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.
President Donald Trump spoke with reporters on Air Force One while traveling back from Palm Beach, Florida, to Washington, D.C. where he defended tariffs -- saying they will be the "greatest thing we've ever done as a country."
"It's going to make our country rich again. We have many companies as you know, auto companies are opening up lands now. We've had four or five announced already, but many more are coming, and we're basically going to take back the money, a lot of the money that we've given away over many decades," Trump said.
The president suggested that tariffs are beneficial for job creation and factory returns to the United States, citing the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's plans to invest $100 billion in new manufacturing plants.
Trump was also asked if he would resume aid to Ukraine if the minerals deal is signed, but he refrained from a definitive answer.
“Well, I think they will sign the minerals deal,” Trump said. “I want them to want peace.”
Trump claimed that Ukraine hasn’t shown that, and it’ll become evident over the next two or three days.
-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh
Health and Human Services employees were offered voluntary buyouts on Friday to resign from their jobs, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Nearly 80,000 federal workers, primarily civilian employees of HHS -- including those from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration -- received an offer for a "voluntary separation incentive payment" of up to $25,000 with a deadline to respond by March 14.
The offer follows a directive from President Donald Trump's administration that drastically reduced the size of the federal workforce. According to a memo issued by the Office of Personnel Management last month, all federal agencies are set to begin preparations for large-scale layoffs and restructuring by March 13.
-ABC News' Mark Abdelmalek and Kelsey Walsh
President Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Sunday that he expects Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign the rare earth minerals deal with the United States.
"Yeah, I think so. I think it'll happen," Trump said in the interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo.
Trump was pressed during the interview on whether he’s comfortable with the United States walking away from supporting Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia and whether that would hurt Ukraine's chances of survival.
"Well, it may not survive anyway, but you know, we have some weaknesses with Russia," Trump replied.
-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh
President Donald Trump sat down with Maria Bartiromo for Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," where he primarily discussed tariffs.
After his Thursday phone conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump announced on social media that he'd pause 25% tariffs on U.S. imports from Mexico and Canada that are covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. The reprieve lasts until at least April 2, when reciprocal tariffs on goods from a wider range of countries are set to go in place.
When asked Sunday why he'd roll back or put a pause on some of the tariffs until April 2, Trump said it was to help the automakers. "Because I wanted to help Mexico and Canada to a certain extent," Trump told Bartiromo. "I wanted to help the American car makers until April 2."
"April 2, it becomes all reciprocal. What they charge us, we charge them. It's a big deal, but what they charge us, we charge them. But this is short term, and I felt that for the good of the American carmakers and the [USMCA] ... I thought it would be a fair thing to do, and so I gave them a little bit of a break for this short period of time."
The president was pressed on what automakers would do in a month.
"It's a transition into April, and after that, I'm not doing this," Trump said. "I mean, I told them, I said, 'Look, I'm going to do it this one time. But after that, I'm not doing it.' They called me and they wanted help during this with the transition period, and I gave it to them."
Trump was then pressed on whether the business community will receive clarity from him.
"Well, I think so. But you know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by, and they may go up and, you know, I don't know if it's predictability,” Trump said, not offering insight on his rationale.
When asked by Bartiromo if he might change anything after reciprocal tariffs go into effect, Trump replied, in part: "We'll have a lot, but we may go up with some tariffs. It depends. We may go up. I don't think we'll go down, or we may go up."
-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh
A federal judge denied a request Thursday to expedite a case challenging the legality of the Department of Government Efficiency after President Donald Trump's address to Congress inserted confusion about who exactly is running the cost-cutting group.
"Plaintiffs have not explained, with clarity, the nature of any emergency here that would require the Court to compel Defendants to respond more rapidly than the default rules provide for," U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb wrote in an order.
Cobb, a Biden appointee, did not mention the apparent contradiction in Trump's speech in her order.
Lawyers representing DOGE argued that speeding up the case would be "infeasible," and the case is now on track for a potential hearing later this month.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous
