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Trump admin live updates: Dems react to Hegseth discussing Yemen strike in 2nd chat

The Signal chat included Hegseth's wife, brother and lawyer, sources said.

Last Updated: April 20, 2025, 10:28 PM EDT

President Donald Trump continues to take sweeping executive actions in his second term, including an order this week targeting a senior official from his first administration who became one of his critics.

Focus continues on the legal battle regarding Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a migrant who was living in Maryland when he was wrongfully deported by the administration.

Apr 15, 2025, 11:28 AM EDT

White House aims to cut funding of PBS, NPR, calling it a 'waste'

The White House is looking to ax funding for NPR and PBS, two outlets that it alleges are left-leaning and a "waste" of taxpayer money.

The White House put out a memo Monday night laying out what it claimed was evidence against the two entities in a list of reporting that it said is "trash that passes for 'news.'"

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, April 14, 2025.
AP

The list included a PBS documentary that it alleged was "making the case for reparations," a segment on PBS' Washington Week that it said "covered up Joe Biden’s clear mental decline" and a laundry list of stories exploring LGBT issues and racial identity.

The memo did not actually indicate its intention to pull funding.

"Eliminating funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would have a devastating impact on American communities across the nation that rely on public radio for trusted local and national news, culture, lifesaving emergency alerts, and public safety information," NPR said in a statement Tuesday morning. "We serve the public interest. It's not just in our name — it's our mission."

The administration intends to ask Congress, through a recession request, to cancel funding from public broadcasting, foreign aid initiatives and other programs that have already been approved, according to the New York Post.

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh

Apr 14, 2025, 9:05 PM EDT

3rd federal judge blocks some deportations under Alien Enemies Act

A third federal judge has temporarily blocked some deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

United States District Judge Charlotte Sweeney entered a temporary order on Monday that bars President Donald Trump's administration from removing any noncitizens located in Colorado who are subject to Trump’s Alien Enemies Act Proclamation.

The order will remain in effect for two weeks, and Sweeney set a hearing for April 21 to consider extending her order. She declined to rule on the lawfulness of the AEA proclamation, instead blocking removals to preserve the court’s jurisdiction as she considers the issue.

The decision marks the third time in the last week that a federal judge has limited deportations under the Alien Enemies Act since the Supreme Court lifted a nationwide order, with judges in New York and Texas last week issuing similar rulings. As a whole, the three decisions appear to form a growing patchwork of district-level protections to limit the use of the Alien Enemies Act in lieu of a nationwide order.

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous and Laura Romero

Apr 14, 2025, 7:31 PM EDT

Signal Houthi chat messages missing from Ratcliffe’s phone

When Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe’s phone was reviewed last month to preserve messages from his Signal application, a CIA official was unable to locate any “substantive messages,” instead finding only the name of the chat and changes to the app’s settings, according to a sworn filing submitted in court Monday evening.

Hurley Blankenship, CIA’s chief data officer, told a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging the use of Signal that he was only able to retrieve "residual administrative content" from Ratcliffe's personal Signal account.

CIA Director, John Ratcliffe testifies before a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on "Worldwide Threats," on Capitol Hill in Washington, Mar. 26, 2025.
Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images

“I used that terminology because the screenshot does not include substantive messages from the Signal chat; rather, it captures the name of the chat, ‘Houthi PC small group’, and reflects administrative notifications from 26 March and 28 March relating to changes in participants' administrative settings in this group chat, such as profile names and message settings,” Blankenship wrote.

The declaration comes after advocacy group American Oversight raised concerns that the settings on some officials’ phones might have triggered the messages to autodelete despite a federal requirement that the communications be preserved.

Officials were able to successfully preserve messages from the devices of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, according to sworn filings.

-ABC News’ Peter Charalambous

Apr 14, 2025, 3:39 PM EDT

Trump tells El Salvador's president 'homegrowns are next'

President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration is looking at the legality of sending U.S. citizens who are convicted of crimes to prisons in El Salvador or other places. The Trump administration has deported hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador since taking office.

While welcoming Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to the Oval Office, before members of the press entered the room, Trump told him to build more prisons as "homegrowns criminals" were next.

"I said homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You gotta build about five more places," Trump said, according to a livestream posted by Bukele's office on X.

President Donald Trump meets with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, April 14, 2025.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Trump later told reporters directly that he was "studying the laws" regarding send American criminals to foreign prisons -- which legal experts have said would be unconstitutional.

"If we can do that, that's good. And I'm talking about violent people. I'm talking about really bad people. Really bad people," Trump added.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

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