The Latest: The world reacts to Trump's 'swift and unrelenting action' as president

The Latest: The world reacts to Trump’s ‘swift and unrelenting action’ as presidentBy The Associated PressThe Associated Press

President Donald Trump vowed more “swift and unrelenting action” reorienting the nation’s economy, immigration and foreign policy in an unyielding address before Congress as Democratic lawmakers showed their dissent with placards calling out “lies.” One elderly congressman faces possible censure after he was ejected for shaking his cane and shouting that Trump has no mandate to cut Medicaid.

The fallout continues after Trump launched a trade war Tuesday against America’s three biggest trading partners, drawing immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China and sending financial markets into a tailspin as the U.S. faced the threat of rekindled inflation and paralyzing uncertainty for business.

And Greenland’s prime minister declared Wednesday that “Greenland is ours” and cannot be taken or bought in defiance of a message from Trump, who said that while he supports the Arctic island’s right of self-determination, the United States will acquire the territory “one way or another.”

Here’s the latest:

A mayor, baby in arms, prepares to be grilled by Republicans

Mayor Michelle Wu just gave birth in January and now her baby daughter has come to Congress.

Ahead of what’s expected to be tough questioning by Republicans over the city’s policies limiting cooperation with immigration enforcement, Wu appeared in the committee hearing room with her baby daughter — Mira, wearing a pink onesie — in her arms.

The baby is Wu’s third. The mayor returned to work just a few weeks after giving birth.

Democrats meanwhile are showing support. Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois spoke ahead of the hearing about the economic contributions of immigrants in Illinois and Chicago. She said it would be illegal to withhold federal funds from cities that limit their cooperation with immigration enforcement.

“Our communities will not be bullied into compliance with their illegal unconstitutional authoritarian agenda,” she said.

Trump and first lady offer prayers for holy season Lent

The president and his wife, Melania, offered best wishes to Roman Catholics and Christians observing Lent, which began with Ash Wednesday.

Christians worldwide spend the next 40 days praying and fasting. On Wednesday, they wear crosses of ash on their foreheads as a reminder of their mortality.

“We offer you our best wishes for a prayerful and enriching Lenten season,” the Trumps wrote.

Trump told Religion News Service in 2020 that he considers himself to be a nondenominational Christian and no longer identifies as Presbyterian.

NYC mayor sends a nuanced message on ‘sanctuary cities’ ahead of hearing

In a New York Post op-ed published Tuesday night, New York Mayor Eric Adams said the nation’s most populous city does and will comply with federal immigration laws, and denied that “sanctuary” policies make it a haven for violent criminals.

Immigrants who are in the country illegally, yet are otherwise are law-abiding pay taxes and do needed work, the Democrat noted.

New York City will suffer if these people stay in the shadows for fear of being deported, he said.

“I cannot have a city where parents are afraid to send their children to school,” or where immigrants won’t report crimes and delay seeking medical care until they end up in emergency rooms, he wrote.

Mayors from Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York are preparing to testify about their so-called sanctuary cities before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Wednesday’s hearings come hours after Trump addressed a joint session of Congress, focusing often on immigration and people living illegally in the U.S.

“We are getting them out and getting them out fast,” Trump said.

Leaders of France and Britain could accompany Zelenskyy for another Trump meeting

The French government spokesperson said Wednesday that Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer could travel together with Ukraine’s leader.

“It is envisaged that President Macron could eventually travel again to Washington with President Zelenskyy and his British counterpart,” spokesperson Sophie Primas told reporters. She did not elaborate. No trip is being planned yet, Macron’s office later said.

Macron plans a televised address to his nation Wednesday about what he called the “great uncertainty” in global affairs.

Supreme Court rejects Trump push to rebuke a judge in foreign aid freeze

By a 5-4 vote Wednesday, the court told U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to clarify his earlier order that required the Republican administration to release nearly $2 billion in aid for work that had already been done.

Justice Samuel Alito led four conservative justices in dissent, saying Ali lacks the authority to order the payments. Alito wrote that he is stunned the court is rewarding “an act of judicial hubris.”

US pauses intelligence sharing with Ukraine

The U.S. has paused its sharing of intelligence with Ukraine following Trump’s decision to withhold military aid for the Ukrainian defense against Russian invaders.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Wednesday that the U.S. has “taken a step back” in its relationship with Ukraine. CIA Director John Ratcliffe called the suspension a “pause” and that American intelligence and military aid could begin flowing again soon once Trump knows that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is serious about peace.

▶ Read more on Russia’s war in Ukraine

Greenland’s leader says the island ‘is ours’

Greenland’s prime minister says “Greenland is ours” and cannot be taken or bought, in defiance of the claim by President Donald Trump that the United States will acquire the territory “one way or another.”

Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede said the island’s citizens are not American nor Danish because they are Greenlandic.

The United States needs to understand that, he wrote in a Facebook post in Greenlandic and Danish on Wednesday, adding that Greenland’s future will be decided by its people. His post came hours after Trump made a direct appeal to Greenlanders in his speech to Congress.

▶ Read more about Greenland’s reaction to Trump

Businesses scramble to contain fallout from Trump’s tariffs

A Minnesota farmer worries about the price of fertilizer. A San Diego entrepreneur deals with an unexpected cost increase of remodeling a restaurant. A Midwestern sheet metal fabricator bemoans the prospect of higher aluminum prices.

Many business owners hoped that Trump would avoid actually imposing tariffs on America’s biggest trading partners. No such luck. And the longer the tariffs stick, the more damage they can do, forcing companies to decide between eating higher costs and passing them along to inflation-weary consumers.

▶ Read more about the impact of tariffs

Wall Street stabilizing, still down sharply as Trump tariffs launch trade war

Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq ticked up slightly in premarket trading Wednesday as Trump’s imposition tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China roil global markets. But these moves are far from recouping the losses that have erased all the gains made since Election Day. Three major U.S. banks were among Tuesday’s biggest losers, but shares in Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Bank of America are rising now that the Trump administration has dropped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s lawsuit charging them with failing to protect consumers from fraud via Zelle.

Sen. Slotkin assails Trump’s early actions, offers Democrats a way to fight back

First-term Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin accused Trump of driving up costs while pushing for an “unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends” in Tuesday night’s Democratic response to his first joint congressional address of his second term.

Slotkin, just months into her first term in the U.S. Senate after winning an open Michigan seat despite Trump carrying the state, said Trump “has not laid out a credible plan” to address rising everyday expenses for Americans. She said tariffs that went into effect early Tuesday would only worsen the economy.

Slotkin spoke from Wyandotte, Michigan, a working-class community south of Detroit, after Trump delivered the longest address to Congress by a president in U.S. history. In her opening, Slotkin acknowledged that “America wants change. But there is a responsible way to make change, and a reckless way.”

In her rebuttal, which lasted a little more than 10 minutes, Slotkin told Americans that “change doesn’t need to be chaotic or make us less safe” and warned of the dangers of Trump’s economic approach.

Waltz says Trump would consider lifting Ukraine aid pause if peace talks progress

National Security Adviser Mike Waltz says he spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart on Wednesday and that they are discussing dates and locations for opening negotiations over ending the war with Russia.

Trump sees the deal as a precursor to getting Russia and Ukraine to start negotiating over ending the war. Trump paused aid to Ukraine after a blowup with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last week.

Waltz, appearing on “Fox and Friends” Wednesday morning, said Trump “will take a hard look” at lifting the pause “if we can nail down these negotiations.”

Trump presses forward with tariff fight

The president has long viewed the stock market as a lodestar. But he ignored Wall Street losses that wiped out gains since the November election during his joint address.

The stock market has been tumbling as Trump enacts tariffs on Canada and Mexico, critical trading partners that have been retaliating with their own levies. The dispute threatens to increase costs for American consumers even as the president promises to bring down prices.

Trump showed no interest in backing off, describing tariffs as integral to his political agenda.

“Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it’s happening and it will happen rather quickly. There will be a little disturbance, but we’re ok with that.”

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said she plans to announce retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. on Sunday.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier on Tuesday diagnosed Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports as simply “a very dumb thing to do.”

The looming presence of Elon Musk

Trump lavished praise on Elon Musk, the billionaire who he has tasked with overhauling the federal government and work force. Democrats tried to verbally fact check the president by shouting “false” at some of his assertions of success.

Musk, seated in the gallery above, stood when Republicans applauded him. Democrats held signs that said “Musk steals.”

The president said that Musk has found “hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud,” vastly overstating his team’s accomplishments. For example, many canceled contracts were already fully paid, meaning the government received no savings.

He was dressed more formally than usual, wearing a dark suit with a blue tie rather than a black t-shirt that says “tech support.”

Musk has vast influence as a presidential adviser, leading Trump’s efforts to overhaul and downsize the federal government. Thousands of workers have been laid off, with many more expected to follow.

Trump warms on Zelenskyy after days of hammering the Ukrainian leader

Trump has been unsparing in his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But towards the end of his address to Congress Tuesday, Trump read from a letter from Zelenskyy he had received earlier in the day.

“The letter reads Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” Trump said. “Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians … My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”

It remains to be seen if the letter will mark a detente in the long-complicated Trump-Zelenskyy relationship.

Late last week, Trump and Vice President JD Vance used an Oval Office meeting to rip Zelenskyy for being insufficiently grateful for the billions of dollars in U.S. aid poured into Ukraine. Trump then abruptly ended the White House meeting where the deal —designed to give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s deposits of titanium, lithium, manganese and more — was supposed to be signed.

On Monday, Trump ordered a “pause” in U.S. assistance to Ukraine as he looked to dial up the pressure on Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia.

Takeaways from last night’s speech

A president’s speech to Congress — even without the formal gloss of a State of the Union address — is typically a time for a call to national unity and predictable claims about the country being strong.

But that wasn’t President Donald Trump’s plan. His speech on Tuesday night was relentlessly partisan, boasting about his election victory and criticizing Democrats for failing to recognize his accomplishments.

The hard edge reflected Trump’s steamroller approach to his second term, brushing aside opposition and demanding loyalty throughout the federal government.

Trump set a tone of division almost from his first words, calling his predecessor Joe Biden the worst president in history and chiding Democrats as so stinting in their praise of him they would not even grant him perfunctory applause.

He also gave voice to the frustration of many Americans over rising costs of groceries — particularly the skyrocketing cost of eggs, but blamed Biden instead of the bird flu.