US politics live: Trump to sign order banning girls, women from school sports

The US President is set to make good on one of his biggest campaign promises, banning transgender girls and women from partaking in school sports.

US President Donald Trump is gearing up to issue an executive order effectively banning transgender girls and women from participating in female school and college sports events.

White House officials familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal Mr Trump will sign the order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports”, on Wednesday afternoon, making good on one of his biggest campaign promises.

Meanwhile, Beijing has imposed levies on imports of US energy, vehicles and equipment in a return salvo minutes after Mr Trump’s threatened tariffs on Chinese goods came into effect.

Asked if Mr Trump could halt the tariffs on China – as he did on Tuesday after discussions with the leaders of Mexico and Canada – the President’s trade adviser said it was “up to the boss”.

The President will also meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday AEDT to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

And the Senate Intelligence Committee and Senate Finance Committee have, respectively, voted to advance the nominations of Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and Robert F Kennedy Jr to head up the Department of Health and Human Services.

Read on for the latest updates

Originally published as US politics live: Trump to sign order banning girls, women from school sports