Thursday Briefing: Trump reverses spending freeze

Plus, a plane crash near Washington, D.C.

View in browser|nytimes.com January 30, 2025 By Natasha Frost Good morning. We're covering President Trump's reversal on a spending freeze and Russian gains in eastern Ukraine. Plus: What our correspondent learned from DeepSeek's chatbot. President Trump reversed an order to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans. Doug Mills/The New York Times Trump reversed an order to freeze federal funds The White House yesterday walked back President Trump's order to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans. A federal judge had on Tuesday temporarily blocked the order after it caused mass confusion across the country. The Trump administration had struggled to explain the funding freeze, a decision that interrupted the Medicaid system, which provides health care to millions of low-income Americans. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, wrote on social media that "This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze." She said the president's executive orders on federal funding "remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented." The decision by the Trump administration to pull the directive was a significant reversal. Democratic leaders celebrated the announcement. Grilling: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick for health secretary, faced tough questions and struggled to convince senators that he was not against vaccines during confirmation hearings in Washington. Kennedy — who has been vocally skeptical of vaccines, supports unorthodox diets and has spouted conspiracy theories — is one of Trump's most polarizing choices. Guantánamo Bay: Trump has ordered his administration to prepare to house 30,000 "criminal aliens" at the Navy base. In recent weeks, about 40,000 immigrants have been held in private detention centers and local jails around the country. More on Trump Trump signed his first bill into law, directing the authorities to detain and deport immigrants who are accused of specific crimes if they are in the country illegally. President Trump has abruptly fired dozens of officials in ways that apparently violated federal laws. The possibility of lawsuits may be exactly what his lawyers are hoping for. Prosecutors moved to drop the classified documents case against two of Trump's co-defendants. Howard Lutnick, whom Trump picked to lead the Commerce Department, said he would take a tough stance on tech sales to China. The president has moved with lightning speed to purge officials he deems disloyal and rid agencies of policies he considers liberal. A new portrait of Melania Trump, the first lady, breaks with tradition. A Ukrainian soldier speaking to a civilian in March 2023 while patrolling Velyka Novosilka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Maria Senovilla/EPA, via Shutterstock Russian forces seized another town in Ukraine Building on their momentum, Russian forces have seized control of yet another small town in eastern Ukraine, military experts say — another step in their grinding push to conquer the entire Donetsk region. Battlefield maps from independent groups show that the town, Velyka Novosilka, is now under Russian control, and the Kremlin claimed its capture on Sunday. Ukraine's military acknowledged its withdrawal from most of the town but said that its troops maintained a foothold on the northern outskirts. Context: The gain, though modest, underscores the effectiveness of a Moscow's tactics in eastern Ukraine: using its overwhelming personnel advantage to attack relentlessly, gradually trapping Ukrainian forces in a pincer movement and forcing them to retreat to avoid encirclement. A plane crashed near Washington after colliding with an Army helicopter. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images A plane crashed near Washington, D.C. An American Airlines passenger plane collided with an Army helicopter before crashing in the Potomac River yesterday evening near Washington, D.C., the authorities said. All takeoffs and landings were halted at Ronald Reagan National Airport nearby. Dozens of people were reported to have been on the flight, but there was no immediate information about casualties. MORE TOP NEWS Kevin Frayer/Getty Images Lunar New Year: See how people across the world welcomed the Year of the Snake. Africa: Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have officially left the West African alliance known as ECOWAS. Britain: The country's top finance official laid out plans to strengthen the economy that included a push to build another runway at Heathrow Airport. Elon Musk: Three weeks after a very public rift, the populist British politician Nigel Farage said that his relationship with the tech billionaire was "fine." Australia: The parents of a diabetic girl who died just shy of her ninth birthday, and a dozen members of their religious sect, were found guilty of manslaughter for withholding insulin. Philippines: A watchdog group said it had identified scores of Catholic priests who had been accused of sexually abusing children and found that many remained in active ministry. U.S.: American children's reading ability has continued to deteriorate after widespread learning losses during the pandemic. Japan: Armed with measuring devices, groups of citizen scientists monitor radioactive fallout around Fukushima — and regain control of lives upended by the 2011 meltdowns. Business: Kenichiro Yoshida, the chief executive of Sony since 2018, is stepping down and will be succeeded by the company's chief financial officer. Middle East Gaza: Hamas will release eight hostages today — three Israelis and five Thai nationals, Israeli officials said. In exchange, Israel is expected to release more than 100 Palestinian prisoners. Cease-fire: In the final hours before the truce took effect, many lost their lives in the confusion over when the fighting would actually stop. Diplomacy: Steven Witkoff, President Trump's envoy to the Middle East, met with Israel's prime minister yesterday and also visited Gaza. Syria: The rebel coalition that seized control has appointed its leader, Ahmed al-Shara, as president of the country to preside over a transitional period, Syrian state media reported. SPORTS NEWS Soccer: Manchester United tapped a world-renowned track and field coach to consult on athletics, including the mechanics of running. Champions League: Liverpool finished at the top of the pile in the inaugural group phase. Catch up on the latest. Tennis: Why does Madison Keys's win at the Australian Open prevent her from playing in the W.T.A. tournament in Austin, Texas? Formula 1: Johnny Herbert has left his job as a race steward after the role was deemed "incompatible" with his duties as a commentator. MORNING READ Seuk Kim left behind a finance career to chase his dream of becoming a pilot. Late last year, he took off with four shelter dogs on board — a trip that would see only some of its passengers make it home safely. Lives lived: Mauricio Funes, a former president of El Salvador who fled to Nicaragua to escape corruption investigations, died at 65. CONVERSATION STARTERS Losing it on air: When "Saturday Night Live" cast members can't help laughing. Where are you really from? In a world where people are more mobile than ever, nations are struggling to recalibrate who should be a citizen. Life's ingredients: Samples that NASA collected from an asteroid contain hints that our planet may not be so special. Bridget Jones: The rom-com heroine, whose latest installment premieres next month, reveals a surprising amount about how we talk about women. TECHNOLOGY DeepSeek A Chinese chatbot argues with itself As DeepSeek rattled markets this week with its new chatbot, my colleague Vivian Wang had a question: Given that the start-up is from China, how does it navigate Beijing's censorship? "I was absolutely fascinated by the way the chatbot talked to itself during the reasoning process as it tried to negotiate with itself what was and wasn't acceptable to share," Vivian said, after testing it out. "It felt a little like watching someone argue with themselves." DeepSeek was far less censored than most Chinese platforms, but it also couldn't answer questions like, "Who is Xi Jinping?" Read more about Vivian's test. Other news about DeepSeek: Meta was criticized for giving away its core A.I. technology for anyone to use. Now that bet is having an impact. OpenAI claims that its Chinese rival violated its terms of service by harvesting large amounts of data from its A.I technologies. Who is Liang Wenfeng, the engineer who founded DeepSeek? We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. RECOMMENDATIONS Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Cook: This stunning Singaporean chicken curry is well worth the effort. Read: "Babylonia" by Costanza Casati is one of four new historical novels we recommend. Listen: Neil Young, Japanese Breakfast and Central Cee are on our pop critic's latest playlist. Understand: Here are seven big questions about cancer that scientists have begun to answer. Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today's Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here. That's it for today's briefing. And a correction: Yesterday's briefing incorrectly identified a tourist destination in a photo as being in Croatia. It was in Copenhagen. See you tomorrow. — Natasha Reach Natasha and the team at briefing@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Morning Briefing: Europe Edition from The New York Times. To stop receiving Morning Briefing: Europe Edition, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018