Closing summary
We have reached the end of another day chronicling the second Trump administration. The blog will be closing now, but will revive on Wednesday morning. Here are a few of the day’s developments:
Donald Trump met with Mark Carney, the new Canadian prime minister he helped elect (by enraging the Canadian public with threats of annexation and economic warfare). Both men seemed satisfied with the Oval Office meeting, even if Carney told a reporter later he was “glad you couldn’t tell what was going through my mind” when Trump railed about erasing the border between their two nations, and attacked Carney’s close friend who handled previous trade negotiations. Carney also said he asked Trump to stop calling Canada the 51st state.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and US trade representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts later this week in Switzerland, in what could be the first step to negotiating an end to the trade war between the world’s two largest economies over tariffs imposed by Trump.
Bessent also contradicted a previous claim from Trump that talks with China had been going on for weeks. “We haven’t had negotiations,” Bessent told Fox. “The world has been coming to the US, and China has been the missing piece.”
Trump revealed to reporters that three more Israeli hostages have died in Gaza, meaning that just 21 of the hostages taken from Israel on October 7 2023 remain alive. “I say 21, because, as of today, it’s 21. Three have died,” the president said.
At the White House event on the 2026 World Cup, Trump learned from a reporter that Russia is banned from taking part, as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.
Columbia University announced that it laid off nearly 180 researchers in response to the Trump’s administration’s decision to cancel $400 million in funding over the Ivy League school’s handling of student protests against the war in Gaza.
The Trump administration may deport migrants to Libya for the first time this week, three US officials tell Reuters.
Columbia lays off nearly 180 researchers whose work was funded by federal government
Columbia University announced on Tuesday that nearly 180 researchers would lose their jobs in response to the Trump’s administration’s decision to cancel $400 million in funding over the Ivy League school’s handling of student protests against the war in Gaza.
“Across the research portfolio we have had to make difficult choices and unfortunately, today, nearly 180 of our colleagues who have been working, in whole or in part, on impacted federal grants, will receive notices of non-renewal or termination” the university’s acting president,Claire Shipman, wrote. “This represents about 20% of the individuals who are funded in some manner by the terminated grants.”
“Included in the $400 million cut was $250 million from the National Institutes of Health, totaling over 400 research grants”, the student-run Columbia Spectator reports.
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