Trump 2nd term updates: Trump excludes low-value shipments from looming tariffs

The amendment exempts imports valued at less than $800 from Canada and Mexico.

ByKevin Shalvey, Alexandra Hutzler, Emily Chang, Ivan Pereira, William Mansell, Sarah Beth Hensley, Jon Haworth, and Nadine El-Bawab
Last Updated: March 2, 2025, 11:08 PM EST

President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the federal government to his liking suffered a loss in court when a federal judge blocked his administration from firing the head of a federal watchdog agency without cause, likely triggering a lengthy appeal that could end at the Supreme Court.

U.S. District Justice Amy Berman Jackson determined the move was unlawful and issued a permanent injunction that reinstated special counsel Hampton Dellinger to his position.

Meanwhile, the Social Security Administration said it will cut 7,000 jobs and six of its 10 regional centers as part of the president’s downsizing of the federal workforce.

And Trump’s physician announced the president will have his annual physical next month, days after reporters raised questions about a bruise they saw on the back of his hand.

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Here's how the news is developing:
Mar 01, 2025, 3:50 PM EST

Musk says some departments will respond on behalf of employees to 'What did you do last week?' email

In response to news that the State Department had advised employees that leadership would still respond to this week's "What did you do last week?" email, Elon Musk posted on X that some departments, such as the State Department and the Department of Defense, would be "gathering the weekly accomplishments on behalf of individual contributors."

Elon Musk speaks during a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, Feb. 26, 2025.
Pool via AP

This directive is in contrast to a post made earlier in the day in which Musk posted that responding to the email was "mandatory for the executive branch."

-ABC News' Will Steakin

Mar 01, 2025, 1:16 PM EST

3K active-duty service members to head to southern border

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the deployment of about 3,000 troops to the southern border, the U.S. Northern Command said on Saturday.

There will be 2,400 soldiers from the Army's 2nd Stryker Brigade, 4th Infantry Division in Colorado and 500 soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's combat aviation unit in Georgia deployed over the next couple of weeks.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, second from right, and Border czar Tom Homan, left, listen to a briefing by Army soldiers while visiting the US-Mexico border in Sunland Park,, N.M., Feb. 3, 2025.
Andres Leighton/AP, FILE

These forces are in addition to the 1,100 announced Friday that brought the total number of active-duty troops on the border to 5,400.

Stryker vehicles are wheeled armored vehicles that are used as troop carriers and can travel on roads or in off-road conditions.

Northcom stressed the troops are only providing support to Customs and Border Enforcement.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

Mar 01, 2025, 8:35 AM EST

Federal judge blocks Trump's executive orders on trans youth, gender affirming care

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing two executive orders related to transgender healthcare in some states, determining the policy "rewrites the law" and "run[s] around the separation of powers."

The preliminary injunction prevents the enforcement of an executive order related to medical care for transgender youth and another on federal funding to institutions that provide services to transgender people.

PHOTO: Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown speaks to the media and supporters outside the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, Feb. 28, 2025.
Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown speaks to the media and supporters outside the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, Feb. 28, 2025. Brown spoke to the press after US District Judge Lauren King announced they are deliberating on whether to extend a pause on US President Donald Trump's executive order attacking gender-affirming care for youth.
Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images

"The Court’s holding here is not about the policy goals that President Trump seeks to advance; rather, it is about reaffirming the structural integrity of the Constitution by ensuring that executive action respects congressional authority," U.S. District Judge Lauren King wrote.

Judge King, who was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, stopped short of issuing a nationwide injunction, finding that statewide relief would avoid an "overly complex enforcement landscape."

Mar 01, 2025, 5:29 AM EST

Trump says he will posthumously pardon baseball legend Pete Rose

President Donald Trump says he will grant a posthumous pardon to baseball legend Pete Rose, who was banned for life from the MLB in 1989 due to gambling on baseball games while serving as the manager for the Cincinnati Reds team.

"Anyway, over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING," Trump wrote late Friday on his social media platform, arguing that Rose should posthumously be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Pete Rose, a 17-time MLB all-star, died last year at 83 years old. In 2004, he admitted to ABC News that he "bet on baseball in 1987 and 1988."

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