Trump said tariffs will be the "greatest thing we've ever done as a country."
President Donald Trump is defending his decision to pause some tariffs to Canada and Mexico for another month -- a notable reversal after imposing historic levies on the key U.S. trading partners earlier this week, causing markets to tumble.
On Friday, Trump signed more executive orders at the White House before he convened a first-ever cryptocurrency summit with industry leaders.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump spoke with the Big Three automakers, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Stellantis, and is offering them a one-month exemption to the tariffs.
Leavitt said this exemption is intended "so they are not at an economic disadvantage."
She added that reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect on April 2.
A U.S. official told ABC News the United States has cut nearly all of its intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, confirming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's statement earlier Wednesday.
-ABC News' Matt Seyler
At the top of her remarks at Wednesday's White House briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt tore into Democrats for their conduct during President Donald Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday night.
"It was the most shameful moment in the history of presidential addresses and that beautiful chamber in what was supposed to be a unifying moment for our country," Leavitt said. "Democrat members of Congress instead screamed at the president of the United States, who was just overwhelmingly reelected by their constituents, walked out of the chamber and, worse of all, they disrespected the American people."
Leavitt also took issue with Democrats not applauding as he singled out special guests throughout the evening.
President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on Wednesday for 50 minutes about the issue with tariffs.
Trump claimed on Truth social that nothing in their conversation has convinced him that there's been a decrease in fentanyl crossing the Canadian border, which the president has deemed a "national emergency."
Trump said he told Trudeau "that's not good enough" when the prime minister said it's gotten better and added that the call ended in a "somewhat" friendly manner.
The president also claimed that Trudeau was "unable" to tell him when the Canadian election was taking place. However, as Trudeau is stepping down, the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada will decide when the elections are held, according to Canadian law.
The party is scheduled to name its successor on Sunday.
-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh and Will Gretsky
