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.

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.

Feb 02, 2025, 7:20 PM EST

Trump says he will cut 'all future funding' to South Africa

President Donald Trump said he will be stopping "all future funding" to South Africa in a post on Truth Social that also claimed that the country is confiscating land and treating certain classes of people unfairly. It is not clear what Trump is referring to.

Trump wrote that the United States will not tolerate what's happening and, without elaborating, called for a "full investigation" of the situation.

"South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention. A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see," he alleged.

Trump continued, "The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!"

ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie

Feb 02, 2025, 6:39 PM EST

Sec. of Defense Hegseth will visit troops at US-Mexico border

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on Sunday that he will visit troops stationed on the southern border this week amid the Trump administration's intensified immigration efforts.

Hegseth said he will visit Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, on Monday.

"POTUS wants 100% operational control of the border—and we will deliver," Hegseth wrote in a post on X.

Feb 02, 2025, 6:39 PM EST

500 Marines arrive at Guantanamo to set up migrant facilities: DOD

The Department of Defense on Sunday confirmed the arrival of 500 Marines to Guantanamo to set up facilities that will hold deported migrants.

The DOD identified them as the 1st battalion, 6th Marine Regiment from Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, and posted photos to X.

The social media post says they’ll be there “to prepare to expand the Migrant Operations Center” as the administration prepares to follow through on President Donald Trump's comments last week that the base will be used to temporarily house as many as 30,000 deported migrants who are awaiting processing to return to their home countries.

While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that deportees would be housed at temporary facilities on the base, on Friday he told "Fox & Friends" that the prison facility that houses al Qaeda detainees would be used to house “the worst of the worst,” which he said were criminals or belonged to criminal gangs.

A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that planning is underway for deportation flights to take deported migrants to Guantanamo.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

Feb 02, 2025, 6:39 PM EST

Democrats call for Secretary of State Marco Rubio to answer for shakeup at USAID

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined with committee Democrats to demand in a letter that Secretary of State Marco Rubio provide additional information about events at USAID, including reports of DOGE involvement.

"Congress established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as an independent agency, separate from the Department of State, to ensure that we can deploy development expertise and U.S. foreign assistance quickly, particularly in times of crisis, to meet our national security goals,” wrote the lawmakers. “For this reason, any effort to merge or fold USAID into the Department of State should be, and by law must be, previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress," the Democrats wrote.

The senators are seeking information on the individuals who reportedly accessed USAID headquarters.

"We request an immediate update about the access of USAID’s headquarters, including whether the individuals who accessed the headquarters were authorized to be there and by whom, whether all individuals who accessed classified spaces have active security clearances at the appropriate level, what they were seeking to access, if any PII of American citizens was breached, and whether any review is underway regarding potential unauthorized access to sensitive personnel information and classified materials," they wrote.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

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