Trump administration briefing: Trump changes tack on tariffs – another time – as US plans to shut consulates

Trump shelves Canada-Mexico tariffs – for a time

Donald Trump pulled aid from his exchange conflict with Canada and Mexico on Thursday, temporarily delaying tariffs on many items from the two countries another time. Two days after imposing sweeping tariffs on all imports from his country’s closest shopping and selling partners, the US president launched that duties on a wide differ of products may maybe well perchance be shelved till April.

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Elon Musk says he isn’t accountable for mass firings of federal employees

Elon Musk is telling Republican lawmakers in non-public conferences that he’s now not accountable for the mass firings of federal employees that are inflicting uproar all the top arrangement by arrangement of the country, whereas Donald Trump reportedly instructed his cupboard secretaries on Thursday that they are in some arrangement responsible of hiring and firings at their agencies – now not billionaire aide Musk.

The males perceived to be making parallel efforts to distance Musk from radical job slashing made over the final two months. This despite the tech entrepreneur boasting about cuts, recommending the US “delete total agencies” and taking questions about the wretchedness alongside the US president, then wielding a chainsaw at an tournament to symbolize his efforts – all amid pretty challenges and skepticism from consultants.

Trump talked about on Thursday he has instructed department secretaries to work with Doge but to “be very true” about which employees will protect or hunch, the converse of a “scalpel in procedure of a hatchet”.

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US plans to shut European consulates and decrease yelp department team

The US yelp department is making ready to shut down a resolution of consulates that are mainly in western Europe within the upcoming months and having a survey to diminish its team globally, more than one US officials talked about on Thursday.

The yelp department is additionally having a survey into doubtlessly merging a resolution of its professional bureaus at its headquarters in Washington that are working in areas such as human rights, refugees, world felony justice, girls folk’s issues and efforts to counter human trafficking, the officials talked about.

Reuters reported final month that US missions all the top arrangement by arrangement of the arena had been asked to survey into lowering US and within the community employed employees by now not now not as a lot as 10% as Donald Trump and his billionaire aide Elon Musk possess unleashed an unparalleled rate-cutting effort all the top arrangement by arrangement of the US federal team.

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‘Not a king’: Trump is instructed firing of labor chief is against the law

A federal court dominated that Trump’s abrupt firing of a broken-down senior reliable at the discontinue US labor watchdog was unlawful, and ordered that she be reinstated. Gwynne Wilcox was the first member of the Nationwide Labor Relatives Board to be removed by a US president since the board’s inception in 1935.

The framers of the US structure “made definite that no-one in our machine of authorities was intended to be king – the president integrated – and now not only in name most productive”, the think Beryl A Howell, wrote within the ruling.

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Musk and Texas governor possess time after worker fired over pronouns

The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, and, later, Elon Musk confirmed strengthen on Wednesday for the firing of a yelp employee who refused to eradicate his pronouns from his work email signature. Frank Zamora, 31, was let hunch from his job as a program supervisor at the Texas true estate rate.

Abbott nicely-known the switch on X. Musk then answered to Abbott’s post with two fire emojis.

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US attorney threatens high guidelines college over DEI

A Trump-appointed US attorney has instructed Georgetown – one of many country’s high guidelines schools – to right this moment discontinue differ, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, warning that his justice department procedure of job will now not rent college students or assorted affiliates connected to a college that utilizes DEI.

In an unparalleled letter sent to the dean, the recently appointed duration in-between US attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, talked about he was investigating the academic institution after it had come to his “consideration reliably” that they were instructing and selling DEI.

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DoJ investigating California universities over alleged antisemitism

The US Department of Justice is investigating the College of California machine for doable antisemitic discrimination after demonstrations against Israel’s conflict in Gaza took procedure on campuses final year.

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Democrats take part censure of Al Inexperienced

The Dwelling voted on Thursday to censure Al Inexperienced for disrupting Trump’s joint session take care of, with a handful of Democrats balloting to condemn the Democratic Texas representative along with Republicans.

The Dwelling voted 224-198, with 10 Democrats balloting in determine on of the censure, which accuses Inexperienced of a “breach of fair exact habits”.

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Canadians allege against US toxic demolish

The proposed expansion of a Quebec landfill that accepts unsafe demolish from the US has ignited a turf conflict between the Quebec provincial authorities and native leaders, who verbalize they oppose striking US trash exact into a native peat lavatory. Local leaders are protesting against the switch – announcing the province is capitulating to a US company within the midst of a tariff conflict between Canada and the US.

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Cramped US agency stands as a lot as Musk

Participants of Elon Musk’s so-called “department of authorities effectivity” (Doge) unit were barred from getting into a puny, impartial federal agency selling economic pattern in Africa on Wednesday after a worrying standoff with federal employees they had been sent to fire.

Workers at the US African Pattern Foundation (USADF), which Donald Trump has ordered to be closed, refused to enable Doge operatives to enter after they arrived at its Washington headquarters.

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What else took procedure this day:

• In an escalation of his power marketing campaign, Trump talked about the US will now not fight for Nato allies who don’t exhaust ample on their very gather protection. “I deem it’s abnormal sense,” the president talked about. “They don’t pay, I’m now not going to shield them.”

• The yelp department is hunting for evidence that foreign college students who categorical strengthen for Palestinians under Israeli occupation whereas studying within the US are “legit-Hamas”, and can possess their visas revoked, fixed with an AI overview of their social media accounts, Axios experiences.

• Trump instructed newshounds within the Oval Administrative center that he’ll “potentially” extend TikTok’s reduce-off date to gain a US buyer or face a ban.