Trump admin live updates: Trump rescinds security clearances for former opponents

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke with reporters on the White House North Lawn about the president's executive order expected later Thursday aiming to dismantle much of the Department of Education.

Leavitt said the department will not be completely shut down and a smaller agency will continue to carry out "critical functions" such as Pell Grants, student loans, enforcing laws against discrimination, providing funding for low-income students and special education.

"The Department of Education will be much smaller than it is today," Leavitt said. "When it comes to student loans and Pell grants, those will still be run out of the Department of Education. But we don't need to be spending more than $3 trillion over the course of a few decades on a department that's clearly failing in its initial intention to educate our students."

The executive order needs congressional approval to dismantle the Department of Education altogether. When asked if the president intends to instruct Congress to do so, Leavitt refused to get ahead of Trump. "I'll leave it to the president to speak on that later," she said.

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh

The European Union will delay planned tariffs on the U.S. in response to the U.S. tariffs on the EU President Donald Trump has previously announced, the European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic said during a joint hearing of the Committee on International Trade on Thursday.

The EU tariffs are now planned to take effect in mid-April, Sefcovic said.

"In the light of the recent announcement that the US is planning to introduce additional tariffs on 2 April, we are now considering to align the timing of the two sets of EU countermeasures, so we can consult with member states on both lists simultaneously. It also gives us extra time for negotiations to try to find a mutually agreeable resolution," he said.

-ABC News' Clark Bentson

As the Federal Reserve holds rates steady, Trump is pressing the central bank to cut rates.

"The Fed would be MUCH better off CUTTING RATES as U.S. Tariffs start to transition (ease!) their way into the economy," Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday night. "Do the right thing. April 2nd is Liberation Day in America!!!"

April 2 is when Trump's reciprocal tariffs go into effect. Trump says this means what other countries "charge us, we charge them." Trump officials are currently undertaking the massive task of trying to sort through how to determine the tariff rates for hundreds of countries and territories that the U.S. trades with.

-ABC News' Selina Wang

The Trump administration appears to be targeting a Georgetown University fellow due to his wife's identity as a Palestinian and her constitutionally protected speech, a lawsuit alleges.

On March 17, Badar Khan Suri, a visiting scholar with lawful status, was arrested outside of his apartment building and charged with removability and detained, according to a complaint obtained by ABC News.

"This was done pursuant to a policy to retaliate against and punish noncitizens like Mr. Suri solely for their family ties to those who may have either expressed criticism of U.S. foreign policy as it relates to Israel," attorneys representing Suri said in the complaint.

On Monday, according to the complaint, law enforcement agents who identified themselves as members of the Department of Homeland Security, told Suri that the government had revoked his visa and did not permit Suri's wife to hand over his passport and other documents.

The complaint likened Suri's treatment to that of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who was recently arrested by federal immigration agents at Columbia University.

-ABC News' Laura Romero