White House says some employees were fired by mistake

After taking the recent buyout offer, some employees were fired, a source said.

Last Updated: February 16, 2025, 11:07 PM EST

President Donald Trump's administration, including Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, is continuing its sweeping effort to cut much of the federal government -- but it's being met with legal challenges.

Trump is also making his second administration's first forays on the diplomatic front with calls to Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy on ending the 3-year-old war that began in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.

And a day after Hamas released more hostages taken when it attacked Israel in October 2023, Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the militant organization needs to be "eliminated."

Feb 10, 2025, 9:50 AM EST

Trump says Palestinians wouldn't have right to return to Gaza under US takeover plan

In a newly released clip from a sit-down interview with Fox News host Bret Baier, President Donald Trump said Palestinians would not have the right to return to Gaza as he laid out his proposal for the U.S. to "own" Gaza.

"We'll build beautiful communities for the 1.9 million people, we'll build beautiful communities. Safe communities, could be five, six could be two, but we'll build safe communities a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is. In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future," Trump said.

People walk with belongings along al-Rashid street between Gaza City and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, Feb. 10, 2025.
Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images

Baier then asked Trump: "Would the Palestinians have the right to return?"

"No, they wouldn't, because they're going to have much better housing, much better -- in other words, I'm talking about building a permanent place for them, because if they have to return now, it will be years before you could ever -- it's not habitable," Trump said. "It will be years before it could happen. I'm talking about starting to build and I think I could make a deal with Jordan, I think I could make a deal with Egypt, you know, we give them billions and billions of dollars a year."

Trump is set to meet with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday. Jordan remains steadfast against the proposal to take in more Palestinians.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

Feb 10, 2025, 9:06 AM EST

Trump’s effort to dismantle CFPB hit with 2 federal lawsuits

As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency turns its sights on potentially dismantling the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, the Trump administration faces two new legal challenges.

The National Treasury Employees Union filed two lawsuits overnight against acting CFPB director Russell Vought, challenging both the takeover of the CFPB and DOGE’s access to sensitive records maintained by the agency.

One lawsuit alleged that Vought’s efforts last week to halt the CFPB’s supervision and enforcement work overstepped the authority of the executive branch, arguing that only Congress – which created the CFPB in the wake of the Great Recession – has the authority to destroy the agency.

The second lawsuit alleged that DOGE’s access to CFPB records violates a federal law that protects the security of sensitive records maintained by the agency.

– ABC News’ Peter Charalambous

Feb 10, 2025, 8:59 AM EST

Trump's schedule includes executive order signing

The White House has released President Donald Trump's schedule for Monday.

The president will have no public events, according to the guidance, though he will receive an intelligence briefing at 11 a.m. ET. At 1 p.m. ET, he will sign executive orders in the Oval Office. It's not clear what the orders will be.

President Donald Trump speaks to the press after signing a proclamation renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America aboard Air Force One, as it flies over the Gulf enroute to New Orleans, Feb. 9, 2025.
Ben Curtis/AP

Feb 10, 2025, 5:24 AM EST

Trump to discuss tariffs on steel, aluminum

President Donald Trump made brief remarks about steel and aluminum tariffs, saying he’d hold a meeting early this week.

"Tomorrow. We will have a meeting tomorrow," Trump said as he arrived at the White House early Monday.

In this file photo, rolled steel is seen at a Hyundai Steel plant in Dangjin, a city southwest of Seoul, South Korea, on June 15, 2011.
Lee Jae Won/Reuters

It was not immediately clear whether that meeting would take place on Monday or Tuesday.

-ABC News’ Alex Emerson

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