Judge blocks Trump’s multi-billion dollar funding freeze

Donald Trump’s order to freeze federal grants and loans has been blocked by a US judge, as the president’s latest executive order took aim at the transgender community. Follow updates.

A US district court judge has temporarily blocked Donald Trump’s freeze on funding for federal aid programs.

“I think there is the specter of irreparable harm,” District Judge Loren AliKhan was quoted as saying by multiple US media outlets at an emergency hearing.

AliKhan scheduled another hearing for Monday US time and blocked implementation of the funding freeze until 5pm on that day.

The order from the White House budget office, issued a week after Mr Trump began his second term, threatens to disrupt hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for everything from local governments to education and small business loans.

It was not clear in the memo, issued by acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Matthew Vaeth, how such a pause on disbursements of funding will work or for how long.

The extraordinary measure follows a similar announcement that US foreign aid is also frozen.

Mr Trump won the presidency in part on promises to dismantle large sections of the US government and to slash spending.

It remained unclear whether the president has authority to halt spending approved by Congress, which under the constitution holds power over the US budget.

US President Donald Trump addresses the 2025 Republican Issues Conference at the Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Florida. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

Democrats immediately accused Mr Trump of a power grab and of putting swathes of the country, which is reliant on federal funds, at risk.

Social Security and Medicare are excluded from this pause.

Areas that might be impacted include “financial assistance for foreign aid, non-governmental organisations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal” — references to racial equality and climate change programs.

“Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities,” Mr Vaeth said.

There was outrage among US senators, who called the move illegal and unconstitutional.

Senator Patty Murray said: “The law is the law — Trump must immediately reverse course, follow the requirements of the law, & ensure the nation’s spending laws are implemented as Congress intended,” she posted on X.

Another senator, Richard Blumenthal, said the “illegal” order will create “havoc” in medical and research facilities, which receive major government funding.

“This is political vandalism. Taking a wrecking ball to federal agencies does nothing to make government more efficient but it is already doing grave damage to people and programs throughout the country,” Senator Chris Van Hollen said on X.

FOLLOW UPDATES BELOW:

TRUMP ORDERS CURB ON GENDER TRANSITIONS FOR MINORS

Mr Trump has signed an executive order to restrict gender transition procedures for people under the age of 19, in his latest move targeting transgender people since returning to office. The order comes the week after the president said in his inauguration speech that his government would only recognise two genders, male and female. “Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children,” said the order.  “This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”  Trump’s order said it would now be US policy that it would “not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.”  These included the what he called “chemical and surgical mutilation” - including puberty blockers, hormones and gender-altering surgery. He added that the government would now “rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”  While there is no US-wide law against gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender youth, Mr Trump ordered an end to any federal backing for such procedures. This includes barring funding for gender transitions under the Medicaid health insurance program for poor families.

FEDERAL WORKERS OFFERED EXIT PACKAGE

The Trump administration has offered federal workers the opportunity to leave their jobs in return for eight months severance, according to a memo sent to staff seen by AFP. The proposal, lauded by Trump advisor Elon Musk in a post on X as a historic “fork in the road,” was sent out to all two million federal workers, according to US media.

A fork in the road https://t.co/vzk1RYbM5u

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2025

GOOGLE TO RENAME GULF OF AMERICA

Google Maps will change the name of The Gulf of Mexico to The Gulf of America in line with Mr Trump’s wishes.

The newly-inaugurated president ordered the name change as part of a lengthy list of executive actions hours after taking office on January 20.

Now Google has revealed it will change the ocean basin’s name once it is officially updated in the US Geographic Names System.

The change will be visible in the US, but the name will remain “Gulf of Mexico” in Mexico.

Outside of the two countries, users will see both names on Google Maps.

The Trump administration’s Interior Department said it had officially also changed the name of the Alaskan peak Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, to Mount McKinley.

Google Maps, which is owned by Alphabet’s Google, will make a similar change with Mount McKinley.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier this month suggested North America be renamed “Mexican America” – a historic name used on an early map of the region.

Florida was the first US state to describe The Gulf of Mexico as The Gulf of America in a weather alert last week.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the United States should be called Mexican America in response to Donald Trump's proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Picture: AFP

TIKTOKERS URGED TO APPLY FOR PRESS PASSES

Donald Trump’s new press secretary invited TikTokers and podcasters to apply for White House press passes, in an effort to reach beyond the mainstream media that the US President often slams.

In her first time at the White House podium, Karoline Leavitt said an additional seat for “new media voices” had been reserved at the front of the cramped briefing room.

Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised traditional media as the “enemy of the people,” and he credits a series of podcast appearances for aiding his return to the White House.

“As the youngest press secretary in history, thanks to President Trump, I take great pride in opening up this room to new media voices,” the 27-year-old Leavitt told a packed briefing room.

“Whether you are a TikTok content creator, a blogger, a podcaster, if you are producing legitimate news content... you will be allowed to apply for press credentials to this White House,” she said.

E. JEAN CARROLL SAYS TRUMP STILL OWES DAMAGES

A lawyer for writer E. Jean Carroll says presidential immunity does not protect Donald Trump from having to pay tens of millions of dollars in damages after being held liable for defaming the magazine columnist.

Carroll, who was awarded $US83.3 million ($133 million) in a defamation judgement last years, has urged the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to uphold the judgment against Mr Trump.

Writer E. Jean Carroll leaves federal court after the verdict in her defamation case in January 2024. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump had asked the court to toss out the verdict because he had immunity as president.

In January 2024, a jury found Mr Trump liable in Carroll’s civil case of repeatedly defaming her after she alleged that he sexually assaulted her in a fitting rom at the famed Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in 1996.

MEXICAN CARTEL ‘EXCHANGES GUNFIRE’ WITH US BORDER AGENTS

US border patrol agents and a Mexican cartel allegedly shot at one another from opposite sides on the border on Monday, local time.

Fox News obtained footage of the extraordinary incident which unfolded around 2pm local time near Fronton, Texas.

US Border Patrol and Mexican cartel members trade gunfire at the Texas border. Picture: Fox News

It was believed the cartel were trying to provide cover for a group of immigrants attempting to cross the border using the Rio Grande river.

No one was hurt in the exchange which went down near a notorious area known as Cartel Island due to its unfortunate high levels of criminal activity.

Reports have emerge of people paying cartels up to $US10K ($A16K) to get them across the US-Mexico border.

Earlier in the month, federal agents shut down a border tunnel used to smuggle drugs into the US.

NYC IMMIGRATION RAIDS BEGIN; MURDERERS, KIDNAPPERS NABBED

Heavily armed federal immigration agents swept through the New York City at dawn on Tuesday, local time, nabbing upwards of 30 accused illegal-migrant killers and traffickers in the first deportation raids under Donald Trump’s crackdown.

New Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, donning a protective vest, joined agents from Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the series of early-morning lighting raids that began with raids in The Bronx.

Ms Noem attended a pre-raid tactical meeting wearing a rose gold Rolex Daytona watch, and filed into an armoured BearCat SWAT vehicle with HSI agents as they shuttled between locations, the New York Post reported.

Just now.

Enforcement operation in NYC. Criminal alien with kidnapping, assault & burglary charges is now in custody - thanks to @ICE.

Dirtbags like this will continue to be removed from our streets. pic.twitter.com/fRpJBdmqSl

— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) January 28, 2025

“Dirtbags like this will continue to be removed from our streets” Ms Noem wrote online, sharing footage of the raids.

“We are doing this right – doing exactly what President @realDonaldTrump promised the American people – making our streets safe.”

The busts targeted migrants with warrants against them for crimes including burglary, menacing, kidnapping, extortion, and various violent acts, police said.

WHITE HOUSE REVEALS SOURCE OF MYSTERY DRONES

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declared at her first briefing that mysterious drones spotted above New Jersey were “not the enemy.”

“After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorised to be flown by FAA for research and various other reasons,” Ms Leavitt said.

“Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.”

PARDONED CAPITOL RIOTER SHOT DEAD

A man who was pardoned by Mr Trump for his role in the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, has been shot dead by a police officer.

Matthew Huttle, from the city of Hobart in Indiana, was killed in an altercation with a sheriff’s deputy who pulled him over while he was driving near the Pulaski County line.

US President Donald Trump signing an executive order for pardons for January 6 offenders shortly after his swearing-in ceremony. Picture: AFP

Matthew Huttle, 42, of Hobart, Indiana, was shot and killed during a traffic stop. Picture: Supplied

The police officer was attempting to arrest the 42-year-old, who was last week granted a pardon from Mr Trump for his role in the attack on the US Capitol, state police said.

“An altercation took place between the suspect and the officer, which resulted in the officer firing his weapon and fatally wounding the suspect,” state police said in a statement.

Huttle was allegedly carrying a gun inside the car, The New York Post reported.

He was one of the nearly 1500 supporters who were last week issued a blanket pardon by Mr Trump for their role in the US Capitol attack.

Supporters of US President Donald Trump outside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Picture: AFP

DONALD TRUMP TO BUILD AN ‘IRON DOME’ FOR AMERICA

Donald Trump said he will soon sign an executive order to start building an “Iron Dome” air defence system for the US, similar to the one that Israel has used to intercept thousands of rockets.

“We need to immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defence shield, which will be able to protect Americans,” Mr Trump told a Republican congressional retreat in Miami.

Mr Trump said the system “will be made right here in the USA.”

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined the Pentagon’s plan to pursue the Iron Dome-style missile defence system, saying, “This is happening quickly.”

The Israeli-made air defence system is heralded for its ability to target and shoot down incoming missiles, which has helped limit damage inside Israel from attacks by Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis throughout the 15-month-old Middle East war.

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth speaks with the media during his first official arrival at the Pentagon. Picture: AFP

Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defence system over the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel, on August 4, 2024. Picture: AFP

TRUMP HINTS AT THIRD TERM

Speaking at the conference in Miami, Mr Trump once again hinted at the idea of serving a third term, saying he was “not 100 per cent sure” he was barred from doing so under the Constitution, which forbids it.

Mr Trump has repeatedly alluded to the possibility that he might go beyond the current two-term limit for US presidents — but while he often strikes a lighthearted tone the remarks remain provocative.

US President Donald Trump on stage alongside Speaker of the House Mike Johnson at the House Republican Members Conference Dinner at Trump National Doral Miami. Picture: AFP

“I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not 100 per cent sure, because I don’t know … I think I’m not allowed to run again,” he told an audience of Congressional Republicans in Miami.

To laughter, Mr Trump turned to Republican House Leader Mike Johnson and added: “I’m not sure, am I allowed to run again? Mike? I better not get you involved in that argument.”

US presidents are limited to two terms in office but Mr Trump has alluded to extending his stay on a number of occasions.

- with Agence France-Presse

Originally published as Judge blocks Trump’s multi-billion dollar funding freeze