Trump 2nd term updates: Trump says USAID is run by 'radical lunatics'

The comments came amid turmoil as DOGE took over USAID offices last week.

ByAlexandra Hutzler, Ivan Pereira, Emily Chang, Andrea Pineda-Salgado, Meredith Deliso, and Julia Reinstein
Last Updated: February 2, 2025, 11:11 PM EST

President Donald Trump made good on his threats to impose tariffs on some of the U.S.'s trading partners, announcing Saturday that he will levy 25% tariffs on some goods from Canada and Mexico and 10% on Chinese goods.

Experts have warned that tariffs of this magnitude will likely increase prices paid by U.S. and Trump appeared to acknowledge that “some pain” might be possible in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee announced it will meet Tuesday, when it is expected to vote on the controversial nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of Health and Human Services.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing:
Jan 31, 2025, 1:22 PM EST

Leavitt says Trump will sign proclamation honoring Black History Month

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the administration's stance on honoring Black History Month following a Defense Department memo that called the agency to stop acknowledging holidays and observances related to minority groups.

Leavitt said Trump plans on signing a proclamation honoring Black History Month, as he did in his first administration, however, she did not comment on the DOD memo.

Jan 31, 2025, 1:02 PM EST

Trump to attend school choice roundtable with governors: Official

President Donald Trump will attend a roundtable with Republican governors Friday afternoon to discuss school choice, a White House official told ABC News.

This event was not on the public schedule and remains closed to the press.

President Donald Trump talks to reporters from the Resolute Desk after signing an executive order to appoint the deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in the Oval Office at the White House on January 30, 2025 in Washington.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

Republican Governors Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, Bill Lee of Tennessee and Jeff Landry of Louisiana are expected to attend, the official said.

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow

Jan 31, 2025, 12:15 PM EST

Rubio to travel to Central America, Caribbean

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be visiting several Central American and Caribbean countries for the next six days.

Rubio will meet with leaders in Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, Special Envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver-Carone said.

The State Department claimed it is the first time in more than 100 years a secretary of state has elected to make their first diplomatic visit to a country in Latin America.

-ABC News' Shannon Kingston

Jan 31, 2025, 11:52 AM EST

Federal employees told to remove pronouns from email signatures

Employees at multiple federal agencies were ordered to remove pronouns from their email signatures by Friday afternoon, according to internal memos obtained by ABC News that cited two presidential executive orders.

The memos included instructions for how to edit email signatures.

-ABC News' Selina Wang, Dr. Mark Abdelmalek, Anne Flaherty and Will Steakin