APPLENEWS - STORY ADD
Trump admin live updates: Trump strikes deals with law firms totaling $600M
The agreements were with five law firms for pro bono work.
President Donald Trump held a Cabinet meeting with his top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as Elon Musk, on Thursday.
It follows Trump on Wednesday changing course on his tariff policy, instituting a 90-day pause in higher taxes for most countries while ramping up the rate against China to 145%.
On Capitol Hill, Republican leaders pushed through a budget blueprint to fund Trump's domestic agenda despite some GOP hard-liner opposition.
Latest headlines:
Trump speaks with French, Egyptian and Jordanian leaders about Gaza
Trump spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and King Abudllah II of Jordan to “discuss the situation in Gaza,” the Elysée said in a release Monday. The call between the four leaders came at Macron’s initiative, the Elysée said.
Macron is in Cairo for a trilateral meeting with the Egyptian president and the King of Jordan to discuss “the grave situation in Gaza,” a release from the Elysée said.
The three leaders “called for the implementation of the January 19th exchange deal guaranteeing the release of all hostages and detainees and ensuring security for all. Protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel as well as full access for the delivery of aid is an obligation under international law and international humanitarian law and must be upheld,” the release said.
Macron will visit a location in Egypt closer to the border with Gaza on Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Hugo Leenhardt
Trump reveals US is talking to Iran
Trump said in the Oval Office his administration is going to have "direct talks" with Iran. He said the discussions would begin on Saturday.
"We have a very big meeting, and we'll see what can happen. And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable," Trump said.
The president said the negotiations would be at a "very high level."
Netanyahu arrives at the White House to talk tariffs, Gaza
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was greeted by Trump at the White House on Monday afternoon.
Trump did not respond to shouted questions from reporters on tariffs or the markets.
Netanyahu said he wanted to discuss the war with Hamas in Gaza as well as Trump's tariffs in their meeting in the Oval Office.
Israel is a target of the administration's "reciprocal" tariffs, getting hit with a 17% rate despite it moving ahead of Trump's announcement last week to cancel all remaining tariffs on American imports.
Trump press conference with Netanyahu canceled
Just before Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to arrive for a meeting with Trump, the White House informed reporters that the press conference planned for the two leaders after their meeting would no longer be taking place.
The joint news conference was on the schedule for 2:30 p.m. ET. Now, reporters will only have the ability to ask questions at the beginning of Trump and Netanyahu's bilat in the Oval Office.