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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
President Trump yesterday cast doubt on a core tenet of the NATO security alliance, saying that if other NATO members “don’t pay” for defense spending he is “not going to defend them.” Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing reports for POLITICO.
State Department officials have drawn up plans to close a dozen consulates overseas, lay off many local citizens who work for hundreds of U.S. posts, and are considering shutting down many more missions, U.S. officials have said. Edward Wong and Mark Mazzetti report for the New York Times.
In an abrupt U-turn, Trump yesterday announced he will delay the imposition of 25% tariffs on a significant portion of Mexican and Canadian goods until next month. Ari Hawkins, Doug Palmer, and Daniel Desrochers report for POLITICO.
The Trump administration is asking terminated aid program contractors to rate how far their projects’ work aligns with the U.S. national interests, according to a survey seen by the New York Times. Stephanie Nolen reports.
Some U.S. allies are considering scaling back the intelligence they share with the United States over the Trump administration’s growing rapprochement with Russia, sources say. Dan De Luce, Courtney Kube, Carol E. Lee, and Kevin Collier report for NBC News.
The Trump administration is finalizing a new ban on travel to the United States for citizens of certain countries that would be wider than the bans issued in Trump’s first term and potentially include Afghanistan, two officials said. Charlie Savage and Edward Wong report for the New York Times.
The U.N. International Organization for Migration slashed aid to hundreds of Rohingya refugees in Indonesia due to the massive funding cuts by the United States, its biggest donor, according to a letter dated February 28 seen by Reuters. Stanley Widianto reports.
Cuts to U.S. foreign aid are threatening to choke off information from Iranian organizations monitoring human rights and civil society groups, Iranian analysts and activists say. Susannah George reports for the Washington Post.
The United States and other countries repeatedly offered to resettle more than three dozen Uyghur men that Thailand deported back to China last week, the State Department said today. David Rising reports for AP News.
The capture of an ISIS-K affiliate accused of taking part in the killing of 13 U.S. service members in Afghanistan was not solely the work of the Trump administration, according to former Biden administration officials, as well as a current U.S. official. Ken Dilanian, Courtney Kube, Carol E. Lee, and Andrea Mitchell report for NBC News.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials are planning to meet next week in Saudi Arabia to discuss the path to ending the war in Ukraine, Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed. Luke Broadwater and Marc Santora report for the New York Times.
Russia has launched a fresh wave of strikes on Ukraine overnight, injuring at least 18 people and damaging energy infrastructure, according to local Ukrainian authorities. A Russian missile that hit a hotel in Ukraine late on Wednesday killed at least four people and injured more than 30 others, Zelenskyy said. Vitaliy Shevchenko reports for BBC News; Marc Santora reports for the New York Times.
Trump yesterday confirmed he is considering whether to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians in the United States who fled the conflict with Russia. According to an internal ICE email seen by Reuters, the move would potentially put Ukrainians on a fast-track for deportation. Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke report.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
In a recent meeting with Hamas negotiators, the United States has floated a deal involving the exchange of the last remaining U.S. citizen held hostage by Hamas and a number of other living captives in exchange for a two month extension to the Gaza ceasefire and a resumption of humanitarian aid to the enclave, sources say. Karen DeYoung reports for the Washington Post.
The Trump administration’s cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have frozen millions of dollars in contractual payments to aid groups operating in Gaza, leaving the agencies paying millions out of pocket to preserve the ceasefire, USAID officials say. Julia Frankel reports for AP News.
SYRIA
At least 70 people were killed and dozens wounded in overnight skirmishes between Syria’s new authorities and gunmen loyal to the former Assad regime in Latakia and Tartous provinces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Earlier on Thursday, Assad loyalists killed 16 security personnel in the deadliest attack yet on Syria’s new security forces. Christina Goldbaum reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
U.S. Marshals yesterday escorted DOGE staff and State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance Director and acting USAID Deputy Administrator, Pete Marocco, into the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) headquarters in a “traumatizing” scene, USDAF officials said, with agency workers leaving their personal belongings in the office to avoid confrontation with DOGE employees and law enforcement. Brianna Tucker reports for the Washington Post.
The State Department will use AI to cancel the visas of foreign students who appear to support Hamas or other designated terror groups on their social media accounts, according to senior State Department officials. Marc Caputo reports for Axios.
The CIA has begun firing probationary employees, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed. Julian E. Barnes and Mark Mazzetti report for the New York Times.
Agency heads and not Elon Musk are in charge of cutting down on the size of their agencies’ workforce, Trump told Cabinet members yesterday, but later added that if they do not carry out the reductions “then Elon will do the cutting.” Alex Gangitano reports for the Hill.
DOGE staffers are “outsiders who are unfamiliar with nuances of SSA programs” and operating in a way “never seen in government before,” the acting Social Security Administration Commissioner Leland Dudek told senior staff on Tuesday. In an email sent to the agency’s staff yesterday, the SSA also said that employees can no longer read news websites on work devices, with a spokesperson saying the restrictions were implemented to keep staffers focused. Lisa Rein, Jeff Stein and Hannah Natanson report for the Washington Post.
Trump yesterday signed an executive order suspending the security clearances of employees at Perkins Coie, a major U.S. law firm that did work for the Democratic Party during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. The order directs agency heads to “review all contracts with Perkins Coie or with entities that disclose doing business with Perkins Coie.” A Perkins Coie spokesperson said the firm intends to challenge the order. Brett Samuels reports for the Hill.
Trump yesterday signed an executive order authorizing the federal government to stockpile bitcoin cryptocurrency assets seized through law enforcement proceedings in a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. Jasper Goodman and Declan Harty report for POLITICO.
DOGE representatives have sought access to a highly sensitive database of nearly all U.S. workers’ earnings kept by the Health and Human Services Department to help track child support payments, according to sources, who added that DOGE’s attempts were rebuffed by a career civil servant, who questioned their authority. Jeff Stein and Dan Diamond report for the Washington Post.
The Trump administration has eased security requirements for some of the Boeing staff working on new Air Force One jets, in a bid to speed up the delivery of the delayed project. Brian Everstine reports for Aviation Week; Eric Lipton reports for the Washington Post.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The House yesterday voted to censure Rep. Al Green (D-TX) for disrupting President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday, with 10 Democrats joining all Republicans in approving the censure resolution. Kyle Stewart and Scott Wong report for NBC News.
Two active duty U.S. soldiers and one former soldier were arrested yesterday over allegedly passing classified information including weapons documents and hard drives to contacts in China as recently as December, according to court documents and FBI officials. Cate Cadell reports for the Washington Post.
A total of 85 immigration judges and court staff have accepted government payout offers to leave the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, a union official said yesterday. Eileen Sullivan reports for the New York Times.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) yesterday said he would force votes on a proposal to remove dozens of Democratic colleagues off their committees for chanting and singing on the House floor to disrupt the motion to censure Rep. Al Green. Andrew Solender reports for Axios.
Bradley Bondi, brother of Attorney General Pam Bondi, is running for president of the D.C. Bar, an association that might be asked to consider accusations that political appointees at the Justice Department violated professional or ethical norms. Meanwhile, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday asked the D.C. Bar’s disciplinary counsel to investigate the interim U.S. Attorney for D.C., Ed Martin, alleging he had abused his prosecutorial power by threatening perceived political opponents. Glenn Thrush and Adam Goldman report for the New York Times; Glenn Thrush reports for the New York Times.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Yariv Levin has initiated proceedings to dismiss the country’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, accusing her of using her office as a “political entity,” obstructing government decisions, selectively enforcing laws, and fueling societal divisions. Critics accused the move of reflecting the Israeli government’s broader campaign to weaken judicial oversight. Eugenia Yosef and Mohammed Tawfeeq report for CNN.
A South Korean court today ordered the release of the country’s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol from jail, ruling that prosecutors had violated procedural rules by holding Yoon in detention longer than legally allowed before indicting him last month. Choe Sang-Hun reports for the New York Times.
Sudan has submitted a lawsuit accusing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of violating the Genocide Convention by arming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the court said yesterday. The UAE said it would seek immediate dismissal of the case. Maha El Dahan, Nafisa Eltahir and Stephanie van den Berg report for Reuters.
Guyana yesterday asked ICJ to order Venezuela not to proceed with plans to hold elections in the disputed region of Esequibo, the Guyanese foreign ministry said. Kemol King reports for Reuters.
Switzerland has cancelled a conference on the application of the Geneva Conventions to the occupied Palestinian territories for want of participants, the Swiss Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed yesterday. Emma Farge reports for Reuters.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Trump administration is encouraging agencies to demand plaintiffs who challenge the government’s actions to post money at the start of a court case, according to a memo the White House circulated to agency leaders yesterday. Katelyn Polantz reports for CNN.
A federal judge yesterday reinstated Gwynne Wilcox, a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board, to her post, finding that Trump’s attempt to fire her was unlawful. On the same day, a separate federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ousting the United States African Development Foundation’s CEO and President, Ward Brehm until a fuller hearing next week. Chris Cameron and Rebecca Davis O’Brien report for the New York Times; Ali Bianco reports for POLITICO.
A federal judge yesterday extended an order preventing the Trump administration from freezing billions in Congress-approved federal funding, finding that the “executive put itself above Congress” and “fundamentally” undermined the “distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government.” Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
A district judge yesterday ruled that the Trump administration must pay tens of millions of dollars in outstanding foreign aid by the end of Monday. Annie Gowen and Justin Jouvenal report for the Washington Post.
Thousands of workers fired by the Trump administration yesterday filed class action appeals to a federal board, the group’s attorneys said. Brian Witte reports for AP News.
Several arts organizations yesterday sued the National Endowment for the Arts over its new requirement that grant applicants promise not to promote “gender ideology.” Michael Paulson reports for the New York Times.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
