10 things the president and his team did this week

President Donald Trump continued to play the global disruptor this week, while the rest of the world did its best to engage with him.

His sixth week in office saw developments at home and abroad, as the US president hosted foreign leaders at the White House, including the UK’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The wars in Ukraine and Gaza also loomed large, in sometimes surprising ways.

If you are after a catch-up, here is a reminder of 10 major moves from the Trump administration this week.

Trump held his first cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Among those present was the president’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who is not actually a cabinet member.

A big topic was the plan by Doge – the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk runs – to cut the size of the federal bureaucracy.

On the same day of the meeting, a memo was sent to federal agencies asking them to submit plans for “a significant reduction” in their staff by 13 March.

French President Emmanuel Macron was the first foreign visitor to come to the White House this week.

Trump hosted Macron on Monday, the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

After the meeting, Macron said Trump had “good reason” to re-establish communication with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin – a notable departure from France’s previous policy of isolating him. But he did not get a commitment from Trump that the US would help Europe with its security needs.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also met the US president this week. The two discussed trade and US security guarantees for Ukraine.

Trump said there was a “very good chance” of a trade deal between the US and the UK where “tariffs wouldn’t be necessary”. Such a deal, Trump said, could be made “pretty quickly”.

Part way through their opening remarks, Sir Keir reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out an official letter from King Charles – an invitation for a second state visit.

Trump appeared to be genuinely taken aback for a few seconds, asking: “Am I supposed to read it right now?”

After taking a minute to read the letter, Trump said he accepted the invite and that it would be an “honour” to visit the “fantastic” country.

Ukraine and the US drafted a deal that would give the US access to Ukraine’s deposits of rare earth minerals. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was expected to travel to Washington DC on Friday to sign it.

Zelensky said he hoped the “preliminary” agreement with the US “will lead to further deals”, but confirmed no American security guarantees have been agreed yet.

Notably, Trump on Thursday appeared to walk back his harsh criticism of Zelensky, whom he called a “dictator” last week. Asked about it on Thursday, Trump replied: “Did I say that? I can’t believe I would say that.”

Trump shared a controversial AI-generated video of Gaza, appearing to depict the besieged enclave as a Mediterranean resort run and operated by the US president.

The clip, which sparked a social media frenzy, came after Trump had stated his administration’s controversial plan to take over Gaza and rebuild it into the “riviera” of the Middle East.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a $1bn (£792m) plan to help US farmers combat a raging bird flu epidemic that has required them to kill millions of chickens and pushed the cost of eggs to an all-time high.

Officials say they will budget $500m for biosecurity measures, roughly $100m for vaccine research and development, and $400m for farmer financial relief programmes.

Trump unveiled plans for selling a “gold card” visa for $5m (£3.9m) that will offer wealthy buyers permanent residency in the US and a path to citizenship.

The president told reporters that the visas would function similarly to green cards, which allow immigrants of varying incomes to live and work permanently in the US, but would go to “high-level people”.

“The people that can pay $5m, they’re going to create jobs,” Trump said. “It’s going to sell like crazy. It’s a bargain.”

Republicans in the US House of Representatives narrowly passed a multi-trillion dollar government spending bill on Tuesday, a major boost for Trump that advances his agenda.

It includes $4.5 trillion (£3.6tn) in tax cuts, funded partially by spending reductions but also by potentially increasing the US government’s substantial debt pile.

However, there are still a number of steps the spending plan must go through in order to become law.

Trump said he would invite the Philadelphia Eagles to the White House to celebrate their recent Super Bowl win, despite rumours that the champions might decline the invitation.

“Absolutely, they’ll be extended an invitation,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “They deserve to be down here, and we hope to see them.”

The Eagles skipped a visit to the White House when they won in 2018, but the team plans to attend the event this year, US media reported.