10 Takeaways From Week 3 of the Second Trump Administration

US President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Feb. 7, 2025. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s third week back in office was full of major developments on both the domestic front and abroad, with the end of a 60-year federal agency, deals brokered with key U.S. trading partners, and plans to incarcerate certain illegal immigrants overseas.

Beginning on Feb. 3 and ending with his attendance at Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, Trump’s third week also included tariffs on China with key exceptions, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) moving at breakneck speed in its stated goal of rooting out government waste, controversial plans for the Gaza Strip, rules baring transgender athletes from women’s sports, and other notable developments.

While many Republican lawmakers celebrated the executive branch’s efforts last week, some Democrats in Congress are increasingly accusing the Trump administration of breaking federal laws and overstepping congressional oversight, particularly with Elon Musk’s work at DOGE.

Here are 10 takeaways from the third week of the second Trump administration.

1. Deals Struck With Mexico, Canada

After Trump announced broad 25 percent tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian imports, he brokered deals with the two nations’ leaders on Feb. 3 to do their part to strengthen border security in exchange for a pause on those tariffs.

When he announced the tariffs on Feb. 1, Trump cited “the major threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing our citizens, including fentanyl,” and said China, Mexico, and Canada weren’t doing enough to combat the flow of the synthetic opioid.

“Today’s tariff announcement is necessary to hold China, Mexico, and Canada accountable for their promises to halt the flood of poisonous drugs into the United States,” the White House said at the time.

Mexico announced that it would devise a plan to protect its interests, while Canada immediately retaliated with its own 25 percent tariffs on U.S. imports.

Before Trump’s imposed tariffs were due to take effect on Feb. 4, he reached a deal with Canada and Mexico, agreeing to pause the levies for 30 days. Mexico is permanently sending 10,000 troops to its border, and Canada is appointing a “fentanyl czar” to invest more than $100 million in targeting fentanyl trafficking.

2. China Tariffs

Trump also vowed on Feb. 1 to levy 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports on top of existing tariffs that target key products, including semiconductors. China’s ruling communist party retaliated by imposing tariffs on U.S. energy imports and other products, including agricultural machinery and large-engine automobiles.

China said it would implement a 15 percent tariff on coal and liquified natural gas products, as well as 10 percent tariffs on crude oil, both of which would take effect on Feb. 10. China alleged that Trump’s tariffs would violate the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), where the nation filed a formal complaint on Feb. 4. However, the WTO’s committee on dispute settlement has been nonfunctional since December 2019, when Washington refused to approve the appointment of replacement judges citing special treatment for countries like China that allegedly took unfair advantage of WTO’s developing country designation.

The next day, Trump signed an executive order postponing tariffs he recently imposed on low-cost imports, or de minimis packages, from China until the Commerce Department ensures that correct measures, procedures, and systems have been deployed to guarantee proper package processing and duty collection.

Without the tariffs, companies will continue being able to send duty-free goods worth less than $800 to the United States, which has flooded U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with low-value shipments requiring additional processing, inspection, and duties.

3. DOGE Steamrolls Forward Amid Lawsuits

Since DOGE began its ambitious goal of rooting out government waste last month, the advisory commission has drawn the ire of some Democratic lawmakers as it sends teams to audit multiple federal agencies, install advisors, and access data and IT systems.

Those Democrats see DOGE’s efforts as a violation of data privacy and a breach of congressional oversight if the team’s auditing actions lead to changes in federal funding or what agencies continue to operate, which are under Congress’s authority. Republicans have defended DOGE’s goal to cut costs and eliminate wasteful spending.

So far, the DOGE team has accessed IT systems at multiple agencies, including the Treasury Department, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Department of Energy, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

A coalition of labor unions has sued to block access at the U.S. Department of Labor, while the University of California Student Association sued the U.S. Department of Education on Feb. 7, alleging that DOGE staffers are illegally accessing confidential student data.

Trump has applauded DOGE’s efforts, saying that its work is done at his discretion and guidance.

4. Trump Floats Relocating Palestinians From the Gaza Strip

Trump also announced a controversial plan for the Gaza Strip following the conclusion of the war between Israel and Hamas.

In a Feb. 6 post on Truth Social, Trump suggested that Israel would turn over the Gaza Strip to the United States “at the conclusion of fighting” and that Palestinians “would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region.”

“The U.S. ... would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth. No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!” the president wrote.

This led to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarifying that countries like Egypt and Jordan would have to agree to accept millions of Gazans temporarily so the United States “can rebuild their home,” calling the war-torn territory a “demolition site.”

Some key Republican lawmakers seemed less than thrilled by the proposal, including Sens. Linsey Graham (R-S.C.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). Hawley told The New York Times that he does not “think it’s the best use of United States resources to spend a bunch of money in Gaza” and would “prefer that [money] be spent in the United States first.”

5. The End of USAID

This week also saw the de facto end of a 60-year-old government agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

On Feb. 3, the Trump administration closed USAID’s offices and placed most of its employees on administrative leave, appointing Secretary of State Marco Rubio as acting director of the State Department agency. USAID’s Washington offices in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center were stripped of exterior signage.

The next day, the president said the agency may be shuttered and its functions permanently transferred to the State Department.

On Feb. 7, a judge issued a temporary injunction against immediately firing around 2,200 employees.

Trump and other Republicans have long been critical of the agency, created by an executive order signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to advance U.S. foreign policy by offering developing nations technical assistance, helping with education and health care, and providing disaster relief.

Rubio has described the current changes as more in line with a reorganization, rather than termination, of the United States’ foreign aid efforts.

“This is not about getting rid of foreign aid,” Rubio said in a televised interview on Fox.

The state secretary explained earlier on The Megyn Kelly Show, “On USAID, 12 cents of every dollar ultimately reached the end recipient. That means the rest of the money was going to fund some organization. Maybe there’s a justification for it but ... I need to know answers to that. And so these are the kinds of things that we have to go through.”

Despite USAID’s core function in distributing aid, much of the foreign aid distributed by the United States is already handled by the State Department.

It’s expected that USAID will be absorbed into the State Department, though specifics remain to be determined.

6. El Salvador, Guatemala Agree to Take Some US Deportees

In his first trip since taking on his new role, Rubio this week went on a tour across Central America.

Rubio visited Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, meeting with leaders and diplomats.

Rubio signaled that the trip fit into the administration’s renewed focus on Western Hemisphere politics, aligning with Trump’s recent expressions of interest in the Panama Canal, Greenland, and Canada.

“The Western Hemisphere has, unfortunately, been overlooked throughout the years. At times, many of our regional allies felt like they were better off being our enemies. That’s no longer the case,” Rubio said in a video message before setting out for the trip.

7. Ban on Transgender Athletes in Women’s Sports

On Feb. 5, Trump signed an executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” banning transgender athletes from participating on women’s athletic teams.

The order aimed to uphold the administration’s interpretation of federal Title IX rules, created in 1972, which banned sex-based discrimination in education. Title IX also created the groundwork for women’s athletic programs. Trump’s order defines women based on biological sex at birth instead of gender identity.

During the Biden administration, Title IX was recast to include protections for LGBT and transgender students, paving the way for the latter’s participation on some women’s athletic teams due to allowing gender identity to supersede biological sex.

Trump campaigned on ending transgender participation in women’s sports ahead of the 2024 election, saying that allowing biological males to compete with women is unfair and a violation of Title IX protections.

One day after signing the order, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) changed its transgender athlete policy, restricting women’s sports to only athletes who were documented as female at birth.

8. Admin Reviews Jan. 6 Cases, Biden’s Gun Policies

The Department of Justice (DOJ) also took actions this week to evaluate the former DOJ’s handling of cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach and its prosecution of Trump. Meanwhile, Trump also ordered the review of former President Joe Biden’s gun policies.

On. Feb. 6, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the creation of a “Weaponization Working Group” to investigate what she described as weaponization of the government against Trump by elements within the previous administration.

The group will review actions taken during the previous administration that appear to have been “designed to achieve political objectives or other improper aims rather than pursuing justice or legitimate governmental objectives,” Bondi wrote.

In a Feb. 7 executive order, Trump called for a review of all gun-related policies, projects, rules, and government actions from January 2021 through January 2025.

Trump has long expressed alignment with pro-gun rights stances, having vowed on the campaign trail to uphold the Second Amendment.

9. Task Force to Root Out ‘Anti-Christian Bias’

On Feb. 6, Trump signed an executive order to form a task force that would “eradicate anti-Christian bias” within the federal government.

“The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government, including at the DOJ—which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI, terrible—and other agencies,” Trump said in announcing the move, which came during one of two National Prayer Breakfast events that he attended.

Attorney General Pam Bondi will chair the task force, which will include the heads of at least 15 federal entities, including the departments of State, Treasury, Defense, Labor, and Health and Human Services.

10. Federal Worker Buyouts Face Scrutiny

In an effort to scale down the federal workforce, the Trump administration offered a buyout deal where workers are promised eight months of full pay and benefits if they willingly leave their positions. By Feb. 7, the number of government employees who had signed up for the offer reached 65,000, according to a White House official.

The buyout offer gives the workers a deferred resignation with pay promised until Sept. 30. The administration originally set the deadline for Feb. 6, but a judge has since ordered the government to extend it until Feb. 10 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

A group of unions joined together in a lawsuit challenging the buyout plan, which resulted in the judge pushing the deadline back. The unions argued that the government can’t guarantee the pay until September because current congressional appropriations end in March. They called the offer illegal, suggesting it is arbitrary and capricious partially due to “run[ning] counter to long-standing rules and requirements for federal employees.”

Many of the unions have told the employees they represent to reject the offer.

In response, government lawyers said the buyout offer was legal because it is “a matter of pure internal governmental administration and, in all events, imposes no legal right or obligation on anyone, let alone Plaintiffs.”

Andrew Moran, Guy Birchall, Zachary Stieber, and Austin Alonzo contributed to this report.