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.
Trump signed an executive order Friday creating a task force for 2026 FIFA World Cup.
"It’s a great honor for our country to have it actually. A big deal," he said.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino was on hand and touted the economic benefits of the tournament and gave Trump one of the official balls.
"We are here to create and make the best show on the planet ever," he said.
Washington, D.C., officials cleared a homeless encampment on Friday that had drawn criticism from Trump, although city officials said the removal was already scheduled before his social media remarks.
Earlier in the week, Trump wrote on his social media platform, "We have notified the Mayor of Washington, D.C., that she must clean up all of the unsightly homeless encampments in the City, specifically including the ones outside of the State Department, and near the White House. If she is not capable of doing so, we will be forced to do it for her! Washington, D.C. must become CLEAN and SAFE!"
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser responded to the post, saying, "We always clear homeless encampments. We always do. We do it according to protocols that have worked in the District that won't have the effect of just moving people around, but trying to get them housed."
Many of the encampments that Trump cited in a Truth Social post were on federal property, which falls outside the city's jurisdiction.
City officials told ABC News the clearance had been delayed due to weather. D.C.'s previous encampment removals have drawn criticism from local activists for years.
-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson
Several conservative media personalities, including Ben Shapiro, have called on the president to pardon Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of killing George Floyd in 2020.
He was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison in 2021.
President Donald Trump was asked if he was considering that pardon and responded, "No, I haven't even heard about it."
The U.S. economy is in a "good place" despite "elevated levels of uncertainty" from new policies, including tariffs, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a closely-watched speech on Friday.
Powell reiterated the Federal Reserve does "not need to be in a hurry" to cut interest rates, as it waits for clarity on "significant policy changes" from the Trump administration on trade, immigration, fiscal policy and regulation.
"As we parse the incoming information, we are focused on separating the signal from the noise as the outlook evolves. We do not need to be in a hurry, and are well positioned to wait for greater clarity," Powell said.
-ABC News' Elizabeth Schulze
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said Americans will "have to suck it up" as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency lay off hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
"There's going to be some tough times," Tuberville told ABC News' Diane Macedo when asked about DOGE's impact. "We have to cut the fat out of out of spending in this country."
Tuberville also addressed Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, saying that "there's going to be a little bit of pain" as the move threatens to drive up prices on groceries, gas and more. "But at the end of the day, if we don't do this, it's going to be much, much worse."
He also voiced his support for Trump's pause on all U.S. military aid to Ukraine, saying he hasn't "voted for any money to go to it because Ukraine can't beat Russia."
-ABC News' Jim Vojtech and David Merrell
