19 things Trump and his team did this week

Donald Trump has been back in the White House for a month.

His fifth week in office saw more dramatic moves as the president continued on his plan to remake the federal government, implement sweeping cuts and reshape American foreign policy.

This week he called Ukraine’s war-time president a “dictator”, pledged to make IVF more affordable and dismissed his highest-ranking military officer.

If you’re after a catch-up, here is a reminder of 19 major moves from the Trump administration this week.

Trump on Tuesday called Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” – part of a heated back and forth between the two leaders that also saw the US president appear to blame Ukraine for Russia’s invasion.

His attacks came after Zelensky reacted to US-Russia talks about the war, from which Kyiv was excluded.

Zelensky said Trump was “living in a disinformation space” governed by Moscow after Trump said the Ukrainian leader was down to 4% approval rating among the Ukrainian public – a figure Zelensky said was being spread by Russia.

Zelensky’s term was due to come to an end in May 2024 but his country has been under martial law since Russia launched its full-scale invasion three years ago, and elections are suspended.

The “dictator” line prompted criticism from European leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said it was “simply wrong and dangerous”.

On Tuesday, US and Russian officials held their first high-level, face-to-face talks since the war started but Ukraine was not invited.

Top US officials met Moscow counterparts in Saudi Arabia, prompting fears in Kyiv that the country invaded by Russia was being sidelined.

On Friday, he told Fox News it was not important for Zelensky to be at peace talks but he would “of course” take a call from him.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said talks with Russia were a first step towards negotiating a peace deal and nothing would be imposed on Ukraine.

Russian authorities released a US national who was arrested at a Moscow airport this month for cannabis possession.

Kalob Byers, 28, was freed hours before the talks between US and Russian officials over the war in Ukraine were set to begin.

The US also said it will release a Russian national – Alexander Vinnik, who was arrested in 2017 on charges related to the laundering of billions of dollars using virtual currency Bitcoin – as part of a prisoner exchange that brought home American schoolteacher Marc Fogel last week.

The Trump administration is moving to end New York City’s congestion pricing plan, which charges vehicles entering the city in certain areas, then uses tolls to upgrade its aging transit systems. It was launched last month.

“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD,” Trump said on social media. “Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”

In response, New York Govenor Kathy Hochul said: “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. We’ll see you in court.”

Four women who allege they were sexually abused by the social media influencer Andrew Tate said they were “extremely concerned” by reports that US officials had asked Romania to relax travel restrictions against Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, who have dual UK-US nationality.

The Financial Times newspaper first reported that US officials had brought up the case with the Romanian government last week, and it was then followed up by Trump’s envoy Richard Grenell at the weekend.

One source told the paper that a request had been made by the US to return the brothers’ passports to them so they could travel while waiting for the criminal case against them to finish.

The US State Department has been approached by the BBC for comment.

The US Border Patrol said there was a decrease in migrants illegally crossing the US-Mexico border in January.

It recorded 29,000 arrests – the lowest since May 2020 and down from 47,000 in December, according to department figures.

Trump took office on 20 January, replacing predecessor Joe Biden.

The Trump administration has promised to clamp down on undocumented migration into the US, which has also included declaring an emergency at the southern border and expanded processes that allow for rapid expulsions.

Trump reassigned the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week, US media reported. The move came after Trump and border tsar Tom Homan expressed anger that deportation numbers weren’t higher.

The Trump administration – and his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) leader Elon Musk – are continuing a cost-cutting drive that aims to drastically reduce the federal workforce.

More than 6,000 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees are expected to be fired, and on Friday the Pentagon said it planned to “release” 5,400 probationary workers starting early next week.

Around 1,000 employees in the US National Park Service were let go last weekend – roughly 5% of the workforce – according to CBS News.

It has also begun firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees, and the head of Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union David Spero called the firings “shameful”.

Polling suggests there is public support for less government spending but also concern that Musk’s efficiency drive could go too far.

Trump’s administration is attempting to rehire officials with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) who worked on the government response to bird flu before being fired over the weekend, US media report.

The terminations came as the latest outbreak of the bird flu has wreaked havoc on poultry and cattle farms, causing egg prices to skyrocket.

A USDA spokesperson told the BBC that although “several” officials working on bird flu were “notified of their terminations” over the weekend, “we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters”.

It’s not the first time this has happened – after firing officials with the National Nuclear Security Administration last week, US media reported that the government was trying to reinstate some, but was struggling to contact them.

Trump has signed an executive order that will examine ways to make in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments more affordable.

Speaking at an event at Mar-a-Lago, White House staff secretary Will Scharf said the order asks that the Domestic Policy Council make recommendations within 90 days to protect access to IVF and “aggressively” reduce its costs.

During his campaigning, Trump said that IVF treatments would be paid for by insurance companies or the government if he returned to the White House.

A row erupted between the White House and the Associated Press (AP) – a global media organisation – after Google Maps changed the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the Gulf of America for people using the app in the US.

Trump has ordered the body of water to be renamed in US government documents.

The AP says that it will not change the name of the Gulf of Mexico in its style guide, which is used by many US media outlets.

Trump said on Tuesday that he will block AP from the Oval Office and Air Force One until it stops referring to the Gulf of Mexico.

The media organisation sued three Trump officials in response, US media reported on Friday. The AP argues Trump’s ban violates the First Amendment and is seeking an emergency hearing to declare Trump’s moves unconstitutional.

US justice department lawyers on Wednesday defended their decision to end a criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Last week, the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss fraud and bribery charges against Adams. Seven justice department lawyers, including the top US prosecutor in Manhattan, resigned over an order to drop the case.

Adams was indicted last year on the charges. He denies any wrongdoing.

Trump has denied that he had any involvement in asking prosecutors to dismiss the Adams case.

On Friday, a judge paused Adams’ trial and ordered an outside lawyer to advise him by coming up with arguments against dropping the charges – essentially creating a legal test.

On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order ending federal benefits for undocumented migrants.

The measure will seek to ensure that any federal funds to states and localities “will not be used to support sanctuary policies or assist illegal immigration”, according to the White House.

The Trump administration also suspended a service on Tuesday that helped children who come to the US without a parent or guardian to navigate the immigration court system.

Trump said he is considering using a percentage of the potential savings from Elon Musk’s taskforce to send payments directly to US taxpayers.

“We’re thinking about giving 20% back to the American citizens and 20% back to pay down debt,” Trump said in Florida this week, without giving further details.

Before making the remarks, Musk had posted on his social media platform X that he “will check with the President” after a user suggested the pair should announce a “DOGE Dividend”.

During his speech at the Munich Security Conference a week ago, US Vice-President JD Vance launched a scalding attack on European democracies saying the greatest threat facing the continent was not from Russia and China, but “from within”.

Vance was expected to address possible talks to end the war in Ukraine but instead accused European governments – including the UK’s – of retreating from their values, and ignoring voter concerns on migration and free speech.

The speech was denounced by several politicians at the conference.

Rubio boycotted a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in South Africa this week, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he will not attend next week’s gathering of G20 finance ministers.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa told the meeting that a commitment to multilateralism and international law is vital to solving global crises.

Announcing his refusal to attend, Rubio said South Africa was “using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability.’ In other words: DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] and climate change”.

Bessent said he had other commitments in Washington.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has told US military services to identify $50bn in cuts next year so the money can be used elsewhere for Trump’s priorities.

The deputy defence secretary said in a statement on Wednesday that “excessive bureaucracy” and “unnecessary spending that set our military back under the previous administration, including through so-called ‘climate change’ and other woke programs” would end.

Late Friday night, Trump announced on Truth Social, his social media platform, that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was leaving, as well.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has restored funding for 9/11-related cancer research after Doge attempted to cancel it last week, according to officials.

The $257,000 (£199,000) contract goes towards data processing to compare cancer incidence rates among firefighters exposed to the World Trade Center toxins with firefighters who were not.

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said: “9/11 cancer research and funding for FDNY should have never been on the chopping block”.

Trump’s motorcade drove round the Daytona racetrack in the opening event of the season’s Nascar series.

The president’s Air Force One jet gave a flyby for spectators before he met the drivers and led them for a lap around the circuit.

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown was fired as the highest-ranking military officer in the country, responsible for advising the president and defence secretary.

On Friday evening, Trump took to social media to announce the departure of Gen Brown, who was the second black officer in US history to hold the post. The president said five other top officers were being replaced.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had previously said Gen Brown should be fired because of his “woke” focus on diversity, equity and inclusion programmes in the military.