Live updates: RFK Jr confirmed to lead health department; Trump to announce reciprocal tariffs on trading partners

Make of that what you will…

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Kyiv that President Donald Trump “would like an economic cooperation agreement, in exchange the U.S. will continue to provide material support to Ukraine.”

Ukraine has offered to strike a deal including developing mining of rare earth elements essential for many kinds of technology.

Bessent also said during a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Trump will do “whatever it takes” to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

President Donald Trump has named new board members for the Kennedy Center.

Usha Vance, second ladyDan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staffSergio Gor, White House director of personnel officeSusie Wiles, White House chief of staffLee Greenwood, singerAllison Lutnick, director of disaster relief at Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund and wife of commerce nominee Howard Lutnick

Ahead of his White House meeting on Thursday, Modi has readied promises including increased liquefied natural gas, combat vehicle and jet enginepurchases, according to Indian government officials who declined to be named.

Indian officials are also looking at possible deals on U.S. agriculture exports to India and investment in nuclear energy, along with tariff cuts in at least a dozen sectors, including electronics, medical and surgical equipment, and chemicals.

Those are areas Trump’s team believes India needs to make improvements, according to another person familiar with their thinking.

It’s a “gift” for Trump, said one of the sources, who declined to be named as they previewed a private meeting.

U.S. and Indian officials were also moving forward with talks on a bilateral trade deal, with a Trump administration official saying they hoped to have a deal in place this year.

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries says concerns voiced by New York Democrats that Mayor Eric Adams has been “compromised” and is on a “short leash” are “all legitimately held concerns.”

Jeffries says that the Department of Justice dropping corruption and bribery charges against Adams without prejudice shows it is the Trump admin’s intention “to keep the current Mayor on a short leash.”

“How the mayor responds to the White House’s intentions will determine a lot about the political future of the current mayor of New York City.”

And here’s Ariana Baio and Mike Bedigan with the background on the case:

Now that the window has closed on the Trump administration’s offer to pay federal workers to resign, more sweeping layoffs could be coming. Most vulnerable are “probationary” employees who have less civil service protection for their first year on the job.

The full scope of the firings remains unclear. Some probationary employees have already been fired at the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Agencies were told by the Office of Personnel Management earlier this week that any probationary employees who aren’t meeting high performance standards should be let go. The guidance was shared by a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.

As a candidate last year, Donald Trump suggested he could easily conquer inflation and ease voters’ fears about the economy.

“I will very quickly deflate,” he promised at a California rally. “We are going to take inflation, and we are going to deflate it. We are going to deflate inflation. We are going to defeat inflation. We’re going to knock the hell out of inflation.”

Wednesday’s consumer price index report showed that inflation is punching back — and President Trump could end up facing the same challenges that dragged down his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

Some joked that McMahon, estranged wife of WWE mogul Vince McMahon, had “brought her own security,” while others remarked on the sheer absurdity of the moment on Thursday.

Mike Bedigan has the story.

If Linda McMahon is confirmed as education secretary, President Donald Trump has said he wants her to “put herself out of a job.”

A plan being considered by the White House would direct the education secretary to dismantle the department as much as legally possible while asking Congress to abolish it completely. At her confirmation hearing Thursday, McMahon indicated she would seek “a better functioning Department of Education,” with more efficient programs that might be better implemented by different federal agencies.

And British defence figures are said to reacted furiously to claims Ukraine will be forced to give up land to Russia in a peace deal, saying of the US administration’s stance: “The bastards are going to do this”.

The robust British response could mark the first major test in relations between the Labour government and Mr Trump’s White House.

Mille Cooke and Kate Devlin report.