Trump 2nd term updates: Trump says USAID is run by 'radical lunatics'

The comments came amid turmoil as DOGE took over USAID offices last week.

President Donald Trump made good on his threats to impose tariffs on some of the U.S.'s trading partners, announcing Saturday that he will levy 25% tariffs on some goods from Canada and Mexico and 10% on Chinese goods.

Experts have warned that tariffs of this magnitude will likely increase prices paid by U.S. and Trump appeared to acknowledge that “some pain” might be possible in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee announced it will meet Tuesday, when it is expected to vote on the controversial nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of Health and Human Services.

Jan 21, 2025, 7:01 PM EST

Kash Patel hearing tentatively scheduled for Jan. 29

The Senate Judiciary Committee has tentatively scheduled a confirmation hearing for Kash Patel, Trump's nominee to be the FBI director, on Jan. 29, committee ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters Tuesday.

Durbin stressed he will not be voting to advance Patel's nomination following an in-person meeting with the nominee and a reading of his book, "Government Gangsters."

"After meeting with him and doing this study, I've come to the conclusion that Kash Patel has neither the experience, the judgment or the temperament to serve as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to take on this awesome responsibility to keep America safe," Durbin said.

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's pick to be the director of the FBI, speaks at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025.
Matt Rourke/AP

Durbin said he was also concerned with Patel's recounting of Jan. 6 during their meeting.

"His description of what happened in this Capitol building on Jan. 6 defies reality. I tried to pin him down on some of the things he said," Durbin said, noting that after Trump's pardons of the rioters on Monday, he didn’t know if the FBI would continue to track and monitor them -- particularly the ones who were recently released.

"He calls it a haphazard riot. What the hell is a haphazard riot? That's how he describes Jan. 6," Durbin said. "I said I was here. … Unfortunately for the law enforcement, there were a lot of injuries and some death."

-ABC News' Isabella Murray

Jan 21, 2025, 6:16 PM EST

Trump says he'll impose tariffs on the European Union

During his AI infrastructure announcement, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the European Union, as he has done with Canada, China and Mexico.

"It's not just China. China is an abuser, but the European Union is very, very bad to us," Trump told reporters after the announcement. "They treat us very, very badly. They don't take our cars. They don't take our cars at all. They don't take our farm products. Essentially, they don't take very much. We have a $350 billion deficit with the European Union."

"They treat us very, very badly, so they're going to be in for tariffs."

Jan 21, 2025, 6:02 PM EST

Trump says looking at Feb. 1 date for tariffs

Trump said he is eyeing Feb. 1 as the date to start implementing his tariffs on China and Mexico.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, on Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Jan 21, 2025, 5:48 PM EST

Trump defends pardoning Jan. 6 convicts

Trump was asked about pardoning the Jan. 6 rioters during a news conference Tuesday and dodged a question about pardoning violent Jan. 6 convicts, including one who admitted to attacking an officer.

The president dodged the question, claiming he would look into it, before changing the subject to murders around the country that he claimed yielded no arrests.

He repeated his claim that the people pardoned were unjustly prosecuted, including the head of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.

"The cases that we looked at, these were people that actually love our country, so we thought a pardon would be appropriate," he said.

Trump was asked about the pardons again, as well as Vice President J.D. Vance's statement last week in which he opposed pardoning rioters who assaulted officers, but the president again claimed the rioters were unfavorably treated.

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