Trump 2nd term live updates: Trump defends tariffs, declines to comment on Ukraine aid

When asked whether he is negotiating with terrorists, President Donald Trump said the United States is "having discussions with Hamas" in order to help Israel.

"You have to negotiate. There's a difference between negotiating and paying," the president said, emphasizing that he is "not giving cash" to Hamas.

Trump threatened on Wednesday that there will be "hell to pay" if Hamas does not release "all" of the Israeli hostages, saying this was Hamas' "last warning."

The exemptions on automobiles from the president's tariffs was a one-time thing, Trump told reporters.

"I told them, 'That's it,'" Trump claimed.

"They said, 'Could we have some help on the tariffs because of the speed?' And I said, 'Look, I'm going to do it.' But then said, 'Don't come back to me after the April 2. I don't want to hear from you," he added.

Trump convened his Cabinet members and Elon Musk for a meeting on Thursday, where the president told the head of agencies they are in charge of their departments.

"We had a great meeting," Trump said, adding it was about "cutting" the workforce.

"I said, I want the Cabinet members go first, keep all the people you want, everybody that you need," he said. "But I want them to do the best job they can where we have good people because that's precious, that's very important and we want them to keep the good people. And so, we're going to be watching them and Elon and the group, we're going to be watching them. And if they can cut, it's better. And if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting."

Despite pausing tariffs on a large number of goods from Canada and Mexico, President Donald Trump said he is still sticking with his plan to issue tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum products starting next week.

"We're not looking at that," he said when he was asked about a pause on tariffs.