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Syria donors pledge $6.5 billion in aid hoping to encourage its new leaders down the path to peace

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Syria donors pledge $6.5 billion in aid hoping to encourage its new leaders down the path to peace
News

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Syria donors pledge $6.5 billion in aid hoping to encourage its new leaders down the path to peace

2025-03-18 03:39 Last Updated At:03:41

BRUSSELS (AP) — International donors on Monday pledged almost 6 billion euros ($6.5 billion) in aid for Syria, hoping to encourage the new leaders of the conflict-ravaged country toward a peaceful political transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad in December.

Ministers and representatives from Western partners, Syria’s regional neighbors, other Arab countries and U.N. agencies attended the one-day meeting in Brussels, organized in haste by the European Union amid change sweeping the country.

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Delegations attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Delegations attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani arrives for a group photo at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani arrives for a group photo at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Front row left to right, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica pose during a group photo at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Front row left to right, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica pose during a group photo at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, left, walks by as European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, center, rings a bell to signify the start of a round table meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, left, walks by as European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, center, rings a bell to signify the start of a round table meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

An elderly Druze man burns garbage in the town of Jaramana, in the southern outskirts of Damascus, Syria, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

An elderly Druze man burns garbage in the town of Jaramana, in the southern outskirts of Damascus, Syria, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrian security forces inspect vehicles at a checkpoint, following a recent wave of violence between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad, as well as subsequent sectarian attacks, in Latakia, in Syria's coastal region, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian security forces inspect vehicles at a checkpoint, following a recent wave of violence between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad, as well as subsequent sectarian attacks, in Latakia, in Syria's coastal region, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian security forces inspect vehicles at a checkpoint, following a recent wave of violence between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad, as well as subsequent sectarian attacks, in Latakia, in Syria's coastal region, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian security forces inspect vehicles at a checkpoint, following a recent wave of violence between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad, as well as subsequent sectarian attacks, in Latakia, in Syria's coastal region, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian families who fled the clashes in Syria hold their luggages as they cross a river marking the border between Syria and northern Lebanon near the village of Heker al-Daher in Akkar province, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Syrian families who fled the clashes in Syria hold their luggages as they cross a river marking the border between Syria and northern Lebanon near the village of Heker al-Daher in Akkar province, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Syria's interim president Ahmad Al-Sharaa, center, signs a temporary constitution for the country in Damascus, Syria, Thursday March 13, 2025. At left foreign minister Asaad Hassan al-Shiban.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syria's interim president Ahmad Al-Sharaa, center, signs a temporary constitution for the country in Damascus, Syria, Thursday March 13, 2025. At left foreign minister Asaad Hassan al-Shiban.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Firemen work at the site of an Israeli missile strike in Damascus, Syria, Thursday March 13, 2025.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Firemen work at the site of an Israeli missile strike in Damascus, Syria, Thursday March 13, 2025.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

The European Commission said that 4.2 billion euros ($4.6 billion) were offered in the form of grants, and 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in low interest loans. Some of the money was pledged over multiple years, making it extremely difficult to calculate an amount for 2025.

Last year, donors committed to provide 7.5 billion euros ($8.1 billion) in grants and loans.

Opening the conference, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU was increasing its pledge to Syrians in the country and the region to almost 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) for 2025 and 2026, and urged others to step up.

“At this critical time, the people of Syria need us more than ever,” von der Leyen said.

Germany said it would pledge around 300 million euros ($326 million) to help deal with the fallout from Syria’s civil war. More than half would be used to help people in Syria, with other funding supporting Syrians and communities elsewhere. Britain said that it was pledging up to $208 million.

Natasha Franceschi, U.S. deputy assistant secretary for the Levant and Syria, said the United States has provided more assistance to the Syrian people than any other nation over the last 14 years, but she did not announce any pledge of money.

“We will continue to provide certain assistance in line with U.S. policies and laws, but we also now expect that other nations are going to help shoulder the financial burden,” she told the conference. The Trump administration is currently reviewing all foreign aid.

Syria’s new leaders are trying to consolidate control over territory that was divided into de facto mini-states during nearly 14 years of civil war, and to rebuild the economy and infrastructure. The United Nations has estimated that it would cost at least $250 billion to rebuild Syria, while experts say that could reach at least $400 billion.

At the same time, Western governments are cutting back on aid spending, in part to use in defense budgets.

“We will give more, but we cannot fill the gap left by the U.S.,” EU Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib told reporters. “We will need to share the burden.”

Security concerns are also making donors hesitate. Last week, an ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to Assad triggered clashes. Some factions allied with the new government launched sectarian revenge attacks — primarily targeting Assad’s Alawite minority sect — that monitoring groups say killed hundreds of civilians over several days.

Despite this, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani urged the donors to help “reconstruction efforts, encourage investment in Syria, and support sustainable development projects that will create opportunities, generate jobs, improve living standards, and restore hope to millions of Syrians.”

He vowed that the new Syrian government would work with partners "to ensure that aid reaches those who deserve it from all regions and communities, and to create appropriate and dignified conditions for the safe, voluntary return of all refugees.”

The 27-nation EU has begun to ease energy, transport and financial sector sanctions to encourage the new authorities, but many other Western sanctions remain in place. The bloc can reintroduce sanctions if things don’t go to the liking of Western backers.

Syria's foreign minister said that lifting the measures is no longer just a government demand but "a humanitarian and moral necessity.”

"We cannot talk about economic recovery and humanitarian development in Syria while restrictions continue to prevent even the arrival of medical equipment and spare parts to repair damaged hospitals and essential service facilities,” al-Shibani said.

Syria's economy, infrastructure and institutions are in tatters. As a failed state, it could become another haven for extremists.

Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration, urged donors to seize this opportunity to encourage the interim government to move in the right direction.

“It’s critical that countries take advantage of the moment we’re in,” Pope told The Associated Press.

“Of course, we all want to see an inclusive Syria,” she said. “We want to make sure there’s accountability for human rights violations. But the answer is to engage more, not to engage less.”

Syrians have only a few hours of electricity each day. Water supplies are unreliable and often unsafe. Unemployment runs to 80% or 90%. Destruction is widespread.

Infrastructure, health and education must be scaled up. Jobs and cash for work programs are needed so that Syrians can start to make a living.

Many government employees and experts needed to rebuild fled after the 2011 Arab Spring democracy movement collapsed into conflict and authoritarian rule under Assad.

The U.N. refugee agency said that last year around 7 million people were displaced in Syria. More than 4.7 million refugees are registered in neighboring countries, most in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Abbey Sewell in Beirut and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Delegations attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Delegations attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani arrives for a group photo at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani arrives for a group photo at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Front row left to right, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica pose during a group photo at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Front row left to right, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica pose during a group photo at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, left, walks by as European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, center, rings a bell to signify the start of a round table meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, left, walks by as European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, center, rings a bell to signify the start of a round table meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

An elderly Druze man burns garbage in the town of Jaramana, in the southern outskirts of Damascus, Syria, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

An elderly Druze man burns garbage in the town of Jaramana, in the southern outskirts of Damascus, Syria, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrian security forces inspect vehicles at a checkpoint, following a recent wave of violence between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad, as well as subsequent sectarian attacks, in Latakia, in Syria's coastal region, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian security forces inspect vehicles at a checkpoint, following a recent wave of violence between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad, as well as subsequent sectarian attacks, in Latakia, in Syria's coastal region, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian security forces inspect vehicles at a checkpoint, following a recent wave of violence between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad, as well as subsequent sectarian attacks, in Latakia, in Syria's coastal region, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian security forces inspect vehicles at a checkpoint, following a recent wave of violence between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad, as well as subsequent sectarian attacks, in Latakia, in Syria's coastal region, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian families who fled the clashes in Syria hold their luggages as they cross a river marking the border between Syria and northern Lebanon near the village of Heker al-Daher in Akkar province, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Syrian families who fled the clashes in Syria hold their luggages as they cross a river marking the border between Syria and northern Lebanon near the village of Heker al-Daher in Akkar province, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Syria's interim president Ahmad Al-Sharaa, center, signs a temporary constitution for the country in Damascus, Syria, Thursday March 13, 2025. At left foreign minister Asaad Hassan al-Shiban.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syria's interim president Ahmad Al-Sharaa, center, signs a temporary constitution for the country in Damascus, Syria, Thursday March 13, 2025. At left foreign minister Asaad Hassan al-Shiban.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Firemen work at the site of an Israeli missile strike in Damascus, Syria, Thursday March 13, 2025.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Firemen work at the site of an Israeli missile strike in Damascus, Syria, Thursday March 13, 2025.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from military service.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., ruled that Trump’s order to exclude transgender troops likely violates their constitutional rights.

She delayed her order by three days to give the administration time to appeal. The judge issued a preliminary injunction requested by attorneys for six transgender people who are active-duty service members and two others seeking to join the military.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a lengthy call Tuesday to an immediate pause in strikes against energy and infrastructure targets in the Ukraine war, but the Russian leader stopped short of backing a broader 30-day pause in fighting that the U.S. administration is pressing for.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Ukraine was on board with the limited ceasefire plan.

Here's the latest:

Speaking to Fox News, Trump said his conversation with Putin was “great” adding that, “We didn’t talk about aid. We didn’t talk about aid at all.”

That contradicts a readout of the conversation released by the Kremlin.

The Kremlin said Putin reiterated to Trump his demand for an end to foreign military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine as a condition for halting the fighting.

The U.S. has been the largest supplier of military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine since the war began, but Trump has withheld some assistance in an effort to pressure Ukraine to make concessions to end the war.

A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from military service on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., ruled that Trump’s order to exclude transgender troops likely violates their constitutional rights.

She delayed her order by three days to give the administration time to appeal.

The judge issued a preliminary injunction requested by attorneys for six transgender people who are active-duty service members and two others seeking to join the military.

On Jan. 27, Trump signed an executive order that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle” and is harmful to military readiness.

▶ Read more about the court challenge to the order barring transgender people from the military

Previously classified documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy were released Tuesday following an order by Trump shortly after he took office.

The documents were posted on the website of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. The vast majority of the National Archives’ files related to the assassination have previously been released.

Trump told reporters Monday that his administration will be releasing 80,000 files, though it’s not clear how many of those are among the millions of pages that have already been made public.

Researchers have estimated that around 3,000 records hadn’t been released, either in whole or in part. And last month, the FBI said it had discovered about 2,400 new pertinent records.

▶ Read more about the release of previously classified files

Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general under then-President Joe Biden, made the declaration last year, citing the fast-growing number of U.S. injuries and deaths involving firearms.

The removal was noticed this week by advocates, who decried the move as a sign that Trump and his political appointees are prioritizing the gun industry over the health of children and families.

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ABC News said an agency representative told the news organization that the department was complying with a Trump executive order designed to protect Second Amendment rights.

The dismissal of the Federal Trade Commission members potentially will allow Trump to fill their slots on the independent corporate regulator with officials more sympathetic to his administration.

Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya posted on X, “The president just illegally fired me. This is corruption plain and simple.”

Another commissioner, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, released her own statement saying she’d been fired in violation of Supreme Court precedent. Past rulings have sought to solidify the FTC’s independence and only allowed commissioners to be removed for a specific, justifiable reason.

The FTC was created by Congress, and it enforces consumer protections and anti-trust legislation. Its five seats are typically comprised of three members of the president’s party and two from the opposing party.

It is the first time in the Republican National Committee’s history that a sitting vice president has held the position of finance chair, giving JD Vance a prominent, direct role in next year’s midterm elections and further cementing his status as the torchbearer of Trump’s “MAGA” movement.

Vance headlined numerous fundraisers during the 2024 campaign, making the job an extension of those efforts.

In a statement, Vance said that “to fully enact the MAGA mandate and President Trump’s vision that voters demanded, we must keep and grow our Republican majorities in 2026.” He will focus, he said, on building “the war chest we need to deliver those victories next November.”

The order follows Trump vowing to do away with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

His order seeks to inject “common sense into both infrastructure prioritization and strategic investments through risk-informed decisions” and will make “our infrastructure, communities, and economy more resilient to global and dynamic threats and hazards.”

Trump also signed a directive eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion measures at the State Department, mirroring similar efforts around the government.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers joined in the protest of the deportation flights of Venezuelan individuals accused of gang membership and condemned Trump’s disparagement of District Judge James E. Boasberg, who ordered the administration not to carry out the deportations.

In a statement, NACDL President Christopher A. Wellborn said the legal system is based on the presumption of innocence.

“Accusations without evidence, the denial of access to legal counsel, and the apparent defiance of court orders not to deport accused individuals without a hearing represent a dangerous departure from these principles,” he said.

The suggestion, which reflected the Russian leader’s efforts to establish warm ties with Trump, came during their call that focused on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said in a readout of the call that Putin proposed that American and Russian players who play for the NHL and the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) could take part in the games. The Kremlin said Trump supported the idea.

The KHL is a Russia-dominated championship that also involves clubs from Belarus, China and Kazakhstan.

Putin, an avid amateur ice hockey player, has promoted the KHL since it was founded on his initiative in 2008.

The NHL said it was aware of the Trump-Putin conversation but had no immediate comment.

The @WhiteHouse account began posting on Trump’s social media platform Tuesday with a video showing Trump surrounded by the trappings of the presidency, along with images of a flying bald eagle and a message: “The Golden Age of America has arrived on Truth Social! The White House is proud to be here—direct, unfiltered, and for The People.”

Truth Social is the media network Trump created when he was banned from X, then known as Twitter, following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters. It is the primary way he likes to announce news.

Judge James Bredar wrote Tuesday that he had carefully reviewed a status report from the 18 agencies filed Monday night. The report says the agencies have reinstated or taken steps to reinstate more than 24,000 fired employees.

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia contended that Trump’s administration illegally fired thousands of federal workers, causing burdens and expenses for the states. The judge granted a temporary restraining order last week requiring those workers be reinstated to their jobs.

Bredar has set a new Monday deadline for the agencies to file an updated status report. The judge wrote that the court expects the next report to show that the agencies “have achieved substantial compliance” with the terms of the order.

The federal agencies are appealing the case.

The administration filed a similar update in a separate California case, where a federal judge also ordered agencies to rehire probationary workers who were let go in mass firings.

The two whistleblowers, who testified publicly about the investigations, have been promoted to new roles as senior advisers at the Treasury Department.

Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, two IRS employees who testified to Congress as Republicans reviewed the business dealings of Joe Biden’s son, say they were retaliated against for cooperating in the investigations.

Shapley and Ziegler say they were removed from the Hunter Biden case in December 2022 after they told their bosses the Justice Department and former Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss had engaged in a pattern of “slow-walking investigative steps” and delaying enforcement actions in the months before the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Now, Shapley is being promoted to Deputy Chief of IRS Criminal Investigations and Ziegler is assigned to the secretary’s office as a senior adviser for IRS reform.

▶ Read more about the IRS whistleblowers

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development likely violated the Constitution and blocked billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from further cuts.

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland ordered the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to all employees of USAID, including those who were placed on administrative leave.

The lawsuit singled out Musk as a defendant covered by the preliminary injunction. Lawyers for USAID employees and contractors had requested the order.

▶ Read more about the dismantling of USAID

Trump and Putin agreed during a lengthy call Tuesday to an immediate pause in strikes against energy and infrastructure targets in the Ukraine war, but the Russian leader stopped short of backing a broader 30-day pause in fighting the U.S. administration is pressing for.

The White House described it as the first step in a “movement to peace” it hopes will eventually include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and a full and lasting end to the fighting.

The White House added negotiations would “begin immediately” in the Middle East on those steps. Shortly after the call between Trump and Putin, air raid alerts sounded in Kyiv, followed by explosions in the city. Local officials urged people to seek shelter.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Ukraine is on board with the limited ceasefire plan.

▶ Read more about the proposed ceasefire

A federal program designed to prevent targeted violence and terrorism in the U.S. has lost 20% of its staff after layoffs hit its probationary staffers.

The Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships was a redefined version of programs created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as a way to identify people who could pose new terrorism threats or carry out violence and get them help. It has a mission enlisting parents, coaches, teachers and ministers to head off trouble before it starts by training them to look for signs of trouble in advance.

That job became far more difficult after eight members of the center’s staff were fired in early March as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to trim the government by getting rid of probationary staffers. According to a Department of Homeland Security employee and a center employee who was fired, the staffers were rehired late Monday but were then put on administrative leave, following two March 13 court decisions ordering the Republican administration to rehire fired probationary staffers.

▶ Read more about cuts at the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships

Roughly 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs will be cut in the Defense Department, but fewer than 21,000 workers who took a voluntary resignation plan are leaving in the coming months, a senior defense official told reporters Tuesday.

To reach the goal of a 5% to 8% cut in a civilian workforce of more than 900,000, the official said the department aims to slash about 6,000 positions a month by simply not replacing workers who routinely leave.

A key concern is that service members may then be tapped to fill those civilian jobs. But the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide personnel details, said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants to ensure the cuts don’t hurt military readiness.

The cuts are part of the broader effort by the Department of Government Efficiency Service, including billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk, to slash the federal workforce and dismantle U.S. agencies.

▶ Read more about cuts at the Defense Department

— Lolita C. Baldor

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research office, which helps provide the scientific foundation for rules safeguarding human health and the environment.

The Office of Research and Development — EPA’s main science arm — currently has 1,540 positions. A majority of staff — ranging from 50% to 75% — “will not be retained,″ according to a memo reviewed by Democratic staff on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Remaining employees would be reassigned to other parts of the agency, the memo says.

Democrats and environmental groups assailed the planned action as a massive dismantling of the EPA’s longstanding mission to protect public health and the environment.

The planned layoffs were first reported by The New York Times.

▶ Read more about cuts at the EPA

The Kremlin said in its readout of the call with Trump that Putin noted a key condition for settling the conflict is a full halt to foreign military aid and intelligence assistance to Kyiv.

It said Putin had a positive response to Trump’s proposal for Russia and Ukraine to halt strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days and gave relevant orders to the Russian military.

The Kremlin added that the Russian leader told Trump that Russia was ready to guarantee that Ukrainian soldiers blocked in Russia’s Kursk region will save their lives and be treated in line with international law if they surrender.

It said Putin also responded constructively to Trump’s proposal to ensure safe shipping in the Black Sea, and the two leaders agreed to start talks to discuss details of the agreement.

Trump and Putin agreed during their call Tuesday to seek a limited ceasefire against energy and infrastructure targets in the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the White House.

The White House described it as the first step in a “movement to peace” it hopes will eventually include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and a full and lasting end to the fighting.

The White House said negotiations would “begin immediately” on those steps. It was not immediately clear whether Ukraine is on board with the phased ceasefire plan.

Putin also called on Trump to end foreign military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine as the U.S. looks to bring an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Kremlin.

▶ Read more about Trump’s call with Putin

“No one wants to fight more than me, no one fights more than me,” Schumer said in an interview on ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday. “But you’ve got to fight smart.”

That’s several days after declining to answer a question about his support of the Senate Democratic leader.

The two New York lawmakers met Sunday after a public rift over a Republican spending bill last week. Jeffries said Tuesday that they had a “good conversation about the path forward.” Asked if he supports Schumer’s leadership, he said “yes, I do.”

Last week, after Schumer announced he would vote to move forward on the Republican spending bill, Jeffries declined to answer a similar question, responding instead, “next question.”

House Democrats vehemently opposed the bill and were willing to risk a government shutdown if it didn’t pass the Senate. Schumer argued that a shutdown would be worse than the Republican legislation as President Trump has overseen mass firings across the government.

Trump and Putin have concluded the more than hour-long call as the White House pushes its 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine aimed at ending the grinding war.

The White House and Kremlin did not offer any immediate details about the substance of the conversation, but both have confirmed the call has ended.

Trump said before the call that he expected to discuss with Putin land and power plants that have been seized during the three-year war.

▶ Read more about Trump’s call with Putin

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson refrained from commenting on Trump’s decision Tuesday but took the opportunity to criticize the outlets.

“I do not comment on U.S. domestic policy changes,” Mao Ning said when asked about it. “But as for the media you mentioned, their bad records in reporting on China are not a secret.”

The Trump’s administration put almost the entire staff of Voice of America on leave last weekend and ended grants to Radio Free Asia and other media with similar news programming.

Radio Free Asia has an extensive Chinese-language service and frequently reports on human rights issues, including the detention of activists and repression of ethnic groups in Xinjiang and Tibet. The government refutes allegations of abuse.

▶ Read more about Trump’s cuts to Voice of America

In an extraordinary display of conflict between the executive and judiciary branches, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rejected calls for impeaching federal judges shortly after Trump demanded the removal of the judge who ruled against his deportation plans.

“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said in a rare statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

In a Tuesday morning social media post, Trump described U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg as an unelected “troublemaker and agitator.” Boasberg recently issued an order blocking deportation flights under wartime authorities from an 18th century law that Trump invoked to carry out his plans.

▶ Read more about Trump and Chief Justice John Roberts

The Senate Finance Committee Chairman will hold the hearing to consider Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration on March 25.

The hearing comes as the agency institutes across-the-board cuts, which have prompted questions about the possible effects on benefits for tens of millions of recipients.

Among the changes at the agency are layoffs for more than 10% of the workforce and the closure of dozens of offices throughout the country. It’s all part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce.

The order applies to more than 100 teacher preparation and training programs the administration canceled in February.

The judge in Maryland issued the preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the National Center for Teacher Residencies.

The administration cut $600 million in grants to teacher training programs, saying they ran afoul of its policies against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Grantees rejected the notion that their work was tied to DEI. Many programs used the money to hire teachers, to pay for college scholarships, and to address retention issues leading to staff shortages.

The White House says President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have begun a highly anticipated call as the U.S. administration looks to persuade the Russian leader to sign-off on a 30-day ceasefire proposal as a possible pathway to end the war.

Tuesday’s call comes after Ukrainian officials last week agreed to the American proposal during talks in Saudi Arabia led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, remains skeptical that Putin is ready for peace as Russian forces continue to pound Ukraine.

Trump, before the call, said he expected to discuss with Putin land and power plants that have been seized during the grinding three-year war.

▶ Read more about Trump’s call with Putin

The Trump administration’s “great plan” to jumpstart a resurgence of manufacturing in the United States is simple, the vice president said.

“We’re going to cut your taxes, we’re going to slash regulations, we’re going to reduce the cost of energy so that you can build, build, build,” he said at a summit on American dynamism in Washington.

Vance said innovation will be a key component and there’s too much fear that artificial intelligence will replace jobs. He recalled early concerns that ATMs would replace bank tellers.

“People in our country illegally can self-deport the easy way, or they can get deported the hard way. And that’s not pleasant,” Trump said in a video posted to the White House account on the X social media platform.

He said his administration is repurposing a Customs and Border Protection app first launched under the Biden administration into one people can use to voluntarily leave the country and avoid being forcibly removed as he executes on his promise of mass deportations.

Trump said anyone leaving the country on their own could potentially return legally at a future date.

But if they don’t, he said “they will be found, they will be deported and they will never be admitted again to the United States ever, ever again.”

On Tuesday, the president called for the impeachment of a federal judge who has tried to stop deportations to El Salvador.

“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The Republican president’s latest post aligns him more with allies like Elon Musk, who has made similar demands.

On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “I have not heard the president talk about impeaching judges.”

Shortly after taking office, Trump directed his national intelligence director and attorney general to come up with a plan to release the sought-after records related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The killing has spawned countless conspiracy theories.

Trump said Monday that some 80,000 files will be released, but it wasn’t clear how many of them are among the millions of JFK records that have already been made public.

He said his instructions to his staff were, “don’t redact.”

Trump has hung a copy of the Declaration of Independence in the Oval Office, according to images he shared on social media.

The Republican president’s official account on X showed two images Monday of a framed copy of the historical document hanging on the wall not far from the president’s desk.

It was not immediately clear where the copy came from and when it was installed.

“The Nationals Archives delivered the Declaration of Independence to the White House at the President’s request. It is displayed in the Oval Office where it will be carefully protected and preserved,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

The original version of the Declaration of Independence is very faded and displayed in the Archives’ building. On the version hanging in the White House, according to the images posted, the words are clear and legible.

The White House and National Archives did not respond to messages inquiring what version of the document was in the White House.

▶ Read more about Trump’s new Oval Office decor

Vice President JD Vance’s speech will focus on support for American industry and workers, according to his office.

The summit is taking place at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington. It used to be a Trump hotel when Trump was president the first time.

According to the White House press office, Trump plans to sign executive orders in the Oval Office at 3:30 p.m. ET.

The White House has also confirmed Trump and Russian President Vladamir Putin will hold a call to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine on Tuesday, which is expected to happen between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. ET.

The Trump administration fired most of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace and sent its new leader into the Washington headquarters of the independent organization on Monday, in its latest effort targeting agencies tied to foreign assistance work.

The remaining three members of the group’s board — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Defense University President Peter Garvin — fired President and CEO George Moose on Friday, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.

An executive order that President Donald Trump signed last month targeted the organization, which was created by Congress over 40 years ago, and others for reductions.

Current USIP employees said staffers from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency entered the building despite protests that the institute is not part of the executive branch. USIP called the police, whose vehicles were outside the building Monday evening.

▶ Read more about the gutting of USIP

District Judge James E. Boasberg was incredulous over the administration’s contentions that his verbal directions did not count, that only his written order needed to be followed, that it couldn’t apply to flights that had left the U.S. and that the administration could not answer his questions about the deportations due to national security issues.

“That’s one heck of a stretch, I think,” Boasberg replied, noting that the administration knew as the planes were departing that he was about to decide whether to briefly halt deportations being made under a rarely used 18th century law invoked by Trump about an hour earlier.

Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli contended that only Boasberg’s short written order, issued about 45 minutes after he made the verbal demand, counted. It did not contain any demands to reverse planes, and Kambli added that it was too late to redirect two planes that had left the U.S. by that time.

▶ Read more about the Trump deportation flights

The leaders are scheduled to speak between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. ET, a spokesperson for Putin said.

The talks are part of Trump’s effort to push the two sides into ending the three-year conflict by getting Putin to agree to a U.S. plan for a 30-day ceasefire that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accepted last week.

Zelenskyy said late Monday in his nightly video address that Putin is the one who is dragging out the war.

Trump said Washington and Moscow have begun discussing “dividing up certain assets” between Ukraine and Russia as part of the conflict-ending deal.

President Donald Trump talks with reporters as he visits the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Monday, March 17, 2025. (Pool via AP)

President Donald Trump talks with reporters as he visits the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Monday, March 17, 2025. (Pool via AP)

President Donald Trump attends a board meeting at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Monday, March 17, 2025. (Pool via AP)

President Donald Trump attends a board meeting at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Monday, March 17, 2025. (Pool via AP)

FILE - President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

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