February 1, 2025: Donald Trump presidency news | CNN Politics

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Our live coverage of Donald Trump’s presidency has ended for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.

The website of the US Agency for International Development went offline without explanation Saturday as thousands of furloughs, layoffs and program shutdowns continued amid President Donald Trump’s freeze on US-funded foreign aid and development worldwide.

Congressional Democrats have battled the Trump administration increasingly openly, expressing concern that Trump may be headed toward ending USAID as an independent agency and absorbing it into the State Department. Democrats say Trump has no legal authority to eliminate a congressionally funded independent agency, and that the work of USAID is vital to national security.

Trump and congressional Republicans say much of foreign aid and development programs are wasteful. They single out programs they say advance liberal social agendas.

The fear of even tougher administration action against USAID comes two weeks into the administration’s shutdown of billions of dollars of the United States’ humanitarian, development and security assistance.

The US is the world’s largest donor of humanitarian aid by far. It spends less than 1% of its budget on foreign assistance, a smaller share overall than some other countries.

Read more here.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Canadians to “choose Canada” and pick domestic products over American items following his announcement of retaliatory tariffs on US goods.

Trudeau said that may mean “checking the labels at the supermarket and picking Canadian products, opting for Canadian rye over Kentucky bourbon, or forgoing Florida orange juice altogether.”

“It might mean changing your summer vacation with plans to staying here in Canada,” he added.

Urging unity: “I’m sure many of you are anxious, but I want you to know: We are all in this together,” Trudeau, who announced his intention to resign last month, told Canadians. “From the government, to Canadian businesses, civil society, tens of millions of Canadians from coast to coast to coast are aligned and united.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced retaliatory 25% tariffs on US goods, hours after US President Donald Trump’s announcement of steep tariffs on most Canadian goods.

“Tonight, I am announcing Canada will be responding to the US trade action with 25% trade tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods,” the Canadian leader said in a news conference Saturday night.

Trudeau said “tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods” will take effect Tuesday, followed by broader tariffs in 21 days “to allow Canadian companies and supply chains to seek to find alternatives.”

Trudeau added that the tariffs will “be far-reaching and include everyday items,” such as alcohol, fruits, vegetables, clothes and shoes.

As part of the Canadian response to US tariffs, Trudeau also said states and territories are considering “several non-tariff measures.” They could include restrictions “relating to critical minerals, energy procurement and other partnerships.”

“We will stand strong for Canada. We will stand strong to ensure our countries continue to be the best neighbors in the world,” Trudeau said.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke directly to Americans on Saturday night, warning that US President Donald Trump’s announcement of 25% tariffs on most Canadian goods “will have real consequences” for them.

“As I have constantly said, tariffs against Canada will put your jobs at risk, potentially shutting down American auto assembly plants and other manufacturing facilities,” Trudeau told Americans.

Trudeau said costs for US consumers will rise, “including food at the grocery store and gas at the pump,” and will “impede your access to an affordable supply of goods crucial for US security.”

Tariffs “will violate the free trade agreement that the president and I, along with our Mexican partner, negotiated and signed a few years ago,” Trudeau said.

He added that if America wants to usher in a new “golden age,” then “it is better to partner with us, not punish us.”

Mark Carney, a Canadian economist and contender to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party, said President Donald Trump’s tariffs require “the most serious trade and economic responses in our history.”

“The tariffs imposed by the United States today are a clear violation of our trade agreements and require the most serious trade and economic responses in our history,” Carney said in a statement Saturday.

Carney is the former head of the Bank of England and Bank of Canada. He is a candidate to lead the Liberal Party of Canada after Trudeau announced last month that he will resign once the party selects its new leader.

Carney said he supports “dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs” that would be “felt the hardest in the United States but will have the least impact in Canada.” He also called for a “coordinated strategy” to address the effects Trump’s tariffs could have on Canadians.

“Canada will not bow down to a bully. We won’t stand by as illegal US tariffs hurt our workers and their families. As Canadians, we need to face this challenge as one united team,” Carney said.

The FBI has removed “diversity” from its list of core values instilled in all employees, the agency told CNN.

Asked about a photograph obtained by CNN showing an FBI employee painting over a list of core values inscribed on a wall at the FBI Academy, the bureau said it was complying with a new directive from the Trump administration.

“The FBI is fully complying with the Executive Order regarding DEI programs and implementation guidance provided by the Office of Personnel Management,” the bureau said in a statement. “As a result, Diversity has been removed from the FBI’s list of organizational Core Values. Visual and informational materials promoting Diversity as a Core Value are being removed from FBI space.”

Diversity was previously listed among other FBI institutional values, including integrity, accountability, leadership, and rigorous obedience to the Constitution.

The statement from the FBI added, “while Diversity is no longer an organizational Core Value for our employees, the FBI continues its work to serve and protect all Americans.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the country will implement a “plan B,” which includes retaliatory tariffs, in response to US President Donald Trump’s imposition of a 25% duty on all imports from Mexico.

“I instruct the Secretary of Economy to implement plan B that we have been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests,” Sheinbaum said in a post on X on Saturday.

It is not clear exactly what the retaliatory tariffs involve.

In the same statement, Sheinbaum strongly denied “having alliances with criminal organizations,” calling the White House accusation “slander.”

A White House fact sheet on the tariffs said Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an “intolerable alliance” with the country’s government, accusing the government of providing a “safe haven” to cartels.

“We categorically reject the White House’s slander of the Government of Mexico for having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention to interfere in our territory,” Sheinbaum said.

“If there is any such alliance it is in the gun shops of the United States that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups,” she added.

Sheinbaum said the two countries should work together “in a comprehensive way” to combat “criminal groups that traffic drugs and generate violence.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that Canada is “prepared” after US President Donald Trump announced a steep tariff on the country.

“We did not want this, but Canada is prepared. I’ll be addressing Canadians later this evening,” Trudeau posted to X on Saturday evening.

The prime minister said he met with the premiers and the Cabinet and that he will be speaking with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford foreshadowed Trudeau’s address, telling CNN the Canadian prime minister will announce retaliatory measures on the US.

“We’ll have retaliatory measures. It’s unfortunate. We don’t want to do it; we’d rather have a strong trading partner with the US,” he told CNN’s Jessica Dean on Saturday.

The impact of President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on gasoline prices will be limited, according to Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for OPIS.

That’s because the tariff on Canadian energy products is only 10%, not the full 25% on other Canadian imports. Another factor is the time of year. Gas prices are typically near a low for the year in February due to weak demand.

But if the tariffs stay in place through summer, the impact will be grow.

“It’s inflationary, but not as inflationary as it would be in April, May or June,” Kloza told CNN late Saturday.

The impact will not be felt equally nationwide because most Canadian oil is shipped to Midwest refineries via pipeline, Kloza said. The states most likely to be affected are Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

“Interestingly, 12 of those 16 states begin February with an average retail gasoline price under $3 a gallon,” Kloza said. “That probably won’t last.”

The US Chamber of Commerce slammed President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Saturday, warning they will raise consumer prices.

In a statement, the powerful business group acknowledged that while Trump is right to focus on securing the border and fighting the illicit flow of fentanyl, these tariffs won’t solve the issues.

“But the imposition of tariffs under IEEPA is unprecedented, won’t solve these problems, and will only raise prices for American families and upend supply chains,” said John Murphy, senior vice president and head of international at the chamber.

The chamber is broadly supportive of Trump’s focus on deregulation and tax cuts. However, earlier this month officials at the business group warned that blanket tariffs would backfire and urged Trump not to follow through.

“The chamber will consult with our members, including Main Street businesses across the country impacted by this move, to determine next steps to prevent economic harm to Americans,” Murphy said.

Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, Canada, described the tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on Saturday on the US’ neighbors as “illegal,” warning they will cause inflation for both countries.

“This is going to hurt Americans. It’s going to hurt Canadians. We’re going to see inflation happen down in the US and in Canada,” Ford told CNN’s Jessica Dean on “Newsroom.” “And it’s unjustified.”

Trump carried out a promise Saturday to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, along with an additional 10% tariff on China.

Ford shared that he’s heard Trump’s tariffs will be in effect almost immediately and confirmed that Canada will move forward with “retaliatory tariff,” previewing an announcement by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement.

“What President Trump underestimates: the resilience of the Canadian people, the strength of the Canadian people. No matter what political stripe you come from in Canada, we’re united,” Ford said.

Responding to Trump citing the flow of drugs and undocumented immigration as the reason behind tariffs, Ford distanced Canada from those issues and pointed the Mexican border and China as the “problem.”

“All we’re saying is: Let’s work together. Please do not lump us in with Mexico and China. We’re your closest ally, your No. 1 customer and we stood shoulder to shoulder on many, many different fronts,” Ford said.

Correction: A previous version of this post’s headline misstated the province where Doug Ford is premier. The province is Ontario.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum struck a defiant tone on Saturday after US President Donald Trump announced a 25% duty on all imports from Mexico.

“When we negotiate with other nations, when we talk with other nations, (it is) always with our heads held high, never bowing our heads,” Sheinbaum said speaking in Chicoloapan de Juárez, east of the country’s capital.

A White House fact sheet on the tariffs said Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an “intolerable alliance” with the country’s government, accusing the government of providing a “safe haven” to cartels.

Sheinbaum and her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador have previously denied any government cooperation with cartels.

CNN has reached out to Sheinbaum’s office for comment on the new tariffs and the allegations from the White House.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, the Mexican Chamber of the Tequila Industry and Spirits Canada said in a joint statement shared with CNN on Saturday that they are “deeply concerned that U.S. tariffs on imported spirits from Canada and Mexico will significantly harm all three countries.”

The statement added the groups worry the tariffs will “lead to a cycle of retaliatory tariffs that negatively impacts our shared industry.”

“We urge all parties to engage in constructive dialogue to address these concerns proactively and maintain our shared commitment to a thriving spirits industry across North America,” the statement continued.

Trump announced Saturday that he was imposing the tariffs, which will amount to a 25% duty on all imports from Mexico and most goods from Canada and an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods imported into the US.

Last year, the US imported $46 billion of agricultural products from Mexico, according to US Department of Agriculture data. That includes $8.3 billion worth of fresh vegetables, $5.9 billion of beer and $5 billion of distilled spirits.

Constellation Brands, which imports Modelo — the best-selling beer in America in 2023 — and Corona beer, as well as Casa Noble tequila from Mexico, could see its costs leap 16% under Trump’s proposed tariff and would likely have to raise prices by about 4.5%, Chris Carey, a Wells Fargo equity analyst, said in a November note.

A few weeks before Donald Trump was sworn in as president, members of his transition team went to the Treasury Department to talk about the handover of power.

But what is normally a routine discussion turned into an alarming series of interactions for a handful of top career Treasury officials.

Trump’s team, which included members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, peppered Treasury officials about one of the department’s most sensitive and critical functions: processing trillions of dollars in government payments a year.

Through a series of specific requests, Trump’s landing team attempted to lift the hood on the department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, an arcane branch that distributes nearly 90 percent of all federal payments, including Social Security benefits, tax refunds and payments to federal workers and contractors. That adds up to a billion annual transactions totaling more than $5 trillion.

A month later, this obscure Treasury office is now a key battlefront in a wider war being waged by Trump and his allies over federal spending. Signs of the fight emerged this week.

The top civil servant at the Treasury Department, David Lebryk, left unexpectedly on Friday after Trump-affiliated officials expressed interest in stopping certain payments made by the federal government, according to three people familiar with the situation.

WIth Lebryk out, Musk’s DOGE associates at Treasury now have full access to the government’s payments system.

Read more on the tensions inside the Treasury Department.

Under the tariffs President Donald Trump announced Saturday — a 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico and most goods from Canada and a 10% tariff on all goods from China — Americans could pay a lot more for a wide range of goods.

For instance, the US imported $87 billion worth of motor vehicles and $64 billion worth of vehicle parts from Mexico last year, not accounting for December, according to Commerce Department data. Both are likely to get more expensive almost immediately after any new tariffs that impact Mexican car exports to the US.

Gas, fresh produce and consumer electronics — some of the top goods the US imports from Mexico, China and Canada — could also get more expensive with blanket tariffs.

The tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on Saturday amount to a starting gun on what could escalate into a global trade war, perhaps inviting retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China in the form of higher tariffs on goods that the United States exports to those countries.

While Trump cited undocumented migration and the flow of drugs as the reason behind the tariffs, potential retaliation or a trade war could lead to higher costs, disrupted supply chains and job losses.

“Today, I have implemented a 25% Tariff on Imports from Mexico and Canada (10% on Canadian Energy), and a 10% additional Tariff on China,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “This was done through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) because of the major threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing our Citizens, including fentanyl. We need to protect Americans, and it is my duty as President to ensure the safety of all.”

In a call with reporters Saturday, a Trump administration official said any retaliation from Mexico, China or Canada would likely result in even higher tariffs for that country.

By the time Trump signed the tariffs Saturday afternoon, a top aide suggested nothing less than a complete stop in illegal immigration and an end to US fentanyl deaths would satisfy Trump’s demands.

“There’s going to be a wide range of metrics. In Donald Trump’s golden age, we will have only legal immigration, and we will have zero Americans dying from Chinese slash Mexican slash Canadian fentanyl,” the White House official said.

While the United States is not the manufacturing-focused economy it once was, it still consumes tens of millions of tons of steel a year, feeding industries such as automaking, oil production, construction and infrastructure.

Canada and Mexico are the largest and third-largest exporters of steel to the United States, respectively. In his first term, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on steel imports from most nations worldwide effective June 2018. But Mexico and Canada, under their free trade deals with the United States, were exempt from those tariffs.

Canada now accounts for nearly a quarter of steel imported by American businesses by weight, while Mexico accounts for about 12%, according to government data provided by the American Iron and Steel Institute, an industry trade group.

Overall, steel imported by American businesses plunged 27% between 2017, the year before the tariffs, and 2019, the first full year of the tariffs, although some of that decline was due to decreased steel consumption. Domestic steel production rose in the same period but only equaled about two-thirds of the drops in imports.

Despite the competitive lift that the domestic steel industry has received from tariffs, domestic production was down about 2% last year compared with 2023, and down nearly 10% from where it stood a decade ago.

Automakers have operated as if Canada, Mexico and the United States were one unified market for decades, moving vehicles and parts across borders as they assemble vehicles. Even cars assembled at US auto plants all have parts that come from both Mexico and Canada, and vehicles assembled in those two countries have parts that come from US factories.

Accordingly, there is no such thing as an all-American vehicle. Even the Ford F-150 pickup, America’s best-selling vehicle model for more than 40 years, gets less than half of its parts from US factories.

So tariffs on exports crossing the US borders with Canada and Mexico are bound to raise the price to produce passenger cars and trucks and lead to Americans paying more for their vehicles, as automakers likely pass those costs onto consumers.

Auto companies may cut back production of some models to see how the fight over tariffs plays out, which could not only cause temporary job losses but also deplete the supply of vehicles that are already on dealerships’ lots and showrooms. That limited supply itself could quickly lead to higher prices.

In 2024, US auto plants produced 10.4 million vehicles, according to data from S&P Global Mobility. Nearly half of that production is for European or Asian brands, such as Toyota, Honda, BMW and Mercedes. Some of those vehicles are exported to buyers in Canada and Mexico, which might now retaliate by placing their own tariffs on US goods.

Mexico auto plants produced 4 million passenger vehicles, including some of the Chevrolet Blazer and Ram heavy-duty pickups, while Canadian assembly lines turned out 1.3 million, including the Ford Edge and Chevrolet Silverado. About 70% of them are shipped to US buyers.

Canada did “nothing to provoke tariffs” from the United States but is “prepared and ready to fight” for its residents, said Jonathan Wilkinson, the country’s energy and natural resources minister.

Wilkinson said in a post on X that he seeks to reassure Canadians following the move by President Donald Trump to impose a 25% tariff on all US imports from Canada, excluding energy products, which are subject to a 10% tariff.

“Canada has done nothing to provoke tariffs,” Wilkinson wrote in the post. “But I want to reassure each and every Canadian: no matter who you are or where you live, we are prepared and ready to fight for you. We will always be your champions.”

Canadian leaders in recent weeks have said they were preparing to retaliate on any action taken by Trump with a slew of tariffs against American goods.

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