Trump grants one-month exemption for US automakers from new tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada. Follow live updates.

President Trump is granting a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for US automakers, amid fears that the trade war could harm US manufacturers.

Wednesday’s announcement comes after Trump spoke with leaders of the “Big 3” automakers — Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.

Also Wednesday, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said he spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart and that they are discussing dates and locations for opening negotiations over ending the war with Russia.

Follow live updates.

Mayor Michelle Wu testifying in front of House Oversight Committee

Mayor Wu is testifying before the Republican-led US House Oversight Committee in Washington, D.C., in order to make the case that the city’s immigration policies do not undermine community safety, but rather bolster it.

Follow along live .

It’s not just the Stonewall website where references to transgender people have disappeared — 4:02 p.m.

Last month, the National Park Service removed references to transgender people from a website for the Stonewall National monument. The National Parks Conservation Association, a group that advocates for the national park system, says the same thing has since happened on other of the service’s websites.

In some cases, whole items have been removed, including an article about Marsha P. Johnson, a transgender woman who was part of the Stonewall history, as well as The Pride Guide, an interactive workbook on LGBTQ+ history.

“We’re really concerned about the erasure of history relevant to all communities,” said Kristen Sykes, the Northeast regional director for NPCA. “We would like the American people to be able to get the full breadth of the story.”

The Associated Press verified that the pages are no longer available on Park Service sites.

The National Park Service did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

For decades, these nuns advocated for immigrant rights — 3:59 p.m.

Now in their 90s, they’re not slowing down yet.

Chicago is not only among the US cities with the strongest so-called sanctuary protections, but it’s also home to two Catholic nuns who are not done yet.

Faced with Trump’s plans for mass deportations, sisters JoAnn Persch and Pat Murphy say they will keep helping those in need as long as God gives them the strength.

“We got to keep in the struggle. This is a unique time, and we’re all needed,” Persch said.

After initially taking in one family, the sisters have since gone on to helping numerous asylum-seeking families through a nonprofit called Catherine’s Caring Cause.

Social Security Administration says it is correcting records of deceased people — 3:53 p.m.

The agency said it has made “significant progress” in identifying and correcting beneficiary records of people 100 years old or older.

During his address to Congress on Tuesday, Trump repeated the claim that millions of people over 100, some up to 360 years old, are collecting Social Security benefits.

The agency said in a Wednesday statement that “while these people may not be receiving benefits, it is important for the agency to maintain accurate and complete records.”

A series of reports from the Social Security Administration’s inspector general in March 2023 and July 2024 state that the agency has not established a new system to properly annotate death information in its database, which included roughly 18.9 million Social Security numbers of people born in 1920 or earlier but were not marked as deceased.

The agency’s acting commissioner clarified last month that deceased centenarians were “not necessarily receiving benefits.”

Federal judge blocks drastic funding cuts to medical research — 3:45 p.m.

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from drastically cutting medical research funding that many scientists say will endanger patients and cost jobs.

The new National Institutes of Health policy would strip research groups of hundreds of millions of dollars to cover so-called indirect expenses of studying Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and a host of other illnesses — anything from clinical trials of new treatments to basic lab research that is the foundation for discoveries.

Separate lawsuits filed by a group of 22 states plus organizations representing universities, hospitals and research institutions nationwide sued to stop the cuts, saying they would cause “irreparable harm.”

US District Judge Angel Kelley in Boston had temporarily blocked the cuts last month. Wednesday, she filed a preliminary injunction that puts the cuts on hold for longer, while the suits proceed.

Vance tours US-Mexico border by air and holds roundtable with officials — 5:35 p.m.

Vice President JD Vance participated in an aerial tour of the U.S.-Mexico border by helicopter and is holding a roundtable discussion with law officials.

His trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, is meant to highlight tougher immigration policies that the White House says has led to dramatically fewer arrests for illegal crossings since President Donald Trump’s second term began.

Vance is being joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Trump has yet to visit the border himself since returning the White House on Jan. 20.

About 180 fired CDC employees, including some disease outbreak responders, are invited back — 3:03 p.m.

Emails went out Tuesday to some Centers for Disease Control and Prevention probationary employees who got termination notices last month, according to current and former CDC employees.

A message seen by the AP was sent with the subject line, “Read this e-mail immediately.” It said that their Feb. 15 termination notices have been rescinded.

“We apologize for any disruption that this may have caused,” it said.

It’s not clear how many of them returned to work Wednesday.

French president promises nuclear deterrent against Russia, hopes to avoid US tariffs on Europe — 2:52 p.m.

Emmanuel Macron said he will confer with European allies on using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats, now that support from the US is less certain.

Macron also said he hopes to persuade President Donald Trump to abandon his threat to impose 25% tariffs on European goods.

In a televised address to his nation, Macron described Russia as a “threat to France and Europe,” and said he had decided “to open the strategic debate on the protection of our allies on the European continent by our (nuclear) deterrent.”

Whether or not to use France’s nuclear weapons, he said, is a decision that remains only in the French president’s hands.

GOP representative: ‘Your policies are hurting the American people’ — 2:38 p.m.

Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida says she’s asking the Justice Department to investigate Democratic mayors of so-called “sanctuary cities.”

Luna said she didn’t think the mayors of Boston, Chicago, New York and Denver are “bad people” — she said they’re just “ideologically misled.”

Luna said she’d be making a case to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Texas governor’s migrant busing campaign called haphazard and inhumane — 2:37 p.m.

A controversial operation by Texas Governor Greg Abbott that transported asylum seekers to so-called sanctuary cities has been a sore point for Democrats at a congressional hearing with big city mayors.

Abbot has said paying to move than 100,000 migrants out of state was a way to relieve pressure on border cities.

But the big-city mayors testifying Wednesday complained that Texas refused to communicate with them.

Several cities filed lawsuits and levied fines against bus companies, which would often drop people off at all hours, far from public transit.

White House confirms ‘ongoing talks and discussions’ with Hamas officials amid ceasefire uncertainty — 2:05 p.m.

White House press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that US officials have had “ongoing talks and discussions” with Hamas officials.

The talks come as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire remains in the balance.

Leavitt declined to detail the talks, which were first reported by the news site Axios.

Trump exempts auto imports from Mexico and Canada from tariffs for one month — 1:57 p.m.

Trump is granting a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for US automakers, amid fears that the trade war could harm US manufacturers.

Wednesday’s announcement comes after Trump spoke with leaders of the “Big 3” automakers — Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.

“We are going to give a one month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA,” Trump said in a statement read by his spokesperson, referencing the North American Free Trade Agreement he renegotiated in his first term.

Teachers union sues to block anti-DEI ‘Dear Colleague’ memo — 1:44 p.m.

The nation’s largest teachers’ union is challenging a Trump administration memo ordering schools to end “race-based” practices of any kind or lose their federal money.

The National Education Association’s federal lawsuit, filed Wednesday in New Hampshire, argues that the Feb. 14 memo violates teachers’ free speech rights and is unclear on what practices could run afoul of the memo.

It asks a judge to strike down the Education Department’s “Dear Colleague” Letter, which gave schools two weeks to end any practice that treats people differently based on their race, including in admissions, hiring and any aspect of student life.

The administration argues that diversity policies have discriminated against white and Asian American students.

Panama president calls Trump’s talk of ‘reclaiming’ the Panama Canal a lie — 1:39 p.m.

Panama President José Raúl Mulino on Wednesday accused Trump of lying when he said in his address to Congress that his administration was “reclaiming” the Panama Canal.

Trump was referencing a deal announced Tuesday for a consortium led by the US investment management company BlackRock Inc. to buy a controlling stake in the company held by a Chinese group that operates ports at both ends of the Panama Canal.

Panama maintains that it has full control over the canal and that the Hong Kong-based group’s operation of the ports did not amount to Chinese control over the waterway, and that therefore the sale to a US-based company would not represent any US “reclaiming” of the canal. Panama’s government on Tuesday called the sale a private transaction.

Mulino in a message posted to X on Wednesday, rejected that the deal came about because of US pressure. “I reject in the name of Panama and all Panamanians this new affront to the truth and our dignity as a nation,” he wrote. He accused Trump of “lying again.

Trump and Trudeau speak by phone — 1:23 p.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is unwilling to lift Canada’s retaliatory tariffs if President Donald Trump leaves any US tariffs on Canada, a senior government official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The official confirmed Trudeau’s stance on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The official said Trump and Trudeau spoke by phone around midday.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford told the AP that if the tariffs remain, the American and Canadian auto industries will last about 10 days before they start shutting down assembly lines in the US and Ontario.

“People are going to lose their jobs,” Ford said.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he expected Trump to announce a decision Wednesday afternoon.

Immigration czar defends NYC mayor — 1:20 p.m.

President Trump administration immigration czar Tom Homan went on X to defend Eric Adams, who is among a group of Democratic mayors testifying before Congress on so-called sanctuary city policies.

Adams faced sharp questioning from Democratic lawmakers over his willingness to work with the Trump administration on immigration as the Justice Department works to drop corruption charges against him.

“Watching some of the sanctuary city hearing while on a flight,” Homan wrote on X. “One Democrat congressman accuses Mayor Adams of “selling out New Yorkers” while making a deal with Tom Homan. Simply disgusting. Mayor Adams is trying to protect New Yorkers from violent illegal aliens. He is trying.”

Clergy: Morality is at stake as Trump administration dismantles government — 1:20 p.m.

A small group of clergy members across denominations and faiths protested on Capitol Hill, calling out the Trump Administration and Congress on issues including cutting funding to aid programs and the targeting of the federal workforce by the Department of Government Efficiency.

Rev. William Barber said the group came to Congress to keep the attention on how lawmakers are spending the people’s money while attention is turned to the president’s executive orders.

Trump fuels Greenland’s independence fight with his talk of seizing the island — 1:10 p.m.

Many Greenlanders say Trump’s comments have boosted their movement for full independence from Denmark — the key issue in a parliamentary election on March 11.

They’re worried and offended by Trump’s threats to seize control of their homeland, but they’re also hopeful.

“Even though there are strong feelings of sadness, despair, confusion, I think we’re also stronger than ever,” Aka Hansen, an Inuk filmmaker and writer, told The Associated Press in Nuuk, the capital of the semi-autonomous territory.

She is suspicious of Trump’s intentions but still thanks him for turning the world’s attention to her homeland. Like many other Greenlanders, she doesn’t want to be ruled by another colonial power. But she feels Trump’s rhetoric has increased the momentum for independence.

Thousands of USDA workers may get their jobs back — 1:04 p.m.

More than 5,000 employees fired by the Trump administration should be put back on the job at the US Department of Agriculture, according to a government panel that enforces workers’ rights.

The order by the Merit Systems Protection Board followed a request by the Office of Special Counsel. And while this order applies only to the USDA workers, Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger issued a statement “calling on all federal agencies to voluntarily and immediately rescind any unlawful terminations of probationary employees.”

The employees were in their probationary periods when they lost their jobs last month. They’ll be on the job for 45 days as an investigation continues.

Trump’s USAID leader has ‘concerns’ about Supreme Court ruling continuing funding freeze — 12:40 p.m.

Pete Marocco, the Trump political appointee overseeing dismantling of USAID, told a closed-door meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday that he would review the court’s ruling reinstating an order to release frozen foreign aid.

That’s according to Committee Chairman Brian Mast. Committee members noted that Marocco did not directly answer when asked by Democrats if he would obey the high court and unfreeze the funding.

Trump called the spending wasteful and out of line with his foreign policy goals.

In dissent, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that he’s stunned that the ruling “imposes a $2 billion penalty on American taxpayers.”

Musk coming to Capitol Hill amid DOGE fallout — 12:27 p.m.

Musk is headed to Capitol Hill to meet privately with Republicans among growing questions about his government-slashing DOGE effort.

The billionaire Trump aide planned a private huddle with Senate Republicans at lunch and a separate meeting with House GOP lawmakers.

The blowback from constituents to government cuts has prompted Speaker Mike Johnson to advise Republicans to skip holding town hall meetings where they are being confronted by protesters.

Trump administration plans to cut 80,000 employees from Veterans Affairs, according to internal memo — 12:01 p.m.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning an “aggressive” reorganization that includes cutting 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care for retired military members, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The VA’s chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, told top level officials at the agency that it had an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by burn pits under the 2022 PACT Act.

Wisconsin governor urges congressional Republicans to stand up to Trump — 11:58 a.m.

Governor Tony Evers’ open letter urges the state’s Republican congressional delegation “to do more than offer vague concern” and to stand up to “reckless, chaotic decisions and disastrous cuts to our federal programs and workforce.”

The Democratic governor also called on the state’s six GOP House members and one Republican senator to reject cuts to Medicaid and other federal assistance programs, which he said “would almost certainly blow a devastating hole in our state budget.”

Evers’ state budget plan would hold $500 million in reserve to deal with potential federal cuts, but he said that may not be enough.

Beijing and US defense secretary trade talk of war — 11:29 a.m.

Trump suggested that eliminating persistent US trade deficits is the goal of the 20% tariffs he’s imposed on imports from China.

Beijing immediately responded with 15% tariffs on U.S. farm exports and more export controls on U.S. companies.

“If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” China’s embassy posted on X on Tuesday night.

In response Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” that “those who long for peace must prepare for war.”

Canadian finance minister: ‘We’re not interested in meeting in the middle’ — 11:35 a.m.

Canada wants the tariffs removed,” Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not willing to lift Canada’s retaliatory tariffs if Trump leaves any tariffs on Canada, a senior government official told The Associated Press. The official confirmed the stance on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Trudeau said Tuesday that Canada will reluctantly respond by plastering tariffs on over $100 billion (U.S. dollars) of American goods over the course of 21 days.

Trudeau spoke during a fiery news conference, saying Trump is launching a trade war against the closest friend of the U.S. while “appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense.”

Loud protest condemns USAID freeze outside House briefing — 11:16 a.m.

Protesters shouted condemnations of Trump’s leadership of USAID Wednesday outside a Capitol briefing on the agency’s shutdown.

Deputy USAID head Pete Marocco was giving a closed-door briefing to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on cuts eliminating thousands of US foreign assistance programs and dismantling the agency.

“Marocco has blood on his hands! Unfreeze aid now!” the roughly 20 protesters yelled, sitting cross-legged in front of the room doors. Capitol police carried them away one by one.

Marocco and ally Elon Musk have presided over Trump’s foreign assistance funding freeze, terminating 90% of USAID programs and taking all but a fraction of agency workers off the job through firings and forced leaves.

Trump administration lists hundreds of federal buildings for potential sale — 11:14 a.m.

The list of more than 440 federal properties to close or sell initially included the FBI headquarters and the main Department of Justice building. The General Services Administration deemed them “not core to government operations.”

Hours later on Tuesday, the administration issued a revised list with only 320 entries — none in Washington, D.C. The GSA didn’t immediately respond to questions about the change.

In a follow-up meeting, GSA regional managers were told their goal is to terminate as many as 300 leases per day, according to an employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

The canceled office leases raise questions about services provided from these offices. The properties include federal courthouses and Internal Revenue Service centers in West Virginia, Utah, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Massachusetts and New York.

Latino leaders disappointed by lack of solutions in Trump’s message — 11:12 a.m.

Latino leaders said President Trump’s address to Congress prioritized division instead.

Trump had the opportunity to address the nation’s economic challenges but decided instead to emphasize policies that make life more difficult for working families, said a statement by Voto Latino.

And UnidosUS president Janet Murguía said Trump repeated campaign rhetoric and blamed the previous administration instead of focusing on what is being done to help working class Americans.

“The focus of the Latino community continues to be the economy and inflation, and we heard very little,” Murguía said.

Veterans are speaking out on the Trump administration’s plans to cut the VA’s budget — 11:05 a.m.

Some veterans speaking to The Associated Press are in favor of Trump’s proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs, while others are strongly opposed.

Stephen Watson is a former Marine who lives in Jesup, Georgia — he says everyone, including veterans, needs to share in the sacrifice to bring the nation’s spending under control.

But former Marine Gregg Bafundo, of Tonasket, Washington, disagrees — he says Trump’s cuts are only about “hurting people and breaking things.”

The Republican administration’s plans to cut $2 billion in VA contracts are currently on pause over concerns that critical health services for veterans would be harmed.

Trump considering exemptions on some Mexico and Canada tariffs — 11:03 a.m.

Carveouts could be coming to President Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. That would be a softening of the US position after Tuesday’s tax hike hurt the stock market, worried consumers and started a trade war.

Lutnick told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday that Trump would announce an update to his tariff plans on Wednesday afternoon, possibly sparing sectors such as autos from the import taxes.

“There are going to be tariffs, let’s be clear,” Lutnick said. “But what he’s thinking about is which sections of the market that can maybe — maybe — he’ll consider giving them relief until we get to, of course, April 2.”

That’s the date when Trump said he would impose broad “reciprocal” tariffs to match other countries’ tax rates and subsidies.

Boston mayor brings baby to committee hearing — 11:00 a.m.

Mayor Michelle Wu just gave birth in January and now her baby daughter has come to Congress.

Wu is going to be subject to questioning by Republicans over the city’s policies limiting cooperation with immigration enforcement.

She appeared in the committee hearing room with her baby daughter — Mira, wearing a pink onesie — in her arms.

The baby is Wu’s third. The mayor returned to work just a few weeks after giving birth.

Democrats rally support for immigrants ahead of congressional hearing — 10:55 a.m.

Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois is among the representatives speaking out at a news conference ahead of the hearing where Republicans are expected to grill four Democratic mayors.

Ramirez spoke of the economic contributions of immigrants in Illinois and Chicago. And she said it would be illegal to withhold federal funds from cities that limit their cooperation with immigration enforcement.

“Our communities will not be bullied into compliance with their illegal unconstitutional authoritarian agenda,” she said.

Trump and first lady offer prayers for holy season Lent — 10:54 a.m.

President Trump and his wife, Melania, offered best wishes to Roman Catholics and Christians observing Lent, which began with Ash Wednesday.

Christians worldwide spend the next 40 days praying and fasting. On Wednesday, they wear crosses of ash on their foreheads as a reminder of their mortality.

“We offer you our best wishes for a prayerful and enriching Lenten season,” the Trumps wrote.

Trump told Religion News Service in 2020 that he considers himself to be a nondenominational Christian and no longer identifies as Presbyterian.

NYC mayor sends a nuanced message on ‘sanctuary city’ policies — 10:53 a.m.

In a New York Post op-ed published Tuesday night, New York Mayor Eric Adams said the nation’s most populous city does and will comply with federal immigration laws, and denied that “sanctuary” policies make it a haven for violent criminals.

Immigrants who are in the country illegally, yet are otherwise are law-abiding pay taxes and do needed work, the Democrat noted.

New York City will suffer if these people stay in the shadows for fear of being deported, he said.

“I cannot have a city where parents are afraid to send their children to school,” or where immigrants won’t report crimes and delay seeking medical care until they end up in emergency rooms, he wrote.

Leaders of France and Britain could accompany Zelensky for another Trump meeting — 10:49 a.m.

The French government spokesperson said Wednesday that Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer could travel together with Ukraine’s leader.

“It is envisaged that President Macron could eventually travel again to Washington with President Zelensky and his British counterpart,” spokesperson Sophie Primas told reporters. She did not elaborate. No trip is being planned yet, Macron’s office later said.

Macron plans a televised address to his nation Wednesday about what he called the “great uncertainty” in global affairs.

A divided Supreme Court rejects the Trump administration’s push to rebuke a judge in its foreign aid freeze — 10:47 a.m.

A sharply divided Supreme Court has rejected a President Trump administration push to rebuke a federal judge who imposed a quick deadline to release billions of dollars in foreign aid.

By a 5-4 vote Wednesday, the court told US District Judge Amir Ali to clarify his earlier order that required the Republican administration to release nearly $2 billion in aid for work that had already been done.

Justice Samuel Alito led four conservative justices in dissent, saying Ali lacks the authority to order the payments. Alito wrote that he is stunned the court is rewarding “an act of judicial hubris.”

US pauses intelligence sharing with Ukraine — 10:44 a.m.

The US has paused its sharing of intelligence with Ukraine following President Trump’s decision to withhold military aid for the Ukrainian defense against Russian invaders.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Wednesday that the US has “taken a step back” in its relationship with Ukraine. CIA Director John Ratcliffe called the suspension a “pause” and that American intelligence and military aid could begin flowing again soon once Trump knows that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is serious about peace.

Greenland’s leader says the island ‘is ours’ — 10:41 a.m.

Greenland’s prime minister says “Greenland is ours” and cannot be taken or bought, in defiance of the claim by President Donald Trump that the United States will acquire the territory “one way or another.”

Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede said the island’s citizens are not American nor Danish because they are Greenlandic.

The United States needs to understand that, he wrote in a Facebook post in Greenlandic and Danish on Wednesday, adding that Greenland’s future will be decided by its people. His post came hours after Trump made a direct appeal to Greenlanders in his speech to Congress.

Businesses scramble to contain fallout from Trump’s tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico — 10:37 a.m.

A Minnesota farmer worries about the price of fertilizer. A San Diego entrepreneur deals with an unexpected cost increase of remodeling a restaurant. A Midwestern sheet metal fabricator bemoans the prospect of higher aluminum prices.

Businesses knew that President Trump’s import taxes -- tariffs -- on America’s biggest trading partners were scheduled to take effect Tuesday. But many of them assumed they’d get a reprieve. After all, the unpredictable president had delayed the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days right before they were originally supposed to kick in on Feb. 4.

No such luck this time.

The longer the tariffs stick, the more damage they can do, forcing companies to decide between eating higher costs and passing them along to inflation-weary consumers.

Wall Street stabilizing, still down sharply as Trump tariffs launch trade war — 10:35 a.m.

Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq ticked up slightly in premarket trading Wednesday as Trump’s imposition tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China roil global markets.

But these moves are far from recouping the losses that have erased all the gains made since Election Day.

Three major US banks were among Tuesday’s biggest losers, but shares in Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Bank of America are rising now that the Trump administration has dropped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s lawsuit charging them with failing to protect consumers from fraud via Zelle.

Elissa Slotkin assails Trump’s early actions, offers Democrats a way to fight back — 10:30 a.m.

First-term Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin accused President Trump of driving up costs while pushing for an “unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends” in Tuesday night’s Democratic response to his first joint congressional address of his second term.

Slotkin, just months into her first term in the US Senate after winning an open Michigan seat despite Trump carrying the state, said Trump “has not laid out a credible plan” to address rising everyday expenses for Americans. She said tariffs that went into effect early Tuesday would only worsen the economy.

Slotkin spoke from Wyandotte, Michigan, a working-class community south of Detroit, after Trump delivered the longest address to Congress by a president in US history. In her opening, Slotkin acknowledged that “America wants change. But there is a responsible way to make change, and a reckless way.”

In her rebuttal, which lasted a little more than 10 minutes, Slotkin told Americans that “change doesn’t need to be chaotic or make us less safe” and warned of the dangers of Trump’s economic approach.

Trump would consider lifting Ukraine aid pause if peace talks progress, national security adviser says — 10:29 a.m.

National Security Adviser Mike Waltz says he spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart on Wednesday and that they are discussing dates and locations for opening negotiations over ending the war with Russia.

President Trump sees the deal as a precursor to getting Russia and Ukraine to start negotiating over ending the war. Trump paused aid to Ukraine after a blowup with Zelensky in the Oval Office last week.

Waltz, appearing on “Fox and Friends” Wednesday morning, said Trump “will take a hard look” at lifting the pause “if we can nail down these negotiations.”

Trump presses forward with tariff fight — 10:25 a.m.

President Trump has long viewed the stock market as a lodestar. But he ignored Wall Street losses that wiped out gains since the November election during his joint address.

The stock market has been tumbling as Trump enacts tariffs on Canada and Mexico, critical trading partners that have been retaliating with their own levies. The dispute threatens to increase costs for American consumers even as the president promises to bring down prices.

Trump showed no interest in backing off, describing tariffs as integral to his political agenda.

“Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it’s happening and it will happen rather quickly. There will be a little disturbance, but we’re ok with that.”

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said she plans to announce retaliatory tariffs against the US on Sunday.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier on Tuesday diagnosed Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports as simply “a very dumb thing to do.”

The looming presence of Elon Musk — 10:25 a.m.

President Trump lavished praise on Elon Musk, the billionaire who he has tasked with overhauling the federal government and work force. Democrats tried to verbally fact check the president by shouting “false” at some of his assertions of success.

Musk, seated in the gallery above, stood when Republicans applauded him. Democrats held signs that said “Musk steals.”

The president said that Musk has found “hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud,” vastly overstating his team’s accomplishments. For example, many canceled contracts were already fully paid, meaning the government received no savings.

He was dressed more formally than usual, wearing a dark suit with a blue tie rather than a black t-shirt that says “tech support.”

Musk has vast influence as a presidential adviser, leading Trump’s efforts to overhaul and downsize the federal government. Thousands of workers have been laid off, with many more expected to follow.

Trump warms on Zelensky after days of hammering the Ukrainian leader — 8:31 a.m.

President Trump has been unsparing in his criticism of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

But towards the end of his address to Congress Tuesday, Trump read from a letter from Zelensky he had received earlier in the day.

“The letter reads Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” Trump said. “Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians ... My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”

It remains to be seen if the letter will mark a detente in the long-complicated Trump-Zelensky relationship.

Late last week, Trump and Vice President JD Vance used an Oval Office meeting to rip Zelensky for being insufficiently grateful for the billions of dollars in US aid poured into Ukraine. Trump then abruptly ended the White House meeting where the deal —designed to give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s deposits of titanium, lithium, manganese and more — was supposed to be signed.

On Monday, Trump ordered a “pause” in US assistance to Ukraine as he looked to dial up the pressure on Zelensky to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia.

Takeaways from last night’s speech — 8:31 a.m.

A president’s speech to Congress — even without the formal gloss of a State of the Union address — is typically a time for a call to national unity and predictable claims about the country being strong.

But that wasn’t President Trump’s plan. His speech on Tuesday night was relentlessly partisan, boasting about his election victory and criticizing Democrats for failing to recognize his accomplishments.

The hard edge reflected Trump’s steamroller approach to his second term, brushing aside opposition and demanding loyalty throughout the federal government.

Trump set a tone of division almost from his first words, calling his predecessor Joe Biden the worst president in history and chiding Democrats as so stinting in their praise of him they would not even grant him perfunctory applause.

He also gave voice to the frustration of many Americans over rising costs of groceries — particularly the skyrocketing cost of eggs, but blamed Biden instead of the bird flu.

Greenlanders are waking up to a message from Trump welcoming them to the United States — 5:38 a.m.

Greenlanders awoke Wednesday to a message from U.S. President Donald Trump, who said his administration supported the Arctic island’s right of self-determination and also welcomed its people into the United States.

Many in Greenland, a vast and mineral-rich island that is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, are worried and offended by Trump’s threats to seize control of homeland, because he says the U.S. needs it “for national security.”

“I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland,” Trump told Congress during an address Tuesday. “We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.”

World shares and US futures are higher after Wall Street losses and Trump’s speech — 4:53 a.m.

World shares and US futures were mostly higher on Wednesday following a rocky session on Wall Street after Canada, Mexico and China were hit by steep US tariffs that took effect the day before.

Comments by US President Trump in a speech to Congress and the nation appeared to have scant impact on world markets. The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.6 percent, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5 percent.

Representative Al Green shouts down Trump and may face censure by the House for the outburst — 3:02 a.m.

Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas wasn’t the first lawmaker ever to blurt out a shout of protest during a presidential address to Congress.

But he’s perhaps the only one in recent memory to actually be ejected from the hall Tuesday night by the Speaker of the House.

Green said afterward it was worth it to make his point — even if he is punished by House leaders, who later called for the congressman to be censured.

A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump during his address to Congress — 2:25 a.m.

President Donald Trump‘s Tuesday night address to a joint session of Congress highlighted several of the initiatives he’s started in his first six weeks in office, but many of his comments included false and misleading information.

Here’s a look at the facts.

Businesses scramble to contain fallout from Trump’s tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico — 12:10 a.m.

A Minnesota farmer worries about the price of fertilizer. A San Diego entrepreneur deals with an unexpected cost increase of remodeling a restaurant. A Midwestern sheet metal fabricator bemoans the prospect of higher aluminum prices.

Businesses knew that Trump’s import taxes -- tariffs -- on America’s biggest trading partners were scheduled to take effect Tuesday. But many of them assumed they’d get a reprieve. After all, the unpredictable president had delayed the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days right before they were originally supposed to kick in on Feb. 4.

No such luck this time.

At midnight Tuesday, the United States imposed 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, starting a trade war with its closest neighbors and allies. Trump also doubled his 10 percent levies on Chinese imports in a series of moves that took US tariffs to the highest level since the 1940s. Canadian energy was shown some mercy, getting taxed at a lower 10 percent.