Trump admin live updates: Dems react to Hegseth discussing Yemen strike in 2nd chat

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he will close the State Department's Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) hub, formerly known as the Global Engagement Center,a small office within the department that tracks and counters foreign disinformation campaigns.

Rubio said he was doing so because the hub, he alleged, "spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving."

Shuttering FIMI will eliminate the only office inside the agency dedicated to thwarting disinformation campaigns spawned by U.S. adversaries such as Iran, China and Russia.

Critics of the initiative have long claimed that it silenced conservative voices. Rubio's claims of protecting free speech also come as the State Department targets some on visitor visas who participate in protests that agency leaders have deemed to be "pro-Hamas."

-ABC News' Shannon Kingston

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's special envoy and lead negotiator tasked with ending the war in Ukraine, will travel to Paris on Wednesday for talks with European counterparts on how to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The two will be in France until April 18, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

"While in Paris, he will also discuss ways to advance shared interests in the region," Bruce said of Rubio.

-ABC News' Shannon Kingston

President Donald Trump again insulted Harvard University, saying in a social media post on Wednesday that the university has "lost its way."

His daily jabs continue as the university said it would not comply with his administration's series of demands, including relating to actions on antisemitism and the use of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on campus. In turn, the administration froze over $2.2 billion in federal funding to the university on Monday.

Trump echoed that Harvard should lose its federal funds, writing: "Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges. Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds."

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday announced the Department of Justice is filing a civil suit against Maine, challenging the state's policy regarding transgender athletes competing in girls' and women's sports.

"Maine is discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women's sports," Bondi said at a press conference alongside Education Secretary Linda McMahon, former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and others.

The move follows repeated warnings from the Trump administration and an announcement last week from Maine's attorney general that the state would not enter into an agreement with the U.S. government that would have required schools to prohibit transgender students from participating in girls sports.