The Latest: Trump proposes ‘getting rid of FEMA' as he visits North Carolina and California

President Donald Trump is heading into the fifth day of his second term in office, striving to remake the traditional boundaries of Washington by asserting unprecedented executive power.

The president also traveled to hurricane-battered western North Carolina and will also go to wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles, using the first trip of his second administration to tour areas where politics has clouded the response to deadly disasters.

Here's the latest:

Putin echoes Trump's claim that conflict in Ukraine could have been avoided had he been in office

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday echoed U.S. President Donald Trump's claim the conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented had he been in the White House in 2022. He also said Moscow is ready for talks with the U.S. on a broad range of issues.

In an interview with Russian state television, Putin praised Trump as a ''clever and pragmatic man'' who is focused on U.S. interests.

''We always had a business-like, pragmatic but also trusting relationship with the current U.S. president,'' Putin said. ''I couldn't disagree with him that if he had been president, if they hadn't stolen victory from him in 2020, the crisis that emerged in Ukraine in 2022 could have been avoided.''

Putin's statement was his bluntest endorsement yet of Trump's refusal to accept his defeat in the 2020 election.

Trump also has said repeatedly he wouldn't have allowed the conflict to start if he'd been in office, even though he was president as fighting grew in the east of the country between Kyiv's forces and separatists aligned with Moscow, ahead of Putin sending in tens of thousands of troops in 2022.

▶ Read more about Russia and Trump

Trump administration has withdrawn a federal rule which would have phased out menthol cigarettes

The cigarettes are disproportionately used by young and minority smokers.

The action was widely expected by anti-smoking advocates, who've spent years pushing for a ban on menthol, the only flavor still allowed in cigarettes. Tobacco companies have typically faced lighter regulation under Republican administrations.

The Food and Drug Administration spent years studying the issue and concluded menthol's cooling sensation makes it easier to start and harder to quit cigarettes.

The FDA was widely expected to finalize the regulation last year, but President Joe Biden's White House delayed its release, kicking a potential political controversy out past the election. At the time, both Biden and Trump were aggressively courting Black voters in swing states.

The persistence of menthol has long infuriated health experts, who've been pushing for a ban since the FDA gained authority over tobacco products in 2009.

Vice President JD Vance celebrated Trump's previous actions on abortion

Speaking at the March for Life in Washington, Vance said the president ''delivered on his promise of ending Roe,'' appointed hundreds of anti-abortion judges and pardoned anti-abortion activists he says were ''unjustly imprisoned.''

''Our country faces the return of the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes,'' Vance told the crowd of protesters who cheered and chanted ''JD'' as he took the stage.

President Trump speaks to March for Life crowd in a video address

In the video address to March for Life crowds, Trump vowed ''we will again stand proudly for families and for life'' in his second term and once again boasted about nominating three Supreme Court justices who helped strike down Roe v. Wade.

''I was so proud to be a participant,'' he said. ''Six courageous justices of the Supreme Court of the United States returned the issue to the state legislatures and to the people where it belongs.''

Crowds cheered as Trump celebrated pardoning anti-abortion activists convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances and thanked protesters for gathering at March for Life to ''stand up for precious little babies who can't stand up for themselves.''

''Thank you for turning out once again to show your extraordinary love and compassion for the unborn,'' he said.

Target is ending its DEI goals as workplace inclusion gets a strong opponent in the White House

Discount store chain Target said Friday it would join rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have come under attack from conservative activists and, as of this week, the White House.

The Minneapolis-based retailer said the changes to its ''Belonging at the Bulleye'' strategy would include ending a program it established to help Black employees build meaningful careers, improve the experience of Black shoppers and to promote Black-owned businesses following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Target, which operates nearly 2,000 stores nationwide and employs more than 400,000 people, said it also would conclude the diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, goals it previously set in three-year cycles.

The goals included hiring and promoting more women and members of racial minority groups, and recruiting more diverse suppliers, including businesses owned by people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, veterans and people with disabilities.

▶ Read more about Target ending its DEI goals

Ontario leader will call election to fight Trump's threatened tariffs

The leader of Ontario, Canada's most populous province, said Friday that he would call an early election, because he says he needs a mandate to fight President Trump's threatened tariffs.

Premier Doug Ford of the Progressive Conservative Party said that he planned to make the announcement on Wednesday. The move would send Ontarians to the polls on Feb. 27, more than a year before the June 2026 fixed election date. Ford already has a large majority government.

Ford, who is the equivalent of a U.S. state governor, said that Ontario could lose upwards of 500,000 jobs should Trump follow through on his 25% tariff threat.

▶ Read more about how Ontario is responding to Trump's proposed tariffs

Defense Department is expected to put out its own temporary social media ban Friday, U.S. officials say

The 10-day ban, however, carves out exceptions for military bases around the world that rely on social media posts to inform them of security incidents, school matters and normal base activities.

Other federal agencies are doing the same thing, with guidance from the Trump administration suggesting that federal agencies shouldn't put out information unless it's been approved by the new leadership. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.

— Lolita C. Baldor

‘You can't have a security detail for the rest of your life because you worked for government'

President Donald Trump says he won't feel partially responsible if harm befalls former government officials whose security details were cut by his administration after he took office this week.

Trump revoked the security detail of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who advised Trump on the COVID-19 pandemic but turned critical of Trump once he tried to undermine public health guidance. He faced regular threats to his life and has received federal protection for years, but it was ended this week according to a person familiar with the matter.

''They all made a lot of money, they can hire their own security too,'' Trump told reporters in North Carolina.

Trump earlier this week revoked protection details for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top aide, Brian Hook, as well his own former national security adviser John Bolton, who have faced threats from Iran since they took hardline stances on the Islamic Republic during Trump's first administration. All three have fallen out with Trump in the years since he left office.

Their security details had been repeatedly renewed by the Biden administration because of credible and ongoing threats from Iran.

''You can't have a security detail for the rest of your life because you worked for government,'' Trump said.

Asheville artist, who lost business in Hurricane Helene, wary about Trump's visit

Sarah Wells Rolland, co-owner of The Village Potters Clay Center in Asheville's now-destroyed River Arts District, said she's ''seriously concerned'' about her city's future recovery from Hurricane Helene under President Donald Trump's administration. Rolland noted Asheville's Democratic lean as a reason Trump may not prioritize its rebuilding process.

''I'm not overly optimistic that the Trump administration is going to do anything long-term,'' Rolland said Friday ahead of Trump's visit to the area. ''Frankly, I'll tell you, I think him coming today is to look presidential.''

Rolland lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment when her ceramics center's roofing caved and water rose 26 feet inside her facility during Helene. She's operated a temporary clay supply site for the past few months, and Rolland said she's hoping to reopen the full center — which had classes and galleries — at a new location this summer.

Rolland's interactions with Federal Emergency Management Agency workers in the storm's aftermath were ''wonderful,'' she said. Criticism against the agency has been largely unwarranted, she said, because workers were in the region ''almost on day one.''

Anti-abortion protesters gather for the annual March for Life in Washington

Despite frigid weather, thousands of anti-abortion protesters gathered to celebrate a new Republican trifecta in the presidency and both chambers of Congress as they returned to the nation's capital Friday for the annual March for Life.

A festive atmosphere marked the early part of the march, as activists gathered with multicolored hats and signs declaring ''Life is our revolution.''

President Donald Trump is expected to address the crowd in a pre-recorded video as the gathering marks the first time that participants have been to the nation's capital with him as the sitting president since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade, that declared there was a constitutional right to an abortion.

Vice President JD Vance is slated to speak in person.

Kristen Cooper, 21, was among several thousand Students for Life America members attending. She said she was especially excited to be at the march with ''pro-life Republicans'' in the White House. She said this march was her fourth but the first with a Republican administration.

''It's surreal actually,'' she said.

Federal agencies begin removing DEI guidance from websites in Trump crackdown

Several federal agencies have begun removing resources for underrepresented Americans from their webpages following President Trump's executive order cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Agencies also have been cancelling training and service contacts to comply with the order from Trump, who vowed to dismantle diversity programs across the federal government. He has called for all DEI staff to be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off.

Documents on DEI have been removed from websites at agencies including the Office of Personnel Management, State Department and Department of Homeland Security. Web addresses that once led to DEI pages now display ''Page Not Found — 404'' messages or notes above archived material explaining the change.

▶ Read more about the impact of Trump's DEI executive order

Trump expands use of fast-track deportation, which critics say is prone to mistakes

The Trump administration announced Friday that it is expanding a fast-track deportation authority nationwide, allowing immigration officers to deport migrants without appearing before a judge.

The administration said in a notice in the Federal Register on Friday that it is expanding the use of ''expedited removal'' authority so it can be used across the country. ''The effect of this change will be to enhance national security and public safety — while reducing government costs — by facilitating prompt immigration determinations,'' the administration said.

▶ Read more about ‘expedited removal' authority

Trump says he's considering ‘getting rid of FEMA' as he visits hurricane-damaged North Carolina

Speaking to reporters Friday at Asheville Regional Airport where he was meeting with supporters and local officials about the recovery from last year's Hurricane Helene, Trump says FEMA ''has been a very big disappointment.''

Trump said of the agency: ''It's very bureaucratic. And it's very slow. Other than that, we're very happy with them.''

He did not offer clear details on what he would replace it with, indicated he wants to move more of the disaster management responsibility to the states. That was a key priority of the conservative 'Project 2025'' written by Trump's supporters, including some who've since joined his administration.

''A governor can handle something very quickly,'' Trump said.

Trump says OPEC+ can end the bloodshed in Ukraine by cutting oil prices

The president continued to make the case that reducing oil revenue is the key finding an endgame in Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.

Trump in his first days in office has centered his focus on the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries, making the case that it has kept the price of oil too high for much of the nearly three-year war. Oil revenue is the engine driving the Russian economy.

''One way to stop it quickly is for OPEC to stop making so much money. And they drop the price of oil because they have it nice and high,'' Trump told reporters during a visit to Western North Carolina on Friday. ''And if you have it high, then that war is not going to end so easily. So, OPEC ought to get on the ball and drop the price of oil. And that war will stop right away.''

Trump continues to criticize FEMA

President Trump landed in North Carolina to tour lingering damage from Hurricane Helene and said he would like to see states ''take care of disasters'' and that he was reviewing ''the whole concept of ''FEMA'' the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which he's criticized.

Trump, speaking to reporters after he landed near Asheville, North Carolina, said it would be faster to let states respond to disasters.

''Let the state take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen,'' Trump told reporters.

Trump is expected to make a virtual, prerecorded appearance at the March for Life

Thousands of anti-abortion activists are gathering in Washington D.C. for the annual March for Life, seeking to build momentum after a string of victories and maintain pressure on legislators.

Trump will be out of town but is expected to address the rally via prerecorded video message, and Vice President JD Vance will be a featured speaker. Among his flurry of initial actions and orders this week, Trump on Thursday pardoned several activists who had been jailed for blockading a Washington abortion provider.

▶ Read more about the 52nd annual March for Life

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio

That's according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

Wang told Rubio that Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, who spoke a week ago, had pointed out the direction for the bilateral relations and set the tone, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. Wang said the two sides should push for the steady, healthy and sustainable development of the China-U.S. relations and find the correct way for the two countries to cope with each other.

Wang also told Rubio that China had no intention to overtake or replace any other country but would defend its legitimate development rights. Wang urged the U.S. to handle the Taiwan issue with caution. China considers the self-governed island as part of Chinese territory and vows to annex it by force if necessary to achieve unification.

Rubio, according to the Chinese foreign ministry, told Wang the U.S. doesn't support Taiwan independence but hopes the issue can be peacefully solved in a way acceptable to both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

What happens next with the Kennedy, MLK assassination files?

Trump ordered the release of classified documents on the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. But it could still be a while before any files are released.

Trump's order, signed Thursday night, directs the director of national intelligence and the attorney general to develop a plan within 15 days to release the remaining John F. Kennedy records, and within 45 days for the other two cases. It was not clear when the records would actually be made public.

Judge bars Oath Keepers founder Rhodes from entering Washington without court's permission

A federal judge on Friday barred Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes from entering Washington, D.C., without the court's approval after President Donald Trump commuted the far-right extremist group leader's 18-year prison sentence for orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Capitol four years ago.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta issued the order two days after Rhodes visited the Capitol, where he met with at least one lawmaker, chatted with others and defended his actions during a mob's attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Rhodes was released from a Maryland prison a day earlier.

Mehta also barred other Oath Keepers members who were convicted of seditious conspiracy for participating in a violent plot to attack the Capitol.

▶ Read more about Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes

Trump adviser Keith Kellogg says cutting oil prices to $45 a barrel could drive Russia to bargaining table

Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, said Friday in a Fox News interview that the world won't be able to get Russia to end its war just by helping Ukraine score battlefield wins. He suggested tougher measures to impact the Russian oil industry could be the answer.

The U.S., under President Joe Biden, and other allies had imposed a $60 a barrel cap on Russian oil. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, was trading at about $78 on Friday morning.

''Russia is gaining billions of dollars of money from oil sales,'' Kellogg said. ''What if you drop that to $45 a barrel, which is basically a baseline breakeven point?''

WHO says it will freeze hiring after Trump announces US will leave the agency

In response to President Trump's announcement that the U.S. will be exiting the World Health Organization, the agency told staffers it would be freezing hiring, ''except in the most critical areas,'' slashing travel and restricting its missions to help countries.

In an email to WHO personnel Thursday, director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he regretted the U.S. decision, which was also making WHO's financial situation ''more acute.''

''We know it has created significant concern and uncertainty for the WHO workforce,'' Tedros wrote. ''We want to explain the steps we are taking to mitigate the risks we face and protect our organization's work.''

He said all future meetings would be virtual ''by default'' and that WHO would be significantly reducing travel. The U.N. agency has previously spent hundreds of millions annually on travel; in 2017, The Associated Press found the WHO spent more on travel than on combating HIV, tuberculosis and malaria combined.

In Thursday's email, Tedros also said WHO was freezing recruitment, limiting the replacement of IT equipment and was mostly suspending office renovations and expansions.

In 2023, the U.S. contributed 18% of WHO's budget, making it the single biggest donor that year.

Trump is heading to North Carolina and California sharply critical of the response to natural disasters

As he heads to Asheville, North Carolina, Trump told reporters he believes the response to Hurricane Helene has been ''horrible'' and the damage has ''been allowed to fester.'' He added: ''We're going to get it fixed up. It should have been done months ago.''

He's also going to Los Angeles to tour damage from ongoing wildfires and is repeating his claims that state officials ''didn't let the water flow.''

State and local officials have said dry hydrants were caused by unprecedented demand on the municipal system. Before leaving the White House, Trump added, ''I think we're going to have a very interesting time.''

Trump targets California water policy as he prepares to tour LA fire damage

As President Donald Trump prepares to tour wildfire damage in California, he's zeroing in on one of his frequent targets for criticism: State water policy.

Since the fires broke out Jan. 7, Trump has used social media and interviews to accuse the state of sending too much water to the Pacific Ocean instead of south toward Los Angeles and highlighted how some hydrants ran dry in the early hours of the firefight in Pacific Palisades.

In the first hours of his second term, Trump called on federal officials to draft plans to route more water to the crop-rich Central Valley and densely populated cities in the southern part of the state. Two days later he threatened to withhold federal disaster aid unless California leaders change the state's approach on water.

▶ Read more about the facts behind Trump's comments and what he can do to influence water policy

No small stairs to Air Force One

Trump was climbing aboard Air Force One for the first trip of his second administration, using full-sized stairs from the tarmac to the plane.

His predecessor, Joe Biden, often used a small set of stairs that took him into the belly of the plane.

Trump was using a full set of stairs to reach the front of the aircraft's cabin as he prepared to fly Friday to North Carolina, then Los Angeles, then Las Vegas.

What to know about the ruling blocking Trump's order on birthright citizenship

President Donald Trump's executive order denying U.S. citizenship to the children of parents living in the country illegally has faced the first of what will be many legal tests. It didn't fare well.

A Justice Department lawyer had barely started making his arguments in a Seattle courtroom Thursday when U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour began blistering him with questions, calling the executive order ''blatantly unconstitutional.'' Coughenour went on to temporarily block it pending further arguments.

The ruling, a temporary restraining orde, blocks the administration from enforcing or implementing Trump's order nationally for the next 14 days. Over the next two weeks, the sides will submit further briefings on the legal merits of the executive order.

▶ Here's what to know about the pending legal challenge over birthright citizenship

Who's the guy handing Trump those binders of executive orders? Meet Will Scharf

White House staff secretary Will Scharf has been a prominent part of the executive order signing tableau, standing at Trump's side and teeing up the leather-bound folders, one by one, for the president.

Scharf doesn't just act the straight man as Trump talks up his orders, cracks jokes and fields questions from reporters. He also plays a key role in the White House, overseeing the flow of information and business coming to and from the president.

Here's a few things to know about the staff secretary:

1. The role has traditionally involved managing the papers that cross the president's desk. It serves almost as air traffic control for the West Wing — tracking the drafting and approval of memos and statements as they work their way to the president's desk and then out to the world.

2. Scharf was a member of Trump's legal team before joining the new administration and was one of the president's lawyers in the election interference case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

3. Scharf ran unsuccessfully for Missouri attorney general in 2024, losing to incumbent Andrew Bailey. His campaign included a memorable ad in which the mild-mannered lawyer appears to use a grenade launcher to fire on a pile of boxes that were labeled to look like they contained legal documents related to Trump's criminal cases.

▶ Read more about White House staff secretary Will Scharf

What Americans think about Trump and Musk's plans for the federal government: AP-NORC poll

Americans see the federal government as rife with corruption, inefficiency and red tape — but they're less sure about whether Elon Musk is the right person to fix it.

A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults strongly or somewhat approve of President Trump's creation of an advisory body on government efficiency, which Musk is helming. About 4 in 10 disapprove, while the rest were neutral or didn't know enough to say. (The poll was conducted before Vivek Ramaswamy announced he would no longer be involved in the group.)

Trump will visit disaster zones in North Carolina and California on the first trip of second term

President Donald Trump is heading to hurricane-battered western North Carolina and wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles on Friday, using the first trip of his second administration to tour areas where politics has clouded the response to deadly disasters.

The Republican president has criticized former President Joe Biden for his administration's response in North Carolina, and he's showered disdain on California leaders for water policies that he falsely claimed worsened the recent blazes.

Trump is also considering overhauling the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Some of his conservative allies have proposed reducing how much the agency reimburses states for handling floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and other calamities.

▶ Read more about the politics behind Trump's expected travel