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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."
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.
Latest headlines:
Trump says reciprocal tariffs on Canada could come 'as early as today'
President Donald Trump said he could hit Canada with reciprocal tariffs as early as Friday, according to a feed provided by the White House of his remarks in the Oval Office, as he claimed Canada's been "ripping us off for years on tariffs on lumber and on dairy products."
"They'll be met with the exact same tariff unless they drop it, and that's what reciprocal means," Trump said. "We may do it as early as today, or we'll wait until Monday or Tuesday but that's what we're going to do. We're going to charge the same thing."
White House officials detail strategic Bitcoin reserve
Senior White House officials provided more details about the strategic Bitcoin reserve and U.S. digital assets stockpile that President Donald Trump created Thursday through an executive order.
The officials stressed it is using the digital assets that the United States government already owns and have been obtained through criminal or civil forfeiture proceedings. The White House said the government will not be purchasing additional Bitcoin assets at this time.
The officials said they believe that the U.S. maintains about 200,000 Bitcoin that "will be placed in the strategic reserves so that we do have a long-term strategy to maximize the value." Those assets will not be sold, officials said.
-ABC News' Elizabeth Schulze and Molly Nagle
Trump says he's mulling sanctions, tariffs against Russia
President Donald Trump said he's now considering sanction and tariff actions against Russia until a ceasefire and peace agreement is reached.
"Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely 'pounding' Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED. To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!" Trump posted on Truth Social Friday morning.
It's not clear what additional sanctions the U.S. could put on Russia after the Biden administration consistently ramped up sanctions on Russia, nor is it clear what tariffs Trump could levy on imports from Russia.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle
DOGE can access sensitive Treasury Dept records, judge rules
A federal judge is allowing DOGE to access sensitive Treasury Department records and payment systems for now.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly denied a request Friday to issue an injunction blocking their access and dissolved her earlier order, determining the three federal unions who brought the case failed to prove DOGE's access to the records would cause irreparable harm.
"For a time, parts of Silicon Valley embraced an unofficial credo of disruption: 'Move Fast and Break Things.' Plaintiffs, three large membership organizations, suggest that parts of the Executive Branch are now doing the same," she wrote before concluding that the unions failed to prove DOGE had caused serious damage," Kollar-Kotelly, a Clinton appointee, wrote.
Representatives from DOGE are still subject to a separate court order in New York that limits their access.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous