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.

ByAlexandra Hutzler, Ivan Pereira, Emily Chang, Andrea Pineda-Salgado, Meredith Deliso, and Julia Reinstein
Last Updated: February 2, 2025, 11:11 PM EST

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.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing:
Jan 23, 2025, 6:42 PM EST

John Ratcliffe sworn in as CIA director

John Ratcliffe with his wife Michele is sworn in as CIA Director by Vice President JD Vance during a swearing in ceremony at the Vice President's ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Vice President J.D. Vance swore in newly confirmed CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Thursday in the vice president's ceremonial office.

"John is a great patriot, a guy that has the trust of the president, and I think really believes deeply in the mission, first of all, keeping Americans safe, but also doing it in a way that ensures that the American people have confidence in our national intelligence services," Vance said.

Ratcliffe did not give any remarks.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Jan 23, 2025, 6:31 PM EST

State Department starts suspending passport applications with 'X' gender marker

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed the State Department to freeze applications in the passport pipeline with "X" selected as the gender identifier, according to internal communications reviewed by ABC News.

The move follows President Donald Trump's executive order titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," which states that "it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female."

Applicants who call into the State Department's National Passport Information Center with questions are being told to wait for new guidance before applying if they can, which the center said will be made available "in the coming days."

The State Department declined to comment on the matter, saying it "does not comment on leaked internal documents."

The Biden administration introduced an option to select "X" instead of male or female on passport applications in 2022.

The State Department doesn't publish data on how many applicants have selected "X" since it was introduced, but the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, estimated at the time that 16,700 people would apply for passports with the "X" identifier each year.

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston

Jan 23, 2025, 5:55 PM EST

Trump pardons pro-life protesters

Trump signed a set of pardons for several anti-abortion protesters calling it a "great honor to sign."

More details of the pardons were set to be released later.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Jan 23, 2025, 5:48 PM EST

DHS could request up to 10K troops on the border: Memo

An internal Border Patrol memo obtained by ABC News indicates that the Department of Homeland Security could request up to 10,000 troops to help with efforts along the United States and Mexico border.

Defense officials, however, said they have not heard of this figure but did note they expected there could be additional requests for troops along the border.

"This is just the start. This is an initial step, and we are anticipating many further missions," a senior defense official told reporters.

-ABC News' Luke Barr and Luis Martinez

Sponsored Content by Taboola