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.
Some 4,000 Defense Department personnel have begun receiving termination notices from their employers, according to a U.S. official.
Last month, a department statement said that 5,400 employees might be affected in a first wave of job dismissals that could reach 5% to 8% of the civilian workforce of 878,000 employees. The U.S. official did not have an explanation for the discrepancy in the numbers.
Individual DOD agencies are reaching out to their own employees affected by the terminations, one reason why the notices are all not going out at once.
According to the official, 31,000 civilian employees submitted a resignation request per the Office of Personnel Management email.
A review of those employees is underway, and there are some for whom their request will be denied because they have been exempted. So far, 11,000 of those who submitted resignations have had their requests accepted. The 31,000 affected employees is equal to 3.5% of the total DOD civilian workforce.
-ABC News' Luis Martinez
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem discussed security during next year's World Cup and ensured all of the games would be safe and secure.
Noem said the agency would be setting up partnerships with local and worldwide partners.
"Streamlining those communications, it'll be a wonderful event, and everybody will be safe and fun," she said.
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
First lady Melania Trump made her first public remarks of Trump's second administration Monday afternoon, hosting a roundtable in support of the "Take It Down" Act which is intended to criminalize the publication of deepfake and non-consensual pornography and require platforms to remove such content.
"It's heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges imposed by malicious online content, like deep fakes," Trump said.
Trump called attention to a 15-year-old victim of fake non-consensual images who was present at the roundtable, among other victim advocates.
In imploring Congress to prioritize this Act -- which has passed the Senate but not the House -- the first lady also made a point to call out Democrats.
"I must admit, however, I expected to see more Democrat leaders with us here today to address this serious issue," she said. "Surely as adults, we can prioritize America's children ahead of partisan politics."
Trump was joined by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is a sponsor of the bill and delivered opening remarks, saying there is "no more important issue for our first lady to lean on than protecting children online."
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was also present.
