Trump 2nd term live updates: Order to end birthright citizenship faces 1st court test

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump has kicked off his second term with a flurry of executive actions on immigration, the economy, DEI and more.

Trump can be expected to talk more about his economic agenda when he takes to the world stage — speaking virtually to the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Meanwhile, the president’s attempt to end birthright citizenship will face its first legal test when a federal judge hears a request made by several Democratic-led states to issue a temporary restraining order against the action.

Senate slated to confirm Ratcliffe, could vote on Hegseth as soon as Friday

The Senate will vote today on John Ratcliffe’s nomination to serve as director of the CIA.

If senators approve his nomination, he will be the second member of Trump’s team to be confirmed after Marco Rubio was sworn in as secretary of state earlier this week.

Later this afternoon, the Senate will take a procedural vote on Pete Hegseth’s nomination to serve as defense secretary. Only 50 votes will be needed to advance his nomination. If he gets the votes, a final confirmation vote could occur on Friday or early Saturday.

Hegseth’s nomination was advanced out of a Senate committee earlier this week on a party-line vote. New allegations have surfaced since then alleging abusive behavior, which his attorney has denied.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship faces 1st court test

Trump’s executive order challenging birthright citizenship will face its first legal test in a Seattle courtroom on Thursday.

A federal judge will hear a request made by four Democratic-led states to issue a temporary restraining order against the executive order signed by Trump on Day 1 that purports to limit birthright citizenship to people who have at least one parent who is a United States citizen or permanent resident.

Trump discusses TikTok, wildfires and pardons in first Oval Office interview

In his first Oval Office interview on Wednesday, President Donald Trump discussed the California wildfires, Jan. 6 pardons and TikTok.

Regarding the emergency funding that Los Angeles needs after wildfires ravaged over 40,000 acres, Trump suggested a tradeoff involving the reconciliation bill he is hoping to get through Congress.

In the Fox News interview Trump repeated claims that California Gov. Gavin Newsom could put a stop to the fires happening in Southern California by releasing water from the north and threatened to withhold aid to California unless they “let water flow.”

“I’m going to put a statement out today, I think, maybe it’s already written,” Trump said. “I said, I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down into there.”

Trump continued to defend his pardoning of those convicted of assaulting police officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, calling the attacks “very minor incidents.”

When discussing TikTok, Trump dismissed the security concerns many have regarding the app, while questioning if it’s bad that China is spying on kids.

“We have so many things made in China. So why don’t they mention that? You know, interesting thing with TikTok, though, is you’re dealing with a lot of young people,” Trump said. “Is it that important for China to be spying on young people, on young kids watching crazy videos?”

-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Fritz Farrow, Hannah Demissie

DHS allows US Marshals, other DOJ agencies to carry out immigration enforcement

The Department of Homeland Security is allowing certain law enforcement components from the Department of Justice to carry out the “functions” of an immigration officer, according to a new memo.

The memo, sent by acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman, grants the DOJ agencies the “same authority already granted to the FBI,” and says that agents from those agencies can enforce immigration law.

The agencies listed in the memo are the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

DEA and ATF have had little experience historically in carrying out immigration enforcement and the U.S. Marshals have typically only been involved in cases where a migrant is being sought as a fugitive.

-ABC News’ Luke Barr

Trump officials order freeze at DOJ Civil Rights Division

Officials in the Trump Justice Department have ordered a temporary freeze on any ongoing cases being litigated by the Civil Rights Division, according to a new directive reviewed by ABC News.

The memo to the current acting head of the Civil Rights Division, Kathleen Wolfe, says that current career officials in the division must not file any new civil complaints or other civil rights-related filings in outside ongoing litigation. The memo was first reported by The Washington Post.

The memo does not detail a specific timetable for how long the freeze will last. But it comes as Trump’s nominee to lead civil rights enforcement at DOJ — conservative firebrand Harmeet Dhillon — awaits a confirmation vote in the Senate.

Dhillon has long been a vocal Trump loyalist who has brought litigation to advance Republican causes, including curtailing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and opposing transgender-affirming care.

She is expected to reorient the civil rights division’s priorities in line with what they were in the first Trump administration, when ongoing investigations into widespread police misconduct were virtually shuttered and the department withdrew from multiple Obama-era challenges to anti-trans state laws around the country.

Wolfe was separately directed to notify Trump-appointed department leaders of any consent decrees the Biden administration reached with cities in the final 90 days leading up to the inauguration.

Following the 2024 election, now-former Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke traveled the country announcing a series of last-minute agreements with several cities’ police departments that the DOJ had investigated for potential violations of citizens’ constitutional rights.

-ABC News’ Alexander Mallin

Trump picks new Secret Service director

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday the head of his protective security detail would serve as the new director of the U.S. Secret Service.

Sean Curran, a longtime Secret Service agent, began his career with the agency in 2001 as a special agent in the Newark Field Office, previously served as assistant special agent in charge of the Presidential Protective Division and was part of Trump’s personal protective detail on July 13 when a gunman attempted to assassinate him.

“Sean is a Great Patriot, who has protected my family over the past few years, and that is why I trust him to lead the Brave Men and Women of the United States Secret Service,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

He added, “He proved his fearless courage when he risked his own life to help save mine from an assassin’s bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania. I have complete and total confidence in Sean to make the United States Secret Service stronger than ever before.”

The former director of the agency, Kimberly Cheatle, came under scrutiny over the agency’s failure to prevent the assassination attempt and later resigned.

Dems contend Trump ‘does not back the blue, he backs the coup’

In the wake of President Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 rioters, Democrats joined with two men who were assaulted by the mob — retired U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Washington Metro Police Department officer Daniel Hodges — to denounce the president’s actions.

“On Monday, Donald Trump decided that he wants to whitewash history, pretend that the riot of January 6 never happened, and that it was simply a peaceful walk through the Capitol. Unfortunately for him, video and photographs don’t lie,” Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., said. “You cannot say you back the blue if you are going to let out of jail violent criminals who assaulted the blue.”

California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell added, “Nothing erases what they did, but we should erase this concept that Donald Trump and the Republican Party have the backs of law enforcement officers. “Donald Trump does not back the blue. He backs the coup, and this action makes that absolutely clear.”

Dunn, who retired from the USCP and ran an unsuccessful bid for Congress, denounced Trump’s actions.

“The Republican Party has long claimed to be the party of law and order, back the blue, however many lawmakers’ silence and refusal to push back against Donald Trump’s actions make it incredibly hard to take that claim serious,” he said. “The winner writes history. He didn’t win. He’s not going to. I’m not going away. That’s it.”

After Republicans launched their own select subcommittee to investigate the events surrounding Jan. 6, Rep. Jason Crow, a member of the January 6 select committee who received a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden in the final moments of his presidency, called the newly minted panel “a farce that is intended to try to cover up their abuse of process.”

“It’s another diversion. It’s another distraction in an attempt to rewrite history, but also to confuse folks,” Crow, D-Colorado, said. “But you heard pretty clearly today that we’re not confused and we’re not distracted, nor will we be. We’re going to continue to tell the story loudly, clearly, repeatedly, about the criminality, about the abuse, not just of power, but of our law enforcement of the blue and we’re not going to stop.”

-ABC News’ John Parkinson

Federal employees told to report DEI programs

Employees across the federal government have received memos asking them to report any possible diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) programs. ABC News has learned of employees at the departments of Commerce, State and Homeland Security receiving the memos, as well as health agencies.

Trump issued an executive order after taking office ending DEI programs in the federal government.

“We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language,” one of the memos read. “If you are aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and DEIA or similar ideologies, please report all facts and circumstances to DEIAtruth@opm.gov within 10 days.”

Failure to report the information within 10 days could result in “adverse consequences,” according to the memo.

-ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks, Katherine Faulders and Luke Barr

Trump pardons 2 DC police officers convicted in man’s death

Trump on Wednesday pardoned two former Washington, D.C., police officers who were sentenced to prison for the 2020 death of a D.C. man in a police chase.

According to the Department of Justice, Terence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky were involved in a chase after Sutton spotted a man, later identified as Karon Hylton-Brown, riding a moped on a sidewalk without a helmet and gave chase. Sutton chased Hylton-Brown into an alley, the DOJ said, and as he exited the alley on to a street, he was hit and killed by another driver.

Sutton, who was an officer, and Zabavsky, then a lieutenant, then conspired to cover up what had happened, DOJ said in a release announcing their convictions, at one point turning off their body cameras to discuss the matter.

Sutton was convicted in September 2024 of second-degree murder, conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice and sentenced to 5 ½ years in prison. The same jury convicted Zabavsky of conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice and he was sentenced to 4 years. Both were free on appeal.

“Well, we’re looking at two police officers, actually, that — Washington police officers — who went after an illegal. And things happened, and they ended up putting them in jail. They got five-year jail sentences. You know the case. And we’re looking at that in order to give them a — we got to give them a break,” Trump said Monday, though Hylton-Jones was not in the U.S. illegally.

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Waltz dismisses more than 150 national security staffers

Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz sent home 160 National Security Council aides while the Trump administration undergoes staffing reviews to ensure personnel support Trump’s America First agenda.

The career government employees were told on Wednesday that they are not needed to report to the White House. The council is responsible for briefing the president on national security and foreign policy advice, but insists despite staffing shakeups they have what is needed to fulfill their mission.

“National Security Advisor Mike Waltz promised and authorized a full review of NSC personnel. It is entirely appropriate for Mr. Waltz to ensure NSC personnel are committed to implementing President Trump’s America First agenda to protect our national security and wisely use the tax dollars of America’s working men and women,” NSC spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement.

“Since 12:01 pm on Monday personnel reviews and decisions based on the evaluations are being made,” Hughes said.

An official told ABC News, “We have dozens of people as detailees. Some have already concluded their service, some will be shortened, new detailees will be onboarded. NSC has and will continue to have what it needs to fulfill its mission in support of POTUS and his agenda. But POTUS won a historic victory with a clear mandate that the American people embraced. Ensuring the team to keep that promise is NSA Waltz’s role at NSC on behalf of President Trump.”

In a recent interview with Breitbart News, Waltz indicated that he wanted the NSC to be staffed by personnel who are “100 percent aligned with the president’s agenda.”

-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh

Oath Keeper founder on Capitol Hill following release

Just one day after being released from prison, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes showed up on Capitol Hill in a blue Trump hat.

Rhodes was serving an 18-year sentence for a seditious conspiracy conviction for his role in the Jan. 6 riots, but his sentence was commuted by Trump on Monday.

Rhodes told ABC News he was meeting with members of Congress, specifically Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla.

Speaker Mike Johnson told ABC News that he didn’t meet with Rhodes.

“What about it? He’s a U.S. citizen, right?” he added.

-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Beatrice Peterson, Arthur Jones and Allison Pecorin

Kennedy’s confirmation hearing set for next Wednesday

The Senate Finance Committee announced Wednesday afternoon that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearing for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Jr. will be Jan. 29.

-ABC News’ Anne Falherty

White House asked about Elon Musk’s criticism of AI Stargate deal

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt brushed off Elon Musk’s comment suggesting investors don’t have the money to fund the Stargate AI project during an interview on Fox News.

“President Trump is very excited about this infrastructure announcement in the field of AI, which is of his growing United States and it needs to capitalize on it because adversaries like China are very advanced in the field,” Leavitt dodged when asked for the Trump’s reaction specifically to Musk’s comments.

Musk has repeatedly poured cold water on the $500 billion project, which Trump rolled out at the White House on Tuesday evening with fanfare.

Leavitt said that the American people should trust Trump at his word.

“So, the American people should take President Trump and the CEOs’ words for it. These investments are coming to our great country and American jobs are coming with them,” she said.

Proud Boys’ Enrique Tarrio arrives in Miami after being freed from prison

Enrique Tarrio, the former head of the Proud Boys, arrived in Florida one day after being freed from prison following Trump’s sweeping Jan. 6 pardons.

He was seen embracing supporters at Miami International Airport.

Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years for his conviction on seditious conspiracy. He’d received the longest sentence of all the convicted Jan. 6 rioters, though he was not at the Capitol that day.

In first interview as president, Trump criticizes Biden’s preemptive pardons

In a clip previewing his first sit-down interview since becoming president, Trump criticized Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons before he left the White House.

“Joe Biden ran and said he would never do preemptive pardons. It was an issue that came up when you were leaving your first time…” Fox News’ Sean Hannity began before Trump jumped in.

“Oh, he heard that I was going to do it, I didn’t want to do it. I was given the option, they said, ‘Sir, would you like to pardon everyone — including yourself?’ I said ‘I’m not going to pardon anybody. We didn’t do anything wrong.’ We had people that suffered. They’re incredible patriots. We had people that suffered. You had Bannon put in jail. You had Peter Navarro put in jail. You had people that suffered and far worse than that, they lost their fortunes and whatever their nest egg paying it to lawyers,” Trump said.

“And those people — people said — they wouldn’t have even taken, most of those people, they wouldn’t have even taken a pardon. This guy went around giving everyone pardons. And the funny thing, maybe the sad thing, is he didn’t give himself a pardon — and if you look at it, it all had to do with him,” Trump added.

The full interview is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. ET on Fox News.

-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart

Trump ordering 1,500 troops to southern border, press secretary says

President Trump is sending 1,500 additional troops to the southern border, building off the executive actions he signed on Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced to reporters.

“This is something President Trump campaigned on. The American people have been waiting for such a time as this for our Department of Defense to actually take homeland security seriously. This is the number one priority of the American people and the president is already delivering on that,” she said.

“Securing the southern border and deporting illegal immigrants from this country. President Trump is sending a very strong message to people around this world: if you are thinking about breaking the laws of the United States of America you will be returned home, you will be arrested you will be prosecuted. Do not come,” she told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce when asked what the troops will be doing and what their mission is.

– ABC News’ Mary Bruce

Murkowski says Trump’s pardons send a ‘horrible, horrible message’

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Trump’s blanket pardons for violent Jan. 6 rioters sends a “horrible, horrible message to our law enforcement officers.”

“I think it sends a very discouraging message to the fine men and women who stand guard and are here to protect all of us, help protect the public, and so when you have blanket pardons for everyone including those who engaged in violent violent acts of destruction and harm to people and then you just blanket pardon all of them without consequence,” Murkowski said.

Murkowski issued a statement on X earlier Wednesday similarly denouncing the pardons, calling the Capitol Police officers the “backbone of Congress.”

She was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial over the riot.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

Republican senators stand behind Hegseth after new allegations surface

Several GOP lawmakers are standing behind Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in light of new accusations of abusive behavior. The allegations came in a sworn affidavit by Hegseth’s former sister-in-law obtained by Democrats.

“My understanding is that both his wife and his — he himself said it’s not accurate. That’s what I go by,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters.

“His wife said it was not true. This is just the Democrats doing what they’re doing. They’re obstructing Trump putting together a team,” said Republican Sen. Rick Scott.

Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia stressed the validity of the affidavit and urged his GOP colleagues to consider the severity of the allegations as they vote on what he called “probably the single most important position that the Senate has to consider in any president’s cabinet.”

-ABC News’ Isabella Murray

Elon Musk continues to undermine Trump’s AI ‘Stargate’ deal

Elon Musk is continuing to publicly criticize the artificial intelligence “Stargate” deal that Trump touted at the White House.

Musk just reshared a long post on X from a user who sharply called the venture into question. The user called the $500 billion price tag for the project “ridiculous” and said “no one should take it seriously.”

Trump rolled out the AI investment on Tuesday alongside tech CEOs who heaped praise upon him.

But overnight, Musk poured cold water on it.

“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk said, seemingly questioning the financial footing of OpenAI, one of the companies involved in the deal.

-ABC News’ Will Steakin

Senate panel advances nomination for Trump’s transportation pick

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voted to advance the nomination of Sean Duffy to be Trump’s transportation secretary.

Duffy’s nomination was unanimously approved by the committee by a vote of 28-0.

His nomination will now advance to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote. The date and timing of the vote has not yet been determined.

Duffy is a former congressman and co-hosted “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. When Trump tapped Duffy for the post, he said he would prioritize rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and on eliminating DEI in certain fields.

-ABC News’ Ayesha Ali

Trumps celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary

Trump and first lady Melania Trump are celebrating a major milestone Wednesday — their 20th wedding anniversary.

Trump took to his social media platform to wish his wife a happy anniversary.

The couple was married 20 years ago in a star-studded wedding in Palm Beach, Florida. The ceremony was held at Bethesda-By-the-Sea Episcopal Church and the reception was held at Mar-a-Lago.

The guest list included Bill and Hillary Clinton, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Simon Cowell, Usher, Billy Joel and others.

— ABC News’ Hannah Demissie

House Republicans launching select committee to investigate Jan. 6

Despite Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 rioters, House Republicans are announcing that they’re creating a new select subcommittee to continue Rep. Barry Loudermilk’s efforts to investigate the investigators, as some pundits have put it — to “bring all the facts to the American people.”

The work will fall under the jurisdiction of the House Judiciary Committee, with Loudermilk overseeing the select subcommittee.

Lawmakers who received a preemptive pardon from President Joe Biden — Sen. Adam Schiff, Reps. Jamie Raskin, Bennie Thompson and Zoe Lofgren, former Rep. Liz Cheney and other members of the Jan. 6 select committee — are sure to become a central focus of the GOP’s effort to probe “all events leading up to and after January 6.”

Earlier Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson strongly criticized Biden’s pardons, calling them “breathtaking” and “shocking.”

“It is disgusting to us. It probably proves the point, the suspicion that, you know, they call it the Biden crime family, if they weren’t the crime family, why do they need pardons?” Johnson said, adding that they will be “looking at it as well.”

– ABC News’ Arthur Jones II, Jay O’Brien, John Parkinson, and Lauren Peller

DOD preparing to send at least 1,000 more troops to border

According to U.S. officials, 1,000 to 1,500 additional troops are expected to be sent to the southern border, in addition to the roughly 1,500 currently there.

These additional forces will be operating under the U.S. Northern Command.

Troops have been on the border for years, and though there are only about 1,500 National Guard and reservists there now, that mission had been authorized to have up to 2,500 personnel. They serve in a support role to Homeland Security and Customs and 

Border Patrol along the border and do not carry out law enforcement duties.

-ABC News’ Matt Seyler

Biden’s letter to Trump revealed by Fox News

Fox News Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy read aloud on-air the content of the letter left by former President Joe Biden to President Donald Trump.

“As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years,” Biden wrote, according to Fox News. “The American people — and people around the world — look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation.”

“May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding,” Biden wrote.

Trump held up the letter for reporters on Monday night as he signed executive orders in the Oval Office. He described it to reporters on Tuesday as “very nice” and that he appreciated it.

Federal DEI employees to be put on leave by 5 p.m. today

All federal employees working on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives must be put on paid administrative leave by Wednesday at 5 p.m., according to a memo obtained by ABC News.
The decision comes as the Trump administration shuts down the relevant DEI offices and programs across the federal government.
Trump is also threatening “strong action” against DEI programs in the private sector, including possible civil compliance investigations.

Video captures JD Vance’s 1st time in Oval Office

House Speaker Mike Johnson posted a video on X of President Trump taking Vice President JD Vance into the Oval Office for the first time on Tuesday.

Trump can be seen walking ahead of Vance in the halls of the West Wing before showing him into the office. He introduced Vance to his communications adviser, Margo Martin, who was standing at the door to the Oval Office.

“Wow, this is pretty crazy,” Vance says as Johnson narrated the video. He later said it was “incredible.”

Bishop Budde defends ‘mercy’ sermon against Trump’s criticism, says she seeks ‘unity’

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde on Wednesday defended her sermon at a traditional inaugural prayer service on Tuesday directly calling on President Trump to show “mercy” toward immigrants and trans people.

Speaking on ABC’s “The View,” she emphasized she was seeking to create “unity” and to “counter the narrative that is so divisive and polarizing.”

“I wanted to emphasize respecting the honor and dignity of every human being, basic honesty and humility and then I also realized that unity requires a certain degree of mercy — mercy and compassion and understanding,” she said, after Trump demanded she apologize.

“I was trying to speak a truth that I felt needed to be said, but to do it as respectful and kind a way as I could,” she added. “And also to bring other voices into the conversation … voices that had not been heard in the public space for some time.”

When asked if she had an opportunity to share her thoughts one-on-one with the president, Budde said she had not been invited but would welcome the opportunity.

“I can assure him and everyone listening that I would be as respectful as I would with any person, and certainly of his office for which I have a great deal of respect, but … the invitation would have to come from him,” she said.

Trump demands Putin to ‘make a deal’ to end war

Trump has sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin demanding he make a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

“It’s time to ‘MAKE A DEAL.’ NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!” Trump wrote in a new social media post.

Trump indicated that if a deal isn’t made quickly, he would impose high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on Russia.

“Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a “deal,” and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,” Trump said.

Trump then threatened that it can be done “the easy way, or the hard way.”

— ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh

Mike Johnson says he won’t ‘second-guess’ Trump pardons for Jan. 6 rioters

Speaker Mike Johnson said he doesn’t question Trump’s decision to pardon more than thousand people convicted in connection to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including some violent offenders.

“The president’s made his decision, I don’t second guess those,” Johnson said at a news conference alongside House Republican leadership.

“And yes, you know, it’s kind of my ethos, my worldview, we believe in redemption, we believe in second chances,” Johnson said. “If you could — would argue that those people didn’t pay a heavy penalty having been incarcerated and all of that, that’s up to you.”

Other Republicans had mixed reactions to the news when asked by ABC News on Tuesday. Some claimed they’d “never” seen video of rioters attacking police. Others said Trump’s move was something they “just can’t agree” with

Trump OMB pick Russell Vought testifies at confirmation hearing

Russell Vought, who led the Office of Management and Budget during Trump’s first term, is facing questions from senators on the Budget Committee.

Vought was involved in Project 2025, the controversial conservative blueprint for a second Trump term that Trump tried to distance himself from while on the campaign trail.

If confirmed, Vought would see through the implementation of a Trump executive order to terminate DEI programs in the federal government.

Trump team instructs DOJ to investigate state officials who obstruct immigration enforcement efforts

A top Trump administration official sent a memo to the Justice Department workforce ordering criminal investigations into any state and local actors who may attempt to obstruct enforcement of federal immigration laws, according to a copy obtained by ABC News.

The memo further details a series of policy changes being rolled out in the department as a result of multiple executive orders signed by Trump, including the establishment of a “Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group.”

As ABC News reported, multiple longtime senior level officials in DOJ’s Criminal and National Security Divisions were given an abrupt notice of their reassignment to the task force.

The move has already caused alarm among many current and former officials in the department who see it as an exodus of the department’s career “braintrust” on major national security and public corruption cases and a sign the Trump team is placing loyalty to the president’s agenda above the typical norms and expertise of officials.

-ABC News’ Alexander Mallin

ICE updates terminology from noncitizen to ‘alien’

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is updating their terminology as a result of the election.

From now on, those they are arresting will be referred to as “alien” as opposed to “noncitizen” and those in the country without authorization will be referred to as “illegal alien” according to an internal ICE memo obtained by ABC News.

“ICE employees are directed to use the lexicon consistent with the immigration and nationality act and the language historically used by the agency,” according to the memo.

The Biden administration changed the language in 2021 when former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued terminology guidance. Trump’s used increasingly dark rhetoric on the campaign trail when talking about migrants, including calling some of them “animals.”

-ABC News’ Luke Barr

Refugee arrivals to US ‘suspended until further notice,’ State Department memo says

Refugee arrivals to the United States are “suspended until further notice,” as a result of the president’s executive order, a State Department memo obtained by ABC News says.

“All previously scheduled travel of refugees to the United States is being cancelled, and no new travel bookings will be made. RSCs [Resettlement Support Centers] should not request travel for any additional refugee cases at this time,” according to the memo sent on Tuesday. “Additionally, all refugee case processing and pre-departure activities are also suspended.”

A source familiar with the data says approximately 10,000 refugees had travel booked.

Refugee processing is also canceled.

– ABC’s Luke Barr

13 Senate Democrats say they’ll work with GOP on border security

Thirteen Senate Democrats sent a letter to Majority Leader John Thune committing to working with Republicans in “good faith” toward providing the necessary 60 votes in the Senate to pass certain immigration measures.

“As we have shown, Democrats and Republicans can work together on real bipartisan solutions. We can solve big challenges when we work together, and there is much work to do to improve border security, protect Dreamers and farmworkers, and fix our immigration system to better reflect the needs of our country and our modern economy,” the Democrats wrote.

The group of Democrats say common ground can be reached on “fair immigration enforcement accompanied by the necessary resources to effectively secure our border”. They also say they see a need for a “firm but fair immigration system.”

A bipartisan border bill was negotiated and unveiled during the 2024 campaign, but was effectively killed by Trump, who urged Republicans not to support it.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

Musk says he was in the Oval Office for Ulbritcht pardon

Billionaire Elon Musk posted online overnight that he was present in the Oval Office when Trump signed a pardon for Ross Ulbritcht, who was serving life in prison for running the black market site Silk Road.

“I was honored to be in the Oval Office tonight when @POTUS signed this,” Musk wrote on his social platform X.

It would be the first time Musk has said he was in the Oval Office with the president since Trump returned to office.

ABC News previously reported Musk had been spotted at the White House in the West Wing.

Musk is said to have a blue badge, which is considered to be an all-access pass. He has an has office space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building but sources told ABC News that Musk is also likely to get West Wing office space.

-ABC News’ Will Steakin and Katherine Faulders

Federal employee union sues over DOGE, pushes back on executive orders

In the hours after President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union for federal employees filed a lawsuit against Trump and the Office of Management and Budget, while also calling on Congress to protect government workers’ jobs.

The lawsuit alleges that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

“DOGE has already begun developing recommendations and influencing decision-making in the new administration, even though its membership lacks the fair balance required by FACA and its meetings and records are not open to public inspection in real time,” the complaint alleges.

AFGE National President Everett Kelley has also gone on the offense over Trump’s flurry of executive orders to eliminate federal telework and diversity programs, to freeze federal hiring and to re-introduce at-will employment policies that would make it easier to fire some federal employees.

Kelley asked Congress to intervene to save federal workers from being fired at will.

“AFGE will not stand idly by as a secretive group of ultra-wealthy individuals with major conflicts of interest attempt to deregulate themselves and give their own companies sweetheart government contracts while firing civil servants and dismantling the institutions designed to serve the American people,” Kelley said in a statement.

He added, “This fight is about fairness, accountability, and the integrity of our government. Federal employees are not the problem—they are the solution. They deserve to have their voices heard in decisions that affect their work, their agencies, and the public they serve.”

-ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson

Federal judge sets hearing on Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order

President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order on birthright citizenship will face its first legal test in a Seattle courtroom on Thursday morning.

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour scheduled a 10 a.m. hearing on Thursday to consider a request made by four states to issue a temporary restraining order against Trump’s executive order.

Earlier Tuesday, the attorneys generals of Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Illinois sued Trump over the order, which they said would disenfranchise more than 150,000 newborn children each year.

They described Trump’s executive order as the modern equivalent of the Supreme Court’s infamous Dred Scott decision. The 14th Amendment repudiated Scott establishing what the plaintiffs called a “bright-line and nearly universal rule” that Trump now seeks to violate.

“President Trump and the federal government now seek to impose a modern version of Dred Scott. But nothing in the Constitution grants the President, federal agencies, or anyone else authority to impose conditions on the grant of citizenship to individuals born in the United States,” their emergency motion said.

Coughenour — who was nominated to the bench by former President Ronald Reagan — will likely be the first judge to weigh in on Trump’s executive order.

-ABC News’ Laura Romero and Peter Charalambous

Federal government directed to put DEI employees on leave

All federal employees working on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives must be put on paid administrative leave by Wednesday at 5 p.m., according to an Office of Personnel Management memo obtained by ABC News.

The decision comes as the Trump administration shuts down the relevant DEI offices and programs across the federal government.

The directive follows President Donald Trump’s signing of executive orders Monday to dismantle federal DEI programs, as part of Trump’s larger campaign vow to reverse and upend the diversity efforts across the country, in the public and private sectors.

-ABC News’ Ben Siegel

DC Police Union dismayed by Jan. 6 pardons

The Washington, D.C., Police Union, which represents officers from the Metropolitan Police Department expressed “dismay” over the recent pardons granted to those who violently attacked police officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“As an organization that represents the interests of the 3,000 brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities, our stance is clear – anyone who assaults a law enforcement officer should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, without exception,” the union said in a statement.

“We remain steadfast in our mission to protect the rights and interests of all police officers and to ensure that justice is applied fairly and consistently,” the statement continued.

-ABC News’ Luke Barr

Trump set to meet with moderate House Republicans

President Donald Trump is set to meet with a group of moderate House Republicans on Wednesday afternoon at the White House, multiple sources told ABC News.

Some of the members who will attend include Nebraska Rep. Don Baco and New York Rep. Mike Lawler, among others.

-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Lauren Peller

Trump says he pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht

Trump said he signed a “full and unconditional pardon” for Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for running the black market site Silk Road.

“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright [sic] to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross,” Trump said on Truth Social. “The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”

Ulbricht, who ran Silk Road between January 2011 and October 2013, was found guilty of allowing users to buy illegal drugs, guns and other unlawful goods anonymously. Prosecutors said the narcotics distributed through the site, which the FBI called the”Amazon of illegal drugs,” were linked to the deaths of at least six people.

Trump looking at whether to ‘turn off the tap’ on weapons to Ukraine

When asked whether he will “turn off the tap” when it comes to sending weapons to Ukraine, Trump told reporters Tuesday that he is “looking at that.”

“We’re talking to Zelenskyy. We’re going to be talking with President Putin very soon, and we’ll see what, how it all happens,” Trump said during a briefing in the Roosevelt Room.

Trump added that the European Union should be supporting Ukraine more, saying the war affects them more than the United States.

-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie

Kash Patel hearing tentatively scheduled for Jan. 29

The Senate Judiciary Committee has tentatively scheduled a confirmation hearing for Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to be the FBI director, on Jan. 29, committee ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters Tuesday.

Durbin stressed he will not be voting to advance Patel’s nomination following an in-person meeting with the nominee and a reading of his book, “Government Gangsters.”

“After meeting with him and doing this study, I’ve come to the conclusion that Kash Patel has neither the experience, the judgment or the temperament to serve as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to take on this awesome responsibility to keep America safe,” Durbin said.

Durbin said he was also concerned with Patel’s recounting of Jan. 6 during their meeting.

“His description of what happened in this Capitol building on Jan. 6 defies reality. I tried to pin him down on some of the things he said,” Durbin said, noting that after Trump’s pardons of the rioters on Monday, he didn’t know if the FBI would continue to track and monitor them — particularly the ones who were recently released.

“He calls it a haphazard riot. What the hell is a haphazard riot? That’s how he describes Jan. 6,” Durbin said. “I said I was here. … Unfortunately for the law enforcement, there were a lot of injuries and some death.”

-ABC News’ Isabella Murray

Trump says he’ll impose tariffs on the European Union

During his AI infrastructure announcement, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the European Union, as he has done with Canada, China and Mexico.

“It’s not just China. China is an abuser, but the European Union is very, very bad to us,” Trump told reporters after the announcement. “They treat us very, very badly. They don’t take our cars. They don’t take our cars at all. They don’t take our farm products. Essentially, they don’t take very much. We have a $350 billion deficit with the European Union.”

“They treat us very, very badly, so they’re going to be in for tariffs.”

Trump says looking at Feb. 1 date for tariffs

Trump said he is eyeing Feb. 1 as the date to start implementing his tariffs on China and Mexico.

Trump defends pardoning Jan. 6 convicts

Trump was asked about pardoning the Jan. 6 rioters during a news conference Tuesday and dodged a question about pardoning violent Jan. 6 convicts, including one who admitted to attacking an officer.

The president dodged the question, claiming he would look into it, before changing the subject to murders around the country that he claimed yielded no arrests.

He repeated his claim that the people pardoned were unjustly prosecuted, including the head of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.

“The cases that we looked at, these were people that actually love our country, so we thought a pardon would be appropriate,” he said.

Trump was asked about the pardons again, as well as Vice President J.D. Vance’s statement last week in which he opposed pardoning rioters who assaulted officers, but the president again claimed the rioters were unfavorably treated.

CEOs tout ‘Stargate’ joint AI infrastructure project with Trump

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Oracle’s Larry Ellison joined President Donald Trump at the White House to tout the $500 billion investment in the “Stargate” venture.

“We will immediately start deploying $100 million … because of your success,” Son said.

The businessmen said they plan on using artificial intelligence for various projects, including medical research.

“I’m thrilled we get to do this in the United States of America,” Altman said.

Trump said he will be helping “a lot through emergency declarations because we have an emergency — we have to get this stuff built.”

Trump meets with GOP leadership

The meeting between President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune started around 3:20 p.m. ET in the Oval Office, according to the White House.

Trump is still expected to take more executive actions on Tuesday, as well as make an infrastructure announcement.

Tech billionaires to visit White House, per source

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Oracle’s Larry Ellison are expected to be at the White House Tuesday afternoon, according to a source familiar with the matter.

President Trump is set to announce $500 billion in private sector investment to build artificial intelligence infrastructure. It’s a joint venture of three companies — OpenAI, Softbank and Oracle — collectively called Stargate.

Last month, Trump announced with SoftBank’s Son in Mar-a-Lago that SoftBank would invest $100 billion in US projects over the next four years, creating 100,000 jobs. Those investments will focus on infrastructure that supports AI, including data centers, energy generation, and chips, according to a source.

The new announcement Tuesday has “overlap” with SoftBank’s previous commitment of $100 billion, according to a source, who clarifies that this is not an entirely separate commitment.

– ABC’s Selina Wang

Trump’s 1st sit-down interview will air on Wednesday

President Donald Trump’s first sit-down interview of his second term will be with Fox’s Sean Hannity in the Oval Office.

It will air on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET, the network announced.

During the interview, Trump will “discuss the executive orders he’s signed thus far, his first 100 days in office and news of the day,” according to the release from the news channel.

During his first term, Trump sat down with ABC News’ David Muir for his first interview. That interview took place just five days after he was sworn into office in 2017.

-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart

Trump’s tariff plans are still taking shape, despite pledges for Day 1 action

Tariffs were not in the executive orders Trump signed on Monday night and he suggested he’s still undecided on how far they might go — which investors are reading as a good sign, reflected by the rallying market on Tuesday.

Trump said he was now targeting Feb. 1 as a potential target date for tariffs to take effect against Mexico and Canada, which he said could be as high as 25%. He said any plans for blanket tariffs are “not ready” just yet.

Trump has a history of using the threat of tariffs as a governing style.

Urging Mexico to crack down on border crossings in 2019, Trump threatened to slap a tariff on the country within 10 days through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) but relented after Mexico committed to specific measures.

-ABC’s Cheyenne Haslett and Elizabeth Schulze

Capitol Police chief sends internal memo praising officers after Biden, Trump pardons

Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger sent an internal memo praising officers following the pardons made by President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden. The memo was obtained by ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott.

Manger said that “when there is no price to pay for violence against law enforcement, it sends a message that politics matter more than our first responders.”

Manger cited the pardons from Trump for Jan. 6 rioters and from Biden for commuting the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a man convicted of the murder of two FBI agents in 1975.

“Police willingly put themselves in harm’s way to protect our communities. When people attack law enforcement officers, the criminals should be met with consequences, condemnation and accountability,” Manger said.

DOGE gets official government website

The page currently consists of a simple landing page displaying a logo featuring the iconic Shiba Inus from the original “doge” meme.

The official page comes after President Donald Trump’s executive order on Monday night creating the now solely Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. The order notably stated that the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) will be renamed the U.S. DOGE Service and placed under the Executive Office of the President.

DOGE will terminate on July 4, 2026, as Musk has previously detailed, and each agency in the Trump admin must create a DOGE Team, according to the order.

– ABC’s Will Steakin

Trump to meet with Republican leaders at White House

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House at 2 p.m., sources told ABC News.

At 3 p.m. ET, other GOP leaders from both chambers — including Steve Scalise, Lisa McClain and John Barrasso — will meet with Trump as well at the White House, sources said.

The White House has not yet formally released a schedule for Trump.

-ABC’s Katherine Faulders, Rachel Scott, Lauren Peller and Allison Pecorin

Trump’s 1st executive orders quickly face lawsuits

Eighteen states and the city of San Francisco filed a lawsuit challenging the president’s executive order to cut off birthright citizenship Tuesday, calling it a “flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip hundreds of thousands American-born children of their citizenship based on their parentage.”

The lawsuit accused Trump of seeking to eliminate a “well-established and longstanding Constitutional principle” by executive fiat.

A union representing thousands of federal employees also sued the Trump administration Monday evening over an executive order that makes it easier to fire career government employees, alleging the directive would violate the due process rights of its members.

“The Policy/Career Executive Order directs agencies to move numerous employees into a new excepted service category with the goal that many would then be fired,” the lawsuit alleged.

– ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Peter Charalambous

Coast Guard commandant fired in part over DEI efforts: Source

Admiral Linda Fagan, who served as the Coast Guard Commandant and was the first woman to lead a U.S. armed forces branch, was “relieved of her duties” by Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman.

A source with knowledge of the decision said Fagan was fired in part because of her Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in the Coast Guard.

“She has served a long and illustrious career and I thank her for her service,” according to a memo to the workforce obtained by ABC News.

Admiral Kevin Lunday is now acting commandant.

Trump promised to go after who he called “woke” generals in the military during his 2024 campaign. His nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has said he will follow through on that issue.

-ABC’s Luke Barr

Reverend urges Trump to have ‘mercy’ on LGBTQ community, migrants

The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, during the prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, directed a message for President Donald Trump, who was seated in the front row.

“Let me make one final plea. Mr. President, millions have put their trust in you. And as you said, you have felt the providential hand of our loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” she said.

Budde said there are LGBTQ citizens of all political creeds who now ‘fear for their lives.” She also referenced migrants who may not be in the U.S. legally but are devoted neighbors, workers and parents.

“Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land,” she said.

Stefanik backs US withdrawing from WHO, pushes for UN reform

Rep. Elise Stefanik is facing senators for her confirmation hearing to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The ideological divide between Republicans and Democrats over the utility of global organizations has taken center stage. Stefanik zeroed in on reform.

“Our tax dollars should not be complicit in propping up entities that are counter to American interests, antisemitic or engaging in fraud, corruption, or terrorism,” she said. “We must invest in programs to strengthen our national security and deliver results to increase the efficacy of U.N. programs. We must drive reform.”

She also defended Trump’s decision to withdraw from another global body: the World Health Organization.

“I support President Trump’s decision to walk away from WHO,” she said, arguing it had “failed on a global stage in the Covid pandemic for all the world to see, and instead spewed CCP talking points that I believe led to not only false information, but dangerous and deadly information across the globe.”

As Trump attends service, Episcopal Church leaders express concern about immigration actions

Episcopal Church leaders on Tuesday released a letter urging Trump to “exercise mercy” in his approach to immigration policy.

While the service Trump is currently attending incorporates many faiths, the National Cathedral itself is part of the Episcopal Diocese in Washington.

“Even as we gave thanks for a peaceful transfer of power, we learned from news reports that the new presidential administration has issued a series of executive orders that are a harbinger of President Trump’s pledge to deport undocumented immigrants at a historic scale, restrict asylum, and direct other immigration actions,” the church leaders wrote in a letter.

“We read this news with concern and urge our new president and congressional leaders to exercise mercy and compassion, especially toward law-abiding, long-term members of our congregations and communities; parents and children who are under threat of separation in the name of immigration enforcement; and women and children who are vulnerable to abuse in detention and who fear reporting abuse to law enforcement.”

Trump and Vance attend interfaith prayer service

President Trump and Vice President Vance are attending an interfaith prayer service at Washington National Cathedral.

It’s the first public appearance for Trump since Monday night’s inaugural festivities.

First lady Melania Trump, second lady Usha Vance and Trump’s children are there as well.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican Rep. Mike Lawler are some of the lawmakers in attendance.

Trudeau responds to Trump tariff threats

Standing alongside his cabinet ministers, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed President Trump’s proposed tariffs, stating firmly that if the U.S. proceeds with the measure, Canada will not hesitate to respond in kind.

“Everything is on the table,” Trudeau said adding, “We are prepared for every possible scenario.”

ABC News’ Aleem Agha

‘For us and the whole world, it is still the Gulf of Mexico’: Mexican president

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to Trump’s various decrees issued after the inauguration in a point-by-point statement.

Sheinbaum said Trump’s decrees concerning the emergency zone of the southern border and the Migrant Protection Protocols were no different than the orders made during Trump’s first term.

“We will always act in the defence of our independence, the defense of our fellow nationals living in the U.S. We act within the framework of our constitution and laws. We always act with a cool head,” she said in her statement.

Sheinbaum however pushed back on Trump’s decree to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

“For us and the whole world, it is still the Gulf of Mexico,” she said.

-ABC News’ Anne Laurent and Will Gretsky

Rubio promises State Department will focus on making America ‘stronger,’ safer,’ and ‘more prosperous’

After being sworn in as the nation’s 72nd secretary of state, Marco Rubio promised that every action taken by the department would be determined by the answer to three questions: “Does it make us stronger? Does it make us safer? And does it make us more prosperous?”

Rubio gave remarks in Spanish as well, giving thanks to God, his family present and not present, including his parents, who he said came to the U.S. in 1956 — and that the purpose of their lives was that their children could realize dreams not possible for them.

“It’s an incredible honor to be the secretary of state of the most powerful, best country in the world,” he continued in Spanish, giving thanks to Trump for the opportunity.

Rubio also echoed themes from Trump’s inaugural address and reiterated the president’s agenda.

“As far as the task ahead, President Trump was elected to keep promises. And he is going to keep those promises. And his primary promise when it comes to foreign policy is that the priority of the United States Department of State will be the United States. It will be furthering the national interest of this country,” Rubio said.

– ABC News’ Shannon Kingston

Confirmation hearing begins for Trump’s VA pick

Doug Collins, Trump’s choice to lead the Veterans Affairs Department, will face questions from lawmakers as his confirmation hearing gets underway.

Collins, a former congressman, is a Navy veteran who currently serves as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command.

He was the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment, and had defended the president.

Rubio is sworn in by JD Vance as secretary of state

After being unanimously confirmed by the Senate on Monday night, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was officially sworn in by Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday morning.

Rubio joined ABC’s “Good Morning America” ahead of the ceremony, where he discussed Trump’s pardons for Jan. 6 rioters, TikTok and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Rubio sidestepped directly weighing on the pardons, saying his “focus needs to be 100% on how I interact with our counterparts, our adversaries, our potential enemies around the world to keep this country safe, to make it prosperous.”

When asked about Trump’s campaign pledge to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on Day 1, Rubio contended the matter is more complex and that negotiations would not be played out in public.

“Look this is a complex, tragic conflict, one that was started by Vladimir Putin that’s inflicted a tremendous amount of damage on Ukraine and also on Russia, I would argue, but also on the stability of Europe,” Rubio said. “So the only way to solve these things, we got to get back to pragmatism, but we also get back to seriousness here, and that is the hard work of diplomacy. The U.S. has a role to play here. We’ve been supportive of Ukraine, but this conflict has to end.”

White House signals Trump will make announcement on infrastructure

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this morning that Trump will be making a a major announcement on infrastructure at 4 p.m. ET.

“I can confirm that the American people won’t be hearing from me today,” she wrote, indicating she would not hold a press briefing. “They’ll be hearing from the leader of the free world,” Leavitt said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

“Once again, President Trump will be speaking to the press later this afternoon at the White House, and we will have a big infrastructure announcement,” she added.

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