US and China hold second day of tariff talks
The US and China have resumed crucial tariff talks that have put the global economy on edge, but it's unclear exactly how much progress negotiators are making behind closed doors.
US President Donald Trump wrote on social media that "great progress" was being made and even suggested a "total reset" was possible as the sides took their seats for the second and final scheduled day of discussions in Geneva on Sunday.
Beijing has yet to comment directly, but its official news agency took a tough approach, saying China will "firmly reject any proposal that compromises core principles or undermines the broader cause of global equity".
Still, Trump wrote Sunday on social media that "great progress" was being made.
He gave no further details, and officials at the White House also offered little information during and after the opening day of discussions.
Two officials speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter confirmed that the talks had resumed on Sunday morning.
The discussions could help stabilise world markets roiled by the US-China stand-off that has ships in port with goods from China unwilling to unload until they get the final word on tariffs.
The discussions have been shrouded in secrecy, and neither side made comments to reporters as they left Saturday.
"Talks should never be a pretext for continued coercion or extortion, and China will firmly reject any proposal that compromises core principles or undermines the broader cause of global equity," Xinhua said in an editorial.
As with the day before, the delegations left the villa designated for talks after a couple of hours for a lunch break.
Trump last month raised US tariffs on China to a combined 145 per cent, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125 per cent levy.
Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries' boycotting each other's products, disrupting trade that last year topped $US660 billion ($A1.0 trillion).
Even before talks got underway, Trump suggested on Friday that the US could lower its tariffs on China, saying in a Truth Social post that " 80 per cent Tariff seems right! Up to Scott!" — referring to lead negotiator and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The talks mark the first time the sides have met face-to-face to discuss the issues.
And though prospects for a breakthrough are slight, even a small drop in tariffs, particularly if taken simultaneously, would help restore some confidence.
"Negotiations to begin de-escalating the growing US–China trade war are badly needed and it's a positive sign that both sides were able to gracefully move beyond their bickering over who had to call first," Jake Werner, director of the East Asia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said.
The tariff fight with China has been the most intense.
Trump's tariffs on China include a 20 per cent charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.
The remaining 125 per cent involve a dispute that dates back to Trump's first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China back then, which means the total tariffs on some Chinese goods can exceed 145 per cent.
China's trade deficit, which came to a record $US263 billion ($A410 billion) last year, has also been a major target of Trump's complaints.
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Trump deploys National Guard to quell LA protests
President Donald Trump's administration says it will deploy 2000 National Guard troops as federal agents in Los Angeles face off against a few hundred demonstrators during a second day of protests following immigration raids. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Saturday the Pentagon was prepared to mobilise active-duty troops "if violence continues" in Los Angeles, saying the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were "on high alert". Federal security agents on Saturday confronted protesters in the Paramount area in southeast Los Angeles, where some demonstrators displayed Mexican flags. A second protest in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night attracted some 60 people, who chanted slogans including "ICE out of L.A.!" Trump signed a presidential memorandum to deploy the National Guard troops to "address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester"the White House said in a statement. Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News the National Guard would be deployed in Los Angeles on Saturday. California Governor Gavin Newsom called the decision "purposefully inflammatory". He posted on X that Trump was deploying the National Guard "not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle", adding: "Don't give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully." Newsom said it was "deranged behavior" for Hegseth to be "threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens." Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass can't do their jobs "then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!" The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where a significant portion of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Trump's Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a hallmark of his second term. Senior White House aide Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, described the protests as a "violent insurrection." The 1807 law empowers a president to deploy the US military to enforce the law and suppress events such as civil disorder. The last time it was invoked was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots at the request of the California governor. Video footage of the Paramount protest showed dozens of green-uniformed security personnel with gas masks lined up on a road strewn with overturned shopping carts as small canisters exploded into gas clouds. Los Angeles police posted on X that "multiple people have been detained for failing to disperse after multiple warnings were issued." It did not give further details. There was no official information of any arrests. "Now they know that they cannot go to anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people - they cannot do that without an organised and fierce resistance," said protester Ron Gochez, 44. A first round of protests kicked off on Friday night after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted enforcement operations in the city and arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that there were about "1,000 rioters" at the protests on Friday. Reuters could not verify DHS's account. Angelica Salas, executive director of immigrants' rights organisation Chirla, said lawyers had not had access to those detained on Friday, which she called "very worrying". Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3000 migrants per day. But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also caught up people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges. ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to requests for comment on the protests or whether there had been any immigration raids on Saturday. President Donald Trump's administration says it will deploy 2000 National Guard troops as federal agents in Los Angeles face off against a few hundred demonstrators during a second day of protests following immigration raids. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Saturday the Pentagon was prepared to mobilise active-duty troops "if violence continues" in Los Angeles, saying the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were "on high alert". Federal security agents on Saturday confronted protesters in the Paramount area in southeast Los Angeles, where some demonstrators displayed Mexican flags. A second protest in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night attracted some 60 people, who chanted slogans including "ICE out of L.A.!" Trump signed a presidential memorandum to deploy the National Guard troops to "address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester"the White House said in a statement. Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News the National Guard would be deployed in Los Angeles on Saturday. California Governor Gavin Newsom called the decision "purposefully inflammatory". He posted on X that Trump was deploying the National Guard "not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle", adding: "Don't give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully." Newsom said it was "deranged behavior" for Hegseth to be "threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens." Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass can't do their jobs "then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!" The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where a significant portion of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Trump's Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a hallmark of his second term. Senior White House aide Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, described the protests as a "violent insurrection." The 1807 law empowers a president to deploy the US military to enforce the law and suppress events such as civil disorder. The last time it was invoked was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots at the request of the California governor. Video footage of the Paramount protest showed dozens of green-uniformed security personnel with gas masks lined up on a road strewn with overturned shopping carts as small canisters exploded into gas clouds. Los Angeles police posted on X that "multiple people have been detained for failing to disperse after multiple warnings were issued." It did not give further details. There was no official information of any arrests. "Now they know that they cannot go to anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people - they cannot do that without an organised and fierce resistance," said protester Ron Gochez, 44. A first round of protests kicked off on Friday night after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted enforcement operations in the city and arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that there were about "1,000 rioters" at the protests on Friday. Reuters could not verify DHS's account. Angelica Salas, executive director of immigrants' rights organisation Chirla, said lawyers had not had access to those detained on Friday, which she called "very worrying". Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3000 migrants per day. But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also caught up people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges. ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to requests for comment on the protests or whether there had been any immigration raids on Saturday. President Donald Trump's administration says it will deploy 2000 National Guard troops as federal agents in Los Angeles face off against a few hundred demonstrators during a second day of protests following immigration raids. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Saturday the Pentagon was prepared to mobilise active-duty troops "if violence continues" in Los Angeles, saying the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were "on high alert". Federal security agents on Saturday confronted protesters in the Paramount area in southeast Los Angeles, where some demonstrators displayed Mexican flags. A second protest in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night attracted some 60 people, who chanted slogans including "ICE out of L.A.!" Trump signed a presidential memorandum to deploy the National Guard troops to "address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester"the White House said in a statement. Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News the National Guard would be deployed in Los Angeles on Saturday. California Governor Gavin Newsom called the decision "purposefully inflammatory". He posted on X that Trump was deploying the National Guard "not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle", adding: "Don't give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully." Newsom said it was "deranged behavior" for Hegseth to be "threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens." Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass can't do their jobs "then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!" The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where a significant portion of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Trump's Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a hallmark of his second term. Senior White House aide Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, described the protests as a "violent insurrection." The 1807 law empowers a president to deploy the US military to enforce the law and suppress events such as civil disorder. The last time it was invoked was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots at the request of the California governor. Video footage of the Paramount protest showed dozens of green-uniformed security personnel with gas masks lined up on a road strewn with overturned shopping carts as small canisters exploded into gas clouds. Los Angeles police posted on X that "multiple people have been detained for failing to disperse after multiple warnings were issued." It did not give further details. There was no official information of any arrests. "Now they know that they cannot go to anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people - they cannot do that without an organised and fierce resistance," said protester Ron Gochez, 44. A first round of protests kicked off on Friday night after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted enforcement operations in the city and arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that there were about "1,000 rioters" at the protests on Friday. Reuters could not verify DHS's account. Angelica Salas, executive director of immigrants' rights organisation Chirla, said lawyers had not had access to those detained on Friday, which she called "very worrying". Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3000 migrants per day. But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also caught up people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges. ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to requests for comment on the protests or whether there had been any immigration raids on Saturday. President Donald Trump's administration says it will deploy 2000 National Guard troops as federal agents in Los Angeles face off against a few hundred demonstrators during a second day of protests following immigration raids. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Saturday the Pentagon was prepared to mobilise active-duty troops "if violence continues" in Los Angeles, saying the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were "on high alert". Federal security agents on Saturday confronted protesters in the Paramount area in southeast Los Angeles, where some demonstrators displayed Mexican flags. A second protest in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night attracted some 60 people, who chanted slogans including "ICE out of L.A.!" Trump signed a presidential memorandum to deploy the National Guard troops to "address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester"the White House said in a statement. Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News the National Guard would be deployed in Los Angeles on Saturday. California Governor Gavin Newsom called the decision "purposefully inflammatory". He posted on X that Trump was deploying the National Guard "not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle", adding: "Don't give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully." Newsom said it was "deranged behavior" for Hegseth to be "threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens." Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass can't do their jobs "then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!" The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where a significant portion of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Trump's Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a hallmark of his second term. Senior White House aide Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, described the protests as a "violent insurrection." The 1807 law empowers a president to deploy the US military to enforce the law and suppress events such as civil disorder. The last time it was invoked was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots at the request of the California governor. Video footage of the Paramount protest showed dozens of green-uniformed security personnel with gas masks lined up on a road strewn with overturned shopping carts as small canisters exploded into gas clouds. Los Angeles police posted on X that "multiple people have been detained for failing to disperse after multiple warnings were issued." It did not give further details. There was no official information of any arrests. "Now they know that they cannot go to anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people - they cannot do that without an organised and fierce resistance," said protester Ron Gochez, 44. A first round of protests kicked off on Friday night after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted enforcement operations in the city and arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that there were about "1,000 rioters" at the protests on Friday. Reuters could not verify DHS's account. Angelica Salas, executive director of immigrants' rights organisation Chirla, said lawyers had not had access to those detained on Friday, which she called "very worrying". Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3000 migrants per day. But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also caught up people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges. ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to requests for comment on the protests or whether there had been any immigration raids on Saturday.
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Rwanda quits Central African bloc in dispute with Congo
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M23 seized eastern Congo's two largest cities earlier this year, with the advance leaving thousands dead and raising concerns of an all-out regional war. African leaders, along with Washington and Doha, have been trying to broker a peace deal. Congo, the United Nations and Western powers accuse Rwanda of supporting M23 by sending troops and weapons. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces were acting in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed about one million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis. US President Donald Trump's administration hopes to strike a peace accord between Congo and Rwanda that would also facilitate billions in Western investment in the region, rich in minerals including tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium. The bloc was established in the 1980s to foster co-operation in areas such as security and economic affairs among its member states. Rwanda says it will withdraw from the Economic Community of Central African States, underscoring diplomatic tensions in the region over an offensive by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo. Kigali had expected to assume the chairmanship of the 11-member bloc at a meeting on Saturday in Equatorial Guinea. Instead, the bloc kept Equatorial Guinea in the role, which Rwanda's foreign ministry denounced as a violation of its rights. Rwanda, in a statement, condemned Congo's "instrumentalisation" of the bloc and saw "no justification for remaining in an organisation whose current functioning runs counter to its founding principles". It wasn't clear if Rwanda's exit from the bloc would take immediate effect. The office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said in a statement that bloc members had "acknowledged the aggression against the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and ordered the aggressor country to withdraw its troops from Congolese soil". M23 seized eastern Congo's two largest cities earlier this year, with the advance leaving thousands dead and raising concerns of an all-out regional war. African leaders, along with Washington and Doha, have been trying to broker a peace deal. Congo, the United Nations and Western powers accuse Rwanda of supporting M23 by sending troops and weapons. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces were acting in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed about one million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis. US President Donald Trump's administration hopes to strike a peace accord between Congo and Rwanda that would also facilitate billions in Western investment in the region, rich in minerals including tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium. The bloc was established in the 1980s to foster co-operation in areas such as security and economic affairs among its member states. Rwanda says it will withdraw from the Economic Community of Central African States, underscoring diplomatic tensions in the region over an offensive by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo. Kigali had expected to assume the chairmanship of the 11-member bloc at a meeting on Saturday in Equatorial Guinea. Instead, the bloc kept Equatorial Guinea in the role, which Rwanda's foreign ministry denounced as a violation of its rights. Rwanda, in a statement, condemned Congo's "instrumentalisation" of the bloc and saw "no justification for remaining in an organisation whose current functioning runs counter to its founding principles". It wasn't clear if Rwanda's exit from the bloc would take immediate effect. The office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said in a statement that bloc members had "acknowledged the aggression against the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and ordered the aggressor country to withdraw its troops from Congolese soil". M23 seized eastern Congo's two largest cities earlier this year, with the advance leaving thousands dead and raising concerns of an all-out regional war. African leaders, along with Washington and Doha, have been trying to broker a peace deal. Congo, the United Nations and Western powers accuse Rwanda of supporting M23 by sending troops and weapons. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces were acting in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed about one million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis. US President Donald Trump's administration hopes to strike a peace accord between Congo and Rwanda that would also facilitate billions in Western investment in the region, rich in minerals including tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium. The bloc was established in the 1980s to foster co-operation in areas such as security and economic affairs among its member states. Rwanda says it will withdraw from the Economic Community of Central African States, underscoring diplomatic tensions in the region over an offensive by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo. Kigali had expected to assume the chairmanship of the 11-member bloc at a meeting on Saturday in Equatorial Guinea. Instead, the bloc kept Equatorial Guinea in the role, which Rwanda's foreign ministry denounced as a violation of its rights. Rwanda, in a statement, condemned Congo's "instrumentalisation" of the bloc and saw "no justification for remaining in an organisation whose current functioning runs counter to its founding principles". It wasn't clear if Rwanda's exit from the bloc would take immediate effect. The office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said in a statement that bloc members had "acknowledged the aggression against the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and ordered the aggressor country to withdraw its troops from Congolese soil". M23 seized eastern Congo's two largest cities earlier this year, with the advance leaving thousands dead and raising concerns of an all-out regional war. African leaders, along with Washington and Doha, have been trying to broker a peace deal. Congo, the United Nations and Western powers accuse Rwanda of supporting M23 by sending troops and weapons. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces were acting in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed about one million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis. US President Donald Trump's administration hopes to strike a peace accord between Congo and Rwanda that would also facilitate billions in Western investment in the region, rich in minerals including tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium. The bloc was established in the 1980s to foster co-operation in areas such as security and economic affairs among its member states.
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The White House has defended its dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework a form of discrimination, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. The Trump administration has also touted its appointment of a number of openly gay people to cabinet posts and judgeships as evidence that Trump aims to serve all Americans. Before the main rally, transgender supporters will hold their march to protest Trump's rhetoric and myriad state laws around the country that ban transgender health care services for minors. Backers of those laws say they are attempting to protect minors from starting on a path they may later regret. The transgender rally will march from the offices of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQI organisation in the US, toward the Lincoln Memorial, which is considered hallowed ground in the US civil rights movement as the site of the King speech and the March on Washington that preceded historic legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. LGBTQI people will gather at the site of Martin Luther King's 1963 I Have a Dream speech for a political rally aimed at preserving decades of progress while protesting setbacks under President Donald Trump. After the festive nature of a parade on Saturday through the streets of Washington DC, the political demonstration could be the main event of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, which moves around the globe every two years. It occurs at the Lincoln Memorial at a time of high tension over LGBTQI rights in the US. Speakers are certain to rail against Trump, who has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights, banned transgender people from serving in the armed forces and rescinded anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQI people. The White House has defended its dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework a form of discrimination, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. The Trump administration has also touted its appointment of a number of openly gay people to cabinet posts and judgeships as evidence that Trump aims to serve all Americans. Before the main rally, transgender supporters will hold their march to protest Trump's rhetoric and myriad state laws around the country that ban transgender health care services for minors. Backers of those laws say they are attempting to protect minors from starting on a path they may later regret. The transgender rally will march from the offices of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQI organisation in the US, toward the Lincoln Memorial, which is considered hallowed ground in the US civil rights movement as the site of the King speech and the March on Washington that preceded historic legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. LGBTQI people will gather at the site of Martin Luther King's 1963 I Have a Dream speech for a political rally aimed at preserving decades of progress while protesting setbacks under President Donald Trump. After the festive nature of a parade on Saturday through the streets of Washington DC, the political demonstration could be the main event of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, which moves around the globe every two years. It occurs at the Lincoln Memorial at a time of high tension over LGBTQI rights in the US. Speakers are certain to rail against Trump, who has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights, banned transgender people from serving in the armed forces and rescinded anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQI people. The White House has defended its dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework a form of discrimination, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. The Trump administration has also touted its appointment of a number of openly gay people to cabinet posts and judgeships as evidence that Trump aims to serve all Americans. Before the main rally, transgender supporters will hold their march to protest Trump's rhetoric and myriad state laws around the country that ban transgender health care services for minors. Backers of those laws say they are attempting to protect minors from starting on a path they may later regret. The transgender rally will march from the offices of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQI organisation in the US, toward the Lincoln Memorial, which is considered hallowed ground in the US civil rights movement as the site of the King speech and the March on Washington that preceded historic legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. LGBTQI people will gather at the site of Martin Luther King's 1963 I Have a Dream speech for a political rally aimed at preserving decades of progress while protesting setbacks under President Donald Trump. After the festive nature of a parade on Saturday through the streets of Washington DC, the political demonstration could be the main event of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, which moves around the globe every two years. It occurs at the Lincoln Memorial at a time of high tension over LGBTQI rights in the US. Speakers are certain to rail against Trump, who has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights, banned transgender people from serving in the armed forces and rescinded anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQI people. The White House has defended its dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework a form of discrimination, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. The Trump administration has also touted its appointment of a number of openly gay people to cabinet posts and judgeships as evidence that Trump aims to serve all Americans. Before the main rally, transgender supporters will hold their march to protest Trump's rhetoric and myriad state laws around the country that ban transgender health care services for minors. Backers of those laws say they are attempting to protect minors from starting on a path they may later regret. The transgender rally will march from the offices of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQI organisation in the US, toward the Lincoln Memorial, which is considered hallowed ground in the US civil rights movement as the site of the King speech and the March on Washington that preceded historic legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
