Tracking Trump: 5 moves this week with lasting impact
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The whirlwind of activity surrounding President Trump and his inner circle hasn't stopped spinning since Inauguration Day.
- If you struggle to keep pace with the week's key Trump 2.0 developments, catch up here.
Trump signs "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" order
Trump banned transgender women and girls from competing in sports corresponding with their gender identity in an executive order dubbed "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" on Wednesday.
- The next day the NCAA announced it's changing its policies to comply with the order.
- Schools that don't follow Trump's order will be considered in violation of Title IX, which could jeopardize their access to federal dollars, Axios' April Rubin writes.
Trump agrees to shut down USAID
Elon Musk announced on Monday Trump has "agreed" to "shut" down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the government's lead humanitarian aid arm.
- The move sparked an inquiry from Democrats on the House Oversight Committee seeking among other information a "comprehensive explanation of the legal authorities" used by Musk and the DOGE team to dismantle USAID, as well as details about Musk and DOGE staffers' "federal employment status."
- Gutting the agency Musk called "a bowl of worms" with no apple, coupled with the administration's freeze on foreign aid, is posed to endanger millions of lives around the world and diminish U.S. influence, Axios' Ivana Saric writes.
- A federal judge blocked the shutdown temporarily on Friday saving about 2,200 employees from being put on administrative leave.
Trump admin pulls plug on EV charging
The Trump administration in a memo on Thursday blocked a $5 billion project dubbed the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program to expand highway EV charging options.
- "The new leadership of the Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) has decided to review the policies underlying the implementation of the NEVI Formula Program," Federal Highway Administration associate administrator Emily Biondi wrote in the letter rescinding "all prior versions" of the guidance.
- "Since FHWA is suspending the existing State plans, States will be held harmless for not implementing their existing plans," Biondi later added.
- "Until new guidance is issued, reimbursement of existing obligations will be allowed in order to not disrupt current financial commitments."
Trump's Gaza Strip takeover
Trump proclaimed during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday "the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip" and "own it," Axios' Barak Ravid writes.
- It could be "the Riviera of the Middle East," the president said, facing swift backlash to the idea of displacing two million Palestinians.
- No need to use American troops, Trump said, claiming Israel will transfer Gaza to the U.S.
- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas objected to the move, which United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also called "tantamount to ethnic cleansing."
- On Friday, he changed his tune to "no rush" in moving forward on that.
Trump's tariff carveout, a Temu and Shein win
Trump paused tariffs on packages typically valued below $800 from China in an executive order made public on Friday that brought good news for popular Chinese e-commerce platforms Temu and Shein.
- The order, dated Wednesday, puts the tariffs on hold until the Commerce Department confirms "adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue."
- It's a sign of how little precedent exists for Trump's broad tariffs of 25% on Canada and Mexico (10% on energy) and 10% on China, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes.
- The tariffs set to take effect last Tuesday have been pushed back a month.
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