February 9, 2025: Donald Trump presidency news

Our live coverage of Donald Trump’s presidency has ended for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt production of pennies, citing the high cost of producing one cent.

Some context: CNN has reported the US Mint in 2023 said it circulated around 4.1 billion pennies. In fiscal year 2024, the US Mint said in its annual report that the US penny costs about 3.7 cents to produce and distribute, up more than 20% from the previous year. The rising cost of metals, including zinc and copper, is part of the reason it’s getting more expensive to make the coin.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency emphasized the cost of manufacturing pennies in a post on X last month. People have advocated for eliminating the penny for years, as pennies are rarely spent as change.

Experts also say eliminating the penny could benefit businesses by saving time for store clerks and cashiers. Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives at the National Association of Convenience Stores, said about 52 million in-person cash transactions occur at convenience stores every day.

“If we save every one of these customers 2 seconds, that’s 104 million seconds or 1,203 days,” Lenard previously said to CNN.

CNN’s Ramishah Maruf contributed to this report.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on January 23.

Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” openly questioning the judiciary’s power as court rulings have blocked some of the Trump administration’s agenda.

Judges can halt executive actions, which are under the purview of the president, and those actions can be appealed up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court could rule a president’s executive actions as unconstitutional.

Vance did not refer to a specific court order, but President Donald Trump’s vast agenda has been dealt numerous setbacks by judges recently. Judges have, for example, halted a deadline for federal employees to accept the administration’s deferred resignation offer; a bid to end birthright citizenship; and a move to place thousands of workers at the US Agency for International Development on leave.

In one of the latest moves, a federal judge temporarily restricted Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing a critical Treasury Department payment system. US District Judge Paul Engelmayer’s order, issued early Saturday, temporarily halts access to a sensitive payment system that distributes Americans’ tax returns, Social Security benefits, disability payments and federal employees’ salaries.

Trump on Sunday said the order was “crazy,” and Musk called Engelmayer a “corrupt judge” who “needs to be impeached.”

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he planned to announce a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States on Monday.

“We’ll also be announcing steel tariffs on Monday,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding, “Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25% tariff.”

“Aluminum, too,” he said.

Trump said he planned to hold a separate news conference Tuesday or Wednesday to announce massive new reciprocal tariffs, which could match other countries’ levies on US goods dollar-for-dollar.

“Very simply, it’s if they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said.

He did not provide many details about how expansive the new tariffs would be or when they may go into effect. It’s not clear whether the new steel and aluminum tariffs will be on top of the levies already in place on exports from countries like China. Last week, Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese goods imported to the United States on top of all existing tariffs already in place on the country. The president has also paused 25% across-the-board tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports until March 1.

While the United States is not the manufacturing-focused economy it once was, it still consumes tens of millions of tons of steel a year.

Trump in 2018, during his previous administration, also put in place 25% tariffs on steel and 10% tariffs on aluminum, although the following year he lifted them on Mexico and Canada.

CNN’s Aileen Graef contributed to this report.

Palestinians walk past the rubble of buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive in Rafah, Gaza, on February 4.

President Donald Trump doubled down on his plans for the US to redevelop Gaza, telling reporters Sunday that he viewed the war-torn region as a “big real estate site.”

Trump, a former real estate magnate, described Gaza as a “demolition site” that would be “leveled out” and “fixed up.”

He again suggested that other Middle Eastern countries would house displaced Palestinians in “beautiful sites.”

Some context: Ninety percent of Gaza residents have been displaced, and many have been forced to move repeatedly amid Israel’s war against Hamas, according to the United Nations.

Regional leaders have rejected Trump’s plans, which break with decades of US foreign policy. Those plans are expected to be a key topic of discussion when the president hosts the king of Jordan at the White House this week.

But Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, suggested earlier Sunday that the president was offering an initial salvo to bring other players in the region to the table to find a solution.

“Come to the table with your plan if you don’t like his plan,” Waltz said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” suggesting the White House has received “all kinds of outreach” since Trump’s comments last week.

As US President Donald Trump is expected to announce reciprocal tariffs on many countries this week, CNN’s Richard Quest spoke exclusively with French President Emmanuel Macron about how concerned he and other European allies are.

“My first question to the US: Is the European Union your first problem? No, I don’t think so. Your first problem is China. … Second, Europe is an ally for you. If you want Europe to be engaged on more investment and security and defense … you should not hurt the European economies by threatening it with tariffs,” the French president said.

Trump has railed against the US trade deficit with the European Union, which increased by $26.9 billion to $235.6 billion in 2024, according to US government figures. “From the standpoint of America, the EU treats us very, very unfairly, very badly,” he told the World Economic Forum in January.

Macron pushed back against this, arguing the trade deficit ignores Europe’s significant spending on digital services, which is often excluded from such calculations.

Watch more of CNN’s interview with Macron here:

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French president tells CNN he’s prepared to go toe-to-toe with Trump’s tariffs

03:11 - Source: CNN

President Donald Trump slammed the Saturday ruling from a federal judge halting Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing Treasury payment systems, saying, “I think it’s crazy.”

Trump claimed there are “hundreds of millions of dollars of money that’s going to places where it shouldn’t be going” at the US Agency for International Development, which the administration and Musk are attempting to shutter.

The president suggested that foreign aid funding should be funneled through the State Department to “take care of the few good ones” instead. He did not specify which programs those would include.

Some context: A federal judge, citing a risk of “irreparable harm,” on Saturday temporarily restricted Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing a critical Treasury Department payment system.

The judge’s order temporarily halts access to a sensitive payment system that distributes Americans’ tax returns, Social Security benefits, disability payments and federal employees’ salaries.

Trump and Musk have upended the federal workforce in their quest to shrink the government, sparking chaos, fear, anger — and multiple lawsuits that have prompted judicial action.

President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. Trump’s plan for the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza is unlawful. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November. He remains wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called President Donald Trump’s plan to take Gaza under American control a “revolutionary, creative vision.”

Addressing a Cabinet meeting Sunday after his return from the United States, Netanyahu said the visit and discussions he had with the US president “carry with them additional tremendous achievements that can ensure Israel’s security for generations.”

At a joint news conference alongside Netanyahu last week, Trump announced an idea for the United States to take ownership of Gaza and redevelop it into a “Middle Eastern Riviera.”

Some context: Trump’s shocking comments break with decades of US foreign policy, which has long emphasized a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, as well as the president’s past wariness over US intervention in the Middle East. The plan triggered an enormous backlash, with leaders from the Middle East and beyond rejecting it as unworkable and illegal.

Republican Rep. Mike McCaul urged the Trump administration Sunday to move “expeditiously” to allow critical aid programs to continue around the world amid its efforts to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development.

US-funded aid work has been largely brought to a standstill, multiple sources previously told CNN, despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s claims that the United States continues to provide lifesaving humanitarian aid. Rubio, now the acting administrator of USAID, reiterated last week that he had issued a blanket waiver for lifesaving programs amid the Trump administration’s 90-day freeze on nearly all US aid.

McCaul, a former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee, pointed to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a program dedicated to ending the global AIDS crisis, as an area that could benefit from Rubio’s waiver, which makes exceptions for “core lifesaving medicine.”

McCaul said he had just been told the UN’s World Food Programme has started using waivers. “It is being executed,” the Texas Republican said. “That food will be going out.”

He noted the purpose of the US providing food assistance globally is “to provide stability in fragile, instable countries. It is to counter Russia, China and terrorism. It is our diplomatic power,” adding, “otherwise, we’re talking about bullets.”

He defended the Trump administration’s “top-to-bottom review” of USAID, arguing it will help the agency get “back to the core mission.”

President Donald Trump will participate in a meet-and-greet Sunday with family members and victims of the New Year’s terrorist attack in New Orleans before he attends the Super Bowl, the White House said.

The meet-and-greet is set to take place at Caesars Superdome ahead of the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

Trump is making history as the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl. He is expected to sit with New Orleans Saints owner and businesswoman Gayle Benson, as well as House Speaker Mike Johnson. Former first lady Jill Biden, an ardent fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, is also expected to attend the game Sunday evening.

Trump also offered a presidential message on the game, saying in a statement, “I look forward to joining the fans in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX to cheer on two great teams.”

The president’s statement also reflected on the deadly New Year’s attack. “While thousands of fans from across our Nation gather in New Orleans to cheer on their favorite team, we remember that 14 families will be missing a loved one who was tragically murdered during a senseless terrorist attack while celebrating the New Year on Bourbon Street,” he said.

Elon Musk arrives for Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony in Washington, DC, on January 20.

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey expressed strong concerns about Elon Musk’s “overreach” of authority and “unfettered access” to Americans’ personal information that he warned could “unravel” American democracy if left unchecked.

CNN previously reported that DOGE’s actions have ignited a tense political debate and emergency court proceedings over its access to the Treasury Department payment system and the administration’s potential interest in using it to turn off payments as it chooses.

Musk offered a defense of the access in a social media post Saturday, saying that DOGE and the Treasury Department “jointly agreed” to requirements involving government payments.

Booker described Musk as “wanting to be autocratic or dictatorial.”

Booker said that the Democrats will continue to use the judicial system to push back against Musk’s violations of “privacy” and “the law.”

“We’re going to continue to fight him in the courts,” Booker said. “All of us, especially us elected, but all of us have a responsibility in this time and this climate, to speak up, to stand up, to be activists against these kind of illegal actions of the Trump administration.”

Maryland, which is home to tens of thousands of federal workers and contractors, has been particularly impacted by the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore said.

“It’s something that cannot go without a response from me.”

Moore said he has been telling federal employees calling his office to “be careful in what you’re signing” and that “unless Congress approves that, it’s not legitimate.”

Some background: A federal judge paused Thursday’s deadline for federal employees to accept the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer while more proceedings on the program’s legality play out.

Before the judge’s ruling, eligible federal workers had until 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday to decide whether to take the offer, which will generally allow them to leave their jobs but be paid through the end of September. The offer is a sweeping effort by the administration to shrink the size of the federal workforce and presents many employees with a tough decision about their careers and futures.

While an Office of Personnel Management spokesperson described the offer as “a rare, generous opportunity,” it also contains a warning: Those who don’t opt in are at risk of losing their jobs. The administration is planning widespread layoffs soon, two officials have told CNN.

Mission Dolores Park in San Francisco is pictured on May 31.

A group of cities and counties, led by the City and County of San Francisco, have sued the Trump administration, alleging it threatened and unlawfully targeted “sanctuary” jurisdictions that oppose using local law enforcement to help the federal government enforce civil immigration laws.

The complaint, filed Friday in federal court, cited President Donald Trump’s executive order directing federal funds be withheld “from jurisdictions that refuse to use their local resources to carry out his immigration agenda.” The group also alleges that a February 5 Department of Justice memo “threatens not only termination of funding but also civil and criminal prosecution of any jurisdiction that refuses to comply.”

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

This is not the first time San Francisco has taken legal action against the Trump administration over sanctuary city policies. In 2017, the city sued Trump over an executive order making sanctuary jurisdictions ineligible for federal grants. A federal judge later issued a permanent injunction blocking the order.

CNN’s Aileen Graef contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.

President Donald Trump has a busy Sunday as he enters into the fourth week of his second term. Here’s what’s on the president’s agenda:

Morning golf outing: Trump spent the morning at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he played golf with 15-time major champion Tiger Woods, according to a White House official.

Interview airs: Fox will air an interview, which was taped at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate, at 3 p.m. Fox News’ Bret Baier conducted the interview at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

Super Bowl: Trump will visit New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl at Caesars Superdome, marking the first time a sitting president has attended the big game. Ahead of the game, Trump is set to meet with family members and victims of the New Year’s terrorist attack in New Orleans. Gayle Benson, the owner of the New Orleans Saints, is hosting Trump in her box, and House Speaker Mike Johnson will join him.

Back at the White House: Trump will head back to Washington in the evening as he gears up for his fourth week in office.

Employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were abruptly informed Sunday afternoon that the watchdog agency’s Washington, DC, headquarters building will be closed this week.

In an email obtained by CNN, Adam Martinez, the CFPB’s chief operating officer, instructed all employees and contractors in Washington to “work remotely unless instructed otherwise from our Acting Director or his designee.”

No reason was stated for the sudden closure. The CFPB did not respond to a request for comment.

The move comes days after Elon Musk tweeted, “CFPB RIP” with a tombstone emoji.

Officials from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency deleted the CFPB’s X account on Friday night after Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought took over as acting director.

Vought sent an email Saturday night ordering all employees at the CFPB to stop virtually all work – including fighting financial abuse.

Sen. Cory Booker is pictured during an interview with CNN on Sunday.

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker on Sunday did not rule out the possibility that Democrats would use a government shutdown or a default on the nation’s debt as leverage to get concessions from Republicans and President Donald Trump.

“We will look at every single tool in our toolbox, as we’ve done this last week, to make sure that we stop him from hurting people,” the New Jersey lawmaker said.

Booker had said earlier that while Democrats are “not looking to shut down the government,” they want to “stand up against the kinds of things that Donald Trump is doing that are hurting Americans,” arguing that the nation is “in a crisis right now.”

He also pushed back on Trump’s clampdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

“When we’re trying to hire the best of the best, having a more inclusive search to go to HBCUs or Hispanic-serving institutions, to find as big of an applicant pool as possible. To me, these are kind of things that help us to hire the best of the best,” he said. “What Donald Trump is doing is successively lying to people under the guise of some noble ideal.”

President Donald Trump leaves the White House to board Marine One in Washington, DC, on Friday.

A narrow majority of the American public approves of the job President Donald Trump is doing, while 70% say that the things he’s doing so far are “the same things he promised in the campaign,” according to a new poll from CBS News that looks at public views on a range of actions Trump has taken in his first weeks in office.

The poll was conducted online February 5-7 among a random national sample of 2,175 adults and has a margin of error of 2.5 points.

Here are some of the other takeaways:

The survey’s results are a bit rosier for Trump than other recent polling on the new president’s approval rating. A Gallup poll conducted in the first week of Trump’s time in office found the public split, 47% approved and 48% disapproved, and a Pew Research Center poll fielded Jan. 27-Feb. 2 found 47% approved and 51% disapproved.

The subcontractor responsible for an internal Treasury Department threat assessment warning about the “unprecedented insider threat risk” posed by the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to the agency’s sensitive payment system has been terminated, contractor Booz Allen Hamilton said in a statement on Saturday.

Booz Allen claimed the assessment was a “draft report,” though it was widely circulated internally at the Treasury Department. “Commentary provided in a draft document by a subcontractor contained unsubstantiated personal opinions,” the statement said.

Booz Allen earned more than $10 billion in revenue last year and has clients that span the breadth of the federal government.

CNN previously reported that the assessment was prepared by a contractor for the Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service and released to the bureau’s IT staff on Thursday. It is not an official Treasury Department stance on DOGE’s access, sources familiar with the assessment said. But it’s the latest example of government employees raising significant concerns about DOGE’s rapid-fire access to government systems.

A federal court on Wednesday allowed two Treasury Department employees affiliated with DOGE to keep “read-only” access to the payment system, which generally means they are not allowed to make changes.

But even read-only could be problematic, according to the threat assessment. “Continued access to any payment systems by DOGE members, even ‘read-only,’ likely poses the single greatest insider threat risk the Bureau of Fiscal Service has ever faced,” the assessment said.

Rep. Ilhan Omar speaks during a press conference in Washington, DC, on May 23.

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that, amid sweeping executive orders and the dismantling of federal agencies, “the courts are the only recourse” Democrats have.

Several of President Donald Trump’s executive orders have been taken to court, with federal judges blocking one related to stripping birthright citizenship and another pausing the deadline for federal employees to accept buyout offers.

Omar said that these rulings “should give faith to the American people that our courts are working.”

The Minnesota representative also criticized Trump’s declaration last week that the US would occupy Gaza during a press conference with Israel’s prime minister.

“That’s just plain out ethnic cleansing and genocide, that’s what he’s talking about,” Omar said. “The Palestinian people will remain in Gaza. There’s no support around the world for the ludicrous suggestion that he is making.”

Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty defended a cease work order for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, calling the consumer watchdog “unconstitutional” in its design and saying it “has no oversight.”

Russell Vought, the newly installed acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, sent the email Saturday night ordering all employees to stop virtually all work — including fighting financial abuse.

Hagerty, who sits on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, said the “rogue” CFPB has been “out of control for some time.”

Hagerty also defended the shuttering of USAID and said there is a “tremendous appetite” in Congress to authorize the closure of this agency.