The White House is touting a major Trump announcement on infrastructure.
President Donald Trump has kicked off his second term with a flurry of executive actions on immigration, the economy, DEI and more.
In his first trip since becoming president, Trump on Friday surveyed hurricane damage recovery in North Carolina and is set to visit Los Angeles to witness the devastation from the wildfires.
Meanwhile, the president's attempt to end birthright citizenship faced its first legal test. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the order, calling it unconstitutional.
Trump spoke with reporters as he left the White House Friday morning --- heading to North Carolina to tour areas affected by Hurricane Helene.
The president, joined by first lady Melania Trump, said people in the state were still suffering from the September storm.
"North Carolina has been treated very badly, so we're stopping there," he said.
The Trump administration has shut down processing centers in Central and South American countries that allowed migrants to apply to come to the United States legally.
The move comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending decisions on refugee cases and after the State Department suspended new applications and case processing.
The centers were part of a program started by the Biden administration called the Safe Mobility Initiative, aimed at reducing illegal immigration. Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Ecuador were among the countries that had processing centers.
"Following a decision by the US government, the Safe Mobility Initiative is no longer active," said a message posted to the Safe Mobility Initiative website. "New applications will not be accepted."
Vice President J.D. Vance swore in newly confirmed CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Thursday in the vice president's ceremonial office.
"John is a great patriot, a guy that has the trust of the president, and I think really believes deeply in the mission, first of all, keeping Americans safe, but also doing it in a way that ensures that the American people have confidence in our national intelligence services," Vance said.
Ratcliffe did not give any remarks.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed the State Department to freeze applications in the passport pipeline with "X" selected as the gender identifier, according to internal communications reviewed by ABC News.
The move follows President Donald Trump's executive order titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," which states that "it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female."
Applicants who call into the State Department's National Passport Information Center with questions are being told to wait for new guidance before applying if they can, which the center said will be made available "in the coming days."
The State Department declined to comment on the matter, saying it "does not comment on leaked internal documents."
The Biden administration introduced an option to select "X" instead of male or female on passport applications in 2022.
The State Department doesn't publish data on how many applicants have selected "X" since it was introduced, but the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, estimated at the time that 16,700 people would apply for passports with the "X" identifier each year.
