Trump admin live updates: Layoffs begin at HHS, including at the FDA and CDC
President Donald Trump said Monday he would “love” to run against former President Barack Obama when asked about a hypothetical matchup. Though the Constitution prevents a third term in office, Trump did not rule out seeking one when asked by NBC on Sunday.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump told NBC. He later told reporters on Air Force One, “I don’t want to talk about a third term right now … No matter how you look at it, we got a long time to go.”
Meanwhile, tariffs on imported autos are to go into effect on Wednesday. While economists predict Trump’s tariffs will raise prices in the U.S., Trump told reporters Sunday that automakers “are going to make a lot of money,” suggesting the measures would encourage companies “to build in the United States.”
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Trump to sign executive orders, Leavitt to hold briefing
President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign more executive orders at 3:30 p.m. ET.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will hold a noon ET briefing, where she’s expected to be peppered with on the next batch of tariffs to be unveiled on Wednesday — a day the administration is calling “Liberation Day.” So far, the administration has released few details about what is to come.
Layoffs begin at HHS, including at the FDA and CDC
ABC News can confirm that layoffs have begun at the Department of Health and Human Services, including at the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Up to 10,000 people are expected to lose their jobs in this round of layoffs, an amount that could significantly alter the department’s roles and abilities. That’s in addition to the nearly 10,000 who have already left the agency in the last few months through buyout offers or early retirements.
At least some employees being laid off were told they were being immediately placed on administrative leave and losing access to their office starting today, April 1.
Trump says Musk will be back after he leaves White House
Asked if he wanted to keep Elon Musk in the White House after his 130-day term as a special government employee expires, Trump said Musk would return at some point.
“Well, I think he’s an amazing. But I also think he’s got a big company to run. And so, at some point he’s going to be going back. He wants to,” Trump said.
“Oh, I’d keep him as long as I can keep him. He’s a very talented guy. You know, I love very smart people. He’s very smart, and he’s done a good job,” Trump said, pointing to the “400 billion, 500 billion” that the Department of Government Efficiency has saved the government.
DOGE’s website currently puts the savings at $140 billion, though largely without receipts.
Trump offers no new details on tariffs
When asked about what Wednesday’s sweeping tariffs set to go into effect on Wednesday would look like, Trump said that Americans would “see in two days.”
Though Trump was light on specifics, he seemed to indicate that the tariffs might be lower than those imposed by other countries on the U.S.
“So, whatever they charge us, we charge them. But we’re being nicer than they were,” he said. “We have a lot of countries, friend and foe. I always say friend and foe, but the friend in many cases is worse than the foe. They took advantage of us. And, we are going to be very nice by comparison to what they were. The numbers will be lower than what they’ve been charging us, and in some cases, maybe substantially lower.”
When asked whether any countries might be exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, Trump said “it depends,” and seemed to indicate he wouldn’t target countries that had smaller trade deficits with the U.S.
Asked by ABC News’ Karen Travers if he’s heard any concerns from automakers about the pending tariffs, especially after a meeting today with the chairman of Stellantis, Trump said no.
“Well, I gave them a big break for a month. I didn’t charge them anything, you know, for a big month, for that first month, and they brought a lot of material into this country, because they could bring it in with that tariff,” Trump said.
Travers also pressed Trump on news that China, South Korea and Japan are working together to respond to U.S. tariffs, asking if he was concerned that the tariffs would push allies closer to China. Trump said he was not aware of that news, but did brush off the concerns.
Trump says he would ‘love’ to run against Obama in 2028
Despite the constitutional two-term limit, Trump mused about running against former President Barack Obama in the 2028 presidential election.
“Boy, I’d love that — that would be a good one,” Trump said Monday
Trump has often mused, and even joked, about seeking a third term. On Sunday, he told NBC News’ Kristen Welker, “I’m not joking,” about a third term.
On Monday, he downplayed a third term.
“No,people are asking me to run, and there’s a whole story about running for a third term. I don’t know, I never looked into it. They do say there is a way you can do it, but I don’t know about that. But I have not looked
into it.”
