Trump pauses tariffs on Canada and Mexico as China levies to go into effect Tuesday If you’re just joining us, here is where things stand on Trump’s tariff threats:
Donald Trump has pulled back from the brink of a trade war with Canada and Mexico, postponing sweeping new US tariffs on goods from its two closest economic partners by one month.
It is the third time in two weeks the US president has delayed his threatened 25% tariffs on the two countries. China is still set to face additional 10% levy on its exports to the US from Tuesday.
Following talks with the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Monday, Trump agreed at the last minute to hold off from imposing new duties on the two countries.
The agreements came on a day of extreme volatility in global financial markets as rattled investors reacted to the prospect of a dramatically escalating dispute involving the world’s largest economies.
The Guardian’s Tom Phillips , Richard Partington and Callum Jones report:
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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday appeared to pass her biggest test yet on the world stage by winning breathing room from US President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs, which risked ramming a wrecking ball through Mexico’s economy.
Some politicians and analysts commended the Mexican leader’s measured public tone and apparent ability to blunt Trump’s charge, Reuters reports, after she reached an agreement with the US president to pause tariffs for a month as Mexico sends 10,000 troops to the border to stop migrants crossing into the US and address drug smuggling.
Mexico’s President Sheinbaum holds a press conference in Mexico City, 3 February 2025. Photograph: Raquel Cunha/Reuters “President Sheinbaum played it well. Masterfully,” Jorge Guajardo, a former Mexican ambassador to China and member of an opposition party, said on social media, adding that other world leaders “will see in Sheinbaum how to do it well.”
“Sheinbaum has taken a very cautious and strategic approach to the Trump administration,” said Lila Abed, director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington.
Abed pointed to Mexico’s ramped up fentanyl seizures in recent months, including its largest bust ever in December, as aiding Sheinbaum’s negotiation efforts.
“She’s been taking actions within her government to send a clear signal to the United States that it understands that fentanyl and organised crime are a top priority for the Trump administration,” said Abed.
Trump pauses tariffs on Canada and Mexico as China levies to go into effect Tuesday If you’re just joining us, here is where things stand on Trump’s tariff threats:
Donald Trump has pulled back from the brink of a trade war with Canada and Mexico, postponing sweeping new US tariffs on goods from its two closest economic partners by one month.
It is the third time in two weeks the US president has delayed his threatened 25% tariffs on the two countries. China is still set to face additional 10% levy on its exports to the US from Tuesday.
Following talks with the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Monday, Trump agreed at the last minute to hold off from imposing new duties on the two countries.
The agreements came on a day of extreme volatility in global financial markets as rattled investors reacted to the prospect of a dramatically escalating dispute involving the world’s largest economies.
The Guardian’s Tom Phillips , Richard Partington and Callum Jones report:
Interior department unveils orders aimed at carrying out Trump agenda The US interior department has unveiled a suite of orders aimed at carrying out Donald Trump’s agenda to maximize domestic energy and minerals production and slash red tape, Reuters reports.
In a statement, the agency said interior secretary Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, signed six orders on his first day in office.
They directed agency staff to identify emergency and legal authorities to speed project development and permitting in line with Trump’s energy emergency declaration and to eliminate burdensome regulations in part by reviewing appropriations under the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act laws.
The statement said the agency would eliminate at least 10 regulations for every new one introduced.
One of the orders revoked Biden’s withdrawal of large areas of federal waters from new offshore oil and gas development, while another seeks to boost resource development on federal and state lands in Alaska.
More now on the ACLU-led lawsuit, via the Associated Press:
In the lawsuit, the groups argued that immigration “even at elevated levels” does not constitute an invasion and noted that the number of people entering the country between the ports of entry had fallen to lows not seen since August 2020.
“The proclamation makes the sham claim of an invasion to justify wiping away all means of seeking asylum, with no regard for the fact that Congress has taken pains over four plus decades to create a safe haven for those fleeing danger,” said Lee Gelernt, lead attorney for the ACLU who’s argued many of the key asylum-related cases during the past two administrations.
“No President, including President Trump during his first Term, has ever claimed the power to unilaterally eliminate asylum.”
The groups argued that Trump’s declaration was an “extreme example of presidential overreach.” They said the government is “summarily expelling noncitizens” – often in just a few hours – without giving them the opportunity to apply for asylum or other forms of protection they’re legally entitled to and without giving them the opportunity to make a phone call.
ACLU sues government over asylum seeker access at southern border Immigration advocacy groups on Monday sued the Trump administration over its ban on asylum access at the southern border, saying the sweeping restrictions illegally put people who are fleeing war and persecution in harm’s way, the Associated Press reports.
The decision outlined in one of Trump’s immigration-related executive orders is “as unlawful as it is unprecedented,” the groups – led by the American Civil Liberties Union – said in the complaint, filed in a Washington federal court.
“The government is doing just what Congress by statute decreed that the United States must not do. It is returning asylum seekers – not just single adults, but families too – to countries where they face persecution or torture, without allowing them to invoke the protections Congress has provided,” lawyers wrote.
The ACLU and other groups filed the complaint on behalf of Arizona-based Florence Project, El Paso-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and Texas-based Raices.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that they do not comment on impending legislation.
In an executive order, Trump declared that the situation at the southern border constitutes an invasion of America and that he was “suspending the physical entry” of migrants until he decides it’s over.
The executive order also suspended the ability of migrants to ask for asylum.
In the executive order, Trump argued that the Immigration and Nationality Act gives presidents the authority to suspend entry of any group that they finds “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”
The day so far Canada and Mexico both reached deals with Donald Trump to temporarily halt tariffs. The president spoke with the leaders of both countries, which pledged to deploy troops along their borders, among other promises. Levies on China are still set to go into effect tomorrow. Meanwhile, confusion over the fate of USAid continued. Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, said he was taking over the agency and then named controversial figure Peter Marocco to be the deputy administrator.
Here’s what else has happened today:
Trump announced he’s planning to appoint Michael Ellis and the deputy director of the CIA. Ellis is a close Trump ally and worked in the president’s previous administration and helped fight allegations of collusion with Russia in the 2016 election.
Senator Susan Collins, a republican from Maine, said she’ll vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence. Collins is a key swing vote and her support brings Gabbard’s nomination close to being sealed.
Trump is reportedly mulling an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, in alignment with mandates from Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” to slash federal agencies.
Musk’s Doge reportedly accessed administration systems for the federal Small Business Administration. It has also reportedly accessed secure information at USAid and the Treasury department. According to Wired, Musk has reportedly deployed six young men to lead Doge’s efforts to access federal government data.
The Trump administration made plain its intent to merge USAid with the state department under Musk’s supervision. Employees were barred from the agency headquarters today, after the website was shuttered over the weekend. Several democrats cried foul, calling the act illegal and denouncing Musk.
The Trump administration may today begin using an obscure 18th-century law to deport undocumented migrants without first going through the courts.
Darren Beattie, a former White House official who wrote, “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work,” is reportedly set for a top role at the state department.
El Salvador and US close to finalizing migration agreement, says Bukele El Salvador and the United States are close to finalizing an agreement on migration following US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s visit to the Central American nation, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele said on Monday.
When asked by reporters if El Salvador would become a so-called safe third country to take US deportees from other countries, Bukele said that an agreement in the works would be even broader than that, adding Rubio would need to be the one to give further detail.
Trump to appoint Michael Ellis serve as deputy CIA director Trump has announced on Truth Social that he will appoint Michael Ellis as deputy CIA director.
He is legal counsel to Rumble, the social media platform said to be “immune to cancel culture”.
Ellis, according to Politico, is on the CIA landing team and held senior intelligence and policy roles on Trump’s first term national security council.
Trump said of Ellis, that he “helped expose abuses of the ‘unmasking’ process by the Obama administration at the beginning of the Russia, Russia, Russia, Hoax”.
According to Politico:
Before that, he served as the top lawyer to partisan firebrand Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), a close Trump ally who as House Intelligence Committee chair helped fight allegations the then-president’s campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.
Ellis’ work pushing back against the Trump-Russia investigation for Nunes was viewed as a major plus for incoming CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Trump, according to one of the two people.
Marco Rubio has authorized the controversial figure of Peter Marocco to be the deputy administrator of USAid, according to CBS . Rubio, the secretary of state, and now head of USAid, penned a letter to Congress saying that he’s delegating authority to Marocco to be the director of foreign assistance for the aid agency.
“Current foreign assistance processes are severely inefficient and do not substantially benefit the American people,” Rubio wrote. “This undermines the president’s ability to carry out foreign relations.”
Rubio said that Marocco will begin the process of a “potential reorganization of USAid’s activities to maximize efficiency”.
Marocco has long led the fight against USAid. He’s a Trump ally who served in the first administration in various capacities, including USAid’s assistant to the administration. Throughout his time at the agency, he advocated for a full-scale freeze on overseas aid. Marocco was also identified as allegedly being present at the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Tom Phillips
Donald Trump has pulled back from the brink of a trade war with Canada and Mexico, postponing sweeping new US tariffs on goods from its two closest economic partners by one month.
It is the third time in two weeks the US president has delayed his threatened 25% tariffs on the two countries. China is still set to face additional 10% levy on its exports to the US from Tuesday.
Following talks with the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Monday, Trump agreed to hold off from imposing new duties on the two countries.
The agreements came on a day of extreme volatility in global financial markets as rattled investors reacted to the prospect of a dramatically escalating dispute involving the world’s largest economies.
Senator Susan Collins says she’ll vote yes to approve Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence. The Maine senator was one of few Republican holdouts and her decision now makes Gabbard’s nomination that much closer to being sealed.
Collins said she knows how critical the role is and that she and Gabbard share similar visions. “The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, however, has become far larger than it was designed to be,” Collins said in a statement. “Ms Gabbard shares my vision of returning the agency to its intended size.”
Collins initially had concerns about Gabbard’s views on National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, but through various discussions she said those concerns have been ameliorated. Gabbard has also long supported Snowden, and during her confirmation hearings she acknowledged he had “broken the law”, but she refused to call him a “traitor” – a view taken by many politicians in the US.
Gabbard has also been cast by her critics as someone unfit to serve as the director of national intelligence. She’s made past statements praising Vladimir Putin and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Trump to postpone Canada tariffs for at least 30 days, Trudeau says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted on X:
I just had a good call with President Trump. Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl. Nearly 10,000 frontline personnel are and will be working on protecting the border.
In addition, Canada is making new commitments to appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering. I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million.
Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together.
Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly turning its sights on the Department of Education. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, officials are looking at an executive order that could undo the department. The move is part of Elon Musk’s strategy to slash federal agencies as the head of the “department of government efficiency”.
This executive order would reportedly shutter all parts of the agency that aren’t explicitly written into a statute, the Journal reports.
While campaigning for president, Trump said the Department of Education was something he was looking to eliminate. It’s unclear if he’ll be able to do that with an executive order. Much of the department is written into statute, including grants for low-income students and enforcing laws around civil rights and for students with disabilities.
The details of the order and the timing of its release are still up in the air. The White House didn’t respond to request for comment.
In an unusual public letter, Ed Martin, the acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, has warned that his office will prosecute anyone who interferes with the work of Elon Musk’s department of government efficiency” (Doge).
“I recognize that some of the staff at DOGE has been targeted publicly. At this time, I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting the DOGE work and the DOGE workers. Any threats, confrontations, or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws,” Martin wrote in the letter to Musk, which he also posted on X.
“Let me assure you of this: we will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people. We will not act like the previous administration who looked the other way as the Antifa and BLM rioters as well as thugs with guns trashed our capital city. We will protect DOGE and other workers no matter what.”
Donald Trump appointed Martin, formerly the chair of Missouri’s Republican party and a promoter of the president’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election, as the top federal prosecutor for Washington DC on an interim basis.
Wired reports that six young men are leading efforts by the “ department of government efficiency” (Doge) to access federal government data.
Among them is Edward Coristine, who PBS News just reported relayed the demand that the Small Business Administration open up its systems to Doge. The rest are recent college or high school graduates, Wired reports, who appear to have little of the sort of managerial experience normally required of federal officials. Here’s more:
WIRED has identified six young men – all apparently between the ages of 19 and 24, according to public databases, their online presences, and other records – who have little to no government experience and are now playing critical roles in Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project, tasked by executive order with “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” The engineers all hold nebulous job titles within DOGE, and at least one appears to be working as a volunteer.
The engineers are Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran. None have responded to requests for comment from WIRED. Representatives from OPM, GSA, and DOGE did not respond to requests for comment.
…
Bobba has attended UC Berkeley, where he was in the prestigious Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology program. According to a copy of his now-deleted LinkedIn obtained by WIRED, Bobba was an investment engineering intern at the Bridgewater Associates hedge fund as of last spring and was previously an intern at both Meta and Palantir. He was a featured guest on a since-deleted podcast with Aman Manazir, an engineer who interviews engineers about how they landed their dream jobs, where he talked about those experiences last June.
Coristine, as WIRED previously reported, appears to have recently graduated from high school and to have been enrolled at Northeastern University. According to a copy of his résumé obtained by WIRED, he spent three months at Neuralink, Musk’s brain-computer interface company, last summer.
Both Bobba and Coristine are listed in internal OPM records reviewed by WIRED as “experts” at OPM, reporting directly to Amanda Scales, its new chief of staff. Scales previously worked on talent for xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company, and as part of Uber’s talent acquisition team, per LinkedIn. Employees at GSA tell WIRED that Coristine has appeared on calls where workers were made to go over code they had written and justify their jobs. WIRED previously reported that Coristine was added to a call with GSA staff members using a nongovernment Gmail address. Employees were not given an explanation as to who he was or why he was on the calls.
“Department of government efficiency” accesses Small Business Administration systems – report The federal Small Business Administration has agreed to a request from an official with the “department of government efficiency” (Doge) for “access to all [administration] systems”, PBS News reports.
The request was relayed by Edward Coristine, an official with the initiative chaired by Elon Musk, who asked for details of payment systems and employees, PBS reports.
Doge has been reported to have accessed secure information at USAid and the Treasury department, including a system the government uses to disburse trillions of dollars in payments.
Joan E Greve
Progressives lawmakers are denouncing Elon Musk and his “department of government efficiency” after news broke yesterday that the billionaire’s associates have received access to the federal payment system, potentially exposing the sensitive personal data of millions of Americans.
“Donald Trump has given unprecedented power over the federal government to an unelected, unaccountable billionaire. Elon Musk’s treasury raid jeopardizes Americans’ sensitive information, tax returns, and Medicare and Social Security,” said representative Greg Casar, a Democrat of Texas and chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Casar added, “Progressives will fight this in the courts, on the House floor, and with every tool at our disposal until Elon Musk is out of our government and no longer putting taxpayers, the sick, and the elderly at risk.”
Democratic lawmakers turned away from USAid headquarters Democratic lawmakers attempted to enter USAid’s Washington DC headquarters this afternoon to meet with employees, but were refused entry.
Senator Chris Van Hollen said they were turned away on the orders of Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (Doge), which is said to have taken over USAid and other parts of the federal government in a campaign sanctioned by Donald Trump to dramatically shrink the federal government.
“We asked to enter the Aid building, really on behalf of the American people, but to talk to Aid employees, because … there’s been a gag order imposed on Aid employees. So we wanted to learn first-hand what’s happening,” Van Hollen told reporters.
“We were denied entry based on the order that they received from Elon Musk and Doge, which just goes to show that this was an illegal power grab by someone who contributed $267bn to the Trump effort in these elections.”
Senator Chris Van Hollen and congressmen Jamie Raskin and Don Beyer outside USAid headquarters in Washington DC today. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/Reuters Van Hollen, who represents Maryland, a state where many employees of USAid and other federal agencies live, said Democrats would go to court to prevent the aid agency from being folded into the state department.
“Trying to shut down an agency which was established under law … that is totally against a variety of statutes, and there will be legal proceedings filed to stop them from essentially undoing Aid,” Van Hollen said. “They want to do that, they come to Congress, they make a proposal, we vote on it. I can assure you that change that they’re trying to do here illegally would not get through the United States Congress.”