President Donald Trump said Russian leader Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a potential deal to end Russia’s war there.
Trump made the comments to reporters at a start of a meeting at the White House on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Here’s the latest:
Trump and Macron say they hope Pope Francis recovers
President Trump sent his best wishes to a hospitalized Pope Francis.
“It’s a very serious situation,” Trump said while greeting French President Emmanuel Macron. “We do want him to get well if that’s possible.”
Macron said he also wished the pope a recovery.
Judge set to hear arguments in the AP’s lawsuit against Trump officials
A judge is due to hear arguments Monday afternoon in The Associated Press’ lawsuit against three staff members of President Trump, whose administration has barred the news agency from presidential events.
The AP is appearing in federal court in Washington on Monday over its emergency motion to undo the administration’s move to shut its journalists out of the Oval Office, Air Force One and other areas where the outlet has long operated as part of the White House press pool.
The dispute stems from the news agency’s refusal to conform to Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” The AP says it is adhering to the “Gulf of Mexico” terminology because its audience is global and the waters are not only in U.S. territory, but it is acknowledging Trump’s rechristening as well.
AP says the issue strikes at the very core of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which bars the government from punishing speech. The White House says access to the president is a privilege, not a right.
Judge blocks immigration agents from making arrests in churches for some religious groups
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chang on Monday found that the Trump administration policy could violate their religious freedom and should be blocked while a lawsuit plays out.
The preliminary injunction from the Maryland-based judge only applies to the plaintiffs, which include five Quaker congregations, a Georgia-based network of Baptist churches and a Sikh temple in California.
They sued after the Trump administration threw out Department of Homeland Security policies limiting where migrant arrests could happen as Trump seeks to make good on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations.
The policy change said field agents using “common sense” and “discretion” can conduct immigration enforcement operations at houses of worship without a supervisor’s approval.
▶ Read more about the judge’s decision
Macron tells Trump that Europe provided ‘real money’ to Ukraine
Macron interrupted Trump as the U.S. president was saying, “Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They’ll get their money back.”
Putting his hand on Trump’s arm, Macron corrected: “No, in fact, to be frank, we paid 60% of the total effort: it was through, like the U.S., loans, guarantees, grants. We provided real money, to be clear.”
In meeting with Macron, Trump threatens tariffs
President Trump reiterated his plans to charge “reciprocal” tariffs against every country in the world, as French President Emanuel Macron listened in silence as the two met in the Oval Office.
“Whatever they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said. “Nobody has a problem.”
Trump has portrayed the planned taxes on imports as a matter of fairness. Still, his threatened tariffs would include other factors such as the value added taxes charged in Europe and state subsidies in determining rates. Europe has plans to retaliate with tariffs against Trump’s plans to reinforce his 2018 taxes on steel and aluminum imports with no exceptions provided to allies.
Trump backs Musk’s demand for federal employees to report what they’ve accomplished
Trump suggested that only those working on secret or confidential things don’t have to comply with Musk’s demand.
Some key U.S. agencies told their staffers not to answer the email, including the FBI and State Department. But Trump called the email “great.”
Though some agencies issued noncompliance orders, he said, “That was done in a friendly matter,” and suggested it was about protecting secret or sensitive work, not seeking to be “combative” with Musk.
“There was a lot of genius in sending it,” Trump said of Musk’s email.
Trump says Putin
would accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of potential deal to end war
Trump made the comments to reporters at a start of a meeting at the White House on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Yeah, he will accept it,” Trump said. “I have asked him that question. Look If we do this deal, he’s not looking for World War.”
Democrats urge officials to tell workers they don’t have to respond to Musk’s demands
The letter from more than 100 House Democrats came in response to a tweet from Elon Musk and a subsequent Office of Personnel Management email demanding an explanation of what they got done in the last week.
The letter went to Trump’s top cabinet members and other agency heads, and it said Musk lacks a basic understanding of how government works. Finally, it said the agency heads must make clear that Musk’s threat of dismissal due to a nonresponse to the email is invalid.
“Whether Mr. Musk understands it or not, America is a nation of laws, our government is a system of checks and balances, and federal agencies will not be reorganized by social media post,” the letter read.
▶ Read more about Musk’s demand
Trump says Zelenskyy could come to Washington soon to sign a rare earth minerals agreement
The Trump administration wants more access to valuable minerals like lithium. Trump said a deal there was close. He also suggested a larger deal ending Russia’s war in Ukraine could come “within weeks.”
Asked if he’d call Russian President Vladimir Putin a dictator after calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that last week, Trump wouldn’t say, offering only, “I don’t use those words lightly.”
New FBI Director Kash Patel is also now at the helm of the ATF
Patel was sworn in Monday as acting chief of the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives just days after he became director of the FBI, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter.
It’s not immediately clear if Trump intends to nominate Patel for the ATF post, or what the administration’s plans are for the agency that has long been the target of Republicans. Justice Department and White House officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
With about 5,500 employees, the ATF is responsible for enforcing the nation’s laws around firearms, explosives and arson. Among other things, it’s in charge of licensing federal firearms dealers, tracing guns used in crimes and analyzing intelligence in shooting investigations.
▶ Read more about the Patel’s new role
— Alanna Durkin Richer
‘If you can’t come up with five things that you did, maybe you shouldn’t be employed here’
The head of the Department of Transportation said Monday he expects his employees to comply to Elon Musk’s demand for a list of five things they did last week — or possibly lose their jobs.
“If you can’t come up with five things that you did, maybe you shouldn’t be employed here,” DOT Secretary Sean Duffy said on Fox News. “This is an easy task.”
Musk’s government cost-cutting team has begun eliminating jobs at the DOT through buyouts and firings. That includes cuts at the auto safety unit that’s investigating Tesla crashes and ordering the Musk-run carmaker to recall vehicles.
Duffy told Congress before he was confirmed that he wouldn’t interfere on Musk’s behalf to stop Tesla probes.
Duffy added in the Fox interview that, if anything, the Musk email demanding federal employees list their accomplishments by the end of Monday may prove inspiring to workers.
UN rejects US resolution that doesn’t note Russian aggression in Ukraine war
In a win for Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, the United States on Monday failed to get the U.N. General Assembly to approve its resolution seeking to end the war without mentioning Russian aggression.
The U.S. draft resolution was amended by the assembly, adding language making clear that Russia invaded its smaller neighbor in violation of the U.N. Charter.
The vote in the 193-nation world body on the amended U.S. resolution was 93-8 with 73 abstentions, with Ukraine voting “yes,” the U.S. abstaining and Russia voting “no.”
▶ Read more about the United Nations resolution
Trump says he hopes a proposed deal to recoup billions in military aid to Ukraine will soon be signed
In a post to his Truth Social website, Trump said Monday he explained to visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders of the Group of Seven advanced democracies that the deal, which would involve the U.S. taking control of a significant portion of Ukraine’s rare earths and mineral assets, was critical to his efforts to end the war.
Those efforts have included direct contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian leaders as well as a United Nations resolution calling for an end to the war.
“Everyone expressed their goal of seeing the war end, and I emphasized the importance of the vital ‘Critical Minerals and Rare-Earths Deal’ between the United States and Ukraine, which we hope will be signed very soon!” Trump wrote. He said the agreement would result in a long-term economic partnership between the U.S. and Ukraine and would help “Ukraine’s economy grow as this brutal and savage war comes to an end.”
Trump’s comments came on the third anniversary of the start of the war.
FDA moves to rehire medical device staffers fired only days earlier
Barely a week after mass firings at the Food and Drug Administration, some probationary staffers received unexpected news over the weekend: The government wants them back.
Beginning Friday night, FDA employees overseeing medical devices and other key areas received calls and emails notifying them that their recent terminations had been “rescinded effective immediately,” according to messages viewed by The Associated Press.
Three FDA staffers affected by the decisions spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity because they planned to continue working for the agency and weren’t authorized to discuss its internal procedures.
The reversal is the latest example of President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s chaotic approach to cost-cutting, which has resulted in several agencies firing, and then scrambling to rehire, employees responsible for nuclear weapons, national parks and other government services.
▶ Read more about the FDA workers
— Matthew Perrone
Massachusetts cities sue over Trump threats to cut funds if they don’t cooperate on immigration
The two cities, Chelsea and Somerville, are Boston suburbs that have so-called sanctuary policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. They argue the administration’s tactics violate the cities’ constitutional rights.
“The President cannot use federal funding as a weapon to force local governments to undermine public safety and their values and participate in his mass deportation efforts,” said Oren Sellstrom, one of the cities’ attorneys. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to protect sanctuary and welcoming cities, so they can continue to make public safety decisions that are in the best interests of their residents.”
The Trump administration has sued Chicago over its sanctuary policies and lawmakers in at least 20 states have introduced bills targeting sanctuary cities.
The lawsuit comes as White House border czar Tom Homan recently called out Boston, which also has a sanctuary policy, for not helping federal officials with deportations.
Federal employees who have been working from home are returning to offices this week
That’s in accordance with President Trump’s return-to-office mandate.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who’s leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency scouring government agencies for suspected waste, said on his platform X on Monday: “Starting this week, those who still fail to return to office will be placed on administrative leave.”
Lee Zeldin, Trump’s new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Monday on X, formerly Twitter, “Full time, COVID-era remote work is DONE under @POTUS leadership.”
Judge blocks two agencies from disclosing personal records to Musk’s DOGE
The judge ruled Monday that the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management likely violated the Privacy Act by disclosing people’s personal information to Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency without their consent.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, said her decision to issue a temporary restraining order against the agencies doesn’t prevent Trump from “effectuating the administration’s policies.”
“It prevents the disclosure of the plaintiffs’ sensitive personal information to DOGE affiliates who, on the current record, do not have a need to know the information to perform their duties,” she wrote.
▶ Read more about the judge’s decision
Trump administration cancels reading and math tests of 17-year-olds meant to study long-term trends
The Long-Term Trend Assessment is administered every four years for students who are ages 9, 13, and 17.
The test for 17-year-olds hasn’t been done since 2012 because of budget constraints. Its elimination will affect the collection of long-term data on how older students are progressing.
The tests are part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The Education Department said the cuts don’t affect the main NAEP assessments of fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders, which are given every two years and are known as “the nation’s report card.”
A department spokesperson did not provide a reason for the cuts.
French President Emmanuel Macron has left the White House after meeting with Tump
Trump, a Republican, hosted Macron on Monday, the three-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. Trump is set to hold a meeting Thursday with another key European leader, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries tells caucus members to join him on Capitol steps on Tuesday
He says the purpose of the event is to help Democrats give their perspective on the House Republican budget plan, which is expected to come up for a vote this week.
Jeffries says the plan would provide $4.5 trillion in tax breaks, explode the debt and end “Medicaid as we know it.” And he’s asking members for “maximum attendance” this week.
“We must be at full strength to enhance our opportunity to stop the GOP Tax Scam in its tracks,” Jeffries said in a letter to colleagues.
Republicans are trying to push through a plan that would give them the opportunity later this year to extend tax cuts enacted in 2017. They’re also aiming for $2 trillion in spending cuts over the course of a decade to help offset the impact on the national debt.
Trump’s Justice Department enforcer has been a frequent target of complaints about his conduct
Emil Bove is President Trump’s chief enforcer at the Justice Department.
In just a month as the department’s acting No. 2 official, the little-known Bove has plowed through norms and niceties, whether scolding FBI leadership for “insubordination” in refusing his request to hand over the names of agents who investigated the January 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol or forcing out attorneys who worked those cases.
Earlier this month, he pressured former colleagues to drop charges against New York City’s mayor for reasons unrelated to the strength of the case, upending decades of Justice Department norms.
The moves have spurred intense criticism from legal scholars and former prosecutors.
But Bove has brushed aside such concerns in a way that’s not at all surprising to many who knew him when he was litigating drug and terrorism cases as a federal prosecutor in New York City.
▶ Read more about Bove’s past conduct
Federal workers sue over Musk’s threat to fire them if they don’t explain their accomplishments
Attorneys for the federal workers said Monday in the lawsuit that billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk violated the law with his weekend demand that employees explain their accomplishments or risk being fired.
The updated lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in California and was provided to The Associated Press, is trying to block mass layoffs pursued by Musk and President Trump, including any connected to the email distributed by the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday. The office, which functions as a human resources agency for the federal government, said employees needed to detail five things that they did last week by end of day Monday.
“No OPM rule, regulation, policy, or program has ever, in United States history, purported to require all federal workers to submit reports to OPM,” said the amended complaint, which was filed on behalf of unions, businesses veterans, and conservation groups. It called the threat of mass firings “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.”
▶ Read more about the lawsuit over DOGE
Trump meets with French President Macron as uncertainty grows about US ties to Europe and Ukraine
President Donald Trump welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron to the White House for talks Monday at a moment of deep uncertainty about the future of transatlantic relations, with Trump transforming American foreign policy and effectively tuning out European leadership as he looks to quickly end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The two leaders were starting their day by taking part in a virtual meeting with fellow leaders of the Group of Seven economies to discuss the war.
Trump also has made demands for territory — Greenland, Canada, Gaza and the Panama Canal — as well as precious rare earth minerals from Ukraine. Just over a month into his second term, the “America First” president has cast an enormous shadow over what veteran U.S. diplomats and former government officials had regarded as America’s calming presence of global stability and continuity.
▶ Read more about Trump’s meeting with Macron
The young techies behind DOGE are a lightning rod for criticism but also a youth magnet for the GOP
To those concerned about billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s access to sensitive government data, his tear-it-down band of young techies doing that work is an unregulated threat to privacy. The view on the right is much different.
Voices influential in conservative politics describe the crew of engineers, most of whom are in their early 20s, as among the world’s best minds sent to save the U.S. government from bureaucratic bloat.
It comes at a moment when young progressives have criticized the Democratic Party for sidelining them and as the party’s hold on younger voters is slipping, particularly among young men. Republicans are using the contrasting images as a marketing strategy.
▶ Read more DOGE and young voters
Fired federal workers hunt for new jobs but struggle to replace their old ones
Axed from jobs not easily found outside government, thousands of federal workers caught in President Trump’s cost-cutting efforts now face a difficult search for work.
“If you’re doing, say, vegetation sampling and prescribed fire as your main work, there aren’t many jobs,” says Eric Anderson, 48, of Chicago, who was fired Feb. 14 from his job as a biological science technician at Indiana Dunes National Park.
All the years of work Anderson put in — the master’s degree, the urban forestry classes, the wildfire deployments — seemed to disappear in a single email dismissing him.
He’s hoping there’s a chance he’s called back, but if he isn’t, he’s not sure what he’ll do next. He was so consumed with his firing that he broke a molar from grinding his teeth. But he knows he’s caught in something larger than himself, as the new administration unfurls its chaotic cost-cutting agenda.
▶ Read more about fired federal workers and their search for new jobs
Democratic governors balance whether to fight or pacify after Trump threatens one of their own
Trump’s real-time confrontation with Maine’s governor over transgender athletes captured the conundrum many Democratic governors are facing in the Republican’s second term.
Gov. Janet Mills’ vow that she would see Trump in court over his threat to withhold money from the state if it didn’t comply with his executive order delighted Democrats who want more strident pushback. But the dust-up that played out in the open Friday as Trump hosted governors at the White House ticked off a president known to retaliate against people he considers enemies.
Hours after the spat, the federal Department of Education announced it was initiating an investigation into the Maine Department of Education over the inclusion of trans athletes. Trump doesn’t want them playing in girls and women’s sports; Maine law bars discrimination based on gender identity.
▶ Read more about how Democratic governors are reacting to the spat
‘Dark MAGA’ on display at CPAC as conservatives embrace Musk’s influence on Trump
At an annual gathering of conservative activists, the signature red “ Make America Great Again ” hats popularized by Trump were interspersed with a noticeable number of the black “Dark MAGA” hats made popular by Musk.
It was just one sign of Musk’s emerging influence and how the world’s wealthiest man — who once backed Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden — has become a conservative power center in his own right due to his connections to Trump.
Speakers at CPAC frequently brought up DOGE, playfully named after a meme coin with the face of a Shiba Inu dog popularized by Musk in 2021. They variously referred to him as a “white knight,” a “hero of free speech,” and according to one of his harshest critics, Steve Bannon, “Superman.”
▶ Read more about Musk’s influence on display at CPAC
Ex-Secret Service agent and conservative media personality picked as FBI deputy director
Dan Bongino, a former U.S. Secret Service agent who has penned best-selling books, ran unsuccessfully for office and gained fame as a conservative pundit with TV shows and a popular podcast, has been chosen to serve as FBI deputy director.
Trump announced the appointment Sunday night in a post on his Truth Social platform, praising Bongino as “a man of incredible love and passion for our Country.” He called the announcement “great news for Law Enforcement and American Justice.”
The selection places two staunch Trump allies atop the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency at a time when Democrats are concerned that the president could seek to target his adversaries. Bongino would serve under Kash Patel, who was sworn in as FBI director at the White House on Friday.
▶ Read more about Dan Bongino
Key federal agencies refuse to comply with Musk’s latest demand in his cost-cutting crusade
Confusion and chaos loom as hundreds of thousands of federal employees begin their workweek Monday facing a deadline from President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting chief, Elon Musk, to explain their recent accomplishments or risk losing their jobs.
Musk’s team sent an email to hundreds of thousands of federal employees Saturday giving them roughly 48 hours to report five specific things they had accomplished last week. In a separate message on X, Musk said any employee who failed to respond by the deadline — set in the email as 11:59 p.m. EST Monday — would lose their job.
Musk’s unusual demand has faced resistance from several key U.S. agencies led by the president’s loyalists — including the FBI, State Department, Homeland Security and the Pentagon — which instructed their employees over the weekend not to comply. Lawmakers in both parties said that Musk’s mandate may be illegal, while unions are threatening to sue.
▶ Read more about Musk’s deadline for federal workers
