• President Donald Trump is rolling back some of his tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
• After initial uncertainty, Trump extended a one-month pause to some Canadian goods as well.
• The pause comes after stocks tanked on Tuesday when the original tariffs took effect.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he's granting a one-month tariffs pause to a range of Mexican and Canadian goods, just days after imposing 25% tariffs on imports from the two neighboring nations.

Trump announced a one-month pause for some Mexican goods on Truth Social. After some uncertainty, he later granted Canada a reprieve as well.

"This is a modification for our tariff regime to protect car manufacturers and American farmers," Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary, told Trump before he signed the executive orders.

As part of the Canadian-related executive order, Trump also reduced the tariff on potash, a key ingredient in fertilizer that the US overwhelmingly imports from Canada. Potash will now be tariffed at 10% as opposed to the initial overall 25% for all goods.

The White House's Thursday reprieves come just a day after Trump handed automakers their own pause.

"After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Agreement is until April 2nd. I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum."

The USMCA, a trade deal negotiated between the US, Mexico, and Canada during Trump's first term as a replacement for the NAFTA trade pact, exempts most goods that are produced in the three signatory countries from most tariffs.

Trump's newest pause dovetails with the White House's efforts to calm markets. Shares on Wall Street tanked after Trump decided to forge ahead on Tuesday with his latest round of tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. Markets rebounded on Wednesday as traders anticipated a reduction in the tariffs would be forthcoming.

Stocks slid on Thursday, with weakness in tech and tariff concerns bringing the S&P 500 down as much as 2% in afternoon trading.

It remains to be seen how Wall Street will respond to the latest pause.

The White House has said the first round of tariffs is based on Trump's frustration with the nations failing to do more to stop the spread of fentanyl. Leaders of all three countries have disputed that claim.

The White House said the Big 3 US automakers — General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis — requested the earlier exemption for cars. That exemption applies to Canadian auto imports as well. At the time, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was open to cutting further deals.

Another round of tariffs targeting foreign agricultural goods and other products is set to go into effect on April 2. During his joint address to Congress, Trump mentioned South Korea, India, and the European Union as potential targets to even out what he views as unfair trade relations.

China and Canada immediately responded to Tuesday's announcement with retaliatory tariffs. Mexico was originally set to implement its measures on Sunday.

Beijing has taken particular exception to Trump's actions. China's US embassy wrote on X that it was ready for a "war" of any kind.

• The White House is giving automakers a one-month pause on tariffs.
• Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors asked Donald Trump for the exemption.
• The White House said Trump is open to discussing other possible exemptions.

The White House has granted car companies a one-month reprieve on tariffs after President Donald Trump spoke with representatives of the Big Three automakers.

"At the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the president is giving them an exemption for one month so they are not at an economic disadvantage," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. "The three companies he spoke to are Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors. They requested the call. They made the ask and the president is happy to do it."

It isn't all good news for Detroit.

Leavitt said automakers won't get another pause when Trump's second round of trade-related tariffs goes into effect on April 2. Additional tariffs on steel and aluminum are set to go into effect on March 12. Automakers, of course, rely heavily on those materials to make their products.

Shares rebounded on Wall Street after the announcement, a potential sign that traders are optimistic that more deals will be forthcoming.

Trump's current round of tariffs is related to his view that Canada, Mexico, and China are not doing enough to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US. Leaders of all countries have strongly disputed the White House's position.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested on Tuesday that automakers could get a tariff exemption. It remains to be seen if a broader truce will be reached.

Trump said he told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday that his country still had more work to do.

"Justin Trudeau, of Canada, called me to ask what could be done about Tariffs," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl that came through the Borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing has convinced me that it has stopped. He said that it's gotten better, but I said, 'That's not good enough.'"

Leavitt said that Trump "is open to dialogue" on further exemptions.

• Donald Trump continues to call Elon Musk DOGE's leader.
• Trump's latest comments came during his joint address to Congress.
• The White House and the Justice Department have said Musk is not leading DOGE.

During his record-setting joint address to Congress, President Donald Trump continued calling Elon Musk the leader of the White House DOGE office.

"I have created the brand-new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, perhaps you've heard of it, which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight," Trump said in his speech Tuesday night.

Trump's habit of saying Musk is in charge of the group has already created legal headaches for his administration, which has repeatedly said the Tesla CEO is not actually leading DOGE.

A group of plaintiffs challenging DOGE's constitutionality immediately alerted a Washington, DC, federal judge to Trump's comments almost as soon as the president finished his speech.

"At approximately 9:46 PM, President Trump stated the following in his Joint Address to Congress," the plaintiffs wrote in their filing.

The plaintiffs, who include two attorneys, quickly filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on the day Trump was sworn into office, arguing that the creation of DOGE violates the transparency requirements of the 1972 Federal Advisory Committee Act. The lawsuit declares DOGE a federal advisory committee that should be subject to the FACA law.

The law, which was designed to boost public accountability, covers advisory committees that are either formed or utilized by the president.

An amended lawsuit filed by the plaintiffs says "Musk continues to speak for DOGE and take credit for DOGE's activities, while not being" the administrator for the US DOGE Service.

DOGE was birthed out of a rebrand of the United States Digital Service — a technology unit housed in the executive office of the president.

"DOGE continues to take actions which are completely unrelated to the USDS mandate set forth" in Trump's day one executive order that formally established DOGE, the amended complaint says.

US District Judge Jia Cobb has since consolidated the case with two other similar cases.

Trump's joint address comments were cited in another court filing in a Maryland case brought against Musk and DOGE by 26 current and former USAID employees or contractors.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs on Wednesday filed a letter to the federal judge overseeing the case asking the court "to take judicial notice of these relevant admissions."

"Plaintiffs respectfully write to bring to the Court's attention additional relevant admissions made last night. Defendants consent to providing these facts to the Court," the letter read. "During his joint address to Congress, President Donald Trump twice identified Defendant Musk as DOGE's leader."

The plaintiffs' lawsuit alleges that Musk's actions in the Trump administration are "unconstitutional."

And a new lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Washington, DC, federal court against Musk and the Trump administration also cites Trump's joint address speech.

"Mr. Musk is acting as a principal officer of the United States. However, Mr. Musk has not been appointed to a position as an officer of the United States, in accordance with the Appointments Clause," says the lawsuit, which was brought by a group of nonprofits, including the Japanese American Citizens League.

Meanwhile, a top White House official previously said in federal court that Musk was neither the DOGE office administrator nor even an employee of the group. The White House has also repeatedly stressed that Musk is just a senior advisor to the president. After weeks of refusing to name DOGE's administrator publicly, the White House said that Amy Gleason, a US Digital Service employee, was the acting administrator of the DOGE office.

Multiple signs suggest that Musk remains DOGE's de facto leader, dating back to Trump's initial creation of "The Department of Government Efficiency," when he named the billionaire as its co-leader.

Just days ago, a Department of Justice lawyer struggled to answer questions from a district court judge about DOGE's structure. Anna Bower, a Lawfare editor, posted part of the exchange on X.

"Who was the head of DOGE before Amy Gleason?" Judge Theodore Chuang asked the DOJ attorney, Joshua Gardner.

"I can't answer that. I don't know," Gardner responded.

Trump is no stranger to making public statements that create headaches for the Justice Department.

During his first term, Trump's tweets were repeatedly used as evidence in various lawsuits brought against his administration.

At one point, the DOJ said that Trump's tweets were not presidential actions.

The White House didn't immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Trump delivered a nearly-two hour address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday.
• He used the moment to celebrate tariffs and the DOGE office's efforts to cut spending.
• The address was at times raucous, with Democratic lawmakers loudly protesting Trump's remarks.

On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump made history, delivering the longest presidential address on record to Congress.

Over the course of nearly two hours, Trump touched on a variety of topics, including DOGE, tariffs, tech companies, tax policy, and more.

It wasn't without interruption or protest. A few minutes into Trump's speech, Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas began heckling the president over Medicaid, leading House Speaker Mike Johnson to order security forces to escort the congressman out of the chamber. Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, the top Democrat on the DOGE subcommittee, held a sign declaring, "This is not normal" as Trump walked past her. Other House Democrats displayed signs declaring that "Musk Steals," and dozens left the chamber before the speech ended.

Here are the major takeaways from Trump's speech.

Trump praised Elon Musk — and made it harder to dodge legal questions

Elon Musk had a prime seat for Trump's address. Trump lavished praise on the de facto White House DOGE office leader. His exact phrasing will likely create headaches for the Justice Department.

"I have created the brand new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, perhaps you've heard of it," Trump said, "which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight."

A top White House official recently said in federal court that Musk was neither the DOGE office administrator nor an employee of the group. Instead, the White House has said that Musk is a senior advisor to the president. Instead of Musk, the White House has said Amy Gleason, a veteran US Digital Service employee, is leading the DOGE office as interim administrator.

If Musk is truly the DOGE office's leader, it could open him up to more questions about the extent of his role and the potential conflicts of interest he may have given that Tesla and SpaceX have received billions in federal contracts. As a special government employee, Musk has filed a financial disclosure but it is not required to release it publicly.

Democrats have repeatedly criticized Musk. Some of them held up small signs Tuesday night that said, "Musk steals" while Trump spoke. Others pointed to the world's richest man in jest after Trump declared during his address, "the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over."

Trump is ready for a trade war, no matter what 'little' adjustments might come

Wall Street is still absorbing the first round of Trump's tariffs. On Tuesday, Trump indicated he's ready to impose tariffs on several other nations, including India, South Korea, Brazil, and the European Union.

"On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada, have you heard of them?" Trump said during his speech to Congress. "And countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them. It's very unfair."

Trump's current tariffs are linked to the White House's frustration with China, Canada, and Mexico's respective handling of the fentanyl crisis. Trump said he will impose additional tariffs on April 2 on agricultural products and other goods to reset global trade.

Earlier Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the US was not in a "trade war but a drug war." Hours before Trump's speech, Lutnick sounded optimistic that the US could reach a tariffs compromise with at least its neighbors. Trump's comments are a reminder that trade will be omnipresent through the president's final term.

The White House has, at times, conceded that Americans might face the effects of tariffs. Trump has long falsely claimed that only foreign nations pay tariffs, but during his address, he said that American farmers — often the target of retaliatory tariffs — might face temporary pain.

"It may be a little bit of an adjustment period," Trump said in his speech Tuesday night.

Big Tech receives big shout-outs after playing nice with Trump

In his speech, Trump name-checked Apple, Oracle, and Softbank for their investments in the US. His comments show that Silicon Valley's playbook to get right with the White House is working.

The president mentioned Apple CEO Tim Cook by name, the type of shout-out that lawmakers and cabinet secretaries used to fight over in major presidential addresses. Cook recently met with Trump at the White House. Soon after, Apple said it would invest $500 billion in the US.

"Tim Cook called me, he said, 'I cannot spend it fast enough,'" Trump said Tuesday night.

This is a notable change from Trump's first term, when the president and Republicans were frequently frustrated with Big Tech. The GOP regularly criticized Meta and other social media companies during the Biden administration. Now, even Mark Zuckerberg is praising Trump.

It isn't all good news for tech. Apple has a lot at stake in a US trade war. Foreign countries, especially China, have also shown that they will put tech in the ringer to retaliate against the White House. Trump is also threatening a bipartisan semiconductor bill that was one of President Joe Biden's biggest achievements.

"Your Chips act is a horrible, horrible thing," Trump said in his speech. "We give hundreds of billions of dollars and it doesn't mean a thing."

MAGA-fest destiny is coming for Greenland

Trump's protectionist trade policies aren't the only return to a bygone American era. He has laid out an expansionist worldview that hearkens back to the manifest destiny of 19th century.

During his speech, Trump reiterated his view that he wants the US to take Greenland, a self-governing territory under control of Denmark. Greenlanders and Danes have repeatedly said Greenland is not for sale.

It didn't stop Trump from promising he'll get the island "one way or another." In the past, Trump has refused to rule out taking Greeland by force.

"We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we're working with everybody involved to try and get it," Trump said during his speech Tuesday. "But we need it really for international world security. And I think we're going to get it one way or the other. We're going to get it. We will keep you safe. We will make you rich."

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Donald Trump is not done with tariffs.
• Trump's top trade official said additional tariffs are coming on April 2.
• Wall Street sank on Monday after Trump imposed new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said President Donald Trump's tariffs are just beginning.

"If you want to talk about trade policy, that starts April 2," Lutnick said on CNBC. "These countries have used and abused us, and that is going to change."

Trump has said that the next round of tariffs will include external agricultural products.

Trump's first round of 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, and an additional 10% on Chinese imports roiled markets Monday afternoon.

Canada, Mexico, and China have all announced plans to impose retaliatory tariffs. China took action immediately, imposing tariffs of up to 15% on US farm products and other goods.

Lutnick said that the current tariffs are about Trump's continuing frustration with US opioid-related deaths. Last year, federal data showed a 12% decrease in overall-related overdose deaths. Researchers told The New York Times this was largely attributed to a drop in synthetic opioid-related deaths, which has been driven by fentanyl. Lutnick said too many Americans are still dying.

"Let's differentiate between today's tariffs, which are about saving American lives," Lutnick said. "China makes the opioid products, and then Mexico and Canada feed them into American and that's gotta end. They have done a nice job on the border, but they haven't stopped the flow of fentanyl."

Mexican, Canadian, and Chinese officials have disputed that they are not doing enough to stop the flow of fentanyl, one of the Trump administration's stated reasons for the tariffs. According to US Customs and Border Protection, most of the fentanyl coming into the US originates in Mexico. Since last September, less than 1% was seized along the US-Canadian border. China is the leading source of the chemical products used to create the deadly opioid.

The US has long chafed at Canadian restrictions on US agricultural products, especially dairy. Trump previously ordered a sweeping review of US trade deficits and other policies that most agencies must complete by April 1. He has said that he intends to then impose additional tariffs based on that review, though he will delay the action a day so as to not coincide with April Fool's Day.

The fentanyl-related tariffs are linked to a separate emergency Trump formally declared last month.

The USMCA left Canada's protectionist agriculture policies in place, which still allows it to impose high tariffs on US dairy, eggs, and poultry products to protect Canadian farmers despite broadly lowering borders to trade across North America.

• Donald Trump on Monday said tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods are coming.
• The US previously worked out a pause with its neighbors but the time has run out, he said.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 848 points and the S&P 500 was down more than 2%.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that the White House will forge ahead with imposing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

"No room left for Mexico or Canada," Trump told reporters during an unrelated White House event. "The tariffs are all set, they go into effect tomorrow."

Trump's comments deepened a sell-off in the stock market during Monday's trading session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped as much as 848 points and the benchmark S&P 500 was down more than 2%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 3%, with the tech-heavy index extending its decline after a sharp drop in Nvidia stock during the day.

Earlier in the day, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had left the door open that the president might change his mind. Trump already paused the tariffs for a month based on both countries pledging to do more to stem illegal immigration.

Trump on Monday reiterated his view that the tariffs are punishment for Mexico and Canada for failing to do enough to prevent fentanyl from entering the US.

Both nations have already said how they would retaliate with their own tariffs. Canada published an extensive list of targeted American products, ranging from agricultural products to alcoholic beverages. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously called on his citizens to prepare to forgo American-made goods.

"It might mean checking the labels at the supermarket and picking Canadian-made products," Trudeau said last month. "It might mean opting for Canadian rye over Kentucky bourbon, or foregoing Florida orange juice altogether. It might mean changing your summer vacation plans to stay here in Canada."

The US imports a range of key goods from the two countries, including crude oil, car parts, and electronics, and trade policy experts previously told BI that new tariffs are likely to increase the prices of those goods.

Trump previously said that Americans would feel "some pain" with tariffs, but the price would be worth it in the end. Still, some companies have started to prepare for price increases caused by the tariffs. Real estate consultants previously told BI that Trump's 25% steel tariff will likely make rent and condo prices surge.

It's unclear how long these tariffs will last. Trump's initial executive order from February said that they would remain in effect until the affected countries cracked down on their drug and border policy.

• Elon Musk said he agreed that the US should leave NATO.
• Before he became Secretary of State, Marco Rubio made such a move harder.
• Congress passed a law requiring a vote to approve any US withdrawal.

Elon Musk wants the US to leave NATO. Before he joined President Donald Trump's Cabinet, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made such a historic move a lot more difficult.

"I agree," Musk wrote on X on Saturday night when a conservative political commentator suggested the US leave the United Nations and NATO.

Before he joined Trump's cabinet, Rubio co-led a congressional effort to handcuff any potential future president who wanted to leave NATO. Trump's name wasn't always mentioned, but it was clear his then-presidential candidacy worried enough lawmakers from both parties to move to rein him in.

Musk's comments come at a critical moment.

NATO members, led by the United Kingdom and France, are discussing how to continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia. Talks between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blew up last week. Zelenskyy has said he wants security guarantees as a backstop to any potential peace deal with Russia. The White House proposed a rare earth minerals deal but has been reluctant to lay out a defense plan if Russia violated a potential cease-fire.

Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism over NATO, particularly the possibility that its mutual defense clause, Article 5, could lead the US into war if a nation like Montenegro was attacked. The president has also threatened to leave the alliance if European nations don't spend more on their own defense.

A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Musk was speaking in his capacity as a senior advisor to the president. Musk is also the de facto leader of the White House DOGE office.

There could be a legal fight on the horizon.

Under the 2023 law championed by Rubio, any NATO withdrawal requires either the approval of 2/3rds of the US Senate or a separate act of Congress. Given that many GOP lawmakers remain staunch NATO backers, it's extremely unlikely Trump could muster such a large majority.

Legal scholars have said that might not be the last word. Trump could simply ignore the law. His White House has suggested that a different congressional restriction related to spending federal funds is unconstitutional.

In such an event, a legal fight could go up to the US Supreme Court. Historically, the judiciary is reticent to get involved in disputes between branches. There are also concerns about whether lawmakers would reach the threshold of standing, the legal ability to bring such a suit in the first place.

Absent a full US withdrawal, there are other ways to undermine NATO.

A recent wargame found that Trump could simply hollow out the alliance by curtailing US support, allowing NATO to wither.

The US holds a powerful perch at both NATO and the United Nations institutions.

It is the largest member of the NATO alliance, and the only country in its 80-year history to invoke its central defense cause, which came after the 9/11 terror attacks. The US is also one of the five permanent members of the powerful UN Security Council, the only UN group that can impose binding resolutions on all 193 member states.

• An ex-colleague described newly named DOGE acting administrator Amy Gleason as hard-working and apolitical.
• She was nicknamed "the green dot" for staying active on her work messaging system all hours of the day and night.
• One of Gleason's former health-tech employers was also subject to a critical audit and grand jury report.

Amy Gleason, the little-known federal data cruncher who was recently named the Department of Government Efficiency's acting administrator, has at least one thing in common with Elon Musk: a fanatical commitment to work.

Even before becoming a "special government employee" and DOGE's public face, Musk was known for flaunting his work ethos, even sleeping on the Tesla factory floor.

As a Florida-based healthcare executive, Gleason, 53, earned the nickname "the green dot" for being online on the work messaging system well past midnight, and then again at dawn, a former colleague told Business Insider.

"She is a nice, sweet person, but she's just a superhuman when it comes to work product," said Travis Bond, the former CEO of CareSync, a Tampa-area medical technology startup where Gleason worked as chief operating officer and chief strategy officer until it folded in 2018.

"I'm surprised, but I'm not surprised," Bond said of Gleason's new role, the latest in a career that has combined interests in nursing and technology over three decades.

"She very good at taking large, complex systems and pushing them to efficiency," he said.

Gleason did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

In 2015, the Obama administration named Gleason a "Champion of Change" for her work at CareSync, noting that she was inspired to help families "better coordinate care and improve health outcomes" after her daughter was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder.

The company was previously the subject of controversy.

The cloud-based medical record firm launched in 2011 after officials in Hardee County, Florida awarded a $2.6 million job-development grant to its predecessor, LifeSync Technology.

Public records list Gleason as a witness on paperwork for the grant. LifeSync Technology later operated under the names Continuum Labs and then CareSync.

A 2013 Florida state auditor general report criticized the process through which the grant was awarded, finding that the company "had not been sufficiently determined to be financially responsible and fully capable of fulfilling its obligations under the grant."

"The 2.6 million dollars didn't bring any economic benefit to Hardee county," according to the report.

That year, a Hardee county grand jury report criticized local development officials as awarding the grant without sufficient review beforehand, or monitoring afterward. "There is much to be learned from the CareSync project and much incentive to not let this process repeat itself in the same way in the future," the report said.

No charges were filed.

In 2020, Gleason was named as a defendant in a creditor's action against CareSync brought in Hillsborough County, Florida.

She was not a major part of the creditor's suit. Court papers claim that she once broke her leg and drank beer while using a scooter in the office; Bond told BI the detail was bunk.

The company and its insurer ultimately paid $1.4 million to settle the case. Gleason, who was paid over $200,000 a year at CareSync, waived her claim to over $100,000 in severance as part of the deal, court papers show.

Attorneys for both sides did not return requests for comment left by email and phone.

Gleason graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1993, according to a review of her LinkedIn profile. She worked as a data cruncher for the United States Digital Service from October 2018 until December 2021.

Gleason was one of five federal specialists who marshaled the coronavirus data stream from labs and hospitals during 2020 and 2021, helping create reports and databases relied on by state officials and the public.

"I got to work beside her every day for almost a year," Gleason's then-boss, Dr. Deborah Birx, the former White House coronavirus response coordinator, recently told CNN.

Birx called Gleason a "really competent, hardworking, focused woman who understands the value of data."

After stints in the private sector, Gleason was working for United States Digital Service again, now rebranded the White House DOGE office, when she was tapped for the DOGE acting administrator job.

Gleason is apolitical and unflappable, and will hold up well in the high-pressure, controversial new job, Bond told BI, predicting that she would "crush it."

"She's extraordinarily calm under pressure," he said.

"She was right under Dr. Birx during COVID, and I think that's where she earned her battle stripes," making the slides that Birx presented to the public, he said.

"She's typically behind the scenes, but everybody goes to her."

• A US-Ukraine rare-earth-minerals deal is off for now.
• The White House said on Friday that the expected agreement remained unsigned.
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit devolved into an Oval Office shouting match.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday abruptly left the White House without signing a rare-earth-minerals deal after negotiations blew up following an Oval Office clash.

"He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office," President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, his social media platform. "He can come back when he is ready for Peace."

In a tense scene in the Oval Office, Trump and Vice President JD Vance criticized Zelenskyy in front of reporters. Vance took exception to Zelenskyy's past media appearances and argued that the Ukrainian leader didn't express enough gratitude.

"I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media," Vance said, later adding, "In this entire meeting, have you said thank you?"

Zelenskyy said he was reluctant to trust Russian President Vladimir because of the Russian leader's previous disregard of international agreements.

Trump told Zelenskyy he was in no position to leverage the US.

"The problem is I've empowered you to be a tough guy," Trump said. "And I don't think you'd be a tough guy without the United States. And your people are very brave, but you're either going to make a deal or we're out. And if we're out, you'll fight it out."

A White House spokesperson confirmed that the agreement remained unsigned shortly after Zelenskyy left the grounds.

Later in the afternoon, Zelenskyy posted a message that contained "thank you" four times in three sentences. He also canceled a planned appearance at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank.

"Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit," Zelenskyy wrote on X. "Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that."

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally who has frequently visited Ukraine, said he wasn't sure the deal could be salvaged.

"I don't know what's going to happen next," Graham told Fox News. "I don't know if you can repair the damage."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had traveled to Ukraine to broker a deal that would give the US a financial stake in Ukraine's future. Trump has said he also wants to recoup the $174 billion Congress has appropriated for Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion.

Experts estimate that the US would most likely net far less than the $500 billion figure Trump has cited when discussing the deal. (Trump has also said the US has given Ukraine far more aid than it actually has, and most US aid to the country has been spent inside the US to replenish the nation's weapons stockpiles.)

Trump has sought to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. Zelenskyy has pushed for US security guarantees to be part of any mineral deal, hoping to deter Putin from future aggression.

Watch the raw video here:

• House Republicans passed a budget plan that could include big cuts to Medicaid.
• Medicaid covers over 72 million Americans, with significant reliance in states like California.
• Mike Johnson said Republicans are focused on "rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse" within Medicaid.

Congressional Republicans are hotly debating their budget plans, and Medicaid cuts may be on the table. It could affect Americans across the country.

The committee that oversees Medicaid's budget aims to cut $880 billion over a decade as part of the House's narrowly passed budget outline. The math points to those cuts including Medicaid, since it and Medicare —which the Trump administration said it would not cut — make up the overwhelming majority of that committee's budget.

In states such as New Mexico, California, and New York, over a third of residents receive Medicaid, per a Business Insider analysis of Medicaid enrollment data from October 2024 and Census Bureau population estimates from July 2024. The analysis found that about 23.3% of all Americans receive Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program, which is for children in families who make too much to qualify for Medicaid.

This map shows the percentage of each state's residents who received coverage for Medicaid or CHIP.

Areas with higher percentages of Medicaid recipients included the West, Southwest, and Northeast, while parts of the Midwest and South relied less on Medicaid. Utah was least reliant at 9.7%, followed by Wyoming at 10.8%.

As of October, Medicaid provides health and long-term care coverage to over 72 million Americans of all ages, predominantly those with low incomes and few other resources. Another 7.2 million children under age 18 receive payments from CHIP. Medicaid is financed by federal and state governments.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has argued that the budget plan doesn't explicitly call for Medicaid cuts.

Over the last few months, some Republican leaders have proposed per-capita caps on Medicaid, which would fix federal funding amounts per enrollee. A House Budget Committee proposal estimated this move could save up to $900 billion. Others have backed a proposal to install a Medicaid work requirement.

Tuesday's House vote is only the first step in a long process. Senate Republicans have competing plans, which, unlike the House's proposal, do not include an extension of Trump's 2017 tax law or new proposals like ending taxes on tips. Both sides will need to reconcile their blueprints before they can move forward.

Most states have expanded their Medicaid coverage for those making under a given income threshold — for individuals, about $21,600 a year — an expansion included in the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Before the vote, Johnson said Republicans are focused on "rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse" within Medicaid. On Tuesday, he declined to tell reporters that House Republicans would not cut the program, arguing that making sure "illegal aliens" are not receiving Medicaid and eliminating other unspecified fraud will help the GOP save money.

"Medicaid is hugely problematic because it has a lot of fraud, waste, and abuse," Johnson told reporters at the Capitol.

People in the US illegally are not eligible for Medicaid. Hospitals can be reimbursed for emergency care if a patient, regardless of their immigration status, is otherwise eligible for Medicaid. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, $27 billion total was spent on emergency Medicaid for non-citizens from fiscal year 2017 through 2023.

Do you have a story to share about Medicaid? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at nshei0227.30. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Elon Musk said on Wednesday that DOGE "accidentally" cut Ebola prevention funding.
• The apparent error occurred as DOGE implemented cuts to USAID.
• Musk said that DOGE "won't be perfect."

To make his point that the White House DOGE office wouldn't be perfect, Elon Musk said on Wednesday that that staffers briefly cut Ebola prevention funding while an outbreak raged in Uganda.

"I should say also, we will make mistakes. We won't be perfect," Musk told President Donald Trump's cabinet. "When we make mistakes, we'll fix it very quickly. So, for example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was Ebola prevention."

Trump had asked Musk to speak about DOGE's efforts during the first cabinet meeting of his second term.

Musk said "there was no interruption" in Ebola prevention. He said DOGE needs to move "very quickly" to stay on track to achieve its goal of cutting at least $1 trillion.

"I think we all want Ebola prevention," he said.

This is not the first time Musk has said DOGE may make mistakes. During a previous appearance with Trump in the Oval Office, Musk said he "would not bat 1,000." DOGE has also edited or even removed examples from its "wall of receipts" of spending cuts after reports raised questions about its accuracy. In one instance, DOGE claimed to have canceled a contract worth $8 billion. The contract was actually for $8 million.

On Tuesday, the White House revealed that Amy Gleason, a US Digital Digital Service employee during Trump's first term, is leading DOGE on an interim basis. Musk remains closely linked to DOGE, as evident by Trump's decision to have him speak during a cabinet meeting.

There is an ongoing Ebola outbreak.

Uganda's health ministry official declared on January 29 that there was an Ebola outbreak linked to the Sudan virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel notice earlier this month, restating that no US Ebola cases have been reported. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) conducted a number of health-related programs around the world.

Musk previously said that USAID was put "through the wood chipper." It is now being reorganized under the State Department. A State Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, a Democrat, criticized Musk's apparent admittance of the oversight.

"An average person who did something as incompetent as 'accidentally cancelling Ebola prevention' wouldn't be applauded, they'd be fired," Beyer wrote on X. "Musk is failing up in this administration because he didn't earn his job, he bought it. It's corrupt, and risks Americans' health and safety."

• The White House released the name of the DOGE office's acting administrator.
• It's Amy Gleason, a former nurse who has spent decades in the medical records space.
• For weeks, it was unclear who, if anyone, occupied the position.

The White House on Tuesday named Amy Gleason as the acting administrator of the White House DOGE office following weeks of confusion over who was leading the agency.

A White House official confirmed Gleason's role to Business Insider. As of early Tuesday evening, Gleason hadn't publicly commented on the appointment, and her account on X was private. In her bio, she identified herself as formerly part of the "COVID response with US Digital Service."

Representatives for the White House, Elon Musk, DOGE, and Gleason didn't respond to requests for comment from BI.

Gleason worked in multiple roles at the United States Digital Service, the Obama-era agency that President Donald Trump rebranded as the US DOGE Service, according to her LinkedIn. She served as a digital services expert at the agency from October 2018 to December 2021 and as a senior advisor starting in January 2025, per the LinkedIn page.

Jonathan Kamens, a former USDS engineer who was fired on February 14, and a current USDS employee both told BI that Gleason rejoined the agency between the election and the inauguration.

"From our view, she has been as surprised by things coming out of DOGE as the rest of us," the current employee said. They said they didn't see her as "part of Musk's crew."

Kamens said he was told Gleason was there to help with the transition to the second Trump administration.

"I would not presume that just because Amy Gleason was named as the DOGE administrator, necessarily means she's been acting as the administrator this whole time," another former USDS employee told BI. "I also would not presume that she's the one who holds the real power over DOGE, just because she was officially named to this role."

Gleason's background stretches into the private sector, too, and even bumps up against the profiles of other White House DOGE office staffers, according to her LinkedIn profile. The page indicates that Gleason worked as the chief product officer at Russell Street Ventures between November 2021 and December 2024, a health industry investment firm founded by Brad Smith, whom BI previously identified as a DOGE employee. Kendall Lindemann, whom BI also identified as working for the DOGE effort, also worked at Russell Street Ventures.

Gleason's path has differed from some of the private sector titans and young engineers involved in the White House DOGE Office, though. She started out as a nurse, according to a 2022 podcast appearance with the company Syllable. Gleason also said on the podcast she previously cofounded a company to help patients with a chronic disease, sparked by the experience of coordinating care after her daughter was diagnosed with a rare illness.

"The rest of my career is mainly electronic medical records all the way back to starting as an ER nurse," Gleason said on the podcast.

Gleason's LinkedIn says she's worked in senior positions at a variety of healthcare companies since the late 1990s.

The Obama White House honored Gleason as a "Champion of Change" for her work in the medical records space.

Though Elon Musk is closely associated with the DOGE office, the White House previously said in a court filing that he isn't the group's leader and instead serves as a senior advisor to Trump. BI previously reported that Musk's title was written as "unlisted" in a White House record.

For weeks, the White House had declined to say whether there was a DOGE administrator — let alone name one. Trump created the position on Inauguration Day. He had previously said Musk would lead the DOGE office, though Musk was never named to the position.

On Tuesday, reporters repeatedly pressed the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, onthe DOGE administrator's identity. After her briefing concluded, Semafor first reported Gleason's role.

Trump is set to hold his first formal cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where Leavitt said he'd be discussing the DOGE office's work.

Musk is expected to be in attendance. It's unclear whether Gleason will be too.

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Jack Newsham contributed to this report.

• A White House official told Business Insider Amy Gleason is the acting DOGE administrator.
• Donald Trump tapped Elon Musk to lead DOGE.
• White House officials have previously said Musk is not the DOGE administrator.

A White House official on Tuesday said that a former US Digital Service official is serving as the acting head of DOGE.

In a statement to Business Insider, a White House official said that Amy Gleason is the acting DOGE administrator, appearing to put to rest a question that has hung over the White House's DOGE office: Who is in charge?

President Donald Trump's Inauguration Day executive order created a DOGE administrator to lead the rebranded US Digital Service. Under penalty of perjury, a White House official recently said in a court filing that Elon Musk was not the administrator nor a DOGE employee. It remains unclear whether there is a DOGE administrator.

Earlier on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, refused to name the DOGE administrator during a back-and-forth with reporters. She also said Musk wasn't the administrator.

"No, Elon Musk is a special government employee," Leavitt said when pressed on the world's richest man's status.

"There are career officials at DOGE. There are political appointees at DOGE. I'm not going to reveal the name of that individual from this podium," she said. "I'm happy to follow up and provide that to you. But we have been incredibly transparent about the way DOGE has been working."

Leavitt also said Trump had "asked Elon Musk to oversee DOGE."

Business Insider followed up with the White House and a DOGE spokesperson. They did not immediately respond to our questions.

The White House has said Musk is a special government employee, a category of federal worker created to bring officials with expertise into the civil service part time. Musk is also a senior advisor to the president.

Trump and Musk have blurred the extent of Musk's power. BI previously reported that Musk's job title was "unlisted."

Musk recently hosted a DOGE update with members of Congress on X, the social media platform he also owns. Trump has told reporters he asked Musk which type of people DOGE had hired. In an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, Musk wielded a chainsaw onstage. His talk was titled "DOGE update."

During the briefing, Leavitt told reporters that Musk would attend Trump's first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"Elon will be in attendance tomorrow just to talk about DOGE's efforts and how all the Cabinet secretaries are identifying waste, fraud, and abuse at their respective agencies," Leavitt said.

It's not just journalists asking about the position. On Monday, US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly asked a Justice Department attorney if there was a DOGE administrator.

"I don't know the answer to that," the counsel responded, according to Lawfare.

Trump's executive order dictates that the administrator answers to the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Twenty-one civil service employees who resigned en masse on Tuesday addressed their letter to Wiles.

In a footnote, they wrote that they addressed their letter to Wiles because "no one has been identified internally as the official Administrator or leader of the United States DOGE Service."

February 25, 2025: This story has been updated to include Gleason's name.

• 21 employees from the agency rebranded the US DOGE Service resigned on Tuesday.
• The signatories said in a joint letter that they refuse to "jeopardize Americans' sensitive data."
• Elon Musk and a spokeswoman for the White House DOGE Office responded to the resignations on X.

Twenty-one civil service employees resigned from the agency that was rebranded the United States DOGE Service on Tuesday, protesting the White House DOGE office's actions.

"We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans' sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services," the employees wrote in their public resignation letter directed to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. "We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE's actions."

The letter, dated February 25, was taken down on Tuesday afternoon without an explanation, though the resignations were not publicly rescinded.

On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump formally turned the Obama-era United States Digital Services into the White House DOGE office. Trump previously appointed Elon Musk to co-lead the effort, but a top White House official recently declared in a legal filing that Musk is not leading DOGE and is instead a senior advisor to Trump.

In their letter, the now-former employees had said that DOGE representatives "began integrating us into their efforts," which the signatories believe were inconsistent with their goals as civil servants.

Jonathan Kamens, a former USDS engineer who was fired on February 14, told BI that he thinks more federal employees are beginning to push back against the White House DOGE office's most recent efforts.

"We are seeing more resistance, we are seeing more overt resistance," he said the day before the group resignation.

Musk took notice of the employees' collective actions and responded on X, writing, "These were Dem political holdovers who refused to return to the office. They would have been fired had they not resigned."

Katie Miller, a spokesperson for the White House DOGE office, also took to X to respond: "These were full remote workers who hung Trans flags from their workplaces."

Harrison Fields, principal deputy press secretary at the White House, issued a statement to BI.

"DOGE has effectively become part of the USDS as a component of the White House, and any leftover career bureaucrats who don't align with the President or DOGE are neither advised nor welcomed to be a part of this never-before-seen mission to make the government more efficient," he said.

The group resignation comes one day after federal employees faced a deadline to list their productivity from the past week. Agencies offered conflicting guidelines on whether or how to respond to the request, and some employees told BI that the experience bred confusion and stress.

Representatives for Trump, Musk, and the White House DOGE office did not respond to BI's request for comment.

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• The Office of Personnel Management asked federal workers to email a list of their accomplishments over the past week.
• A number of federal agencies told their employees that they were not required to respond.
• Some agencies said a response is voluntary, while others said they would respond on employees' behalf.

Some federal agencies' response to Elon Musk's worker productivity email: thanks, but no thanks.

A growing number of agencies are telling their workers that they are not required to respond to the email sent from the Office of Personnel Management over the weekend asking for a list of accomplishments from the past week.

According to emails reviewed by Business Insider, some of the agencies told employees that they would respond to OPM on their behalf. Others said a response is voluntary, and failure to respond will not result in any penalties.

In a post on X on Saturday, Musk said that "failure to respond will be taken as a resignation," but the initial email didn't make the same claim. This comes after a tumultuous past few weeks for federal workers; a number of agencies terminated thousands of employees last week following directions from President Donald Trump and Musk's DOGE to slash government waste.

These are the federal agencies BI has verified that have so far told their workers that they do not need to respond to OPM's email ahead of the 11:59 p.m. Eastern time deadline on Monday night.

Department of Defense

The Department of Defense posted on X on Sunday that its employees should "pause any response" to the OPM's email.

"The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures," the statement said.

Social Security Administration

On Sunday, the Social Security Administration sent an email to its employees telling them that the OPM email is "a legitimate assignment" and those who received it were required to respond.

However, the agency followed up on Monday afternoon telling employees that any response is "voluntary."

"Non-responses are not considered a resignation," the email said.

NASA

NASA emailed its employees on Monday afternoon saying, "You are not required to respond, and there is no impact on your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond."

The agency said it would respond on employees' behalf and that "employees should continue to feel empowered to report their activities and accomplishments" to their supervisors.

Department of Justice

Jolene Ann Lauria, acting assistant attorney general for administration at the DOJ, emailed employees on Monday: "Due to the confidential and sensitive nature of the Department's work, DOJ employees do not need to respond to the email from OPM."

Bloomberg Law reported that this was a reversal of Lauria's earlier guidance that instructed employees to respond to the email.

Department of Agriculture

The USDA told employees on Monday afternoon that responding to the email is "voluntary," and that "there is no penalty for not responding to the request."

The USDA guidance said that those who do choose to respond should refrain from submitting any sensitive or confidential information.

State Department

The State Department told employees that it would respond on behalf of the agency.

"No employee is obligated to report their activities outside of their Department chain of command," the department said.

Department of Energy

The Department of Energy emailed its employees on Sunday night, instructing them to "pause" any responses to the OPM email.

"The Department of Energy is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures," the department said. "When and if required, the Department will provide a coordinated response to the OPM email."

Department of Health and Human Services

The Department of Health and Human Services told employees that based on discussions with OPM officials, they did not need to respond to the initial email.

"OPM has now rescinded that mandatory requirement," HHS said in an email. "There is no HHS expectation that HHS employees respond to OPM and there is no impact to your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond."

The email said that those who do respond should do so "at a high level of generality" and protect sensitive information. They should "assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly."

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• Donald Trump's political operation is cashing in on DOGE.
• Trump's group is selling official Trump DOGE membership cards.
• Some merchandise also features Elon Musk.

President Donald Trump's political operation is selling DOGE membership cards, part of an effort to capitalize on the popularity of the White House DOGE office and Elon Musk's role in it.

"Today, I'm announcing that YOU can become an OFFICIAL TRUMP DOGE MEMBER!" Trump's political operation wrote in an email to supporters Sunday night.

For a minimum $47 donation, supporters can get their name on a black metal card that says "Trump DOGE member." If that is too pricy, there are also Trump DOGE T-shirts. One shirt for $40 depicts Trump and Musk. Another for $28 shows Trump, Musk, and the Shiba Inu dog, which inspired the original doge meme.

The White House's efficiency initiative is one of the most visible parts of Trump's second term.

DOGE has been the subject of numerous lawsuits from federal workers, Democratic state attorneys general, and good government groups. Trump initially appointed Musk to co-lead the "Department of Government Efficiency," though a top White House official recently declared in a legal filing that Musk is not the DOGE administrator. Musk is a senior White House advisor and remains closely linked to DOGE.

Over the weekend, Musk upended federal agencies by claiming that employees would be fired if they did not respond to an email asking, "What did you do last week?" A number of departments have since told federal workers to pause potential responses ahead of the midnight deadline.

Musk spent over $290 million on the 2024 election to elect Trump. Trump and his allies have featured Musk prominently. Trump's emails to supporters often seize on the latest DOGE headline, including Democratic lawmakers' calls for Trump to rein in the world's richest man.

Trump is term-limited out of the White House, but his political operation has remained active. According to Axios, it plans on using the money to back candidates ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Republicans hold narrow majorities in Congress. Historically, incumbent presidents have lost seats in both chambers, though the GOP currently has a much easier path to retaining control of the US Senate.

Trump could also use his war chest to remain active in the GOP once he leaves office in 2029.

• DOGE says it's saved $55 billion in total, documenting some of that on a "wall of receipts" on its website.
• On Tuesday, its website showed $16.5 billion in savings, much of that canceled contracts.
• By Thursday, it had lowered the contract savings amount saved to $7.2 billion, mainly due to an $8 billion error.

The White House Department of Government Efficiency office linked to Elon Musk has lowered its expected savings from canceled federal contracts by about $9.3 billion in the last two days.

A Business Insider review of the "wall of receipts" on doge.gov found that Elon Musk's team has lowered its claimed savings from $16.5 billion on Tuesday to $7.2 billion as of Thursday.

A few changed entries seem to account for nearly all of the difference. Most notably, DOGE initially claimed to have canceled a $8 billion contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The contract was for $8 million. DOGE wrote in a post on X that "the agency contracting officer mistakenly" entered the wrong amount.

Additionally, DOGE initially claimed to save about $2 billion by canceling a trio of USAID deals worth $655 million each. Now, that contract only appears once — amounting to another $1.3 billion reduction.

According to a White House official, "DOGE reports both the 'ceiling value' and the 'savings value'" and calculates savings by subtracting already obligated funds from a contract's total award value. The official told BI this method is "actually conservative because DOGE does not take credit for recovered obligated funds" and "does not assume any administrative savings in its calculations."

Musk told reporters last week that sometimes he'll get things incorrect.

"Nobody's going to bat a thousand," Musk said during an appearance alongside Trump in the Oval Office. "We will make mistakes. But we'll act quickly to correct any mistakes."

DOGE's total estimated savings are $55 billion, according to the summary on its site, which it called a combination of "fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings."

However, so far DOGE's website doesn't include any estimates for savings from anything except "contract/lease cancellations."

Musk told Fox News host Sean Hannity during a joint interview with the president that DOGE aims to cut at least $1 trillion from the federal deficit.

• Donald Trump told reporters that someone would "make sure" gold is still in Fort Knox.
• The Treasury Department already audits the stockpile every year.
• "All the gold is there," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk want to know if the American people have been fooled about the amount of gold that remains at Fort Knox.

"We're going to go to Fort Knox, the fabled Fort Knox, to make sure the gold is there," Trump told reporters Wednesday while aboard Air Force One.

Musk wrote multiple posts on X earlier this week before Trump broached auditing the famed base, which houses the US Treasury's bullion reserves.

"It would be cool to do a live video walkthrough of Fort Knox!" Musk wrote in a reply to far-right radio host Alex Jones on February 17. Later that day, he again posted about the base.

"Who is confirming that gold wasn't stolen from Fort Knox?" Musk wrote. "Maybe it's there, maybe it's not."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the department already audits the stockpile every year.

"I don't have any plans to go to Kentucky," Bessent told Bloomberg TV on Thursday. "I can tell the American people on camera right now, there was a report, September 30th, 2024, all the the gold is there. Any US senator who wants to come and visit it can arrange a visit through our office."

According to the US Mint, 147.3 million ounces, about half of the Treasury's reserves, are stored at Fort Knox. The website further states that there hasn't been a removal of large amounts of gold in years.

"The only gold removed has been very small quantities used to test the purity of gold during regularly scheduled audits," the site reads. "Except for these samples, no gold has been transferred to or from the Depository for many years."

It's unclear where Trump and Musk think the gold might have gone. Over the years, there have been various conspiracy theories that the gold reserves have been depleted.

When asked what may have happened to the gold, Trump didn't get into specifics.

"If the gold isn't there, we're going to be very upset," the president said.

Fort Knox's reserves are closed to the public. It remains to be seen if Musk's Department of Government Efficiency will get a peak.

It's unlikely such an examination would be broadcast.

"Only a few know the actual structure and content of the facility, and no one person knows all the procedures to open the vault," the US Mint site reads.

• President Donald Trump endorsed a House GOP budget plan Wednesday.
• Republicans' outline would likely lead to billions in cuts to Medicaid, which insures 70 million.
• In an interview alongside Elon Musk that aired Tuesday night, Trump said he wouldn't touch Medicaid.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday endorsed a House Republican budget plan that could cut billions from Medicaid, just hours after pledging that the healthcare program for millions of disabled and low-income Americans would not be touched.

Republican leaders have called for massive spending cuts to finance trillions in tax cuts and other provisions. House conservatives won a major concession last week, passing a budget blueprint that ties the size of the proposed tax cuts to the size of spending cuts. If Republicans don't cut enough spending, their outline would likely not allow for all of Trump's promises, including ending taxes on tips and overtime pay.

During an interview alongside his senior advisor Elon Musk, Trump said he would not touch Medicaid. He has pledged not to cut Social Security or Medicare, the largest federal government programs, though his administration has recently targeted Social Security over fraud suspicions.

"Medicare, Medicaid, none of that stuff is going to be touched," Trump told the Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired on Tuesday night.

Senate Democrats criticized Trump's embrace of the House GOP blueprint.

"Last night, the president said, 'I'm not touching Medicare, Medicaid, the VA," Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin told reporters at the Capitol. "By this morning, he endorsed the House budget resolution, which paves the way for massive cuts to Medicaid."

Trump previously said he would "love and cherish" Medicaid, which insures over 70 million Americans, according to October data. The federal government covers most of the cost of the program, which was created in the same 1965 law that birthed Medicare, a separate program for Americans 65 and older.

The White House said the Trump administration remains committed to Medicaid while pursuing changes that could alter the program.

"The Trump administration is committed to protecting Medicare and Medicaid while slashing the waste, fraud, and abuse within those programs — reforms that will increase efficiency and improve care for beneficiaries," White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement on Wednesday.

Last week, the House Budget Committee released its budget draft, which outlined about $2 trillion in spending cuts. These included a proposed $880 billion in spending cuts from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which would extend for a decade.

It's likely these cuts would target Medicaid. The program covers healthcare services for lower-income Americans of all ages, accounting for about $872 billion in spending in 2023.

Some GOP leaders have suggested implementing per-capita caps on Medicaid, which could save up to $900 billion, a House Budget Committee proposal said. Cuts to Medicaid would likely reduce services or prompt a search for other funding methods, which could affect millions of recipients.

Trump's statement comes as congressional Republicans tussle over how to best proceed with the special budget process that allows them to extend Trump's 2017 tax plan, fund stiffer immigration enforcement, and potentially pass a plan for no taxes on tips, all without requiring the support of a single Democratic lawmaker. Known as reconciliation, the process is likely Trump's best avenue to pass the bulk of his domestic agenda, given Republicans' thin majorities in Congress.

Senate Republicans have a competing plan, which does not include tax cuts. Under their proposal, the GOP would return to extending tax cuts and passing additional ones later this year. Senate Republicans were expected to move forward with their proposal before Trump posted Wednesday on Truth Social his praise of the House version of the bill in comparison with the Senate's.

• A recent White House court filing says Elon Musk lacks any "actual or formal authority."
• Musk isn't technically DOGE's leader, and his job title is "unlisted," as BI previously reported.
• A recent email sent to the newly rebranded DOGE agency didn't identify the leader.

Elon Musk is often called the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency. But a recent White House court filing said the assumed leader of DOGE had "no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself."

"In his role as Senior Advisor to the President, Mr. Musk has no greater authority than other senior White House advisors," Joshua Fisher, the director of the Office of Administration, wrote in the filing. "Like other senior White House advisors, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself."

Fisher wrote that Musk's position was akin to the senior advisor Anita Dunn's role in President Joe Biden's White House.

Later Tuesday afternoon, Trump told reporters that Musk could be called "whatever you want."

"Elon is to me a patriot," Trump said after signing a series of executive orders at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. "You could call him an employee, you could call him a consultant, you could call him whatever you want."

Musk's job title, according to a White House record, is "unlisted," as Business Insider previously reported. When Trump created DOGE via executive order, he incorporated it into the White House by turning the US Digital Service into the US DOGE Service. The executive order said an "administrator" would lead DOGE but didn't identify the person in the role.

Monday's court filing leaves little up for debate about Musk's relationship to DOGE.

"He is not an employee of the US DOGE Service or US DOGE Service Temporary Organization," it said. "Mr. Musk is not the US DOGE Service Administrator."

A return-to-work email sent from an email account called "admin" to USDS employees didn't shed any light on who was leading the commission. The email, a copy of which BI reviewed, notified all staffers that they must begin working in person by April 15 but didn't specify who was leading the rebranded USDS. The "admin" email was signed "US DOGE Service."

Early this month, a White House spokesman told BI that Musk was a special government employee, a title that exempts him from the typical ethics and conflict-of-interest rules that federal workers face. He won't be paid and can't serve for more than 130 days in a year.

Official title — or lack thereof — aside, Musk and DOGE are sending shockwaves throughout the federal government, cutting entire agencies and terminating federal employees.

DOGE's organizational structure carries importance beyond just how Musk and its staffers do their business.

Katie Miller, a spokesperson for DOGE, has said on X that since the group is part of the Executive Office of the President, its records are subject to the Presidential Records Act. By making such a claim, the White House would effectively seal DOGE's records until at least five years after Trump leaves office in 2029.

DOGE is scheduled to complete its work by July 4, 2026, in time for the 250th anniversary of the US's independence.

Representatives for the White House, Musk, and DOGE did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

Jack Newsham contributed reporting.

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