US updates: Judge halts Trump bid to change citizenship law

Donald Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the new president's "immediate foreign policy priorities" with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in a Wednesday phone call, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

"Secretary Rubio reinforced the US commitment to NATO and the continued importance of the alliance to international security," Bruce said.  "The Secretary and Secretary General Rutte discussed the importance of having capable defense allies and real burden sharing."

The pair also discussed the importance of ending Russia's war against Ukraine and the need for a peaceful solution. They agreed as well that "the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific are inextricably linked," stressing the need for greater cooperation.

The State Department statement comes after Trump said he was unsure whether the US should contribute any funding to NATO adding that military alliances members were "not protecting us."

US President Donald Trump signed another flurry of executive orders, pardons and presidential decrees in the Oval Office on Thursday.

He pardoned 23 anti-abortion protesters imprisoned under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which was enacted in 1994 in large part to protect people entering abortion clinics. The pardons came a day ahead of a major anti-abortion march in Washington, DC.

Trump signed a memorandum calling for a plan to recognize the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. While the tribe is recognized as a Native American tribe by the state of North Carolina, it has been denied full recognition by the US government.

An aide said Trump also signed an executive order that aimed to "make America the world capital in artificial intelligence."

Finally, he also signed an executive order for the director of national intelligence and attorney general to declassify records connected to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Everything will be revealed," Trump told reporters.

US President Donald Trump said he was unsure whether the United States should contribute any funding to NATO. He said that the United States protected other alliance members but that NATO members were "not protecting us."

"I'm not sure we should be spending anything, but we should certainly be helping them," Trump told reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office. "We're protecting them. They're not protecting us."

Trump, like other US presidents, has long called on NATO members to spend more of the gross domestic product on defense. For years, the target has been 2% of GDP. Trump has said that percentage should be upped to 5% — a level none of the alliance members has reached, including the United States.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called such a target too costly.

A federal judge in Seattle has temporarily blocked Trump's order to end the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship regardless of the parents' immigration status.

US District Judge John C. Coughenour ruled that the president's attempt to deny US citizenship to children born in the United States was "blatantly unconstitutional."

"I am having trouble understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that this order is constitutional," Coughenour told a Justice Department lawyer defending the order. "It just boggles my mind."

The case is one of five lawsuits brought by 22 states and several immigrant rights groups.

Those suing against the presidential order argue it violates the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which says that anyone born in the United States is a citizen.

The Justice Department has said the order represented an "integral part" of Trump's effort "to address this nation's broken immigration system and the ongoing crisis at the southern border."

If allowed the stand, the order would mean children born after February 19 to mothers or fathers who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents could be deported and would not be allowed to receive Social Security numbers, government benefits or the right to work lawfully when they are older. 

Trump said the government will appeal the ruling.

Trump told political and business leaders gathered in Davos that he would like to have a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the Russian war in Ukraine.

"I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon to get that war ended," Trump said. "And that’s not from the standpoint of economy or anything else. It’s from the standpoint of millions of lives are being wasted." 

Trump also said he hoped China would contribute to bringing about an end to the war in Ukraine.

"They have a great deal of power over that situation," he said. 

During his speech in Davos, Trump detailed his complaints about regulations put in place by the European Union. He said US countries faced restrictive regulation and high taxes on imports to the EU. 

Trump said the 27-nation bloc treated the United States "very unfairly" and "very badly." He added that he would not longer accept the US trade deficit with the EU and accused EU countries of refusing to buy US agricultural products and cars.

"I'm trying to be constructive because I love Europe," he said. I love the countries of Europe, but the process is a very cumbersome one, and they do treat the United States of America very, very unfairly."

Trump had said he would place tariffs on several countries on his first day in office, but so far he has not done so and instead called for US agencies to evaluate what tariffs or other trade measures should be enacted.

Also during his Davos speech, Trump said that "efforts to secure peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine are now hopefully underway."

Trump has tasked retired General Keith Kellogg with finding an end the conflict in Ukraine in 100 days.

He also claimed that a drop in the price of oil would "immediately" end the Russian war in Ukraine.

"If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately," he said. 

The new US president called on NATO countries to "increase defense spending to 5% of GDP."

US President Donald Trump began his bravado-filled and self-praising speech to Davos leaders with attacks on former President Joe Biden's administration.

He accused Biden of losing control with inflation and illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border and said he had "taken rapid action to reverse radical left policies." He also touted his executive order taking the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change.  

Trump claimed that "economic confidence" is soaring in the US after his election. He said his message to the business community is to "make your product in America." 

Additionally, he promised the largest tax cut in US history and told international businesses moving to the US they would see the lowest taxes of nearly "any nation on earth." 

"Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth," Trump said. 

"But if you don't make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then, very simply, you will have to pay a tariff, differing amounts, but a tariff which will direct hundreds of billions of dollars, and even trillions of dollars, into our Treasury to strengthen our economy and pay down debt."

US President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in the first call with a foreign leader during his presidency. 

A readout of the call was provided by the Saudi Foreign Ministry. During the discussion, MBS congratulated Trump and discussed "ways for cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America to promote peace, security and stability in the Middle East, in addition to enhancing bilateral cooperation to combat terrorism."

MBS also said Saudi Arabia intends "to broaden its investments and trade with the United States over the next four years to the amount of $600 billion (€576.5 billion) and potentially beyond that." 

Later, during his speech to business leaders in Davos, Trump said that he would ask Saudi Arabia to invest $1 trillion in the United States.

"I'll be asking the crown prince, who's a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion," Trump said in a speech carried by video at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "I think they'll do that because we've been very good to them."

During his first term in office from 2017 to 2021, Trump emphasized a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia. There were numerous reports that Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner would communicate frequently with MBS via WhatsApp, prompting cybersecurity concerns.

In 2018, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered after he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. During that time, questions swirled that MBS had ordered the killing, with the Trump administration shrugging off the assassination and working to protect the US-Saudi relationship from criticism.

After Trump left office, a golf series funded by Saudi Arabia held a tournament in 2022 at one of Trump's properties in New Jersey, known as LIV Golf Bedminster. LIV Golf will host another tournament at Trump's Doral Resort this year in April during his second term.

Earlier at Davos, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha reacted positively to Trump's messages towards Russia regarding the invasion of Ukraine. Trump has threatened Russia with sanctions and tariffs if it doesn't move towards a deal to end the war.

In a Wednesday post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump had urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to "stop thie ridiculous war" or face consequences. 

"We do really welcome such strong messages from President Trump and we believe that he will be the winner," Sybiha said. "And we believe that we have an additional change to get new dynamic in diplomatic efforts to end this war." 

On the campaign trail last year, Trump claimed that he would end the war in Ukraine 24 hours after taking office. 

US President Donald Trump will address a gathering of business and political leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. 

It comes as Trump promises another term of his "America First" foreign policy.

The new US president has threatened tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, China and elsewhere, threatening to shake up global commerce. In addition, the Trump administration pulled the United States out of a Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Global Tax Deal. 

He has also taken the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement and called on European nations to spend more on their defense.    

Earlier in the day, World Trade Organization head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on nations to "keep calm" on tariffs. She said she is concerned that a trade war could be "catastrophic."

"Even if a tariff is levied, please keep calm, don't wake up and without the necessary groundwork levy your own," Okonjo-Iweala said at the Davos gathering.

wd/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)