BBCDonald Trump’s second term was dazzling with alarming tariffs and anti-tax rates, as well as Ukrainian peace talks with officials in Kiev and Moscow.
The U.S. President and his administration continue to make headlines when formulating policies. Here is a quick look at some of their biggest moves lately.
1) The trade war escalates
Trump continues to plan a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum products from the rest of the world.
But his team stopped plans to double tariffs on U.S. imports of Canadian steel and aluminum to 50%, only for hours in another skirmish that threatened U.S. northern neighbors in their trade war.
The rollback is in Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford said his province will suspend new charges of 25% of its electricity across the border.
“The cooler’s head prevails,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told broadcaster CNBC.
2) Refusing to rule out recession because stocks fall
Tariffs and unpredictable new threats have raised concerns among investors, especially given a question that Trump appears to have evaded questions over the weekend about whether the U.S. economy is in a downward turn.
In an interview with Fox News, the president who hosted the world’s largest economy refused to raise questions on one issue about whether there was a recession — instead, the United States is in a “transitional period” because “we’re doing a lot.”
The words seem to be of no help to investor confidence, as the S&P 500 index fell nearly 3% the next day.
3) Shooting in the EU, threatening alcohol tariffs
Trump’s tariff threats landed on Thursday on his truth social network to threaten EU countries and European Union countries with 200% alcohol tariffs, but his tariff threats are also not threatened by Trump’s tariffs, nor will they be spared.
His alcohol tariffs are the latest escalation in a separate trade war with EU countries, and earlier in the day they launched their own anti-election campaign to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.
Trump stressed in his social media post that Trump emits alcohol throughout his life, and that as much as 200% tariffs will only stop once the EU stops “50% tariffs on whiskey.” He called the union “hostile and abuse.”
4) Extend the olive tree to Canada’s Prime Minister
Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford said the “temperature drop” between the U.S. and Canada this week is largely due to the olive tree expanded by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
By the end of the weekend, the two countries have put forward a more diplomatic tone – starting with tariffs and anti-competitive madness.
Ford, last week Threat to shut down power Canada offered to the United States, sitting down with Lutnick from an hour-long Washington, D.C. and said, “To be honest, this is the best meeting I’ve ever attended here.”
5) Hold peace talks with Ukraine and Russia
This week, a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was unveiled in Saudi Arabia. This is the latest step in the Trump administration’s plan to ensure peace in the region after more than three years of total war.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz met with a Ukrainian team for several hours on Tuesday. Afterward, Keefe said it was ready to support the immediate pause of the fight.
A separate team of U.S. officials led by special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the clause with Russian officials. President Vladimir Putin met with him and later said that he still had “a lot to do” on the ceasefire agreement.
6) Release the suspension of aid to Ukraine
The talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday did prompt some action. The U.S. delegation said it would then resume military aid to Ukraine and share intelligence with the embattled states – and its relationship with it has recently been infected.
The news comes days after the Pentagon announced that it would suspend sharing satellite images with Ukraine’s technology, Kiev relied on tracking movements to Russian troops and missile attacks.
7) Cancel Billions of Climate Grants
The government canceled funds on Tuesday with $20 billion (£15.4 billion) worth of Biden (£15.4 billion) as part of its driving force for cutting government cuts. These projects have been frozen for weeks.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also announced plans to terminate funding for more than 400 grants for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and environmental justice, for approximately $1.7 billion.
A federal judge urged the government’s attorneys on Wednesday to urge “some sort of evidence” that the grants were “illegal completion”.
8) Moving will deport permanently legal American residents
The government is trying to bring a permanently legal American resident and Columbia University to a protest in 2024 during the Gaza War. The attempt now is the subject of legal struggle.
Green card holder Palestinian protester Mahmoud Khalil, considered one of the faces of the Columbia movement, has been held at a detention center in Louisiana and sent to him after being arrested in New York.
Trump said Khalil’s arrest was one of the arrests of “many” and shortly after his administration announced it would cut its grant of $400 million (£309 million) because it failed to fight anti-Semitism on campus, so it would cut $400 million (£309 million) worth. The university promises to restore its funds.
9) Comprehensive cuts to the education sector
The Ministry of Education announced this week that it plans to lay off 1,300 workers, a move that would effectively cut the department’s workforce in half.
The department is responsible for managing federal loans to universities and enforcing civil rights laws at schools, and Trump and some conservatives will long be eliminated completely – although such lawsuits will require Congressional approval.
10) Further chopping at USAID
Staff at the United States International Development Agency (USAID) were told to “dismantle as many documents and personnel files as the agency’s weeks of clearance put the vast majority of its program initiatives in a difficult situation.
After exhaustion, instruct staff, and then they should turn to the “burning bag”.
The request raised an alarm between employees and workforce groups, as Secretary of State Rubio confirmed that 83% of the long-term operational assistance programs managed under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have been terminated.
11) Write a letter to Iran
Trump engages in another kind of diplomacy when he writes his own ideas on paper instead of tagging foreign leaders in social media posts.
In a letter to the Iranian supreme leader, the U.S. president passed an UAE official, who said he had formulated a negotiation plan for Tehran’s nuclear program.
He warned that he warned of potential military operations unless the agreement negotiations seemed to have fallen on the ears of uninterested interest – because Ayatollah Ali Ali Khamenei rejected the idea of negotiations, calling it “deception of public opinion.”
12) Withdrawal of CDC nominees – Hours before the hearing
Republican Dave Weldon was withdrawn from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) by the Trump administration as a candidate for its public health agency — a decision hours before he was ready to testify before the Senate committee.
An official told BBC news partner CBS News that the White House announced that the 71-year-old doctor and former Florida legislator had “no Senate vote.”
All Trump’s draft picks – including some of his controversial picks – have been approved so far.
13) “Tesla Cutoff” prompts Trump to watch a new car
Tesla facilities across the United States face protesters standing outside the door of electric carmakers calling on its founder Elon Musk for his new role in Donald Trump’s administration.
The “Tesla Cancellation” protests were basically peaceful, but some protests in parts of the country ended with a fire igniting in the showroom.
This prompted Musk’s new boss to declare that the men should be labeled as domestic terrorists as he showed off the billionaire’s product on the White House lawn.
As the two sat in the front seats of one of the electric cars, Trump told the media that he planned to buy it.
14) A charm offensive with Vance
During this week’s Oval Office visit, Taoiseach Micheál Martin showed Donald Trump a bowl of clover.
JD Vance, who attended the same meeting, did not miss his chance to pay tribute to the Irish Prime Minister, wearing a pair of cream socks appropriately decorated with green clover.
The president offered a warm reception to the gift of the traditional clover bowl, while the vice president’s attempt to celebrate the Emerald Island heritage is less so.
“What’s wrong with these socks?” the president asked, as the room burst into laughter. The organization is discussing inflation, but socks have also proven to be a central topic. “I tried to stay focused, but I was impressed by the vice president’s socks.”
