Trade stiffer, bureaucracy matches and musk’s mandate: Trump’s third week starts: from the policy table

Welcome to the online version of From the policy tableAn evening newsletter that brings you NBC News Politics Team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign track.

Good Monday! In today’s edition, we aim through yet another avalanche of news from the Trump administration, from the latest on the president’s planned tariffs for his efforts to review the federal government for the role of his billionaire adviser. Plus, our resident data whispers Joe Murphy diving into Trump’s historic executive order pace.

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– Adam Wollner

Trade stiffer, bureaucracy -fights and musk’s mandate: Trump’s third week starts

The third week of President Donald Trump’s second period started with an international struggle, uncertainty about the future of a central government agency and questions about Elon Musk’s role in the administration.

Let’s dive right in.

Tariffs exposed: Days after announcing a 25% duty on the imports of Canada and Mexico, Trump agreed to delay them for a month after Canada and Mexico announced relocation to increase security at their borders, Shannon reports Pettypiece.

The decision, at least for now, averts a potential trade war with two of America’s closest trading partners who could have driven prices for US consumers and stopped the countries’ economies.

As part of the deal, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country would spend $ 1.3 billion on a plan to strengthen its limit to new helicopters, technology and staff as well as additional resources to stop the flow of Fentanyl. (Canada had announced its $ 1.3 billion border and immigration investment at the end of last year.)

And earlier in the day, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country will immediately reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of her national guard to tackle Mexico drug trafficking into the United States, especially Fentanyl.

Trump’s 10% duty on all Chinese imports is still ready to take effect Tuesday.

USAID Under Fire: State Secretary Marco Rubio has authorized Pete Marocco, a chief official of the Ministry of State, to run the US Agency for International Development and review all the work done by the Agency targeted for dismantling Trump and Elon Musk, Vaughn Hilyard, Abigail Williams, Rebecca Shabad and Ryan Nobles report.

Rubio warned that certain projects or programs may be suspended or eliminated, marking the Trump administration’s latest attack on federal bureaucracy. USAID employees based in Washington were ordered not to enter the office Monday and work from home.

Democratic lawmakers and legal experts have claimed that the conduct of USAID would be contrary to a law passed by Congress creating the Agency. Senator Brian Schatz replied by saying that he would introduce nominated Trump’s state department.

But Republicans have not expressed many concerns about Trump’s flurry of one -sided movements. House speaker Mike Johnson said Trump’s efforts to cut down on federal expenses and make other features without congressional approval have been “appropriate.”

Musk’s role: While Musk has led the efforts to cut the federal government through the “Department of the Government’s Efficiency”, his comments on potential closure of USAID triggered a new round of questions about what the technical billionaire’s role is in the administration.

An official in the White House tried to offer some clarity: Musk is a “special employee of the government”, Katherine Doyle reports.

It is a term that means that Musk acts neither as a volunteer nor a full -time employee. Special government employees are asked to comply with conflict of interest and ethics policies that are typically less cumbersome than federal employees. As a temporary position, it bypasses some of the information obligations required by full -time roles.

The big picture: As Jonathan Allen and Allan Smith write, Trump wages war against his own government and creates a deep sense of fear in the federal workforce – and recipients of federal assistance – as he tests the boundaries of his power to change the scope, function and nature of the government Without Congress.

Trump signs executive orders at a historical rate

By Joe Murphy

If the pace in which President Trump signs executive orders feels faster than usual, you don’t imagine things.

In fact, Trump has issued more executive orders in the first 10 days of his period than any president did in their first 100 days since Dwight Eisenhower, according to an NBC news analysis of Federal Register Data.