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

Trump said tariffs will be the "greatest thing we've ever done as a country."

Last Updated: March 9, 2025, 8:31 PM EDT

President Donald Trump is defending his decision to pause some tariffs to Canada and Mexico for another month -- a notable reversal after imposing historic levies on the key U.S. trading partners earlier this week, causing markets to tumble.

On Friday, Trump signed more executive orders at the White House before he convened a first-ever cryptocurrency summit with industry leaders.

Mar 07, 2025, 7:43 PM EST

Trump trumpets plan to create 'virtual Fort Knox' during crypto summit

President Donald Trump held a crypto summit at the White House on Friday where he trumpeted his executive order that aims to create a strategic bitcoin reserve he called a "digital Fort Knox."

"Last year, I promised to make America the bitcoin superpower of the world and the crypto capital of the planet, and we're taking historic action to deliver on that promise as you know around the table," Trump said.

President Donald Trump speaks alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (L) and White House Crypto Czar David Sacks at the The White House Digital Assets Summit at the White House, on March 7, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The reserve will be made up of bitcoin obtained via criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings.

“From this day on, America will follow the rule that every bitcoin knows very well: Never sell your bitcoin,” Trump added, after criticizing the administration of former President Joe Biden. "And that's a little phrase that they have. I don't know if that's right or not. Who the hell knows?”

Trump vowed that the treasury and commerce departments will pursue additional avenues to acquire bitcoin "provided it's done at no cost to the taxpayers. We don't want any cost to the taxpayers."

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow

Mar 07, 2025, 4:41 PM EST

Musk clashed with top officials, particularly Rubio, during Cabinet meeting: Sources

During a hastily arranged Cabinet meeting on Thursday at the White House, Elon Musk clashed with top Cabinet officials -- particularly Secretary of State Marco Rubio -- over the way Rubio has so far approached his management of the department he oversees, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting.

Most Cabinet members around the table were observers, and didn't weigh in on the spat between Musk and Rubio, which was first reported by the New York Times. Musk accused Rubio of not firing anyone in his department, and Rubio said that was not true, given the agency had more than 1,000 employees take buyouts, sources told ABC News.

White House Senior Advisor to the President and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk departs the U.S. Capitol, Mar. 5, 2025, in Washington.
Kent Nishimura/Reuters

Trump observed the back and forth before interjecting and telling Rubio he was doing a good job. ABC News has reached out to the State Department for comment.

Trump was asked about the alleged clash during an event in the Oval Office on Friday. He denied it, saying "there is no clash," that Rubio and Musk "get along fantastically well" and that "they're both doing a fantastic job."

-ABC News' Rachel Scott, Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin

Mar 07, 2025, 4:12 PM EST

Trump administration to detain families with children in ICE custody

The Trump administration will be detaining families with children at two South Texas detention facilities, a DHS spokesperson told ABC News Friday, restarting a practice that the Biden administration sought to restrict.

The Trump administration plans to hold families at the detention centers in Karnes City and Dilley in Texas.

"The best option for illegal aliens is to self deport. If they leave now, they may still have an opportunity to return and live the American dream,” DHS Spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

During the first Trump administration, hundreds of families who came across the southern border were separated under the zero-tolerance policy. One of the officials who helped implement that policy was now Border Czar Tom Homan, who in recent months has said that as an alternative to family separation, “families can be deported together.”

-ABC News' Armando Garcia

Mar 07, 2025, 3:57 PM EST

Cuts begin at Defense Department as 31,000 offered to resign

Some 4,000 Defense Department personnel have begun receiving termination notices from their employers, according to a U.S. official.

Last month, a department statement said that 5,400 employees might be affected in a first wave of job dismissals that could reach 5% to 8% of the civilian workforce of 878,000 employees. The U.S. official did not have an explanation for the discrepancy in the numbers.

Individual DOD agencies are reaching out to their own employees affected by the terminations, one reason why the notices are all not going out at once.

The Department of Defense logo is seen on the wall in the Press Briefing room at the Pentagon, Oct. 29, 2024, in Washington.
Kevin Wolf/AP

According to the official, 31,000 civilian employees submitted a resignation request per the Office of Personnel Management email.

A review of those employees is underway, and there are some for whom their request will be denied because they have been exempted. So far, 11,000 of those who submitted resignations have had their requests accepted. The 31,000 affected employees is equal to 3.5% of the total DOD civilian workforce.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

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