Closing summary
This is blog is closing now, thanks for joining us. We’ll be back tomorrow with more breaking news. In the meantime, here are today’s main developments:
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with taxes, tariffs and sanctions if a deal to end the war in Ukraine is not struck soon, as the new US president tries to increase pressure on Moscow to start negotiations with Kyiv. Writing in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said Russia’s economy was failing and urged Vladimir Putin to “settle now and stop this ridiculous war”.
Trump suggested that states should take care of their own disasters, hinting at a reduced federal role, in his first interview since the inauguration. “FEMA is gonna be a whole big discussion very shortly, because I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems,” he told Sean Hannity on Fox.
House Republicans will continue investigating the January 6 insurrection, attempting to undermine the prior investigation that found Donald Trump responsible and rewrite the narrative about the deadly Capitol siege. House speaker Mike Johnson announced on Wednesday that a new select subcommittee will be formed to investigate “all events leading up to and after January 6”.
Three federal judges denounced Trump’s pardons of January 6 rioters in stark terms in court orders formally dismissing cases before them. The US district judge Tanya Chutkan wrote that “no pardon can change the tragic truth of what happened on January 6, 2021”.
The US House gave final approval to a bill requiring the detention of undocumented immigrants charged with theft-related crimes, sending the proposal to Donald Trump’s desk and giving the new president his first legislative victory as he presses his hardline immigration agenda on multiple fronts.
Trump signed an executive order effectively closing the US-Mexico border to migrants, including people seeking asylum, part of a flurry of actions targeting immigration. The Pentagon is also set to deploy up to 1,500 active-duty troops to the US-Mexico border, marking a significant militarisation of the southern border.
The US justice department is ordering federal prosecutors to target state and local officials who resist the administration’s planned mass deportation campaign. The acting deputy attorney general, Emil Bove, directed prosecutors nationwide, in a document obtained by the Washington Post and the Associated Press, to investigate and potentially bring criminal charges against officials in “sanctuary” jurisdictions for “harboring” undocumented immigrants or withholding immigration information from federal authorities.
Trump criticized the Right Rev Mariann Edgar Budde as a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater” and said her tone as “nasty” after she implored him to “have mercy upon” immigrants and LGBTQ+ people”, at the National Cathedral prayer service for the inauguration.
The US Coast Guard (USCG) and the state of Florida have started referring to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America – a new label pushed by Donald Trump – despite the name of the body of water not yet being formally changed.
Refugees approved for resettlement to the United States have been stranded around the world after the new administration cancelled travel plans, with advocates warning it puts lives in danger and has left families devastated.
Democratic senators have called for the Senate to hold off on confirming Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, saying revelations about his behavior during his second marriage and excess drinking are cause for concern.
Multiple agencies sent versions of an apparent form letter to federal employees on Wednesday warning of “adverse consequences” if they fail to report on disguised efforts to continue promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.
“These programs divide Americans by race, waster taxpayer dollars and result in shameful discrimination” letters sent to staffers at Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security and the State Department all read, according to reporters who shared images of the letters.
