, and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, his father.

“I think it’s a great move, because they need to have more transparency in our government, and he’s keeping his promise to have the government tell the truth to the American people about everything,” Kennedy said.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump’s decision to categorize the Houthi militant group in Yemen as a terrorist organization marks “the beginning of their end,”, according to the vice president of Yemen’s United Nations-recognized government.

Yemeni Vice President Aidarous al-Zubaidi said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The decision will further boost the US’s “momentum in the region” at a time when Iran “has become toothless,” Zubaidi said.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: Ahead of Donald Trump's visit to Los Angeles, with wildfires continuing to burn, the President had criticising the state's water policies.

In a memorandum titled “Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California”, Trump directed the agencies to allowed more water to be pumped for agriculture and cities against state environmental regulations.

“The recent deadly and historically destructive wildfires in southern California underscore why the state of California needs a reliable water supply and sound vegetation management practices in order to provide water desperately needed there, and why this plan must immediately be reimplemented,” the memo read.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: A Haitian man who was arrested as part of raids by ICE agents to deport illegal immigrants cursed Trump as well as Biden.

Donald Trump news LIVE updates: A lawsuit has been filed against Donald Trump's executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship by five pregnant women and several immigrant groups who have warned that the directive could render babies born to some asylum-seekers “stateless," reported NBC News.