British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Trump are holding a joint press conference at the White House on Thursday as European allies scramble to respond to the president’s approach to ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Ahead of his Washington visit, the prime minister pledged to increase the United Kingdom’s defense budget as leaders across the Atlantic seek to persuade Trump to maintain support for Ukraine and NATO allies.
The president on Thursday also announced that tariffs will officially hit Mexico, Canada and China next Tuesday, fulfilling a campaign promise to crack down on immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the country.
On Capitol Hill, the Senate will hold a preliminary vote to advance the nomination of Linda McMahon, whom Trump tapped to lead the Education Department. Earlier on Thursday, a Senate committee voted to move Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, to the Senate floor.
Follow along for the latest updates.
Starmer says two-state solution ‘only way’ for lasting peace
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he supports a two-state solution between the Palestinians and the Israelis despite Trump’s calls for the U.S. to take control of Gaza.
“Yes, I believe that the two-state solution is ultimately the only way for a lasting peace in the region,” Starmer said during a joint press conference.
The two leaders expressed their commitment to maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas so more hostages could get out and more aid could get into Gaza.
Starmer: Europe should step up
Starmer agreed with Trump, saying he is “right that Europe must step up,” which the president has repeated throughout talks about reaching a peace deal in Ukraine.
“Now I see the growing threats we face, and so the UK is all in this year, we’ll be giving more monetary aid to Ukraine than ever,” Starmer said.
The prime minister said the U.S. and the U.K. are aligned in wanting to end the war.
Trump says he’s not disappointed in German election results
Trump was asked if he’s disappointed the Alternative for Germany (AfD) didn’t come in first in the German election, after Vice President JD Vance met with the far-right group’s top candidate.
The president said he has a strong relationship with all groups in Germany and has no opinion on the election outcome.
“No, whatever happens with Germany,” Trump said. “Look, the relationship has been very strong with Germany, but we’ll have to see what happens. They have a lot of things going on right now. We’ll have to see, no, I’m not disappointed about anything. If anything, you would say that the group that we would be most opposed to lost… but we got along with them also. We have a very good relationship with all groups in Germany.”
Vance met with Alice Weidel, head of the AfD, earlier this month while in Munich. Vance was in the Oval Office with Trump on Thursday when he was questioned about the Germany elections.
Center-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz won the election on Sunday, defeating others and Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Trump on calling Zelensky a dictator: ‘Did I say that?’
President Trump on Thursday backtracked on his recent sharp criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as the U.S. aims to strike a deal to end the war between Kyiv and Moscow.
Trump, during an Oval Office meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, tempered his comments about Zelensky, including a social media post last week in which Trump called Zelensky a “dictator with elections.”
Sanders reintroducing measure increasing Social Security benefits
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is reintroducing a measure that would increase Social Security benefits.
Sanders is joined by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Val Hoyle (D-Ore.) on the bill, titled the Social Security Expansion Act.
It would expand Social Security benefits by $2,400 a year and ensure the federal program is funded for the next 75 years through a tax on households making more than $250,000 a year, Sanders’ news release said.
Trump says he’s confident that Putin will ‘keep his word’ in Ukraine talks
Trump said going through the “Russia hoax” ordeal with Vladimir Putin gives him confidence that he can trust the Russian leader if an agreement is reached to end Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Early in Trump’s first term as president, the Republican was dogged by a special counsel-led investigation looking into the FBI’s probe of Russian interference in his 2016 campaign for the White House.
Trump made the comments during an exchange with reporters at the start of his meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
– The Associated Press
Murkowski joins Democrats supporting measure granting protections to Ukrainians in US
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joined Democrats on Thursday to support a measure that would grant Ukrainians in the U.S. temporary guest status, allowing them to stay in the country until hostilities in Ukraine have ended.
The legislation, “Protecting our Guests During Hostilities in Ukraine Act,” would apply to Ukrainians and their immediate family members who are already in the country and would let them stay and work until the Secretary of State determines it is safe to go back, and hostilities have ceased.
Jeffries: ‘Republicans are lying’ about Medicaid cuts
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) went after Republicans on Thursday over their designs for Medicaid, saying GOP leaders are deceiving Americans by claiming that no patients will lose health benefits under their plan.
“Republicans are lying to the American people about Medicaid,” Jeffries said during a press briefing in the Capitol.
Medicaid has emerged as perhaps the most contentious piece of the House Republicans’ massive budget blueprint for moving President Trump’s domestic agenda during his first year back in office. Under the GOP resolution, the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, has been tasked with finding at least $880 billion in cuts to programs under its purview to help offset the cost of trillions of dollars in Republican tax cuts.
King Charles invites Trump to UK
King Charles has invited President Trump for a state visit to the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the president during their meeting in Washington on Thursday.
Starmer brought a letter from King Charles to their meeting in the Oval Office, during which Trump touted the Charles as a “beautiful man, a wonderful man.”
Education Department creates ‘End DEI’ portal to field public complaints
The Department of Education has created a portal where the public can make complaints about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in K-12 public schools as the Trump administration works to purge DEI from the government.
The Thursday announcement of the “End DEI” portal comes towards the end of the two-week deadline the agency gave K-12 schools and universities to rid themselves of DEI practices.
Democrat introducing resolution affirming 22nd Amendment support amid Trump third term talk
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) on Thursday introduced a resolution reaffirming the House of Representatives’ support for the 22nd Amendment, which states that a person can be elected president no more than two times.
The resolution — which comes amid talk of a possible third term for President Trump — makes explicit that the 22nd Amendment applies to Trump, too.
Pentagon orders transgender troops to be separated from the military
Transgender service members will be removed from the military within 60 days unless they are granted a waiver demonstrating their support of “warfighting capabilities,” according to a new policy memo issued late Wednesday by the Pentagon.
The memo specifies how the Defense Department will carry out one of President Trump’s executive orders to prevent transgender troops from serving openly.
More than 100 House Democrats demand answers on Energy Department firings
Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) led more than 100 House Democrats in a letter denouncing the firing of Energy Department (DoE) civil servants as illegal and blasting Energy Secretary Chris Wright for “stunning incompetence.”
At least 1,800 Energy employees were fired on Feb. 14, which the letter calls illegal under laws governing the employment of civil servants.
Starmer arrives at White House
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has arrived at the White House to meet with President Trump this afternoon.
Bondi orders DOJ to throw out DEI lawsuits against police, firefighters
Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) this week to throw out diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) lawsuits that were brought against police and fire departments around the country, accusing them of discrimination when hiring candidates, by the Biden administration.
Bondi directed the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division on Wednesday to dismiss federal civil rights lawsuits, arguing the prior administration “unjustly” went after fire and police departments for utilizing standard aptitude exams to comb through and help select their new employees.
Kansas City Chiefs kicker meets with Trump
President Trump met Thursday at the White House with Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, a supporter of the president who sparked backlash last year with a controversial commencement speech.
White House aide Margo Martin posted a photo of Butker and Trump in the Oval Office on social media with the caption, “The GOAT of kicking @buttkicker7 meets the GOAT of Presidents @realDonaldTrump.
Johnson claims town hall protesters ‘paid’ by Democrats
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) denounced recent protests at town halls that featured GOP lawmakers, claiming the demonstrators were “paid” by Democrats.
“The videos you saw of the town halls were for paid protesters in many of those places,” Johnson told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in an interview Wednesday.
Bondi hoping to release Epstein flight logs, names Thursday
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday that the Department of Justice is hoping to release flight logs and the names of people tied to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday.
“I think tomorrow, Jesse, breaking news right now … you’re going to see some Epstein information being released by my office,” Bondi told Fox News’s Jesse Watters late Wednesday.
Bondi, who was confirmed as attorney general at the beginning of this month, added that there are more than 250 victims whose identities need to be protected when releasing the documents.
She noted that the public will see a “lot of flight logs, a lot of names… a lot of information. But it’s pretty sick what that man did.”
GOP senators vent Musk frustrations at closed-door meeting
Republican senators vented their concerns about tech billionaire Elon Musk’s aggressive approach to freezing federal spending and cutting government jobs during a private meeting with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday.
Gathered in the historic Mansfield Room outside the Senate chamber, some GOP senators complained about what they view as a lack of transparency about what Musk and his team of engineers are doing at federal agencies.
They flagged cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which fired 1,400 employees Monday, and said Musk’s team hadn’t responded to their requests for information, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
“Every day’s another surprise,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said of the daily bombshells from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).