President Donald Trump is defending his decision to pause some tariffs to Canada and Mexico for another month -- a notable reversal after imposing historic levies on the key U.S. trading partners earlier this week, causing markets to tumble.
On Friday, Trump signed more executive orders at the White House before he convened a first-ever cryptocurrency summit with industry leaders.
Trump says he expects Zelenskyy to sign rare earth minerals deal
President Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Sunday that he expects Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign the rare earth minerals deal with the United States.
"Yeah, I think so. I think it'll happen," Trump said in the interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives for an EU Summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Mar. 6, 2025.
Omar Havana/AP
Trump was pressed during the interview on whether he’s comfortable with the United States walking away from supporting Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia and whether that would hurt Ukraine's chances of survival.
"Well, it may not survive anyway, but you know, we have some weaknesses with Russia," Trump replied.
-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh
Mar 09, 2025, 5:01 PM GMT
Trump says he paused tariffs to 'help Mexico and Canada to a certain extent'
President Donald Trump sat down with Maria Bartiromo for Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," where he primarily discussed tariffs.
After his Thursday phone conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump announced on social media that he'd pause 25% tariffs on U.S. imports from Mexico and Canada that are covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. The reprieve lasts until at least April 2, when reciprocal tariffs on goods from a wider range of countries are set to go in place.
When asked Sunday why he'd roll back or put a pause on some of the tariffs until April 2, Trump said it was to help the automakers. "Because I wanted to help Mexico and Canada to a certain extent," Trump told Bartiromo. "I wanted to help the American car makers until April 2."
President Donald Trump sits at his desk in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Mar. 7, 2025.
Leah Millis/Reuters
"April 2, it becomes all reciprocal. What they charge us, we charge them. It's a big deal, but what they charge us, we charge them. But this is short term, and I felt that for the good of the American carmakers and the [USMCA] ... I thought it would be a fair thing to do, and so I gave them a little bit of a break for this short period of time."
The president was pressed on what automakers would do in a month.
"It's a transition into April, and after that, I'm not doing this," Trump said. "I mean, I told them, I said, 'Look, I'm going to do it this one time. But after that, I'm not doing it.' They called me and they wanted help during this with the transition period, and I gave it to them."
Trump was then pressed on whether the business community will receive clarity from him.
"Well, I think so. But you know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by, and they may go up and, you know, I don't know if it's predictability,” Trump said, not offering insight on his rationale.
When asked by Bartiromo if he might change anything after reciprocal tariffs go into effect, Trump replied, in part: "We'll have a lot, but we may go up with some tariffs. It depends. We may go up. I don't think we'll go down, or we may go up."
-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh
Mar 09, 2025, 12:30 AM GMT
Trump claims in all caps that there is no bad blood between Rubio, Musk
Trump took to his social media platform Saturday evening to say that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk have a "great relationship."
The all caps post came after reports of a blow out between the billionaire and Musk during a Cabinet meeting this week
"ELON AND MARCO HAVE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP. ANY STATEMENT OTHER THAN THAT IS FAKE NEWS!!! DJT."
-ABC News' Hannah Demissie
Mar 08, 2025, 6:54 PM GMT
Trump pushes Republicans to pass short-term funding bill
Trump urged congressional Republicans on Saturday to support and vote for the short-term government funding bill released earlier by House GOP leaders.
President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on March 7, 2025.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
"All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week. Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s 'financial house' in order," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Trump said Republicans must "remain united," adding that Democrats will "do anything they can to shut down our Government, and we can’t let that happen."
