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Trump 2nd term live updates: Trump falsely claims Ukraine started war with Russia

White House team meets with delegation from Russia to end the war it started.

ByDavid Brennan, Alexandra Hutzler, and Julia Reinstein
Last Updated: February 18, 2025, 7:08 PM EST

President Donald Trump's administration is continuing its radical effort to cut much of the federal government -- and is being met with dozens of legal challenges.

The Department of Government Efficiency is taking aim at agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration, as the administration argues in court that Elon Musk is not the administrator of the newly-formed entity despite public comments from Trump to the contrary.

Trump, meanwhile, attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while speaking at his Mar-a-Lago home as U.S. officials hold talks with Russia about ending the war in Ukraine that started when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded its neighbor. Zelenskyy was not invited to the talks with Russia.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Feb 18, 2025, 7:07 PM EST

Senate continues to fly through Trump Cabinet confirmation process

The Senate is continuing with its fast-paced confirmation process, voting 51-45 to confirm Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary Tuesday night. All Republicans voted in favor of the nomination. All Democrats voted against it, though two Democrats missed the vote.

Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump's nominee for Commerce Secretary, during his Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation confirmation hearing in the Russell Senate Office Building, Jan. 29, 2025 in Washington.
Allison Dinner/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Lutnick's confirmation marks the 17th member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet to be confirmed in 30 days, surpassing the pace of Biden's Cabinet nominee confirmations. By this point in 2021, the Democratic-led Senate had only confirmed seven of Biden's Cabinet nominees. It took 56 days for the Senate to confirm 17 Biden Cabinet nominees.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa

Feb 18, 2025, 7:07 PM EST

USDA rescinds terminations of employees working on bird flu

Several employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture working on bird flu were notified they had been fired over the weekend.

Now, the USDA is working to rescind those termination letters and "swiftly rectify the situation," the USDA told ABC News in a statement.

In the statement, the USDA noted that "Food Safety and Inspection Service [FSIS] frontline positions are considered public safety positions." The FSIS is a section of the department that works to "ensure food safety and food defense," according to its website.

Amid the spread of bird flu among animals, officials have remained confident the food supply is safe. They have found no evidence of any human getting infected from food and continue to recommend safe food practices such as cooking meat to appropriate temperatures and have recommended avoiding unpasteurized milk.

-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud

Feb 18, 2025, 6:37 PM EST

Kash Patel nomination clears procedural vote in the Senate

The Senate voted 48-45 on Tuesday evening to advance Kash Patel's nomination to serve as FBI director.

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 30, 2025.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has also filed cloture on Patel's nomination, which tees up the Trump pick's final confirmation vote. That vote is expected to occur later this week.

Seven senators were not present for the procedural vote, but Patel advanced because he earned support from a majority of those who were in attendance.
-ABC News' Isabella Murray

Feb 18, 2025, 6:39 PM EST

Most nuclear agency employees rehired, sources tell ABC News

All but 28 of the roughly 300 fired National Nuclear Security Administration employees have been rehired, multiple sources told ABC News.

Many of those terminated employees received the news on Tuesday. Last week, the employees were frantically told their firings were put "on pause" as agency leadership decided who should stay and who should go. Most of those who were fired had administrative roles, sources told ABC News.

The Department of Energy did not respond to a request for comment.

-ABC News' Jay O'Brien

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