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Trump admin live updates: Trump says Hamas will release hostage Edan Alexander
Trump did not provide any timing on when Alexander is expected to be released.
The White House said on Sunday that it reached a trade deal with China as the two countries negotiated for a second day in Switzerland. China has yet to comment on Sunday's talks.
"We’re confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work toward resolving that national emergency,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters in Geneva. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said "substantial progress" had been made but stopped short of touting a full deal.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with the United Kingdom -- the first in what the White House said it hopes will be a flurry of agreements while the reciprocal tariff pause is in effect. With UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on speaker phone in the Oval Office, the leaders conceded that they are still working out the details of the agreement.
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'Challenging for us': Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy vows to hire more air traffic controllers amid Newark Airport issues
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy spoke with reporters Tuesday about the issues affecting Newark Airport, which has been hit with various issues and delays because of a shortage of air traffic controllers.
Duffy blamed the Biden administration for not investing in the air facilities, particularly the Philadelphia facility that manages the flights out of Newark.
"These facilities have to operate as we're building new radar, fiber, radios, sensors, so that choreography is going to be challenging for us," he said.
Duffy said Newark is safe for flying despite the issues it has faced and vowed to get more air traffic controllers hired.
"We think we can supercharge our air traffic controllers through the academy. That takes time," he said.
Hegseth talks about 'combat standards' in conference speech
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday did not hint at the U.S. standing down on the Houthis or discuss ongoing operations when he spoke at an annual conference in Tampa, Florida, focused on special operations forces.
Instead, Hegseth spoke only in general terms of Trump's goal was to re-establish deterrence around the world.
In a speech, Hegseth talked about raising "combat standards."
"They have to believe that America is strong, that peace through strength is real," Hegseth said in his speech.
"No more pronouns, no more climate change obsession, no more emergency vaccine mandates, no more dudes in dresses. We're done with that s---," he said.
-ABC News' Anne Flaherty
Houthi official responds to Trump announcement
The Houthis are not immediately agreeing to the U.S. proposed ceasefire, according to a Houthi official.
The Houthis will "evaluate" the U.S. ceasefire proposal “on the ground first,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, said in a post on X.
"Yemen operations were and still are a support for Gaza to stop the aggression and bring in aid," he said in his post.
-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman
Ceasefire agreement between Houthis, US reached, Foreign Ministry of Oman says
A ceasefire agreement between the Houthis and the US has been reached, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Oman said in a post on X Tuesday after Trump’s comments on the matter.
“Following recent discussions and contacts conducted by the Sultanate of Oman with the United States and the relevant authorities in Sana’a, in the Republic of Yemen, with the aim of de-escalation, efforts have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides,” the statement from the Foreign Ministry of Oman said.
“In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping,” the statement added.
-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman