Live updates: President Trump meets with prime minister of Japan; other developments

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House for a visit that included a joint news conference Friday afternoon. 

Meanwhile, he's also expected to sign more executive orders.

Here is a live look at the president's activities for Friday. 

Trump removes Kennedy Center board members, names himself chairman

7:30 p.m. ET: Trump announced Friday that he is firing multiple members of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board of trustees and appointing himself as chairman.

In a post on his social media platform, Trump said the move is part of his plan to reshape the institution, stating, "We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!" He also said he intends to end events featuring drag performers at the cultural center.

The Kennedy Center acknowledged the announcement in a statement, saying it had received no official communication from the White House but that some board members had been notified of their termination.

Trump revokes Biden's security clearances/briefings

6:26 p.m. ET: Trump announced on Friday that he would be revoking former President Joe Biden's security clearances and that the former president would no longer be receiving "daily Intelligence Briefings," according to Trump's Truth Social account. 

"There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information," Trump said. 

Trump signs executive order for ‘faith office’

5:35 p.m. ET: President Donald Trump issued an executive order to create a task force on "eradicating anti-Christian bias," while also accusing the Biden administration of "persecution" for prosecuting anti-abortion advocates.

The new office will "empower faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship to better serve families and communities," according to a fact sheet obtained by Fox News. 

FOX News reported that the office will be housed under the Domestic Policy Council and will consult experts in the faith community on policy changes to "better align with American values." 

Trump’s executive order also directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the "targeting" of Christians.

Trump signs executive order for review of gun regulations

5 p.m. ET: President Donald Trump has signed an executive order calling for a broad review of all of President Joe Biden’s executive actions on guns, along with other federal government rules, plans, reports and lawsuits, to "assess any ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights" of Americans, according to a White House email about the order. 

The executive order calls for Attorney General Pam Bondi to perform the review within 30 days and come up with an action plan for protecting the right for Americans to bear arms under the Second Amendment.

Judge blocks USAID employee leave

4:55 p.m. ET: A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from placing 2,200 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development on paid leave,the AP reports.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, sided with two federal employee associations in agreeing to a pause in plans to put the employees on paid leave as of midnight Friday.

The workers associations argue that President Donald Trump lacks the authority to shut down an agency enshrined in congressional legislation.

Trump says he’ll fire FBI agents ‘surgically’

3 p.m. ET: During the joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, President Donald Trump said he wants to see some FBI agents fired as the Justice Department reviews how the agency handled investigations into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

"I’ll fire some of them, because some of them were corrupt," Trump said. "It will be done quickly, and very surgically," per the Associated Press. 

The president's plans have raised concerns regarding the politicization of federal law enforcement and retaliation against people who investigated his supporters, the Associated Press reported. 

Trump: ‘We have to take some of these things apart’

2:55 p.m. ET: President Donald Trump defended Elon Musk’s work at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which includes accessing sensitive Treasury payment systems.

"We have to take some of these things apart to find the corruption," Trump said.

Musk has stirred concerns by dispersing staff members throughout Washington to review internal databases, some of which include private financial information on Americans.

Trump says proposed Alaska pipeline will soon export natural gas to Japan

2:45 p.m. ET: President Donald Trump says Japan will soon begin importing liquefied natural gas from Alaska, but a proposed $44 billion gas pipeline in the state is not yet completed and no contracts have been signed, the Associated Press reported. 

Trump said at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba that, "We’re talking about a joint venture of some type, between Japan and us, having to do with Alaska oil and gas. And that’s very exciting.″

The Biden administration "wouldn’t sell them LNG," Trump said, referring to a pause on new LNG export terminals imposed by Biden last year. Trump lifted the pause on his first day in office. "Japan wanted to buy LNG and Biden wouldn’t sell it,″ Trump said.

Ishiba said importing more LNG from the U.S. "is something that is really wonderful for us.″ Japan also wants to import bioethanol and other products "at a stable price, a reasonable price, from the United States,″ he said.

Trump says Nippon Steel dropping US Steel bid to make investment instead

2:40 p.m. ET: President Donald Trump on Friday suggested that Nippon Steel would no longer buy US Steel as planned, and would instead invest in the company, the Associated Press reported. 

The AP noted that it’s Nippon Steel’s bid that both Trump and President Joe Biden vowed to block.

Nippon Steel "is going to be doing something very exciting about US Steel," Trump said with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba by his side. "They’ll be looking at an investment rather than a purchase."

The details remain unclear. Trump said he would meet with the head of Nippon Steel next week "to mediate and arbitrate."

Trump praises Japan as a friend of the US

2:25 p.m. ET: President Donald Trump opened his news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday by presenting a picture of the two of them, calling Japan a "great country" and stressing that the United States would continue to be an ally on security.

The U.S. president took a decidedly gracious turn in his prepared remarks, after having antagonized other allies such as Canada, Mexico and the European Union with threats of tariffs and claims that the rest of the world is ripping off America.

Trump and Ishiba hold joint news conference

2:20 p.m. ET: President Donald Trump said there will be a joint venture between the U.S. and Japan for oil and natural gas. He also said the U.S. will begin trade talks with other countries for "reciprocity." 

Trump said Japan is looking at investing heavily in U.S. steel, rather than looking at a purchase. "They've agreed to invest heavily in U.S. Steel, as opposed to own it," the president said. 

The president also endorsed Ishiba, saying the Japanese prime minister will do a great job. .

In his opening remarks, Ishiba said he wants to work with Trump to increase Japan's investment in the U.S. and the two countries' partnership by boosting bilateral employment, AI technologies, and improving challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region. 

Ishiba said he looks forward to working with Trump to improve the relationship between the U.S. and Japan. 

More US troops deploying to the southern border

The Pentagon will deploy roughly 1,500 more active duty soldiers to the southern border to support Trump’s expanding crackdown on immigration, a U.S. official said Friday, the Associated Press reported. 

This is going to bring the total to roughly 3,600 active duty troops at the border, where they're expected to put up concertina wire barriers and provide transportation, intelligence and other support to the Border Patrol.

The order has been approved, the official said, to send a logistics brigade from the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the deployment hasn't yet been publicly announced.

The Pentagon has been scrambling to put in motion Trump’s executive orders. The first 1,600 active duty troops already deployed to the border, and nearly 500 more from the 10th Mountain Division will move in the days ahead.

Some of the 500 Marines told to go to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have already arrived there to prepare for an influx of migrants.

Trump indicates he’ll unveil reciprocal tariffs on other countries next week

2 p.m. ET: President Donald Trump said "I’ll be announcing that next week, reciprocal trade, so that we’re treated evenly with other countries," Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the Associated Press reported. 

The president pledged during his campaign to match tariffs with trading partners who impose tariffs on American exports. He didn’t indicate on Friday which countries might be next.

Trump also said he wants to work with Japan on reducing the U.S. trade deficit, which stands at about $68 billion.

Trump wants to slash trade deficit

1:45 p.m. ET: President Donald Trump said Friday he wants to slash the U.S. trade deficit with Japan as he welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to the White House for their first face-to-face meeting.

The Associated Press reported that Trump also said that he isn't taking the possibility of levying tariffs against Japan off the table, but believes that the issue can be resolved without taking punitive action. The United States has a $68 billion trade deficit with Japan.

"I think it will be very easy for Japan," Trump said at start of his Oval Office meeting with Ishiba. "We have a fantastic relationship. I don't think we'll have any problem. They want fairness also."

Trump plans executive order on straws

12:30 p.m. ET: The president announced on his Truth social media network Friday that he plans to sign an executive order next week unwinding his predecessor’s push to move away from plastic straws, declaring that paper straws "don’t work."

The AP reports that Trump has railed against paper straws in the past and in 2019 his reelection campaign sought to use the issue to galvanize supporters, mocking efforts to use paper straws and selling Trump-branded plastic straws for $15.

The Biden administration in 2024 gave the federal government another quarter-century to phase out single-use plastics, including straws, that are polluting the environment and the oceans.

What will Trump and Ishiba discuss during the visit?

11:00 a.m. ET: The meeting between the leaders is expected to include trade and the economic and security threats posed by China and North Korea. 

According to the Associated Press, Trump plans to cover a range of issues in his meeting with Ishiba, including joint training exercises, Japanese investment in the U.S. economy, improving cyber security, and promoting joint business opportunities to develop significant technologies.

You can watch these events in the player above, and refresh this story for updates.

RELATED: Trump vows to block Nippon Steel’s $14B takeover of US Steel

During the visit, Ishiba will also look to remind Trump — who has proposed tariffs on both friends and foes to boost American manufacturing — about the long-running U.S.-Japan alliance. 

The AP noted that Japanese companies employ almost 1 million Americans and have held the top spot for foreign direct investment into the U.S. over the last five years.

Ishiba, who took office in October 2024, will be the second world leader to visit the White House during Trump's new term. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week was the first to be hosted by Trump.

RELATED: 10 things that could cost more under new tariffs

On Thursday evening, Ishiba arrived for his 24-hour visit to Washington, D.C., and he's expected to spend over two hours with Trump before returning to Tokyo.

What they're saying:

"It will be our first face-to-face talks, so I would like to focus on building a personal relationship of trust between the two of us," Ishiba told reporters before heading to Washington for his White House visit, per the AP. 

 

Donald J. TrumpWorldPoliticsNews