Trump moves with dizzying speed on his to-do list. But there are warning signs in his first month

Trump moves with dizzying speed on his to-do list. But there are warning signs in his first month
President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, en route to West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 16 February 2025
Follow

Trump moves with dizzying speed on his to-do list. But there are warning signs in his first month

Trump moves with dizzying speed on his to-do list. But there are warning signs in his first month
  • While Trump promised to turn Washington upside down, his moves could have far-reaching implications for thousands of federal employees around the country

WASHINGTON: As President Donald Trump approaches the first-month mark in his second term, he has moved with dizzying speed and blunt force to reorder American social and political norms and the economy while redefining the US role in the world.
At the same time, he has empowered Elon Musk, an unelected, South African-born billionaire, to help engineer the firing of thousands of federal employees and potentially shutter entire agencies created by Congress.
Those efforts have largely overshadowed Trump’s crackdowns on immigration and the US-Mexico border, and his efforts to remake social policy by wiping out diversity, equity and inclusion programs and rolling back transgender rights.
The president has also imposed scores of new tariffs against US trade partners and threatened more, even as economists warn that will pass costs on to US consumers and feed inflation.
Here’s a look at the first four weeks:
Mass federal firings begin
The Trump administration fired thousands of workers who were still in probationary periods common among new hires. Some had less than an hour to leave their offices.
Those potentially losing jobs include medical scientists, energy infrastructure specialists, foreign service employees, FBI agents, prosecutors, educational and farming data experts, overseas aid workers and even human resources personnel who would otherwise have to manage the dismissals.
At the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created to protect the public after the 2008 financial crisis, employees say the administration not only wants to cut nearly the entire workforce but also erase all its data from the past 12 years. The administration agreed to pause any further dismantling of the agency until March 3, under a judge’s order.
While Trump promised to turn Washington upside down, his moves could have far-reaching implications for thousands of federal employees around the country and drive up the unemployment rate if large numbers of layoffs happen at once.
Legal challenges mount
Court challenges to Trump’s policies started on Inauguration Day and have continued at a furious pace since Jan. 20. The administration is facing some 70 lawsuits nationwide challenging his executive orders and moves to downsize the federal government.
The Republican-controlled Congress is putting up little resistance, so the court system is ground zero for pushback. Judges have issued more than a dozen orders at least temporarily blocking aspects of Trump’s agenda, ranging from an executive order to end US citizenship extended automatically to people born in this country to giving Musk’s team access to sensitive federal data.
While many of those judges were nominated by Democratic presidents, Trump has gotten unfavorable rulings from judges picked by Republican presidents, too. Trump suggested he could target the judiciary, saying, “Maybe we have to look at the judges.” The administration has said in the meantime that it will appeal, while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt railed against the orders slowing the president’s agenda, calling each “an abuse of the rule of law.”
The administration has notched a few wins, too, most significantly when a judge allowed it to move forward with a deferred resignation program spearheaded by Musk.
The economic outlook worsens
Amid the policy upheaval, the latest economic data could prompt some White House worries.
Inflation rose at a monthly rate of 0.5 percent in January, according to the Labor Department. Over the past three months, the consumer price index has increased at an annual rate of 4.5 percent — a sign that inflation is heating up again after having cooled for much of 2024.
Trump told voters he could lower inflation, and do so almost immediately after taking office. But Leavitt, while blaming Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, acknowledged the latest inflation indicators were “worse than expected.”
More trouble signs came when the Commerce Department reported that retail sales slumped 0.9 percent on a monthly basis in January. A drop that large could signal a weakening in consumer confidence and economic growth.
The Federal Reserve’s report on industrial production also found that factory output slipped 0.1 percent in January, largely due to a 5.2 percent drop in the making of motor vehicles and parts.
These could all be blips, which means the monthly data in February will really matter.
The ‘fair trade’ Trump wants isn’t necessarily fair
After previously imposing tariffs on China and readying import taxes on Canada and Mexico, Trump rolled out what he called the “big one.” He said his administration would put together new tariffs in the coming weeks and months to match what other countries charge.
Other nations hardly find Trump’s approach fair.
From their vantage point, he is including items other than tariffs such as value added taxes, which are akin to sales taxes. That means the rates could be much higher than a standard tariff in Europe.
On top of that, Trump plans separate additional tariffs on autos, computer chips and pharmaceuticals, in addition to the 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum that he announced on Monday.
It is not clear whether these trade penalties are mainly negotiating tools or ways for Trump to raise revenues. So far, he has suggested that they are both.
Congress watches its authority erode. But there are signs of pushback
Congress finds itself confounded by the onslaught as its institutional power — as the Constitution’s first branch of government with its unmatched authority over federal spending — is being eroded in real time.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said he finds the work of Musk’s team “very exciting.” Johnson said Trump is “taking legitimate executive action.”
But even among congressional Republicans there were small signs of protest emerging — letters being written and phone calls being made — to protect their home-state interests and constituents as funding for programs, services and government contracts is being dismantled.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., urged the Homeland Security Department not to issue blanket deportations for Venezuelan migrants who fled their country and now call the Miami-area home. “I’m not powerless. I’m a member of Congress,” he said.
Democratic lawmakers have joined protesters outside shuttered federal offices, arguing Trump and Musk had gone too far. Democrats suggested legislation to protect various programs, and even filed articles of impeachment against the president over his plans to bulldoze and redevelop Gaza.
Trump wants a new world order
With his phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin this past week, Trump is hoping he initiated the beginning of the end of the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine.
The leaders agreed to have their teams “start negotiations immediately.” After getting off the phone with Putin, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss getting both sides to the negotiating table.
The Putin call is a monumental development in a war that has left hundreds of thousands dead or seriously wounded.
But the way ahead remains complicated.
Zelensky said he will not meet with Putin until a plan for peace is hammered out by Trump. Trump has gotten blowback when European leaders sharply criticized him and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for suggesting that NATO membership was not in the cards for Ukraine.
The White House faces a further quandary with Zelensky wanting the US and other countries to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, and Zelensky insisting that he and Trump iron out an agreement on the contours of any peace deal.


Interior minister: 199 migrants deported from US arrive in Venezuela

Interior minister: 199 migrants deported from US arrive in Venezuela
Updated 10 sec ago
Follow

Interior minister: 199 migrants deported from US arrive in Venezuela

Interior minister: 199 migrants deported from US arrive in Venezuela
  • Live footage showed young men in sweatsuits walking off the plane, which landed outside the capital Caracas
  • The flight comes after Venezuela announced it had reached an agreement with Washington to resume repatriation flights
MAIQUETIA, Venezuela: A plane carrying 199 migrants deported from the United States arrived early Monday in Venezuela, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said.
“Today, we are receiving 199 compatriots,” he said at the airport. “We are ready to receive Venezuelans wherever they are.”
Live footage showed young men in sweatsuits walking off the plane, which landed outside the capital Caracas. Some of them were smiling and clapping as officials looked on.
The flight comes after Venezuela on Saturday announced it had reached an agreement with Washington to resume repatriation flights from the United States.
The deportation pipeline was suspended last month when US President Donald Trump claimed Venezuela had not lived up to a deal to quickly receive deported migrants, and Caracas subsequently said it would no longer accept the flights.

Russia launches third consecutive overnight air attack on Kyiv ahead of peace talks with US

Russia launches third consecutive overnight air attack on Kyiv ahead of peace talks with US
Updated 24 March 2025
Follow

Russia launches third consecutive overnight air attack on Kyiv ahead of peace talks with US

Russia launches third consecutive overnight air attack on Kyiv ahead of peace talks with US
  • Latest attack came ahead of Russia-US talks in Riyadh to discuss ways to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea

KYIV: Russia launched its third consecutive overnight air attack on Kyiv, wounding one person and damaging several houses in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital, a Kyiv’s regional governor said on Monday.
A 37-year-old person received shrapnel wounds in his upper body and head, governor Mykola Kalashnyk said in a post on Telegram messaging app.
“The person has been hospitalized,” Kalashnyk said.
Late on Sunday, in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, Russia’s attack injured a 54-year-old woman and damaged windows of multi-story and residential buildings, the region’s administration said on Telegram.
The attacks came after a Ukrainian delegation met with US officials for peace talks in Saudi Arabia, and ahead of Russia-US talks there on Monday to discuss ways to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea.
The United States is pushing for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, and hopes to reach a broad ceasefire in the war by April 20, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the planning.
But despite the peace push, both sides have been reporting continued strikes.
The full-scale of the overnight attack was not immediately clear.
There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia started with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kyiv, its surrounding region and the eastern half of Ukraine were under air raid alerts several hours starting late on Sunday, according to Ukraine air force maps.


France arrests young man for suspected attack on rabbi

France arrests young man for suspected attack on rabbi
Updated 24 March 2025
Follow

France arrests young man for suspected attack on rabbi

France arrests young man for suspected attack on rabbi
  • France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union

ORLEANS, France: French police have arrested a young man on suspicion of attacking a rabbi in broad daylight, a prosecutor said Sunday, shocking the Jewish community and prompting a wave of condemnation.
The attack against the Rabbi of Orleans, Arie Engelberg, happened as he walked with his nine-year-old son from synagogue on Saturday afternoon in the city, about 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Paris.
Engelberg told BFM television that his attacker asked if he was Jewish. “I said yes.”
“He started saying ‘all Jews are sons of...,” he said, adding that he wanted to film him with his phone as he hurled insults.
“I decided to act and I pushed his telephone away,” the rabbi said. His attacker then “started punching and I protected myself,” he added.
Engelberg said the suspect bit him until several people stepped in to help, he told the channel.
“I’m OK, thank God, my son, I’m getting better and better. We’ve had an enormous amount of support.”
Police were checking the identity of the person in custody since he did not have documents on him when he was detained, Orleans prosecutor Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren said.
Another source with knowledge of the case said the suspect arrested on Saturday night was known under at least three identities, one Moroccan and two Palestinian.

France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union.
Several EU nations have reported a spike in “anti-Muslim hatred” and “anti-Semitism” since the Gaza war started on October 7, 2023, according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
On that date, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a cross-border attack in Israel, resulting in the death of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s subsequent military offensive on Gaza has killed more than 50,000 people, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run occupied Palestinian territory. The United Nations deems the figures reliable.
Andre Druon, a Jewish community leader in Orleans, said there had not been any incident in Orleans since October 7, 2023 “apart from some graffiti” before the “very violent” attack on the rabbi.
He said the rabbi was profoundly shaken when he recounted his ordeal to the community on Sunday.
Yann Dhieux, a locksmith, told AFP he had intervened with his arms wide and helped stop the assault, but that it was shocking to see the rabbi attacked in front of his young son.
President Emmanuel Macron voiced solidarity with the rabbi’s family and all French people of Jewish faith.
“Anti-Semitism is a poison,” he wrote on X.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was “shocked” by the attack and called for “zero tolerance for anti-Semitism.”
France witnessed some 1,570 anti-Semitic acts last year, the interior ministry says. They made up 62 percent of all acts of hatred on the basis of religion.
 

 


South Korean court overturns impeachment of Prime Minister Han, reinstating him as acting president

South Korean court overturns impeachment of Prime Minister Han, reinstating him as acting president
Updated 24 March 2025
Follow

South Korean court overturns impeachment of Prime Minister Han, reinstating him as acting president

South Korean court overturns impeachment of Prime Minister Han, reinstating him as acting president
  • Han was impeached by the National Assembly, soon after he became acting president when Yoon Suk Yeol was forced out
  • The Constitutional Court said Monday it has decided to overturn Han’s impeachment, but it has yet to rule on Yoon’s impeachment

SEOUL: South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Monday overturned the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating the nation’s No. 2 official as acting leader, while not yet ruling on the separate impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Han became acting president after Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly over his Dec. 3 imposition of martial law that triggered a massive political crisis. But Han was impeached by the assembly as well in late December following political strife with opposition lawmakers.
The unprecedented, successive impeachments that suspended the country’s top two officials intensified a domestic division and deepened worries about the country’s diplomatic and economic activities. The deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, had since serving as acting president.
The Constitutional Court said Monday it has decided to overturn Han’s impeachment, but it has yet to rule on Yoon’s impeachment.
If the court upholds Yoon’s impeachment, South Korea must hold a election for a new president. If it rules for him, Yoon will be restored to office and regain his presidential powers.
Yoon was impeached about two weeks earlier than Han. Observers earlier predicted the Constitutional Court would rule on Yoon’s case in mid-March but it hasn’t done so.
Yoon has been separately arrested and charged with rebellion in connection with his martial law decree. If convicted of that charge, he would face the death penalty or a life sentence. On March 8, Yoon was released from prison, after a Seoul district court allowed him to stand his criminal trial without being detained.
Massive rival rallies backing Yoon or denouncing Yoon have divided the streets of Seoul and other major cities in South Korea. Earlier surveys showed that a majority of South Koreans were critical of Yoon’s martial law enactment, but those supporting or sympathizing with Yoon have later gained strength.
At the center of squabbling over Yoon is why he sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the assembly after declaring martial law. Yoon says he aims to maintain order, but senior military and police officers sent there have said that Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to prevent a floor vote to overturn his decree. Enough lawmakers eventually managed to enter an assembly hall and voted it down unanimously.


US delegation aims for Black Sea ceasefire in Ukraine, Russia talks

US delegation aims for Black Sea ceasefire in Ukraine, Russia talks
Updated 24 March 2025
Follow

US delegation aims for Black Sea ceasefire in Ukraine, Russia talks

US delegation aims for Black Sea ceasefire in Ukraine, Russia talks
  • Talks follow meeting between US, Ukrainian officials on Sunday
  • Teams will also discuss “the line of control” between the two countries

RIYADH/KYI: A US delegation will seek progress toward a Black Sea ceasefire and a broader cessation of violence in the war in Ukraine when it meets for talks with Russian officials on Monday, after discussions with diplomats from Ukraine on Sunday.
The so-called technical talks come as US President Donald Trump intensifies his drive for a halt to Russia’s three-year-old assault against Ukraine. Last week, he spoke with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A source briefed on the planning for the talks said the US side was being led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official.
They met the Ukrainians on Sunday night and plan to sit down with the Russians on Monday.
The White House says the aim of the talks is to reach a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, allowing the free flow of shipping.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the US, Russian and Ukrainian delegations were assembled in the same facility in Riyadh.
Beyond a Black Sea ceasefire, he said, the teams will discuss “the line of control” between the two countries, which he described as “verification measures, peacekeeping, freezing the lines where they are.” He said “confidence-building measures” are being discussed, including the return of Ukrainian children taken by Russia.

ussia will be represented by Grigory Karasin, a former diplomat who is now chair of the Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the director of the Federal Security Service.
Ukraine’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, said on Facebook that the US-Ukraine talks included proposals to protect energy facilities and critical infrastructure.
After Russian forces made gains in 2024, Trump reversed US policy on the war, launching bilateral talks with Moscow and suspending military assistance to Ukraine, demanding that it take steps to end the conflict.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who met Putin in Moscow in early March, played down concerns among Washington’s NATO allies that Moscow could be emboldened by a deal and invade other neighbors.
“I just don’t see that he wants to take all of Europe. This is a much different situation than it was in World War Two, Witkoff told Fox News.
“I feel that he wants peace,” Witkoff said of Putin.

Somewhat under control
Trump has long promised to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two. But his outreach to Putin has unnerved European allies, who fear it heralds a fundamental shift after 80 years in which defending Europe from Russian expansionism was the core mission of US foreign policy.
The war has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and reduced entire towns to rubble.
Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, said earlier this month he supported in principle Washington’s proposal for a truce but that his forces would fight on until several crucial conditions were worked out.
Heorhii Tykhyi, a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on Friday the Ukrainian and American sides were due “to clarify the modalities, the nuances of possible different ceasefire regimes, how to monitor them, how to control them, in general, what is included in their scope.”
Last Tuesday, Putin agreed to Trump’s proposal for Russia and Ukraine to stop attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure for 30 days and ordered the Russian military to cease them.
The agreement fell short, however, of a wider agreement that the US had sought, and which Kyiv backed, for a blanket 30-day truce in the war.
Trump said on Saturday that efforts to stop further escalation in the Ukraine-Russia conflict were “somewhat under control.”
The US hopes to reach a broad ceasefire within weeks, targeting a truce agreement by April 20, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the planning.
Despite all the diplomatic activity, Russia and Ukraine have both reported continued strikes, while Russian forces have also continued to advance slowly in eastern Ukraine, a region Moscow claims to have annexed.