The Latest: Trump addresses Congress following his tumultuous first weeks in office
President Donald Trump is addressing Congress and the American people, laying out his plans for the months ahead.
Trump’s dizzying first weeks in office have featured a dismantling of the federal government, tensions with America’s allies and a trade war compounding economic uncertainty.
Here's the latest:
Trump says the U.S. government is extraditing a suspect in the deadly Abbey Gate bombing in the final days of the Afghanistan withdrawal that killed 13 American servicemembers.
The White House identified the man as Muhammed Sharifullah and said he was on his way to the U.S. to face charges.
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Trump takes credit for 'swift and unrelenting' action in speech to Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump took credit for “swift and unrelenting action” in reorienting the nation’s economy, immigration and foreign policy Tuesday in an address to Congress and the American people about his turbulent first weeks in office, as Democratic legislators immediately registered their dissent with stone faces, placards calling out ’lies,” and one legislator’s ejection.
Trump's joint address to Congress was the latest marker in Trump’s takeover of the nation's capital, where the Republican-led House and Senate have done little to restrain the president as he and his allies work to slash the size of the federal government and remake America’s place in the world. With a tight grip on his party, Trump has been emboldened after overcoming impeachments in his first term and criminal prosecutions in between his two administrations to take sweeping actions that have featured a dismantling of the federal government, tensions with America’s allies and a trade war compounding economic uncertainty.
“It has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action,” Trump said of his opening weeks in office. “The people elected me to do the job, and I am doing it.”
Trump, who has billionaire adviser Elon Musk orchestrating his efforts to slash the size and scope of the federal government, said he is working to “reclaim democracy from this unaccountable bureaucracy" and threatened federal workers anew with firings if they resist his agenda.
Musk, who was seated in the House gallery, received a pair of standing ovations from Republicans in the chamber, as Trump exaggerated and shared false claims about alleged government “abuse” uncovered by the Tesla and SpaceX founder and his team of disrupters.
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Trump's trade war draws swift retaliation with new tariffs from Mexico, Canada and China
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump launched a trade war Tuesday against America’s three biggest trading partners, drawing immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China and sending financial markets into a tailspin as the U.S. faced the threat of rekindled inflation and paralyzing uncertainty for business.
Just after midnight, Trump imposed 25% taxes, or tariffs, on Mexican and Canadian imports, though he limited the levy to 10% on Canadian energy. Trump also doubled the tariff he slapped last month on Chinese products to 20%.
Beijing retaliated with tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of U.S. farm exports. It also expanded the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen.
In an address to Congress Tuesday night, Trump repeated two different explanations for his tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He cited the trade deficits the U.S. has with both countries, but also said, “they’ve allowed fentanyl to come into our country at levels never seen before, killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens.”
Trump also acknowledged there could be “a little disturbance” from the tariffs, perhaps an acknowledgment of the stock market's sharp falls in the past two days.
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Powerful US storms kill 2, bring threats from critical fire weather to blizzard conditions
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Powerful storms killed two people in Mississippi, tore the roofs off an apartment building and a nursing home in a small town in Oklahoma and threatened more communities across the nation Tuesday with wide-ranging weather.
The large storm system also brought blinding dust storms to the Southwest, blizzards with whiteout conditions to the Midwest and fears of wildfires elsewhere.
In Irving, Texas, a tornado with winds up to 110 mph (177 kph) struck, while another touched down in the 16,000-resident city of Ada, Oklahoma, according to preliminary information from the National Weather Service. There were also two tornadoes in Louisiana’s northern Caddo Parish, with winds up to 93 mph (150 kph).
High winds forced some changes to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, which moved up and shortened the two biggest parades to wrap them up before the bad weather moved in.
The weather didn't stop Shalaska Jones and her 2-year-old daughter from waving at passing Mardi Gras floats and hoping to catch one of the coveted coconuts thrown to the crowd.
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Zelenskyy calls Oval Office spat with Trump 'regrettable,' says he's ready to work for Ukraine peace
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the Oval Office blowup with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump last week was “regrettable,” adding that he stands ready to work under Trump's “strong leadership” to get a lasting peace.
Zelenskyy’s remarks — an apparent attempt to placate Trump — came in a social media post on X, hours after the White House announced a pause in military aid to Ukraine that is critical to fighting Russia’s invasion.
But later during his nightly address, Zelenskyy indicated that Ukraine didn't receive direct notification from the U.S. that aid had been cut, and was seeking confirmation.
“I have instructed Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, the heads of our intelligence agencies, and our diplomats to contact their counterparts in the United States and obtain official information. People should not have to guess,” he said.
“Ukraine and America deserve a respectful dialogue and a clear position from one another. Especially when it comes to protecting lives during a full-scale war,” he added, saying that military aid had been cut once before in January for a brief period.
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China keeps its economic growth target at 'around 5%' despite a looming trade war
BEIJING (AP) — China is keeping its economic growth target at “around 5%” for 2025 despite a looming trade war with the United States and other headwinds.
The target for GDP growth was announced Wednesday in a report being presented by Premier Li Qiang at the opening session of the National People's Congress, the annual meeting of China's legislature. It reflects the government’s plans to try to stabilize growth in challenging economic times, but stop hold back on more dramatic action to supercharge it.
The 32-page report acknowledged the challenges at home and abroad.
“An increasingly complex and severe external environment may exert a greater impact on China in areas such as trade, science, and technology,” Li said, reading parts of the report to the Congress over nearly an hour. “Domestically, the foundation for China’s sustained economic recovery and growth is not strong enough. Effective demand is weak, and consumption, in particular, is sluggish.”
The IMF has projected China's economy will grow 4.6% this year, down from 5% in 2024, according to Chinese government statistics.
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Groceries around the country remain expensive. That's why more states want to stop taxing them
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The number of states imposing sales taxes on groceries has shrunk over the years, and the number may decrease further in the coming months as lawmakers hear complaints about high prices for eggs and other household staples.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday unveiled the details of her proposal to eradicate the remaining 1/8th of a cent sales tax the state levies on groceries. Lawmakers in Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama and are also calling for grocery-tax reductions.
The efforts come as states face uncertainty about their budgets because of cuts in Medicaid and other federal programs being eyed by Republicans in Washington. But supporters of the tax cuts are citing headlines about soaring egg prices as the reason they are needed now.
“We’re getting rid of Arkansas’ most regressive tax and giving a helping hand to those who need it the most,” Sanders, a Republican, said at a news conference to discuss the proposal.
The number of states taxing groceries has decreased in recent years, with laws eliminating the state levy taking effect in Oklahoma and Kansas over the last year. A law eliminating Virginia's tax on groceries took effect in 2023. A law eliminating Illinois' 1% grocery tax is set to take effect next year.
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Arab leaders endorse Egypt's plan to rebuild Gaza as an alternative to Trump's proposal
CAIRO (AP) — Arab leaders on Tuesday endorsed Egypt's postwar plan for the Gaza Strip that would allow its roughly 2 million Palestinians to remain, in a counterproposal to U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to depopulate the territory and redevelop it as a beach destination.
The $53 billion plan's endorsement by Arab leaders at a summit in Cairo amounted to a rejection of Trump’s proposal. The summit conclusions were welcomed by Hamas, rejected by Israel and given a lukewarm response by the Trump administration.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi expressed his appreciation for “the consensus among the Arab countries to support the reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip, which allows the Palestinian People to stay on their land without displacement.”
In a social media post after the summit, el-Sissi said he looked forward to working with Trump, other Arab nations and the international community “to adopt a plan that aims for a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian Issue, ends the root causes of the Israeli Palestinian conflict, guarantees the security and stability of the peoples of the region and establishes the Palestinian State."
White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes dismissed the Egyptian proposal as unworkable.
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LeBron James becomes first to score 50,000 combined points in NBA regular season and playoffs
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score 50,000 combined points in the regular season and postseason Tuesday night.
James surpassed the mark with a 3-pointer early in the first quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
James got to 49,999 points Sunday night when he scored 17 while the Lakers beat the Clippers 108-102 for their sixth consecutive win.
The 40-year-old James already is the top scorer in NBA history in both the regular season and the playoffs during a career in which he has rewritten all previous definitions of basketball longevity.
James reached 50,000 points deep into his 22nd season, which ties him with Vince Carter for the most played in NBA history. Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played 20 seasons, is second in NBA history with 44,149 combined points.
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Two Oscar-winning films shed light on the thousands of disappeared people in Latin America
MEXICO CITY (AP) — If there is a still open wound in Latin America, it is that of the tens of thousands of disappeared people and decadeslong pain that has accumulated in parts of the region such as Mexico and Colombia.
Two visions of the trauma had a central role at the 97th Academy Awards: the Brazilian film “Ainda Estou Aqui” (“I’m Still Here”), which tells the drama of the family of a leftist former congressman who disappeared in 1971 at the height of the military dictatorship; and the musical “Emilia Pérez,” about a fictional Mexican drug lord who leaves a life of crime to become a transgender woman and searcher for the disappeared in Mexico.
“We hope that in this way the society will be sensitized,” said activist Indira Navarro, who directs the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco collective in Mexico and has been searching for her brother, who disappeared in the northern state of Sonora nine years ago.
The Academy Awards’ recognition of the films, both of which were nominated in multiple categories, was an unparalleled opportunity to make the problem visible, Navarro said.
“I’m Still Here,” by Brazilian Walter Salles, won the Oscar in the category of best international film. “Emilia Pérez,” by renowned French director Jacques Audiard, was this year’s most-nominated film and won in the categories of best original song and best supporting actress for Zoe Saldaña.
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