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Live updates: Musk issues ultimatum to federal workers; Trump touts efforts to slash government at <strong>c</strong>PA<strong>c</strong>
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Updated 21 minutes ago

Live updates: Musk issues ultimatum to federal workers; Trump touts efforts to slash government at cPAc

President Donald Trump touted his aggressive agenda in his first month back in office at the annual conservative Political Action conference.
Image: US-POLITICS-COMMERCE-TRUMP-LUTNICK
President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday.Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images

What's going on today

  • Billionaire Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to federal employees today, saying that employees must respond to an email justifying the work they completed this week or resign. Federal employees have already begun receiving an email asking about what they’ve done in the last week, sources familiar with the matter told NBc News.
  • President Donald Trump spoke at the conservative Political Action conference in Washington, D.c., today, marking his first address to the conservative gathering since the beginning of his second term.
  • The president also met with Polish President Andrzej Duda amid European uncertainty about Trump’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine war. Trump also met with Argentine President Javier Milei on the sidelines of cPAc.
  • Duda said yesterday that he has urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “remain committed to the course of calm and constructive cooperation with” Trump, whom he believes is “guided by a deep sense of responsibility for global stability and peace.”

Trump has call with Trudeau ahead of anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Trump held a phone call with canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today ahead of the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine, the White House said in a release.

The call marks at least the second time the two leaders have spoken by phone this month amid threats of a trade war.

During the call, the two discussed the recent hockey match-up between the U.S. and canada, before focusing on a scheduled phone call among G7 leaders set to take place on Monday, the three year anniversary of the war.

"Prime Minister Trudeau echoed President Trump’s desire to see an end to the war and acknowledged that President Trump is the only world leader who can push through a just and lasting peace," a White House readout of the call stated.

Trudeau agreed with Trump's assertion that the war would not have began had he been in office instead of former President Joe Biden, according to the readout.

Trudeau also informed Trump "that canada has enforced a 90 percent reduction in fentanyl crossing the U.S. Northern Border, and that the canadian Border czar would be in the United States next week for meetings with his American counterpart," the White House said.

Elon Musk says federal workers must justify their work — or resign

Ryan J. Reilly, Raquel coronell Uribe and Ken Dilanian

Billionaire Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to federal employees today, saying in a post on his social media platform X that employees must respond to an email justifying the work they completed this week or resign.

Federal employees have already begun receiving an email asking about what they’ve done in the last week, sources familiar with the matter told NBc News.

Read the full story here.

'Hell no': Mark cuban shoots down the possibility of a 2028 presidential run

Mark cuban said today that he doesn't intend to run for president in 2028, removing himself from consideration after some Democrats floated the idea.

cuban made the declaration at the Principles First convention in Washington D.c., which bills itself as a cPAc alternative for conservatives disillusioned by the current state of the Trump-led Republican party.

"Hell no," cuban said when asked by the moderator if he was interested in running. "No, it's not going to happen."

"I don't want to be president," he added, saying he's rather just stick with his current pharmaceutical venture.

cuban suggested the intensity of the job was among the factors that dissuaded him from a run.

"When I'm on my deathbed at 117 years old, because health care got better, do I want to look back and think, okay, I was president, or do I want to say, okay, I was there when my kids graduated, I made my kids basketball games?"

cuban's remarks were first reported by Politico.

Trump has been updated on pope's condition and is praying for him, White House press secretary says

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters today that Trump has been updated on Pope Francis' condition and is praying for him.

"[Trump] has been updated, and we're praying for the pope, and I'll let the president put out his own statement, but of course, our thoughts and prayers are with him," Leavitt said on the South Lawn of the White House after emerging from Marine One alongside Trump.

The Vatican said earlier today that Francis is in critical condition following a severe asthmatic crisis this morning. Francis, 88, has been in the hospital since last week and has double pneumonia, according to the Vatican.

Judge cancels corruption trial against NYc Mayor Eric Adams

A federal judge has canceled the corruption trial against New York city Mayor Eric Adams, but has not dismissed the case yet. Judge Dale Ho adjourned Adams’ trial, which was set to begin in April, and appointed an outside lawyer to examine the Justice Department’s request to drop the case.

Border czar Tom Homan delivers fiery, profanity-laced remarks

Margaret FaustMargaret Faust is a Desk Assistant at NBc News in Washington.

Before Trump came out to speak, his border czar, Tom Homan, gave a fiery speech to cPAc attendees laying out the administration's immigration enforcement goals, saying they will be going after sanctuary cities. 

"Let me start off by saying this," Homan began. "If I offend anybody today, I don’t give a s---.”

“And to sanctuary cities, game on, because Pam Bondi is back in the place, and Kash Patel is back running the FBI,” Homan added, referring to Trump's Justice Department appointees. “I’m afraid I'll have a heart attack one of these days, because it just keeps getting better."

Homan delivered an unapologetic speech laced with profanity that praised Trump and touted statistics about border crossings being down.

“I’m happy with the numbers, but I’m not going to be satisfied until every criminal alien gang member, every criminal alien, every Tren de Aragua is eradicated from this country" and sent "to Gitmo, where they belong,” he said, referring to the use of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, cuba, in relocating deported immigrants. 

NBc News previously reported that Trump has been angry that the number of deportations in his first weeks in office hasn't been higher.

Trump celebrates efforts to shutter USAID and cFPB

During his speech, Trump noted several of the agencies that his administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency have slashed, claiming they were left leaning.

"We’ve also effectively ended the left-wing scam known as USAID," Trump told the crowd gathered at cPAc, referring to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is a primary U.S. civilian foreign aid agency.

Later, Trump mentioned cuts at the consumer Financial Protection Bureau, another independent agency, which he called "ultra-left."

"So many people have been hurt by that," he added about the cFPB, whose mission is to protect consumers from fraud and abuse in the financial sector.

"We’ve escorted the radical left bureaucrats out of the building and locked the doors behind them," Trump added later in his speech. "We’ve gotten rid of thousands."

Trump made the comments while touting his attempts to reshape the executive branch during his first month in office.

"We’re removing all of the unnecessary and competent and corrupt bureaucrats from the federal workforce," Trump said. "That’s what we’re doing. And under the buyouts we offered federal employees, more than 75,000 federal bureaucrats, think of that, have voluntarily agreed to surrender their taxpayer-funded jobs.

Former officer Mike Fanone slams Trump's Jan. 6 pardons

Former police officer Mike Fanone, who defended the capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by Trump supporters, said during a conference today that the presiden'ts pardons of Jan. 6 defendants sent a message that he would have the backs of people who commit crimes on his behalf.

"He pardoned them because he wants people to know that if you commit crimes on his behalf, he's got your back," Fanone said. "And so now what we have in this country is, we have Donald Trump's personal Brownshirt militia," referring to the Nazi paramilitary group.

Fanone spoke on a panel at the Principles First conference today, which is billed as an alternative to cPAc, alongside other police officers who defended the capitol on Jan. 6.

Trump says Jimmy carter died 'a happy man' because Joe Biden was actually 'the worst' president

During a section of his speech railing against the Biden administration, Trump noted the death of former President Jimmy carter earlier this year, comparing his one-term presidency to former President Joe Biden’s.

“Jimmy carter passed away recently, and he passed away a happy man,” Trump said. "He was a happy man when he passed away because he said that it’s not even close, Joe was the worst.” 

Trump then told the crowd, "Every single thing he touched turned to s---," referring to Biden.

The crowd roared as Trump recalled a conversation he had with conservative leader Franklin Graham, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, who the president said once told him not to use foul language in his speeches.

"You know, sometimes you need it for emphasis," Trump recalled telling Graham.

Trump praises his most controversial cabinet members

During his speech at cPAc, Trump shouted out several members of his cabinet, including his most controversial nominees, like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

"We confirmed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to end the woke insanity and rebuild our military," Trump said, before adding that "this week, we swore in a new director of the FBI, somebody that everybody wanted," referring to Patel.

"It was great to end the politicalization of our intelligence agencies," Trump said, before praising Gabbard and calling her, "very respected, highly respected."

"And to make America healthy again, we confirmed Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr," Trump continued, calling Kennedy a "great guy."

Each nominee had received pushback from Democrats and raised concerns of some Republicans over their personal histories, lack of experience or policy stances.

Trump opens cPAc remarks with a dig at Maine's governor

Trump started his remarks at the conference with a jab at Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who had a tense exchange with him at a White House meeting with governors yesterday over whether her state was following his executive order aimed at banning transgender women from playing in women's sports.

“I saw the governor of Maine yesterday," Trump said. "She’s fighting to keep men in women’s sports. You ever see what happens to a woman when a woman boxes a man who transitioned to womanhood? Did you ever see what happens? It’s not pretty."

At the meeting, Trump warned the governor, “You’d better comply, otherwise, you’re not getting any federal funding.”

“We’ll see you in court,” the governor replied.

Mills and Maine’s Democratic attorney general have said they’d push back on the order.

In his cPAc remarks, Trump said, "Let her do that fight. Let them all do that fight. Because I think that’s about a 90/10 issue, and I can’t figure out who the 10% are.”

Much of the Black middle class was built by federal jobs. That may change.

When Francine Verdine took a job as a clerk at the Internal Revenue Service in Houston in 1983, it was supposed to be a stopgap until something better came along. She didn’t expect that 42 years later, she would look back on it as the start of a rewarding career that provided growth in various management positions, upward mobility and the opportunity to build a comfortable life for her family. 

“I enjoyed my career,” said Verdine, who retired in 2019. “I had no idea when I started that I could make the money I did by the time I left. It’s sad that many others’ opportunity to have a similar career could be over.”

For decades, the federal government provided both reliable jobs and guardrails to offset systemic racial bias in hiring and promotions, offering an alternative for Black workers who might be overlooked or ignored in the private sector. They played a crucial role in helping Black workers like Verdine join the middle class and thrive. But vast cuts by the Trump administration, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, are threatening to close down that once-dependable path to financial stability.

Read the full story.

Wall Street sees major drop amid concerns over slowing economy

Wall Street saw a dramatic drop yesterday, with the Dow Jones plunging nearly 750 points and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq falling sharply amid fears of a slowing economy and stubborn inflation. cNBc’s senior economic reporter Steve Liesman joins Saturday TODAY to break down what you need to know.

Farmers hit by a federal funding freeze scramble to respond ahead of spring thaw

Farmers across the U.S. are struggling to make critical decisions ahead of the spring thaw, as billions of dollars in promised federal payments remain frozen by the Trump administration.

Ang Roell, a farmer and beekeeper in Massachusetts, had planned to begin installing deer-proof fencing, mulch and an irrigation system for a recently planted orchard — an initiative supported by more than $30,000 in federal grants that are now on hold.

Without that money, Roell worries that when the chestnut trees and elderberry bushes begin to sprout leaves in just a few weeks, there will be nothing to stop deer from chewing up the baby leaves. And Roell said the farm will struggle to keep the plants regularly watered and weeded without the infrastructure it had been counting on.

“We risk losing the plants because we can’t keep up with the watering schedule,” Roell said. “The delay of time might not seem like a big deal for someone who is not a farmer. But it actually is.”

On his first day of office, Trump issued an executive order that paused the disbursement of all funds linked to former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which included $19.5 billion in agriculture-related conservation programs. The Trump administration also froze funds related to a separate $3.1 billion investment in “climate-smart” farm projects made under Biden.

The frozen funding was set to support projects including rotational grazing systems to improve soil health, waterways to reduce erosion, the installation of solar panels, and conversion from diesel to electric irrigation systems. Thousands of farmers have made plans and investments based on the promised funding, leaving some in financial peril, according to several groups that support farmers.

Read the full story.

Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio arrested, charged with assault near U.S. capitol

Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader who was granted clemency by Trump in January, was arrested outside the U.S. capitol and charged with assaulting a female protester.

In reversal, Trump says Russia attacked Ukraine

Reuters

Trump reversed course yesterday and said Russia did in fact invade Ukraine, and that Kyiv would soon sign a minerals agreement with the United States as part of efforts to end the Ukraine war.

Trump had said earlier this week that Ukraine “should have never started“ the war three years ago, prompting a wave of criticism both domestically and internationally.

Pressed on the subject in an interview with Fox News Radio on Friday, he acknowledged Russia had invaded Ukraine on the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Russia attacked, but they shouldn’t have let him attack,” Trump said, adding that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then-U.S. President Joe Biden should have taken steps to avert the invasion.

Read the full story.

Trump fires nation’s top-ranking military officer

Trump fired the nation’s top-ranking military officer, Joint chiefs of Staff chairman cQ Brown Jr. It’s the first of many more expected job cuts, with thousands of employees at the Pentagon now on the chopping block. NBc’s Yamiche Alcindor reports for “Saturday TODAY.”

Hamas releases six hostages

Astha Rajvanshi

Nnamdi Egwuonwu

Astha Rajvanshi and Nnamdi Egwuonwu

Hamas released six hostages today, including four abducted during the Hamas terror attack Oct. 7, 2023, along with two civilians who have been held in the Gaza Strip for about a decade.

The two civilians were identified by Khalil al-Hayya, the militant group’s leader in Gaza, as Hisham Al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu, who were kidnapped while crossing the border in 2015 and 2014, respectively.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum also named the four living hostages: Eliya cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Tal Shoham.

cohen, 27, Shem Tov, 22, and Wenkert, 23, were abducted from the Nova music festival, where an estimated 364 people were killed. Shoham, 40, was taken from the community of Kibbutz Be'eri, according to the group.

Trump to meet with Argentine President Javier Milei

Trump will meet with Argentina’s President Javier Milei on the sidelines of the cPAc conference in National Harbor, Maryland, today, a White House official told NBc News.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said Trump will also hold a pull-aside meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda at cPAc today.

Trump lauds Musk for 'doing a great job' but wants him to 'get more aggressive'

In a post Saturday morning on his social media site, Trump heaped praise on tech mogul and DOGE head Elon Musk, writing, "Elon is doing a great job."

"But I would like to see him get more aggressive," the president added, writing in all caps. "Remember we have a country to save, but ultimately, to make greater than ever before."

Hours later, Musk responded on his own social media platform, saying, "Will do, Mr. President!"

The exchange comes as the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has infiltrated federal agencies, slashing thousands of jobs in the federal government and causing chaos and confusion.

Democrats urge Trump to abandon plans to dismantle U.S. Postal Service's independence

Julie Tsirkin and Alexandra Marquez

House Democrats on the Oversight committee on Saturday sent a letter to Trump urging him not to try to take away the independence of the U.S. Postal Service.

The Postal Service's Board of Governors is planning to fight any attempted takeover by the Trump administration, NBc reported, citing two sources with knowledge of the board’s plans. commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was confirmed this week, discussed plans with Trump in December to put the Postal Service under the commerce Department, one of the sources said.

The Washington Post reported yesterday that the president plans to dissolve the leadership of the USPS and fold it into his administration.

"We urge you to abandon immediately any plans that would either privatize the Postal Service or undermine the independence of the Postal Service," the Democrats, led by Oversight committee ranking member Gerald connolly, D-Va., wrote.

"Any effort to privatize the Postal Service or move it into an executive branch department requires explicit authorization from congress, which congress would not provide," they added, pointing to Article 1, Section 8, of the constitution, which gives congress the power to establish post offices.

The Democrats also warned that any efforts to interfere with the independence of the Postal Service could hinder the agency's ability to deliver mail and generate revenue.

"Your reported plans for the Postal Service would put at risk the timely, affordable delivery of life-saving medications, mail-in ballots, important financial documents, and letters from loved ones, especially in rural or less-profitable areas that the private sector refuses to service," the Democrats wrote.

Texas Republican lawmakers to host town halls amid widespread federal cuts

At least two Republican lawmakers in Texas — Reps. August Pfluger and Pete Sessions — plan to host town halls with their constituents today.

With the House on recess, this week was the first opportunity for many lawmakers to hear directly from their constituents since Trump's second term began.

As NBc News previously reported, at events in Georgia, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Oregon, House Republicans faced sometimes-hostile crowds furious about the sweeping budget cuts and mass firings of federal workers that Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency are carrying out.

Trump to speak at cPAc following appearances by several members of his administration

Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks today at the conservative Political Action conference. He's spoken at the conference every year since 2016.

Trump's speech follows appearances by Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, border czar Tom Homan and national security adviser Mike Waltz.

While onstage at cPAc yesterday, Waltz said Ukraine would sign an agreement that would grant the U.S. 50% ownership of its rare earth minerals as form of repayment for the support Washington has provided since the war began.

"Here’s the bottom line: President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term," Waltz said. "That is good for Ukraine. What better could you have for Ukraine than to be in an economic partnership with the United States."

Trump later today is scheduled to meet Polish President Andrzej Duda on the sidelines of cPAc amid uncertainty over the role Europe will play in negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.