Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Get our free Inside Washington email
The White House defended President Donald Trump’s late-night pause on all federal grants, loans, and other financial assistance in a memo distributed by the Office of Management and Budget
At her first briefing on Tuesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that this pause will not impact individual assistance, including Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, and welfare benefits.
A new statement said the pause is limited to programs and projects implicated under Trump’s flurry of executive orders.
In a lively first briefing, Leavitt also announced that the New Jersey drones were all FAA-approved and that plans to slap tariffs on Canada and Mexico were still on track for February 1.
When asked about the immigration crackdown and how many of those detained have criminal records, Leavitt replied that they are all criminals having entered the U.S. illegally.
Federal agents began enforcing the strict new immigration agenda in New York City on Tuesday morning.
Twenty teams of ICE officers – assisted by the FBI and DEA – were deployed just days after the Justice Department announced it had begun multiagency raids in Chicago at the weekend.
Full story: Mysterious drones were for ‘research and other reasons’
President Donald Trump’s spokeswoman used her first briefing to end the mystery surrounding the drones seen over New Jersey in recent months.
New White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 27, took to the podium for the first time on Tuesday, boasting of President Donald Trump’s achievements from his first week back in office.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
White House clarifies pause in federal assistance
The White House has released a memo clarifying its suspension of federal grants, loans, and financial assistance, indicating that only those programs referenced in Donald Trump’s executive orders will be affected by the suspension.
“Any program that provides direct benefits to Americans is explicitly excluded from the pause and exempted from this review process. In addition to Social Security and Medicare, already explicitly excluded in the guidance, mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause.”
Trump’s approval remains steady going into second week
That number has remained steady over the last week as Trump has announced a barrage of executive orders that restrict immigration, roll back reproductive rights protections, cease diversity programs, cut the federal workforce and more.
While Trump’s approval rating has remained relatively positive, his disapproval rating has also grown. Nearly 43 percent of Americans said they do not approve of Trump’s new administration – that’s up from 41 percent who said the same last week.
Watch: Leavitt says Trump plans to implement tariffs on Mexico and Canada later this week
White House says anyone who entered country illegally is a criminal
At her first White House briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about how many of the 3,500 people arrested by ICE for being in the country illegally have criminal records.
She responded: “All of them because they illegally broke our nation’s laws, and therefore, they are criminals… someone who breaks our immigration laws is a criminal.”
Reporter: Of the 3500 ICE arrests, how many have a criminal record versus those who are just in the country illegally? Karoline Leavitt: “All of them because they illegally broke our nation’s laws, and therefore, they are criminals… someone who breaks our immigration laws is a criminal.”
[image or embed]
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona.bsky.social) January 28, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Watch: White House denies pause in federal grants and loans is a blanket pause
Approximately 100 detained in Chicago by ICE in recent days
Per Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling at today’s briefing: approximately 100 people in the Chicago area were detained by ICE in recent days.
“There is a level of fear out there that we have to bring down,” said Snelling, noting that families are not sending children to school and workers aren’t showing up.
The Trump administration’s attempt to “popularize fear” is “unconscionable and abhorrent,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “Chicago is built different. We are not going to be afraid.”
Asked about TV personality Dr. Phil’s ride-alongs with federal agents broadcast on his new media venture, the mayor said: “We are not entertained.”
White House announces that the New Jersey drones were ‘not the enemy’
A few weeks ago, Trump was saying there was “something strange is going on” with the New Jersey drones as other Republicans claimed they were from an Iranian mothership. Today, he announces that they were “authorized to be flown by the FAA” and many were by “hobbyists.”
[image or embed]
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona.bsky.social) January 28, 2025 at 1:21 PM
During her first press briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered news directly from President Donald Trump: the drones flown over New Jersey and elsewhere were authorized by the FAA for research purposes or were hobbyists.
“This was not the enemy.”
It seems that was not the case.
White House to open up press briefings to ‘new media voices’
Sean Duffy confirmed by Senate to lead Transportation Department
Sean Duffy was confirmed Tuesday as transportation secretary, giving him a key role in helping President Donald Trump cut regulations and fix the nation’s infrastructure.
The former Wisconsin congressman has promised safer Boeing planes, less regulation and help for U.S. companies developing self-driving cars — while not giving any breaks to Elon Musk, a key player in that technology.
Duffy, a 53-year-old former reality TV star, was approved with bipartisan support on a 77-22 vote in the Senate.
He takes over the Department of Transportation at a crucial time at the agency, a massive employer of more than 55,000 that spends tens of billions of dollars annually, oversees the nation’s highways, railroads and airspace and sets safety standards for trains, cars and trucks.
At his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Duffy vowed to “restore global confidence” in Boeing, hire more air traffic controllers, cut DEI programs at DOT and create federal rules for self-driving cars instead of leaving that to patchwork of state regulations that critics said holds back U.S. development.
Source: independent.co.uk
