Trump updates: White House defends Venezuelans’ deportation amid scrutiny

The Palestinian activist and recent Columbia University graduate, who was detained in the US, says he is being targeted by the US administration for his political beliefs.

“I am a political prisoner,” he wrote in a statement provided to the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

“My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza, which resumed in full force Monday night,” the statement said.

“With January’s ceasefire now broken, parents in Gaza are once again cradling too-small shrouds, and families are forced to weigh starvation and displacement against bombs. It is our moral imperative to persist in the struggle for their complete freedom.”

Khalil, a permanent US resident who took part in Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian protests last spring, was arrested in New York on March 8 by federal immigration authorities.

They reportedly said the US State Department had ordered his green card to be revoked.

Thank you for joining us for coverage of day 57 of Donald Trump’s second term as United States president.

If you would like to learn more about the escalating war of words between Trump and Iran, check out our coverage here.

Curious about how Trump’s foreign aid freeze affected other countries? Dive into this feature, about how the South American country of Colombia is struggling to address the budget shortfall.

And learn how Trump’s decision to deport more than 250 Venezuelans on Saturday has sparked questions of constitutional authority with this explainer.

We hope to see you again soon.

• The administration of US President Donald Trump has defended its decision to deport more than 200 Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador, despite concerns the removal was in direct violation of a court order.
• While denying it violated the court order, the Trump administration also argued the order itself was illegal.
• Trump is preparing to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday as he continues to push for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
• He has also pledged to release files related to the assassination of former President John F Kennedy in 1963.
• The US Institute of Peace, an independent nonprofit, accused representatives from the Department of Government Efficiency of breaking into its building.
• The security detail for Hunter and Ashley Biden, two of former President Joe Biden’s children, has been revoked under Trump’s orders.
• Trump spent much of Monday at the Kennedy Center, the premier performing arts centre in Washington, DC, where he oversaw his first board meeting as the organisation’s chair.

The US Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit, established under the late Republican President Ronald Reagan to promote conflict resolution.

But on Monday, its CEO George Moose accused Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of forcing its way into the institute, despite the fact that the nonprofit does not fall under executive authority.

“DOGE has broken into our building,” Moose said in a news release.

Nevertheless, last week, DOGE representatives appeared at the institute’s headquarters in Washington, DC, attempting to enter the building in an apparent attempt to shut it down.

Trump had named the institute as being on the chopping block, despite the fact that it is privately operated and its workers are not federal employees.

On Monday, The Associated Press noted that police cars were seen outside its headquarters as an apparent escalation of the conflict unfolded.

In a Monday afternoon hearing, Judge James Boasberg weighed whether the Trump administration had defied an order to halt deportations made under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

That act has only been used three times in US history and is reserved for wartime. The last time it was invoked was during World War II.

Trump’s Department of Justice, however, argued that Boasberg’s verbal order on Saturday evening was not binding until it was on paper.

It also said it could not answer some of the judge’s questions, since the deportations allegedly had to do with national security.

“That’s one heck of a stretch, I think,” Boasberg replied at one point.

The Justice Department also questioned whether the judge had jurisdiction over the two planes that transported nearly 250 Venezuelans on Saturday night to El Salvador, since they crossed international waters.

“I’m just asking how you think my equitable powers do not attach to a plane that has departed the US, even if it’s in international airspace,” Boasberg pressed the Justice Department lawyers.

The judge also pledged to record all his decisions immediately on paper.

“I will memorialize this in a written order since, apparently, my oral orders don’t seem to carry much weight,” Boasberg said.

Earlier today, while touring the Kennedy Center, Trump confirmed he planned to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday morning.

“Tomorrow, I’m speaking with President Putin of Russia to save some soldiers who are in deep trouble. They’re captured, essentially. They’re surrounded by Russian soldiers,” Trump said from the performing arts centre.

“ If it wasn’t for me, they wouldn’t be here any longer.”

His words were an apparent reference to the Ukrainian soldiers in the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukraine launched a powerful cross-border offensive in 2024.

But in recent months, Russian forces have regained much of the territory lost in the offensive, and the Kremlin has warned it has some Ukrainian troops surrounded.

Also in his Kennedy Center remarks, Trump once again highlighted a tense interaction he had earlier this month in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he accused of being insufficiently grateful for US support.

“ It was not an easy situation,” Trump said of the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations.  ”You got to see a little glimpse at the Oval Office, but I think they’re doing the right thing right now, and we’re trying to get a peace agreement done.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has announced that lawyers for Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil filed a preliminary injunction demanding his immediate release from immigration detention.

Khalil was arrested on March 8 and threatened with immediate deportation, despite being a permanent US resident, for his role in pro-Palestinian activism. His wife is a US citizen and is currently eight months pregnant../

“Forcing Mahmoud Khalil — a legal permanent resident who has not been accused of committing a single crime — to remain in detention during the birth of his first child is unconscionable,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, in an accompanying statement.

“Protesting a war or criticizing foreign policy is neither illegal, nor grounds for detention.”

The court petition also seeks to prevent Trump from using the 1953 Immigration and Nationality Act to arrest noncitizen students who are involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy.

Since taking office on January 20, Trump has had to address several high-profile airline crashes, including a collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet on January 29 that killed all on board both flights.

Much of the scrutiny has fallen on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Since inauguration day, Chris Rocheleau has led the agency on an interim basis.

But on Monday, Trump announced he had tapped Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford to be the FAA administrator, pending Senate approval.

“Bryan will work with our GREAT Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to strongly reform the Agency, safeguard our exports, and ensure the safety of nearly one billion annual passenger movements,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The US president also announced new boards of visitors for major military academies, composed of close political allies including former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, his valet Walt Nauta, political activist Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon’s daughter Maureen Bannon.

Boards of visitors are independent advisory panels, often composed of a bipartisan group of legislators and veterans. They offer suggestions about how to improve morale and school curriculums.

Earlier today, at a news conference at the Kennedy Center, a reporter asked Trump about the security detail that accompanied Hunter Biden, former President Joe Biden’s son, to South Africa as part of his vacation.

“That will be something I’ll look at this afternoon,” Trump responded. “ So he’s in South Africa. That’s very interesting. All right, I’m going to take a look at that.”

Mere hours later, Trump has announced on his social media platform Truth Social that he will revoke security for both Hunter Biden and his sister Ashley.

“Hunter Biden has had Secret Service protection for an extended period of time, all paid for by the United States Taxpayer. There are as many as 18 people on this Detail, which is ridiculous!” Trump wrote.

“Please be advised that, effective immediately, Hunter Biden will no longer receive Secret Service protection. Likewise, Ashley Biden who has 13 agents will be taken off the list.”

He also criticised Hunter Biden for his choice of a vacation destination: Trump has been in a political feud with South Africa over alleged discrimination towards white Afrikaners.

Trump has revoked the security detail of multiple individuals he considers political opponents, including his own former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his former National Security Advisor John Bolton.

It is the flagship performing arts venue of the US capital, Washington, DC.

But the Kennedy Center has been the site of a shake-up in recent months, as a Trump-appointed board named the president its new chair.

It also fired the centre’s former president, Deborah Rutter, who served in the role for more than a decade.

During his first board meeting on Monday, Trump slammed the Kennedy Center as a fading institution.

“ I never realised this was in such bad shape. I’ve been so busy. I haven’t been able to be here in a long time,” he said.

A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to rehire 132 probationary employees who were fired under the Trump administration.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has called for staffing cuts across the federal government, including at the FAA, which critics say is chronically understaffed.

While Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said none of the 352 fired employees was involved in aviation safety, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union has argued that some of the terminated employees supported aircraft safety inspectors, updated maps and repaired air traffic control centres.

The union applauded Monday’s decision and said the probationary employees should return to work by March 20.

“This is a win for public safety and for a critical workforce dedicated to the FAA’s mission,” the union said.

Migrants and asylum seekers in Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez are waiting for their chance to cross into the US, relying on smugglers amid tighter border controls.

As rising costs and increased surveillance make the crossings riskier, smugglers have turned to TikTok to attract clients, claiming high success rates.

Al Jazeera’s Julia Galiano reports from the Mexican border city.

Trump says his administration will make public about 80,000 pages of documents related to former President John F Kennedy on Tuesday morning.

This year, Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to present a plan to release records related to the assassinations of Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.

On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump repeatedly said that Election Day on November 5 would become known as “liberation day”, should he win.

Now, Trump has named a new “liberation day”: April 2, the day his so-called reciprocal tariffs are slated to take effect.

While he has used the “liberation day” framing as a means of touting his immigration policies – accusing migrants and refugees of “invading” the US – Trump is now deploying the term to accuse economic rivals and allies alike of exploiting the country.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump also used his “liberation day” motif to take a swipe at his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.

“April 2nd is Liberation Day for America, because we will start taking back some of the vast wealth that has been taken from us due to the many weak, incompetent, and perhaps even dishonest politicians who have represented us in the past!” Trump wrote.

The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, in Yemen says at least two boys, aged six and eight, were killed in air strikes on the Yemeni city of Saada on Saturday.

“A 3rd child was injured & the condition of a 4th child is yet to be confirmed,” UNICEF said in a post on social media.

Earlier, US Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon that there were “no credible indications of civilian casualties” in US strikes on Yemen so far.

But Grynkewich said the assessment was continuing.

The UN verified that at least 2 boys aged 6 & 8 were among those killed by the airstrikes that targeted northern Saada 2 nights ago. A 3rd child was injured & the condition of a 4th child is yet to be confirmed. UNICEF calls for the protection of children & civilians at all times

— UNICEF Yemen (@UNICEF_Yemen) March 17, 2025

Speaking from the driveway of the White House, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, has blasted the decision by a federal judge to bar deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

“It is certainly, I would think, without question, the most unlawful order that any district court judge has issued in our lifetimes without even a close second,” Miller told reporters.

“ At a fundamental level, a district court judge has no authority to direct the national security operations of the executive branch.”

Trump’s decision to continue with the deportation of 238 Venezuelans has been criticised for appearing to violate the court’s order, teeing up a potential constitutional crisis.

Miller, however, dismissed such concerns, saying the president was acting at the “apex of his authority”.

“The actions of the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Defense were not in conflict with the judge’s order. But at the same time, it is also true that the judge’s order was patently unlawful, beyond unlawful,” Miller said.

Trump has taken a tour of the Kennedy Center, the premier performing arts venue in the Washington, DC, denouncing the institution as crumbling.

“It’s in tremendous disrepair, as is a lot of the rest of our country —  most of it because of bad management,” Trump said from inside the facility.

He criticised several elements of the theatre’s architecture, including “cubes” used as entrances, underground rooms he felt were useless, and golden columns that he said should have been covered in marble.

“ It’s such a waste of money, such a terrible waste. But we’ll bring it back. We’ll make it great again,” Trump told reporters.

He also slammed the costs of union employees at the facility, after baulking at the price tag of setting up an impromptu Lee Greenwood concert.

Since taking office, Trump has overhauled the Kennedy Center’s leadership, appointing new board members who then elected him chair of the performing arts institution.

Several artists have reacted by cancelling their performances at the prestigious venue. Among the shows that were withdrawn was the hit Broadway musical Hamilton.

“I never liked Hamilton very much. And I never liked it, but we are gonna have some really good shows,” Trump said on Monday, seeming to allude to the cancellation.

As New York City held its 264th annual St Patrick’s Day parade, protesters also gathered to draw attention to the US’s ongoing support for Israel, as it continues to block humanitarian supplies from entering war-torn Gaza.

Many also held signs in support of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, who was taken into custody over his role as a spokesperson for pro-Palestinian student groups.

The US has said it plans to strip Khalil, a green card holder, of his permanent residency in the country. The 30-year-old is married to a US citizen who is eight months pregnant.