Donald Trump is hosting at the White House the Indian PM Narendra Modi, who has heaped praise on him in hopes of avoiding the additional tariffs that the new administration has slapped on other countries in its opening weeks.
Trump and Modi greeted each with a hug in the lobby of the West Wing before meeting on Thursday afternoon in the Oval Office. Trump called Modi a “great friend” hours after signing an order to increase tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, which affects American trading partners around the world, including India.
“We have great friendship, he and I and our countries, and I think it’s only going to get closer,” Trump said.
The Indian leader was looking to improve relations with Washington and the West overall, which have been frosty lately after Modi refused to condemn Russia for its war on Ukraine.
“The world had this thinking that India somehow is a neutral country in this whole process,” Modi said, praising Trump for speaking with Russia and Ukraine’s leaders on Wednesday. “But this is not true. India has a side, and that side is of peace.”
Trump and Modi at the White House. Photograph: ABACA/Rex/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 17.43 EST
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Trump falsely claims top federal prosecutor in New York, who refused to drop charges against mayor Eric Adams, was fired
During a brief exchange with reporters in the Oval Office, alongside Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, Donald Trump was asked about the dramatic resignation of Danielle Sassoon, the acting US attorney for the southern district of New York.
Sassoon, a conservative lawyer and a member of the Federalist Society who once clerked for supreme court justice Antonin Scalia, offered her resignation on Wednesday in a scathing letter to Pam Bondi, the new attorney general, in which she explained that she could not, in good conscience, comply with an order from acting deputy attorney general, Emil Bove, to drop corruption charges against New York mayor Eric Adams, in return for the mayor’s help in executing Trump’s immigration policies.
Trump told reporters that Sassoon did not resign, but was fired.
That is not true. Multiple news organizations, including ABC News, obtained copies of Bove’s letter accepting Sassoon’s resignation on Thursday.
“The reasons advanced by Mr Bove for dismissing the indictment are not ones I can in good faith defend as in the public interest and as consistent with the principles of impartiality and fairness that guide my decision-making,” Sassoon wrote in her letter.
“Mr Bove proposes dismissing the charges against Adams in return for his assistance in enforcing the federal immigration laws, analogizing to the prisoner exchange in which the United States freed notorious Russian arms dealer Victor Bout in return for an American prisoner in Russia.”
She added: “Such an exchange with Adams violates commonsense beliefs in the equal administration of justice, the Justice Manual, and the Rules of Professional Conduct. Adams has argued in substance – and Mr Bove appears prepared to concede – that Adams should receive leniency for federal crimes solely because he occupies an important public position and can use that position to assist in the administration’s policy priorities.”
Updated at 17.58 EST
Maya Yang
Protesters have started chanting and beating drums in Foley Square as part of the rally against Donald Trump’s immigration crackdowns.
“Deny, defend, depose, all Nazis got to go,” they chanted.
Other chants include “every gender, every race, punch a Nazi in the face”.
Some protesters held signs that read “Chinga la migra” or “Fuck ice.”
Updated at 17.41 EST
Maya Yang
A handful of protestors donning green bandanas have gathered at Foley Square in downtown Manhattan ahead of an immigration rally in response to Donald Trump’s anti-immigration crackdowns.
Some are holding handwritten signs that say “Melt Ice” – a reference to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Another person is holding a sign with a message to New York City’s mayor Eric Adams who has in recent months taken on a hardened stance against immigration.
“Immigrants are not your get out of jail card!” the sign read, in reference to Adams’ own federal charges of corruption which the newest Trump-appointed justice department has ordered prosecutors to drop.
Another protester held up a sign that read “No family separation!”
ShareTrump hails ‘great friendship’ with Modi
Donald Trump is hosting at the White House the Indian PM Narendra Modi, who has heaped praise on him in hopes of avoiding the additional tariffs that the new administration has slapped on other countries in its opening weeks.
Trump and Modi greeted each with a hug in the lobby of the West Wing before meeting on Thursday afternoon in the Oval Office. Trump called Modi a “great friend” hours after signing an order to increase tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, which affects American trading partners around the world, including India.
“We have great friendship, he and I and our countries, and I think it’s only going to get closer,” Trump said.
The Indian leader was looking to improve relations with Washington and the West overall, which have been frosty lately after Modi refused to condemn Russia for its war on Ukraine.
“The world had this thinking that India somehow is a neutral country in this whole process,” Modi said, praising Trump for speaking with Russia and Ukraine’s leaders on Wednesday. “But this is not true. India has a side, and that side is of peace.”
Trump and Modi at the White House. Photograph: ABACA/Rex/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 17.43 EST
Trump meets Modi at White House
Donald Trump and Narendra Modi are meeting in the Oval Office. You can follow it live here:
Donald Trump welcomes Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to White House – watch live
Speaking to reporters earlier in the Oval office, Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the fact that Senator Mitch McConnell had polio as a child.
McConnell, the Kentucky Republican, mentioned his childhood illness to explain his vote against Robert F Kennedy Jr, the anti-vaccine activist, as health secretary. “I’m a survivor of childhood polio”, McConnell said. “In my lifetime, I’ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world. I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures”.
Asked about McConnell’s vote in the Oval office before Kennedy’s swearing-in, Trump first cast doubt on the senator’s mental competence, and then scoffed at the idea that he had survived polio.
When Kaitlin Collins of CNN said, “he had polio, obviously,” Trump replied, “I don’t know anything about, ‘He had polio’. He had polio” in a sarcastic tone that implied McConnell might have been lying about having had the illness in his youth.
Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the fact that Senator Mitch McConnell had polio as a child.
New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, has rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite a doctor who was charged there with prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor, the Associated Press reports.
The case against Dr Maggie Carpenter, a family medicine doctor in New Paltz, New York, who was indicted on criminal charges by a grand jury in Louisiana last month after prescribing the medication in a telemedicine appointment, sets up a potential court battle over laws that protect physicians who prescribe such medications to patients in states with bans.
Hochul, a Democrat, told reporters she will not honor Louisiana’s request to arrest and send the doctor to Louisiana after she was charged with violating the southern state’s strict anti-abortion law.
New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite a doctor who was charged there with prescribing abortion pills.
“I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana,” Hochul said at a news conference in Manhattan. “Not now, not ever.”
She also said she sent out a notice to law enforcement in New York that instructed them to not cooperate with out-of-state warrants for such charges.
Pills have become the most common method of abortion in the US and are at the epicenter of political and legal fights over abortion access following the US supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade.
Updated at 16.55 EST
Issa Rae cancelled a sold-out show at the Kennedy Center scheduled for next month after Donald Trump purged Democratic appointees to its board and had himself elected chairman.
The actress, writer and director announced the cancellation in a letter to her “DC Fam” posted on Instagram on Thursday. After thanking fans for buying tickets, she wrote:
Unfortunately, due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums, I’ve decided to cancel my appearance at this venue.
The White House released of 14 new board members appointed by the president on Thursday, including himself, Usha Vance, the vice president’s wife; Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff; Dan Scavino, Trump’s former golf caddy and current deputy chief of staff overseeing social media; Allison Lutnick, the wife of Trump’s commerce secretary.
The board named Richard Grenell, who was ambassador to Germany during the first Trump administration, interim president.
Rae’s decision comes after the television producer and writer Shonda Rhimes resigned as the board’s treasurer on Wednesday and Renée Fleming, a renowned opera singer, stepped down as an artistic adviser to the center
The musician Ben Folds announced on Wednesday that he had resigned as an adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, which is overseen by the Kennedy center, “given developments at the Kennedy Center”.
ShareTop prosecutor, justice department officials resign over order to drop charges against New York mayor Eric Adams
The top federal prosecutor in New York City and two justice department officials have resigned after being ordered to drop charges against the city’s mayor Eric Adams, Reuters reports.
Adams was last year indicted on charges related to accepting bribes from Turkish officials. The decision to drop the charges was reportedly made by Emil Bove, a former defense attorney for Donald Trump who is now acting deputy attorney general at the justice department. Here’s more about the resignations, from Reuters:
Manhattan US attorney Danielle Sassoon, the Trump administration’s recent pick to temporarily lead the office prosecuting New York mayor Eric Adams, resigned her post on Thursday without giving a reason, a spokesperson for the office said.
John Keller, the acting head of the justice department’s public corruption unit, also resigned, two people familiar with the matter said. Kevin Driscoll, a senior official in the department’s criminal division, has also resigned, one of the people said.
The resignations come after acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove on Monday ordered Sassoon to drop corruption charges against Adams, a Democrat who has forged ties with Donald Trump, in what former prosecutors called a sign of political interference.
According to a person briefed on the matter, Sassoon refused to comply with the directive to dismiss the case, and Trump’s administration then directed Keller’s office to do so. Keller resigned rather than comply, the person said.
The justice department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Updated at 16.06 EST
Federal judge blocks Trump order restricting gender-affirming care for minors
A federal judge has put on hold Donald Trump’s executive order banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth, after finding the policy “seems to deny that this population even exists, or deserves to exist”, the Associated Press reports.
Trump signed the order shortly after taking office, which threatened to revoke federal funding from facilities that provide treatments like hormone therapy and puberty blockers. The ruling by judge Brendan Hurson, an appointee of Joe Biden based in Baltimore, came in a challenge to the order filed by families of transgender and non-binary youth, and supporting advocacy groups.
The order is now on hold while the lawsuit proceeds. Here’s more about the concerns among transgender healthcare providers about Trump’s ban:
Updated at 15.43 EST
Trump acknowledges new tariffs may cause ‘short-term’ price increases
Tariffs have a tendency to cause price increases that consumers must bear, and as he announced his “reciprocal” levies on countries that impose tariffs on American goods, Donald Trump acknowledged that could be the case.
“I think what’s going to go up is jobs are going to go up, and prices could go up somewhat short term, but prices will also go down,” Trump said. He added that “the farmers are going to be helped by this very much” because “product is being dumped into our country”.
An increase in prices, even if it’s short term, could be an unwelcome development in the fight against inflation, which has proved to be stubborn:
Updated at 16.02 EST
Robert F Kennedy Jr sworn in as health secretary
Robert F Kennedy Jr is officially the secretary of health and human services, after supreme court justice Neil Gorsuch administered the oath in the Oval Office.
Supreme court justice Neil Gorsuch swears in Robert F Kennedy Jr in the Oval Office. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters
Donald Trump was also in attendance.
Donald Trump and supreme court justice Neil Gorsuch with Robert F Kennedy Jr, just before his swearing in. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Here’s more about Kennedy’s path from vaccine conspiracy theorist to Democratic presidential contender to Trump ally, and what he may do at the federal health department:
In a new post on Truth Social, Trump elaborated on his new executive order on reciprocal tariffs, saying that other taxes like value-added tax (VAT) are “far more punitive than a tariff”.
“It is fair to all, no other Country can complain and, in some cases, if a County feels that the United States would be getting too high a Tariff, all they have to do is reduce or terminate their Tariff against us,” Trump wrote.
Trump said that the reciprocal tariffs will “immediately bring Fairness and Prosperity back into the previously complex and unfair System of Trade”.
The president’s announcement is a dramatic departure from how trade in the US has worked for decades. It amounts to a dismissal of international bodies like the World Trade Organization, which helps countries negotiate trade policies.
Trump said that cabinet members secretary of state Marco Rubio, secretary of commerce nominee Howard Lutnick, treasury secretary Scott Bessent and US trade representative Jamieson Greer will work to calculate the new tariffs on a country-by-country basis.
Though Trump announced new reciprocal tariffs on Thursday, nothing new is going into effect – yet.
It will probably take some time to know exactly what changes the Trump administration will make in response to Trump’s new reciprocal tariff order.
Trump’s economic advisers told reporters today, after Trump’s announcement, that they will be coming up with new numbers country by country.
Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, said the administration will finish crunching the numbers by 1 April, according to the Reuters.
The president said his priorities are the most “egregious” examples of unfairness in trade, including countries that have big trade surpluses and high tariff rates.
An administration official, who spoke without attribution, said that Trump “is more than happy to lower tariffs if countries want to lower tariffs”.
But the administration said they would be considering things beyond tariffs, which means they could consider other taxes countries put on foreign goods. Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade adviser, spoke out on Thursday against the European Union’s value-added tax (VAT) as the “poster child” for what the administration sees as an unfair tax, the New York Times reported.
Updated at 14.35 EST
Trump announces reciprocal tariffs
Donald Trump announced he signed a memorandum ordering reciprocal tariffs, asking his trade advisers to calculate new tariff levels for all countries.
The order is a big ask, what could be a major overhaul of the current trade system.
“Whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them. No more, no less,” Trump said from the Oval Office on Thursday. “Very simple. Nobody knows what that number is. If you go by individual country … and you look at what they’re charging us, in almost all cases they’re charging us vastly more than we charge them.
“Those days are over,” he said.
Updated at 14.06 EST
Joan E Greve
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican of South Carolina, defended his vote in support of Robert F Kennedy‘s nomination to lead the department of health and human services, as Democrats condemned the new cabinet member over his past anti-vaccine comments.
“Every president deserves their team,” Graham said in a statement. “I look forward to working with RFK Jr to improve our quality of life and health in America.”
Graham and 51 other Senate Republicans pushed Kennedy’s nomination across the finish line, as Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined every Senate Democrat in opposing his confirmation.
We’re still waiting on Trump to announce his slate of new tariffs. Keep in mind that the announcement was originally promised for Tuesday or Wednesday, and had to be pushed back.
Trump said earlier today that “TODAY IS THE BIG ONE” and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed earlier this morning that Trump would be speaking at 1pm and said that “this is something he believes strongly in”.
But still, precise details on what these tariffs would be have been vague. Trump trade advisers Peter Navarro even told CNN that the announcement could be an investigation into how to implement reciprocal tariffs.
Updated at 13.43 EST