Trump reportedly wants to shrink size and focus of state department; climate agency braces for more cuts – live | Trump administration

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The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, saw few political consequences in supporting Donald Trump’s ouster of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff because he never had the support of the senators who wanted Gen Charles Brown to remain in the role, advisers close to the secretary said.

The ramifications of Trump’s decision to fire Brown and seven other senior officials at the Pentagon took on new urgency on Thursday after five former defense secretaries, outraged at Trump’s firings, urged Congress to hold hearings and extract justifications for their dismissals under oath.

But people close to the defense secretary said Hegseth felt that some senators who voted against his nomination, like Susan Collins who pushed for Brown to stay in his role, could be ignored because Hegseth never had their support in first place.

That calculus appears to have come into play when Hegseth met with Trump on 14 February to discuss the personnel moves, broadly agreeing that they should not have a joint chiefs chair or any other senior official who was associated with the Biden administration.

It could also be tested in the coming weeks as Congress weighs whether to entertain the letter and hold a series of hearings.

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Updated at 11.44 EST

Zelenskyy arrives at White House to meet with Trump

The stakes could not be higher for the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has arrived at the White House to meet with Donald Trump.

Can he persuade the US president to provide a backstop to guarantee any peace deal? Will the minerals deal happen?

My colleague Jakub Krupa will bring you all the latest on that here:

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Updated at 11.54 EST

‘USAid cuts make world less safe’: Guterres calls for US to reverse cuts to humanitarian aid

Going through with these cuts will make the world less healthy, less safe and less prosperous, Guterres says.

The reduction of America’s humanitarian role and influence will run counter to American influence globally, he says.

I can only hope that these decisions can be reversed based on more careful reviews, and the same applies to other countries that have recently announced reductions in humanitarian and development aid.

In the meantime, Guterres says, every UN agency stands ready to provide information and justification for its projects, adding that the UN will do everything it can to provide life-saving aid to those in need.

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Updated at 11.52 EST

From Gaza to Sudan, Afghanistan and Syria, Ukraine and beyond, US funding supports people living through wars, famines and disasters, providing essential healthcare, shelter, water, food and education, Guterres says.

The message is clear, he says.

America’s generosity and compassion have not only saved lives, built peace and improved the state of the world; they have contributed to the stability and prosperity that Americans depend on.

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Guterres starts by expressing deep concern over developments over the last 48 hours regarding “severe cuts in funding” by the US.

These cuts impact a wide range of critical programs, he says, from life-saving humanitarian aid to support to vulnerable communities recovering from war or natural disasters, from development to fights against terrorism and drug-trafficking.

The consequences will be especially devastating for vulnerable people around the world, he says.

In Afghanistan, more than 9 million people will out on health and protection services. In Syria, where 2.5 million people need assistance, where the absence of US funding leaves large populations even more vulnerable. In Ukraine, cash-based programming has been suspended in key regions. In South Sudan, funding has run out for programs supporting people who have fled the conflict, leaving border areas dangerously overcrowded.

Meanwhile, he says, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime will be forced to stop many counter-narcotics programs, including the one fighting the fentanyl crisis (a preoccupation of the Trump administration with regards to justifying its proposed sweeping tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico), and dramatically reduce activities against human trafficking.

And funding for many programs fighting HIV/AIDs, TB, malaria and cholera have stopped, Guterres says.

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Updated at 11.04 EST

The UN secretary-general António Guterres is making a statement on USAid cuts to reporters now. You can watch along here, I’ll bring you the main lines.

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Updated at 10.46 EST

Ex-US defense chiefs urge congressional hearings on Trump’s military firings

Five former US defense secretaries have demanded congressional hearings on Donald Trump’s firings of several military commanders, including the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, saying it was done for “purely partisan reasons” and weakens national security.

The five – including James Mattis, who served as defence secretary during Trump’s first presidency – wrote in a letter that they were “deeply alarmed” by the dismissals, which they said were “reckless” and unjustified by operational reason.

Trump fired Gen CQ Brown, the chair of the joint chiefs, last Friday night. The sacking was followed by an order from Pete Hegseth, the newly installed defence secretary, dismissing the head of the navy, Adm Lisa Franchetti, and Gen James Slife, the air force’s vice-chief of staff.

Calling on Congress to “exercise fully its constitutional oversight responsibilities”, the five defence secretaries argue that “the president offered no justification for his actions”.

These officers’ exemplary operational and combat experience, as well as the coming dismissals of the Judge Advocates General of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, make clear that none of this was about warfighting.

Mr Trump’s dismissals raise troubling questions about the administration’s desire to politicise the military and to remove legal constraints on the president’s power.

Read the full report here:

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Updated at 11.08 EST

Social Security Administration could cut up to 50% of its workforce – report

This report is from the Associated Press.

The Social Security Administration is preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000, according to a person familiar with the agency’s plans who is not authorized to speak publicly. The workforce reduction, according to a second person who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, could be as high as 50%.

It’s unclear how the layoffs will directly impact the benefits of the 72.5 million Social Security beneficiaries, which include retirees and children who receive retirement and disability benefits. However, advocates and Democratic lawmakers warn that layoffs will reduce the agency’s ability to serve recipients in a timely manner.

Some say cuts to the workforce are, in effect, a cut in benefits.

Later on Friday, the agency sent out a news release outlining plans for “significant workforce reductions,” employee reassignments from “non-mission critical positions to mission critical direct service positions,” and an offer of voluntary separation agreements. The agency said in its letter to workers that reassignments “may be involuntary and may require retraining for new workloads.”

A representative from the Social Security Administration did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

The people familiar with the agency’s plans say that SSA’s new acting commissioner Leland Dudek held a meeting this week with management and told them they had to produce a plan that eliminated half of the workforce at SSA headquarters in Washington and at least half of the workers in regional offices.

In addition, the termination of office leases for Social Security sites across the country are detailed on the so-called “department for government efficiency” website, which maintains a “Wall of Receipts,” which is a self-described “transparent account of Doge’s findings and actions.” The site states that leases for dozens of Social Security sites across Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, and other states have been or will be ended.

“The Social Security Administration is already chronically understaffed. Now, the Trump Administration wants to demolish it,” said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group for the popular public benefit program.

She said the reductions in force “will deny many Americans access to their hard-earned Social Security benefits. Field offices around the country will close. Wait times for the 1-800 number will soar.”

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Updated at 11.09 EST

Russia names new US ambassador in latest sign of thaw in relations

Russia has named career diplomat Alexander Darchiev as its new ambassador to the United States.

It is a sign of thawing relations between the two countries, as Russia had no ambassador to the US since last October amid growing tensions in the aftermath of its illegal invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian ministry of foreign affairs said that Darchiev would leave for Washington “in the near future.”

The two countries have been working on restoring diplomatic ties on the back of the US-Russia summit in Riyadh, and held a follow-up meeting on this specific issue in Istanbul just yesterday.

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This report is from Reuters.

Donald Trump’s effort to curtail automatic birthright citizenship nationwide as part of his hardline immigration crackdown suffered another legal setback on Friday when a second federal appeals court declined to lift one of the court orders blocking the president’s executive order.

The Richmond, Virginia-based fourth US circuit court of appeals rejected the Trump administration’s request for an order putting on hold a nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in Maryland who concluded the order was unconstitutional. The appeals court said:

For well over a century, the federal government has recognized the birthright citizenship of children born in this country to undocumented or non-permanent immigrants.

The government has not shown that it will be harmed in any meaningful way if it continues to comply, for the pendency of its appeal, with that settled interpretation of the law.

The court also said the public interest was served by leaving the injunction in place, saying it would be “hard to overstate the confusion and upheaval” that would result from implementing Trump’s order.

It was the second time an appellate court had taken up Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, whose fate may ultimately be decided by the US Supreme Court.

Another appeals court last week declined to lift a similar injunction issued by a judge in Seattle. Other judges in Massachusetts and New Hampshire have likewise enjoined the order, finding it violates the US constitution.

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Updated at 11.09 EST

Trump planning to sign executive order making English official US language – report

Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order that would for the first time make English the nation’s official language, the Wall Street Journal (paywall) reports citing White House officials.

In its almost 250-year history, the US has never had an official national language at the federal level. Owing to a long history of immigration from all around the world, more than 350 languages are spoken across the country.

The executive order would rescind a Clinton-era federal mandate that agencies and other recipients of federal funding are required to provide language assistance to non-English speakers, the officials told the WSJ. Agencies will still be able to provide documents and services in languages other than English, according to a White House summary of the order viewed by the paper. The summary of the order said the goal of making English the national language is to promote unity, establish efficiency in the government and provide a pathway to civic engagement.

Though the US doesn’t have an official language, applicants must pass a test demonstrating an ability to read, write and speak English to become naturalized citizens. According to the US Census Bureau, most Americans – more than 78% – speak only English at home. But millions of Americans primarily speak other languages, such as Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog and Arabic. Dozens of Native American languages are also spoken in the US.

JD Vance, the vice-president, introduced the English Language Unity Act when he served as a senator from Ohio. The proposed bill called for the federal government to conduct all official business in English and introduce a language-testing standard for a pathway to citizenship.

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Updated at 11.11 EST

An important measure of inflation in the United States has eased slightly, my colleague Graeme Wearden reports.

The PCE price index, which tracks the costs of a range of goods and services, slowed to a 2.5% rise in the year to January, down from 2.6% in December.

Core PCE, which excludes the price of food and energy, eased to 2.6% per year – down from 2.9% in the 12 months to December.

US JAN REAL CONSUMER SPENDING -0.5% VS DEC +0.5% (PREV +0.4%)

US JAN YEAR-OVER YEAR PCE PRICE INDEX +2.5% (CONSENSUS +2.5%) VS DEC +2.6% (PREV +2.6%); CORE +2.6% (CONSENSUS +2.6%) VS DEC +2.9% (PREV +2.8%)

US JAN PCE PRICE INDEX EX-FOOD/ENERGY/HOUSING +0.3% VS DEC +0.2%

US…

— PiQ (@PiQSuite) February 28, 2025

PCE is the preferred inflation measure of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, so this may reassure policymakers that inflationary pressures are easing….

For all things business, you can follow Graeme’s reporting over on the business live blog.

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With Kash Patel officially appointed as the new FBI director and Dan Bongino as his number two, experts are warning the fate of federal law enforcement investigations into the far right face a grim future.

Patel taking the reins of the FBI also coincides with a resurgence of the Base, an accelerationist neo-Nazi group with terrorism designations around the world, along with other emboldened extremists connected to the January 6 attacks on the Capitol.

But after peddling QAnon conspiracies and writing a children’s book portraying president Donald Trump as a king, Patel has already signalled he is not interested in pursuing insurrectionists or other extremists.

Instead, he has put Black Lives Matter, antifascist activists, the media and his own FBI agents daring to go against his agenda, on watch.

For his part, Bongino, a superstar among conservative podcasters, regularly feeds election denialism, January 6 screeds and bigotries about “illegals” to his millions of listeners. A former NYPD cop and Secret Service agent on both the presidential details of Barack Obama and George W Bush, Bongino often calls Democrats “communists” and his enemy.

“I think it makes it very unlikely that the far right will continue to be seen as the threat it actually is in terms of hate crimes and domestic terrorism,” said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, about the new FBI leadership. She added:

Patel’s past QAnon links and Bongino’s bigotry likely make taking this threat seriously, regardless of the fact, impossible for these two men.

Both of them, seen by some as Trump’s “henchmen”, have all but sworn public omerta to the president. Patel is even refusing to count out dispatching the bureau and its agents to target Trump’s political enemies. In one of his first acts as director, Patel relocated up to 1,500 agents from its central headquarters at the J Edgar Hoover building in Washington DC – the heart of what he calls the “deep state” and where several counterterrorism and national security investigators are working.

“All of this marks a huge departure from the first Trump administration, when the FBI for the first time declared white supremacy the country’s greatest domestic terrorist threat,” Beirich said, adding:

Facts about violence and its perpetrators probably won’t matter this time around.

Read more here:

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Updated at 11.11 EST

Trump wants to shrink size, reach and focus of state department – report

Donald Trump wants to radically shrink the state department – leaving it with fewer diplomats, a smaller number of embassies and a narrower remit that critics argue could hand China wins across the world, Politico reports.

The administration appears “determined to focus state on areas such as transactional government agreements, safeguarding US security and promoting foreign investment in America”. That would mean slashing bureaus promoting traditional soft power initiatives – such as those advancing democracy, protecting human rights and supporting scientific research.

It’s not clear yet how many embassies would be closed, but Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, is on board with cutting a significant number, a person familiar with the internal discussions told Politico.

The move is “going to dramatically shrink the ambit of American diplomacy, dramatically shrink the purpose and the practice of our diplomacy and return it, if not to the 19th century, at least” before the second world war, said Tom Shannon, a former senior state department official who served under Republican and Democratic presidents.

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Updated at 09.12 EST

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to arrive at the White House at around 11am ET in the Washington, with a joint press conference with Donald Trump to follow about two hours later, so 1pm ET.

But as my colleague Jakub Krupa helpfully reminds us, these timings can and usually do change as talks take more time than expected.

He adds: “Given the tensions between the two leaders, there will be more temptation than usual to read into any delays, too…”

I will be bringing you the key takeaways from Zelenskyy’s visit throughout the day, but you can follow all the developments on the Europe blog here:

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Updated at 09.13 EST

Noaa braced for more staffing cuts after hundreds fired on Thursday

The Trump administration has set its government-shrinking sights on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Assocation (Noaa), the US’s preeminent climate research agency, where around 800 employees have been tapped for termination, two sources close to the agency have told ABC7 NewYork.

More layoff are possible today, one of the sources said, potentially costing the agency more than a thousand employees by the end of the week.

Employees began receiving termination notices on Thursday, learning via email that their jobs would be cut off by the end of the day. The firings specifically affected probationary employees, a categorization that applies to new hires or those moved or promoted into new positions, and which makes up roughly 10% of the agency’s workforce.

Noaa conducts climate and weather modeling and forecasts for the country, as its National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center provides information that helps communities plan for natural disasters and climate change-driven events. These cuts come days before a potential severe weather outbreak in the south-eastern US and just a few months ahead of the next Atlantic hurricane season.

It is not only laid-off employees who will be harmed by the cuts, one worker said yesterday. Ordinary Americans who rely on Noaa’s extreme weather forecasts, climate data and sustainably monitored fisheries will also suffer. They said:

Words can’t describe the impact this will have, both on us at Noaa and on the country. It’s just wrong all around.

Andrew Rosenberg, former deputy director of Noaa’s National Marine Fisheries Service, said Thursday was a “sad day”.

There is no plan or thought into how to continue to deliver science or service on weather, severe storms and events, conservation and management of our coasts and ocean life and much more.

Let’s not pretend this is about efficiency, quality of work or cost savings because none of those false justifications are remotely true.

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Updated at 09.02 EST

Olivia Bowden

Tucked away in a former garage space in Toronto’s west end, Gram’s Pizza, is usually packed with diners hankering for anything from a classic pepperoni to vodka and hot hawaiian.

Lately, however, owner and chef Graham Palmateer has made some changes to how he makes his pizzas.

After Donald Trump threatened to slap a 25% tariff on Canadian goods – and even to annex the whole country – Palmateer decided to banish US ingredients from his restaurant.

“I just decided I was done with the US. I wanted to move away from American companies,” he said. “Canadians know Americans pretty well, and we don’t always agree with the choices that they make. A lot of us are disappointed, to put it mildly.”

Making the switch has not been the easiest task: the two countries’ economies have been tightly bound through a longstanding free trade agreement since the late 1980s.

But years of cross-border trade and investment has blurred the lines on country of origin: in the car manufacturing industry, for example, a vehicle passes the border an average of seven times during the manufacturing process.

Read the full report here:

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Updated at 08.07 EST