Trump live updates: Mexico, Canada tariffs will take effect on March 4 and levy on China will double

U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer thanks President Donald Trump for bringing about the possibility of peace in Ukraine.

Sir Keir also gave Trump a letter from King Charles III inviting the president for an unprecedented second state visit, which he accepted.

The first state visit to the U.K. by the president was in his first term in 2019.

The annual meeting of the administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee had been scheduled for March 13. That meeting is now off the schedule. The meeting allowed experts to discuss the upcoming season and determine which strains to include in the upcoming vaccine.

The administration told The Independent in an email on Thursday that its yearly preparations would not be impacted.

A new filing from plaintiffs in another USAID case before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia calls on the court to issue a preliminary injunction that would block the Trump administration from gutting the agency.

Their businesses are shuttering; they are being forced to lay off employees; their personnel are being threatened; food is rotting; medical supplies are expiring; and community relationships that took decades to build are crumbling. All of this is happening due to Defendants’ flagrantly unlawful conduct, which is contrary to the fundamental structure of our Constitution, and breathtakingly arbitrary and capricious. Indeed, Defendants admit they abruptly stopped all funding without considering the potential harms and terminated thousands of awards without meaningful review.

And the madness continues. Just yesterday—instead of working to comply with the Court’s enforcement order—Defendants spent the day cancelling thousands more contracts and awards, including over 200 of Plaintiffs’ contracts or awards. Those terminations and suspensions were across the board—even awards with waivers for life-saving humanitarian aid and essential services. Then, early this morning, the acting Senior Procurement Executive sent an urgent email to the skeleton staff that remains at the agency:

“As you are aware, today USAID issued termination notices for a large number of awards. These awards were identified by the Front Office after a full review of USAID obligations and programs and were personally reviewed and approved for termination by Secretary Rubio and PTDO Deputy Administrator Marocco. We will be sharing a full list of awards terminated with additional details soon.

“We understand that some of these awards may have been for essential services, which the Front Office would like to turn back on. We need your immediate input on any awards that may have been terminated that contain essential services related to the safety, security, and operations of USAID staff.”

Shoot first. Ask questions later. Words like “arbitrary” and “capricious” hardly capture the callous incompetence on display.

After the most election-heavy year in recent history, democracy has hit a record low around the world, according to a new study.

The EIU’s index has a score out of 10 ranked according to the functioning of government, electoral process and pluralism, political culture, and civil liberties. Countries are classified as full democracies (over 8 out of 10), flawed democracies (6-8 out of 10), hybrid regimes (4-6 out of 10), and authoritarian regimes (under 4 out of 10).

Alicja Hagopian looks at the results of the survey.

A memo from Pentagon leadership revealed in court documents on February 26 gives officials 30 days to identify all trans troops, and all removals “must be completed” no later than June 25. The order also immediately bans access to gender-affirming care for all trans service members.

Alex Woodward has the story.

On Thursday, the White House clarified President Donald Trump’s claim from the previous day regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans. Trump had stated that the EPA would cut 65% of its workforce, but the White House indicated that the agency actually plans to reduce its spending by 65%.

Trump surprised EPA employees on Wednesday during his first cabinet meeting when he mentioned that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin informed him the agency would be “cutting 65 or so percent of the people from environmental [sic].”

White House Spokesperson Taylor Rogers provided clarification on Thursday.

“President Trump, DOGE, and Administrator Zeldin are committed to cutting waste, fraud, and abuse across all agencies,” Rogers stated. “After identifying $20 billion fraudulent in [sic] spending, Administrator Zeldin is committed to eliminating 65% of the EPA’s wasteful spending.”

Trump also caused confusion during that cabinet meeting on Wednesday when he was asked about the timing of tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He stated that they would begin on April 2, but a White House official later confirmed that Trump’s earlier March 4 deadline for the 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods was still in effect “as of this moment.”

With reporting from Reuters