Trump administration live updates: President departs for first foreign trip; China and U.S. agree on tariffs pause
What to know today
President Donald Trump departed on the first major foreign trip of his second term this morning, heading first to Saudi Arabia and then Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The United States and China have agreed to a 90-day pause on most of the tariffs they have imposed on each other since last month, a big step toward easing the trade war between the two countries.
Trump signed an executive order that aims to lower prescription drug prices, and discussed the measure at a news conference with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump mocked Democratic backlash over his administration's decision to accept a Boeing super luxury jet, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, from Qatar to use as Air Force One.
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Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump tells France 'you would be speaking German right now' if not for America as he touts Army parade
President Donald Trump needled France Tuesday saying 'you would be speaking German right now' had it not been for the U.S.'s involvement in World War II, as he again touted Saturday's Army parade. 'We're going to celebrate our country for a change,' Trump said, expressing frustration that the U.S. hasn't held military-centric celebrations to mark significant military milestones. Trump then told reporters how he had recently called up France as they were celebrating the World War II victory. 'But we helped them a lot,' Trump said. 'As you know, I don't have to get into that, but I called up other countries, they're all celebrating the victory. We're the only country that didn't celebrate the victory and we're the one that won the war, OK?' 'If it wasn't for us you would be speaking German right now, OK?' the president continued. 'We won the war - you might be speaking Japanese too - you might be speaking a combination of both. We won the war and we're the only country that didn't celebrate it and we're going to be celebrating big on Saturday,' the president added. Saturday's Flag Day parade, which also happens to be Trump's 79th birthday, is to mark the Army's 250th anniversary, as the U.S. military formed before the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was a 2017 visit to France that got Trump mulling military parades. He was invited by French President Emmanuel Macron to attend Bastille Day celebrations, which in 2017 also coincided with the 100th anniversary of the United States entering World War I. During Trump's first term, he tried to host a military parade, but the idea was scrapped due to the high cost of fixing Washington, D.C.'s roads, among other hiccups. Instead, in 2019 the president held a 'Salute to America' on the Fourth of July in front of the Lincoln Memorial, where tanks were on display, and several flyovers occurred. Now on Saturday, Trump is finally getting his military parade. 'We're going to have a fantastic June 14 parade, Flag Day, it's going to be an amazing day. We have tanks, we have planes, we have all sorts of things. And I think it's going to be great,' he boasted. During his back-and-forth with reporters in the Oval Monday - before he headed to Fort Bragg to kick off the Army's 250th anniversary celebrations - he also warned protesters not to try anything. 'By the way, for those people who want to protest, they are going to be met with very big force,' Trump said. 'And I haven't even heard about a protest, but you know this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force,' the president added. An organization called 'No Kings' is organizing demonstrations across the country on June 14th, the day of the military parade. The threat to demonstrators comes amid Trump sending Marines to Los Angeles and federalizing National Guard members to quell protests that broke out over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the area. 'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see. But I can tell you, last night was terrible. The night before that was terrible,' Trump also said Tuesday. 'If we didn't send in the national guard quickly, right now, Los Angeles would be burning to the ground,' Trump told reporters in an impromptu Oval Office meeting with members of his team.
Rhyl Journal
19 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
US marines deployed to LA have not yet responded to immigration protests
The 700 marines and another 2,000 US National Guard troops were sent to LA on Monday, escalating a military presence that local officials and governor Gavin Newsom do not want and that the police chief says makes it harder to handle the protests safely. Marine Corps Gen Eric Smith told a budget hearing on Capitol Hill that the battalion has not yet been sent to any protests. The marines were trained for crowd control but have no arrest authority and are there to protect government property and personnel, he said. Mr Trump doubled the number of Guard troops being deployed soon after the first wave of 2,000 began arriving on Sunday following days of protests driven by anger over the President's enforcement of immigration laws that critics say are breaking apart migrant families. The President of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting Governor. This is a day I hoped I would never see in America. I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican this is a line we cannot cross as a nation — this is an unmistakable step toward… — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 9, 2025 The demonstrations continued on Monday but were far less raucous, with thousands of people peacefully attending a rally at City Hall and hundreds more protesting outside a federal complex that includes a detention centre where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city. The protests in Los Angeles, a city of four million people, have largely been centred in several blocks of downtown and a few other spots. At daybreak on Tuesday, guard troops were stationed outside the detention centre, but there was no sign of US marines. Obscene slogans were directed at Mr Trump and federal law enforcement remained scrawled across several buildings. At the Walt Disney Concert Hall, workers were busy washing away graffiti on Tuesday morning. In nearby Santa Ana, armoured vehicles blocked a road leading to federal immigration and government offices. Workers swept up plastic bottles and broken glass near buildings sprayed with graffiti. Mr Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Mayor Karen Bass and Mr Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth. They say he is putting public safety at risk by adding military personnel even though police say they do not need the help. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement that he was confident in the police department's ability to handle large-scale demonstrations and that the Marines' arrival without coordinating with the police department would present a 'significant logistical and operational challenge'. Mr Newsom called the deployments reckless and 'disrespectful to our troops' in a post on the social platform X. 'This isn't about public safety,' the governor said. 'It's about stroking a dangerous President's ego.' The protests began on Friday after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across Los Angeles and continued over the weekend as crowds blocked a major road and set self-driving cars on fire. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades. Demonstrations spread on Monday to other cities nationwide, including San Francisco and Santa Ana, California, as well as Dallas and Austin, Texas. Authorities in Austin appeared to use chemical irritants to disperse a crowd that gathered near the state Capitol. The Trump Administration's escalation and provocation in California inflames tensions and incites violence. Now, the President of the United States said he would arrest a sitting American governor just for disagreeing with these actions. This is a hallmark of authoritarianism… — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 9, 2025 Texas governor Greg Abbott posted on social media that more than a dozen protesters were arrested. The Pentagon said deploying the National Guard and Marines costs 134 million dollars (£98.8 million). That figure emerged just after US defence secretary Pete Hegseth engaged in a into a testy back-and-forth about the costs during a congressional hearing. Mr Hegseth said the department has a budget increase and the money to cover the costs, and he defended Mr Trump's decision to send the troops, saying they are needed to protect federal agents doing their jobs. Meanwhile, Democratic members of California's congressional delegation on Tuesday accused the President of creating a 'manufactured crisis' with his orders to send in troops. Nancy Pelosi contrasted Trump's actions with his handling of the January 6 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol when law enforcement officers were beaten. 'We begged the president of the United States to send in the National Guard. He would not do it,' Ms Pelosi said. California's attorney general Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops following the first deployment, telling reporters that Mr Trump had 'trampled' the state's sovereignty. He sought a court order declaring Mr Trump's use of the Guard unlawful and asking for a restraining order to halt the deployment. The President said the city would have been 'completely obliterated' if he had not deployed the Guard. US officials said the marines were needed to protect federal buildings and personnel, including immigration agents. A convoy of buses with blacked-out windows and escorted by sheriff's vehicles arrived overnight at a Navy facility just south of LA. Despite their presence, there has been limited engagement so far between the Guard and protesters while local law enforcement implements crowd control.
Rhyl Journal
20 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
World Bank sharply downgrades forecast for global economic growth to 2.3%
Citing 'a substantial rise in trade barriers' but without mentioning Mr Trump by name, the 189-country lender predicted that the US economy – the world's largest – would grow half as fast (1.4%) this year as it did in 2024 (2.8%). That marks a downgrade from the 2.3% US growth it had forecast back for 2025 back in January. The bank also lopped 0.4 percentage points off its forecast for global growth this year. It now expects the world economy to expand just 2.3% in 2025, down from 2.8% in 2024. In a forward to the latest version of the twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects report, World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill wrote that the global economy has missed its chance for the 'soft landing' – slowing enough to tame inflation without generating serious pain – it appeared headed for just six months ago. 'The world economy today is once more running into turbulence,' Mr Gill wrote. 'Without a swift course correction, the harm to living standards could be deep.'
