# Trump administration briefing: trade turmoil, Zelenskyy peace offer and British fury at Vance

In Donald Trump’s first address to Congress since returning to the White House – and his first major speech in a chilling six weeks in office – the president claimed a mandate justifying his sweeping executive orders, despite having won the popular vote by 1.5 points – the  for any successful presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1968.

Trump’s second term has already seen him initiate sweeping mass layoffs of federal employees, and mobilize officers from nearly every federal law enforcement agency and the US military to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations. He has rattled Europe and other American allies with his pursuit of a peace deal to end Russia’s war in  on terms preferential to Moscow.

## Trump declares administration ‘just getting started’ in address to Congress

Trump on Tuesday declared that his administration was “just getting started”, after a radical start to his presidency that has seen his administration slash the size of the federal workforce, upend longstanding American alliances and rattle markets with an escalating trade war.

> “America is back,” Trump declared, opening his primetime speech to a joint session of Congress, the first of his second term. Republicans broke into a boisterous chant of “USA, USA”.



## Congressman Al Green removed from Trump address

The House speaker, , ordered Texas representative Al Green removed from the chamber on Tuesday night after the congressman repeatedly interrupted Donald  on Tuesday, shouting: “He has no mandate.”

As the president started his speech by discussing his electoral victory,  heckled and booed. When Green refused to sit down, Johnson directed the sergeant-at-arms to remove him. Republican lawmakers responded by chanting “Hey hey hey, goodbye”.



## Trudeau condemns ‘dumb’ Trump trade war over Canada-China tariffs

Justin Trudeau has claimed the aim of a “dumb” trade war launched by Donald Trump is to usher in the “complete collapse” of the Canadian economy and make it easier for the US to annex Canada.

Speaking hours after  – and a 10% levy on Canadian energy exports – the prime minister announced  and said his country would remain defiant against the aggression. China also announced retaliatory tariffs.



## Zelenskyy proposes Ukraine peace plan

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed a possible peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, saying he is willing to work “constructively” under Donald Trump’s “strong leadership” and to sign a deal giving the US access to his country’s mineral wealth. In an attempt to mend fences after Trump abruptly , the Ukrainian president said on Tuesday he was “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible”.



## Trump threatens funding for schools that allow ‘illegal protests’

Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to halt all federal funding for any college or school that allows “illegal protests” and vowed to imprison “agitators”. “All federal funding will stop for any college, school, or university that allows illegal protests,” the US president wrote on Truth Social.



## UK lawmakers condemn Vance’s ‘deeply disrespectful’ comments

The British shadow defense secretary and other lawmakers have reacted with fury after JD Vance appeared to describe a proposed Anglo-French peace deployment to Ukraine as “20,000 troops from some random country that has not fought a war in 30 or 40 years”.

James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, said: “Britain and France came to their  aid, deploying thousands of personnel to Afghanistan, including my own brother and numerous parliamentary colleagues, past and present. It’s deeply disrespectful to ignore such service and sacrifice.”



## Alarm as RFK Jr backs vitamins to treat measles

, the US health secretary, has caused alarm among pediatricians, vaccine experts and lawmakers with an opinion piece that focuses on vitamin A and nutrition as treatments for measles.

In response to a measles outbreak in Texas in which , Kennedy wrote about the benefits of “good nutrition” and vitamin A – but did not explicitly recommend highly effective vaccines. A leading doctor has said this “puts children at serious risk”.



## Democrats ask how many veterans cut by ‘Doge’

Democrats have called on the White House to disclose how many military veterans have been fired in the ongoing cuts by ’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge). A  to Charles Ezell, acting director of the office of personnel management, highlights the impact on former armed forces service members.



## Trump administration revises directive to fire probationary employees

The Trump administration appears to be walking back its directive to fire probationary employees. The reversal comes less than a week after a federal judge in California  the Trump administration from ordering the US defense department and other agencies to carry out the mass firings of some employees, including probationary employees who typically have less than a year of experience.

The ruling came after thousands of probationary employees were already let go.



## Democrats protest as Elon Musk salutes: Trump’s address to Congress – in pictures

Wearing pink and holding signs that read ‘Protect Medicaid’ and ‘Musk steals’, Democrats protested and heckled as Donald Trump gave an address to Congress laying out his vision for his second term.



## What else happened today:

- **Taiwan’s government has suggested a $100bn semiconductor  is not guaranteed** despite Monday’s announcement.
- **The largest US union of auto workers said it supported Trump’s tariffs and was working with the administration “to end the free trade disaster”**. United Auto Workers said tariffs on Mexico and Canada will help undo the damage of free trade agreements it claimed undermined American manufacturing.
- **Elon Musk will brief House Republicans on Tuesday night about criticism of Doge cuts,**  and  reported.
- **The CEOs of two large US retailers, Target and Best Buy, said ** as a result of Trump’s trade war.
- **Ontario’s premier Doug Ford  that he was imposing a 25% export tax on electricity sent to three US states,** and might cut it off altogether if the tariffs linger.

Catching up? 
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