(SANA’A, Yemen) — President Donald Trump announced he ordered the U.S. military to launch “decisive and powerful military action” against the Houthis in Yemen.
“They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social. “We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective.”
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that U.S. air and naval assets hit dozens of Houthi targets in Yemen, including missiles, radars and drone and air defense systems. The official characterized the attacks as an opening salvo against the Houthis and sends a strong message to Iran.
A spokesman for Yemen’s ministry of health said at least nine people have been killed in the strikes and another nine injured. He said most of the casualties were civilians, and the number of those killed and injured will be updated as rescue and recovery efforts continue.
The strikes are the largest and most significant military action that Trump has taken in his second term.
The Houthi attacks were carried out by fighter jets from the Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, now in the northern Red Sea, as well as Air Force attack planes and armed drones launched from bases in the region, according to a source familiar with the plan.
Trump approved the plan on Friday, the source added.
The strikes Saturday are the result of several high-level White House meetings this week with Trump and top national security aides, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Michael E. Kurilla.
The attacks could intensify in scope and scale depending on the Houthi reaction, a source familiar with the plan said.
The source stressed this is not expected to be a single day event and said that “this will be decisive.”
Earlier in March, the Houthis warned they would resume attacking shipping vessels if Israel’s blockade of aid in Gaza continued.
Trump also had a stark message for Iran, writing that its support for the Houthis must end “immediately.” The president redesignated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization via an executive order in first days in office.
In a message to the Houthis, Trump threatened that if the attacks don’t stop, then “hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before.”
The Biden administration also conducted multiple strikes against the Houthis as they disrupted international shipping lanes in the Red Sea with attacks.
The last U.S. airstrike in Yemen against the Houthis occurred on Jan. 8, while former President Joe Biden was still in office, when a precision strike targeted two underground ammunition bunkers. There had been no other airstrikes since then partly because the Houthis stopped attacking ships during the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
Trump slammed his predecessor, writing, “Joe Biden’s response was pathetically weak, so the unrestrained Houthis just kept going.”
Since the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, the Houthis have launched more than 100 attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, causing disruptions to global trade through one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The Houthi rebels had initially framed their attacks as a way to pressure Israel to stop the war that was launched following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack. But as shippers began to avoid the regions of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, the rebel strikes still continued.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Education Secretary Miguel Cardona signed off Friday as the nation’s top education official — calling it his “dream job.”
“To the students, families, educators, and education leaders I’ve served these last 4 years, I want to make it clear that while I will no longer be your Secretary of Education, I will still be your partner in all that we hope to achieve for America’s students,” Cardona wrote in a farewell post on X.
Cardona was sworn in on March 2, 2021, a year into the coronavirus pandemic, serving nearly the entire Biden presidency.
During his tenure, the former Connecticut education commissioner touted helping President Joe Biden safely reopen K-12 schools for in-person learning after monthslong closures. He also championed the department’s efforts to fix the so-called broken student loan system and cancel debt for millions of borrowers. The secretary also faced right-wing attacks at every turn, including the classroom culture wars battle. He vowed to continue fighting after leaving his post.
“Our fight for education is happening all around us in classrooms and communities across the country and it continues,” he wrote. “And I’ll be right there with you in the fight.”
However, Cardona’s tenure was mired by higher education woes. For the past 2 1/2 years, the education secretary has been criticized for the botched rollout of a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid application and for how his department’s student debt relief plan was unconstitutional — facing Supreme Court rejections in 2023.
In his capstone event on Tuesday, Cardona laid into the next administration for choosing “a billionaire donor to lead the department of education.”
The Trump administration is expected to hand over the Department of Education to WWE co-founder Linda McMahon if she is confirmed by the Senate.
McMahon, a Trump loyalist and donor, is expected to carry out the president-elect’s policies, which Trump has said include shutting down the very department McMahon has been tapped to lead.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump has kicked off his second term with a flurry of executive actions on immigration, the economy, DEI and more.
Federal agencies are being directed to place all employees working on DEI programs and initiatives to be put on paid administrative leave by Wednesday at 5 p.m. Meanwhile, legal challenges have been mounted against Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship and action that makes it easier to fire career government employees. Fallout also continues from his pardoning more than a thousand rioters convicted in connection with the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Meanwhile, lawmakers will continue to question and process the president’s Cabinet picks. New allegations against Pete Hegseth, tapped to lead the Pentagon, are being reported as the Senate moves toward a final vote on his nomination.
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.
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.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s final report lays out in no uncertain terms federal prosecutors’ position that Donald Trump — who is set to be inaugurated president in less than a week — would have been convicted on multiple felonies for his alleged efforts to unlawfully overturn the results of the 2020 election, had voters not decided to send him back to the White House in the 2024 election.
That was one of the primary conclusions included in Smith’s final report on his election interference investigation, which the Justice Department released early Tuesday morning after a federal judge, late Monday night, cleared the way for the report’s release.
The report lays out the probe that resulted in Trump being charged in 2023 with four felony counts of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The case, as well as Smith’s classified documents case against Trump, was dropped following Trump’s reelection in November due to a longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
“The Department’s view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a President is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Office stands fully behind,” the report said. “Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the Presidency, the Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”
After conducting interviews with 250 witnesses voluntarily, calling 55 people to testify before the grand jury, executing dozens of subpoenas and search warrants, and sifting through a terabyte of publicly accessible data, Smith’s team concluded they could convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump committed multiple federal crimes when he attempted to overturn the election, the report said.
“The throughline of all of Mr. Trump’s criminal efforts was deceit — knowingly false claims of election fraud — and the evidence shows that Mr. Trump used these lies as a weapon to defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States’ democratic process,” the report said.
For the first time, the report shed light on the internal deliberations of the prosecutors who sought to prove that Trump “engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort” while navigating the uncharted legal territory of charging a former president.
While prosecutors considered charging Trump with violating the Insurrection Act, Smith wrote that he opted against the approach because of the “litigation risk that would be presented by employing this long-dormant statute.” According to the report, prosecutors worried that Trump’s actions did not amount to an insurrection because he was already in power — rather than challenging a sitting government — when the riot took place. Smith also noted that his office did not obtain “direct evidence” of Trump’s “intent to cause the full scope of the violence that occurred on January 6.”
Smith also noted that the case against Trump presented unique challenges, including Trump’s “ability and willingness” to use social media to target witnesses, courts, and prosecutors with “threats and harassment.” Like any other case involving a conspiracy, prosecutors also expressed concerns about convincing witnesses to cooperate while the defendant still exerted influence and command over his alleged co-conspirators.
“That dynamic was amplified in this case given Mr. Trump’s political and financial status, and the prospect of his future election to the presidency,” the report said.
Despite those concerns, Smith’s report laid out how prosecutors planned to rebut Trump’s expected arguments to secure a conviction, laying out a play-by-play for how a trial would have proceeded had Trump lost the election.
If the former president argued that he acted in good faith when he claimed there was election fraud, prosecutors would present “strong proof” that Trump himself knew his claims of fraud were false. The report noted that Trump repeatedly noted in private how he lost the election, including berating Vice President Mike Pence for being “too honest” to challenge the results, telling his family “you still have to fight like hell” even if he lost the election, and remarking to a staffer, “Can you believe I lost to this f’ing guy?” after seeing Biden on television.
“This was not a case in which Mr. Trump merely misstated a fact or two in a handful of isolated instances. On a repeated basis, he and co-conspirators used specific and knowingly false claims of election fraud,” the report said.
If Trump argued he was following the advice of his lawyers, prosecutors planned to present evidence showing that his lawyers were acting as accomplices to the crime, preventing Trump from legally being able to employ the argument.
And if Trump argued that he was just using his First Amendment right when he challenged the election, prosecutors planned to highlight that Trump employed his statements to commit other crimes, including using false statements to defeat a government function, obstruct an official proceeding, and injure the right to vote.
“The Office was cognizant of Mr. Trump’s free speech rights during the investigation and would not have brought a prosecution if the evidence indicated he had engaged in mere political exaggeration or rough-and-tumble politics,” the report said. “The conduct of Mr. Trump and co-conspirators, however, went well beyond speaking their minds or contesting the election results through our legal system.”
In the report, Smith also detailed multiple interviews with various so-called “fake electors” who he said sought to cast votes for Trump — and admitted they would not have done so “had they known the true extent of co-conspirators’ plans.”
Smith told how investigators obtained Signal messages where “Co-Conspirator 4” — previously identified by ABC News as former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark — sent a message to Rep. Scott Perry saying he had received a highly classified briefing on foreign interference in the 2020 election that “yielded nothing” to support allegations of a stolen election.
“Bottom line is there is nothing helpful to P,” Clark’s message said, according to the report.
The report cites the handwritten notes of former Vice President Mike Pence that the special counsel obtained, about which Smith wrote, “In repeated conversations, day after day, Mr. Trump pressed Mr. Pence to use his ministerial position as President of the Senate to change the election outcome, often by citing false claims of election fraud as justification; he even falsely told Mr. Pence that the ‘Justice Department [was] finding major infractions.'”
Regarding the House select committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the report said that probe only “comprised a small part of the Office’s investigative record, and any facts on which the Office relied to make a prosecution decision were developed or verified through independent interviews and other investigative steps.”
Volume One of Smith’s final report was released to the public early Tuesday after U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, following a weeklong court battle, ruled Monday that the Justice Department could release it.
Trump’s former co-defendants in his classified documents case, longtime aide Walt Nauta and staffer Carlos De Oliveira, had sought to block the release of both the classified documents volume and the Jan. 6 volume, but Cannon — who last year dismissed the classified documents case — allowed the public release of the Jan. 6 volume after determining that its contents have no bearing on the evidence or charges related Nauta and De Oliveira in their ongoing case.
After conferring with Smith, Garland determined that he would not publicly release Volume Two pertaining to the classified documents investigation because Nauta and De Oliveira’s cases were technically still on appeal.
In the classified documents case, Trump pleaded not guilty in 2023 to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information. The former president, along with Nauta and De Oliveira, pleaded not guilty in a superseding indictment to allegedly attempting to delete surveillance footage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Smith resigned as special prosecutor on Friday after wrapping up the cases and submitting his report to Garland.
