Trump 2nd term live updates: Trump defends tariffs, declines to comment on Ukraine aid

President Donald Trump said in a new post on his social media platform Thursday that a combination of DOGE and heads of federal agencies will take a "scalpel" approach when it comes to federal cuts rather than using a "hatchet."

Trump shared that he, his Cabinet secretaries and Elon Musk had a meeting Thursday.

"We're going to have these meetings every two weeks until that aspect of this very necessary job is done. The relationships between everybody in that room are extraordinary," he said.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie

A federal judge denied a request Thursday to expedite a case challenging the legality of the Department of Government Efficiency after President Donald Trump's address to Congress inserted confusion about who exactly is running the cost-cutting group.

"Plaintiffs have not explained, with clarity, the nature of any emergency here that would require the Court to compel Defendants to respond more rapidly than the default rules provide for," U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb wrote in an order.

Cobb, a Biden appointee, did not mention the apparent contradiction in Trump's speech in her order.

Lawyers representing DOGE argued that speeding up the case would be "infeasible," and the case is now on track for a potential hearing later this month.

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said teams from the U.S. and Ukraine will hopefully meet next week.

“The Ukrainian and American teams have renewed their work, and we hope next week we will have a substantive meeting,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

Andrii Yermak, the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, will go to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to meet with U.S. officials to discuss possible peace talks between Ukraine and Russia on Tuesday, a source in Zelenskyy’s office told ABC News.

Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, Foreign Affairs and military representatives may also attend the meeting, the source said.

It is unclear if anything will be signed at the meeting, but the source confirmed that the meeting will be about the peace talks.

--ABC News' Patrick Reevell and Oleksiy Pshemyskiy

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her call with President Donald Trump was "very respectful" in a press conference Thursday after the phone call.

At first, Trump said he wasn't going to change or delay the tariffs, but after she showed him how fentanyl crossing into the United States has decreased from January to February and how the additional 10,000 Mexican troops at the US-Mexico border is helping, as well as noted that Mexico sent back 29 people the U.S. wanted for various crimes, he changed his mind, Sheinbaum said.

"He didn't know this chart until we sent it to him," Sheinbaum said.

Sheinbaum repeatedly said it is her job to stand up for the people of Mexico.

She also said Mexico needs to develop its own production and manufacturing more so it isn't relying on the U.S. as much.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman