Trump admin live updates: Judge releases Venezuelan couple accused of being gang members, rips government evidence

"Here we are again."

Those are the words that a federal judge used Thursday to describe the Trump administration's attempt to cut federal funding from sanctuary cities, an executive order that followed a nearly identical policy during the president's first administration.

In an order, Judge William Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said the policy was likely unlawful and blocked the government from freezing federal funding to cities because they have have limited the use of local resources to enforce federal immigration law.

Orrick, who issued a similar order in 2017 blocking Trump from cutting funding to sanctuary cities, said the president's new attempt fails on largely the same grounds, writing that Trump's 2025 executive order is likely "arbitrary and capricious" and "contrary to the Constitution."

Trump's attempt to cut sanctuary city funding was challenged by a group of 16 cities and counties, including San Francisco, which argued the policy was unlawful and likely to cause irreparable harm.

Orrick agreed, writing the funding freeze "causes them irreparable injury in the form of budgetary uncertainty, deprivation of constitutional rights, and undermining trust between the Cities and Counties and the communities they serve."

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous

In his criticism of Harvard, President Trump also went after one of his lawyers, Bill Burck, saying he should be forced to resign or fired for simultaneously representing Harvard University in their lawsuit against the administration.

Burck, a Republican lawyer with deep ties to the Trump administration, has been serving as the Trump Organization's outside ethics adviser since January. His firm has Quinn Emanuel has juggled multiple representations -- whether their clients are on Trump's side or not. The firm has represented Elon Musk, but also, for example, represents Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

"Harvard is a threat to Democracy, with a lawyer, who represents me, who should therefore be forced to resign, immediately, or be fired. He’s not that good, anyway, and I hope that my very big and beautiful company, now run by my sons, gets rid of him ASAP!" Trump wrote on his social media platform on Thursday morning.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders

President Trump is continuing to lash out at Harvard University in a new social media post on Thursday morning.

"Harvard is an Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institution, as are numerous others, with students being accepted from all over the World that want to rip our Country apart," he claimed on his conservative social media site. "The place is a Liberal mess, allowing a certain group of crazed lunatics to enter and exit the classroom and spew fake ANGER AND HATE. It is truly horrific!"

"Harvard is a threat to Democracy," Trump added.

The comments come as Harvard continues to defy the Trump administration's demands regarding campus policies and governance.

President Donald Trump is scheduled on Thursday to host Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store at the White House.

The pair will have lunch in the cabinet room, then hold a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office, according to the White House.

Gahr Store on Thursday said his priorities for the meeting included discussing security and defense policy, along with ways the U.S. and Norway can "contribute to a lasting and just peace in Ukraine."

"It is also natural that tariffs and trade will be a topic," he said in a social media post in Norwegian. "Norway's view is clear: We believe that increased tariffs are bad news for the world economy and a small, open economy like Norway."

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie