{"id":508,"date":"2025-02-25T08:43:54","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T08:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/02\/25\/february-24-2025-donald-trump-presidency-news-cnn\/"},"modified":"2025-02-25T08:43:54","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T08:43:54","slug":"february-24-2025-donald-trump-presidency-news-cnn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/02\/25\/february-24-2025-donald-trump-presidency-news-cnn\/","title":{"rendered":"February 24, 2025: Donald Trump presidency news – CNN"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In a press conference at the White House, French President Emmanuel Macron politely shut down President Trump’s claim that Europe is loaning money to Ukraine, further explaining how the EU gave the money. CNN’s Jeff Zeleny breaks down the exchange. <\/p>\n

” data-duration=”01:40″ data-source-html=” – Source: CNN<\/a> <\/span>” data-fave-thumbnails=”{“big”: { “uri”: “https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/still-21408135-2685299-531-still.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill” }, “small”: { “uri”: “https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/still-21408135-2685299-531-still.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill” } }” data-vr-video=”false” data-show-html=”” data-byline-html=”<\/p>\n

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Updated 10:32 PM EST, Mon February 24, 2025 <\/div>\n

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In a press conference at the White House, French President Emmanuel Macron politely shut down President Trump’s claim that Europe is loaning money to Ukraine, further explaining how the EU gave the money. CNN’s Jeff Zeleny breaks down the exchange. <\/p>\n

” data-check-event-based-preview data-network-id data-publish-date=”2025-02-24T19:58:47.874Z” data-video-section=”politics” data-canonical-url=”https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/02\/24\/politics\/video\/emmanuel-macron-interupts-trump-europe-ukraine-money-digvid” data-branding-key data-video-slug=”emmanuel-macron-interupts-trump-europe-ukraine-money-digvid” data-first-publish-slug=”emmanuel-macron-interupts-trump-europe-ukraine-money-digvid” data-video-tags> \"still_21408135_2685299.531_still.jpg\"<\/picture> <\/div>\n

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Macron interrupts Trump, clarifies how Europe gave money to Ukraine <\/p>\n

01:40 <\/span> – Source: CNN<\/a> <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u2022 Musk\u2019s new message: <\/strong>Elon Musk said tonight that federal workers who do not respond to a weekend email asking them to justify their jobs will be given another opportunity \u201csubject to the discretion of the President\u201d<\/a> and warned that they would still be fired if they didn\u2019t reply a second time. Hours earlier, the Office of Personnel Management notified government agencies <\/a>that responding to Musk\u2019s email<\/a>, which President Donald Trump praised as \u201cpretty ingenious,\u201d<\/a> was voluntary. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Trump-Macron meeting: <\/strong>French President Emmanuel Macron said he and Trump made \u201c<\/a>substantive steps forward\u201d during talks<\/a> on ending the Ukraine war. Trump said they agreed on important issues, although he also repeated a false claim about US and European spending <\/a>on the war, which Macron corrected him on in the Oval Office. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Setback for AP: <\/strong>A federal judge declined today to temporarily restore the Associated Press\u2019 access<\/a> to some of Trump\u2019s events, the Oval Office and Air Force One. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Our live coverage of Donald Trump\u2019s presidency has ended for the day. Follow <\/em>the latest updates<\/em><\/a> or read through the posts below.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Employees at the Office of Personnel Management were left in the dark about how to handle the initial \u201cwhat did you do last week\u201d email until about 6 p.m. today, when they received guidance saying a response was voluntary but strongly encouraged, according to an email obtained by CNN. <\/p>\n

OPM told its own employees the exercise of listing weekly accomplishments is currently voluntary, but the agency may consider making it a mandatory requirement for its employees. The guidance also instructs OPM employees to not send any confidential, sensitive, privileged or investigative information. <\/p>\n

The original email sent to federal workers said the deadline for submission is Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Sen.<\/picture> <\/div>\n

GOP Sen. John Curtis of Utah posted on X<\/a> that he was \u201cdeeply troubled\u201d by the US vote against a United Nations General Assembly resolution<\/a> condemning Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine. <\/p>\n

The vote against the Ukrainian and European-backed resolution saw the US at odds with its longtime European allies and instead aligned with the aggressor in the war on the three-year anniversary of Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Rep.<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Rep. Rich McCormick, who faced tough questions at a town hall<\/a> in his Georgia district last week about the Trump administration\u2019s early actions to slash the federal government, said tonight he would like to see the cuts approached with compassion. <\/p>\n

He told reporters he believes government was designed to be \u201cinefficient on purpose, so it would never become more powerful than the people themselves and that requires patience.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Georgia Republican pointed to the months of severance the administration had promised to some federal workers if they stepped aside from their jobs. <\/p>\n

Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York, who signed a letter with other New York Republicans urging the Trump administration to protect a 9\/11 health program that had experienced workforce cuts, said the White House had told him that the cuts weren\u2019t intentional. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why they reversed them, and I applaud the White House for doing that and fixing that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Elon Musk said tonight that federal workers who do not respond to an email they received<\/a> over the weekend telling them to state their weekly accomplishments will be given another opportunity \u201csubject to the discretion of the President\u201d and warned that they would still be fired if they didn\u2019t reply a second time. <\/p>\n

The tech billionaire and ally of President Donald Trump said this in a post on X hours<\/a> after the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) formally notified government agencies<\/a> that responding to the email was voluntary and that failing to reply wouldn\u2019t amount to a resignation. Several national security agencies, including the FBI, and multiple other federal departments advised staffers not to respond to the email immediately. <\/p>\n

The weekend email came from the Office of Personnel Management\u2019s new HR email address<\/a> but had no signature. The subject line reads: \u201cWhat did you do last week?\u201d <\/p>\n

It asked federal workers to explain what work they did last week, and Musk had separately announced that \u201cfailure to respond will be taken as a resignation.\u201d <\/p>\n

CNN has reached out to the White House and OPM for comment. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"House<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Speaker Mike Johnson wouldn\u2019t commit to holding a vote tomorrow on a budget blueprint that Republicans must pass to unlock President Donald Trump\u2019s agenda. <\/p>\n

Johnson is facing resistance from key corners of his conference. He can only afford to lose one Republican vote on the floor \u2014 and it\u2019s unclear whether he will be able to lock down the votes he needs. <\/p>\n

Asked about the schedule, Johnson said, \u201cWe\u2019ll see about the timing.\u201d He added that more conversations would continue tonight. \u201cAll I do are meetings,\u201d Johnson quipped on his way out the Capitol door. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are prepared to go if we are ready to go and if the members are ready to go. It\u2019s a member-driven process,\u201d House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said. <\/p>\n

Where things stand:<\/strong> Two Republicans \u2014 Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Tim Burchett of Tennessee \u2014 have said they oppose the measure, which must be passed by both chambers to unlock procedural powers to pass Trump priorities on a party-line vote in the Senate without the threat of the filibuster. <\/p>\n

In addition, GOP Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey told CNN he spoke with Trump today and said he had deep reservations about voting to advance the budget blueprint due to potential cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. <\/p>\n

Van Drew said Trump was understanding of his concerns, and following the call, Van Drew was still undecided, leaning against the budget. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"A<\/picture> <\/div>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron said a truce between Ukraine and Russia could be reached in \u201cthe weeks to come,\u201d but cautioned that Western allies must ensure Russia honors its agreements. <\/p>\n

During the ceasefire period, Russia and the West could negotiate security guarantees for Ukraine. After that, they could have a peace treaty, which he said the West must ensure Russia doesn\u2019t violate. <\/p>\n

To guarantee Ukraine\u2019s security, the French president proposed boosting its military capabilities, and \u2014 if requested \u2014 to deploy British and French troops to keep the peace. <\/p>\n

Some background:<\/strong> Macron discussed Ukraine today with President Donald Trump<\/a> at the White House. He stressed repeatedly the necessity of security guarantees to ensure Moscow keeps its promises this time around, and said any agreement must be \u201cchecked and verified.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will travel to Guantanamo Bay on Tuesday to receive briefings \u201con all mission operations,\u201d which will include the ongoing operation to transfer migrants to the base, the Pentagon said in a news release today. <\/p>\n

This will be Hegseth\u2019s first trip to Guantanamo Bay as secretary. While on the visit, he will also meet the US service members at the base and aboard the USS Thomas Hudner. <\/p>\n

Last week, more than 170 migrants at the naval base were flown to Venezuela, nearly emptying Guantanamo. Since then, 17 migrants have been brought to the detention facility portion of the base, CNN reported<\/a>. No migrants are in the Migrant Operation Center, or MOC. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Sen.<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Two Republican senators on Monday criticized the handling and coordination of the email sent to federal workers asking them to explain and justify their work<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Employees began receiving emails Saturday afternoon from the Office of Personnel Management asking them to explain what work they did last week, as Elon Musk announced that \u201cfailure to respond will be taken as a resignation.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, who sits on the Governmental Affairs Committee, agreed. <\/p>\n

Earlier, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN<\/a> that that the employees deserve to be treated in a \u201crespectful and dignified manner,\u201d but he also defended Musk\u2019s effort as necessary to cut the costs of the federal bureaucracy. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The US Department of Health and Human Services told its employees this evening that if they respond to an Office of Personnel Management email asking what they did last week, they should \u201cassume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly.\u201d <\/p>\n

The guidance came late in the day, according to three sources at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) \u2014 agencies under the HHS umbrella. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s more details from the emailed guidance for employees:<\/strong> <\/p>\n

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