Trump’s press secretary says he is “very proud to have an American pope” as she is asked about apparent critical comments he has made about the administration. Meanwhile, Trump has hinted at a potential softening in his trade war with China. Listen to our latest Trump 100 podcast below.
Friday 9 May 2025 19:40, UK
The Pentagon has ordered all military leaders and commands to pull and review all of their library books that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues, according to a memo issued to the force.
It has until 21 May to adhere to the order.
It is the broadest directive so far in defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign to rid the military of diversity and equity programmes, policies and instructional materials.
It follows similar efforts to remove hundreds of books from the libraries of military academies.
It also comes after the Trump administration fired the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden (see post at 6.45pm).
Hayden was the first woman and first African American in the role.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “there were quite concerning things that she had done in the pursuit of DEI and, putting inappropriate books in the library for children”.
Karoline Leavitt was “clearly talking up progress” between the US and UK after the trade deal that was announced yesterday, our US correspondent James Matthews says.
But he says the 10% baseline tariff that will remain on the UK “doesn’t please the Brits” and is “not what they want”.
There was a “contradiction” on China as she spoke of how the US president was not going to back down unilaterally, Matthews says.
He explains: “All we’ve seen is unilateral action between the US and China on that. An erratic position from Donald Trump on which he waivers on standing firm on tariffs of 145% and indicating there might be movement and that might come down.”
“So clearly discussions and negotiations are taking place in public, but the unilateral movement so far is on the side of the United States, China has not blinked in all of this.”
Leavitt is now asked why the Trump administration has fired the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden.
Hayden was the first woman and first African American in the role.
Leavitt says “there were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and, putting inappropriate books in the library for children”.
“We don’t believe that, she was serving the interests of the American taxpayer,” she says as she brings the news conference to a close.
Hayden, whose 10-year term was set to expire next year, had come under backlash from the conservative advocacy group American Accountability Foundation.
It accused her and other library leaders of promoting children’s books with “radical” content and literary material authored by Trump opponents.
Hayden headed the office that has overall management responsibility for the library and sets out policy on its programs and activities.
The three most recent US poets laureate have condemned the firing.
“Dr Carla Hayden is the kindest, brightest, most generous Librarian of Congress we could have hoped for as a nation,” Ada Limon, who last month completed a three-year run as poet laureate, told the AP news agency.
Tracy K. Smith, who served from 2017-2019 said: “Her abrupt firing suggests a desire to tamp down the ceiling on our collective remembering and deprive the collective imagination of vital resources.”
The White House hopes Ukraine and Russia will agree to a ceasefire next week, Karoline Leavitt says.
Donald Trump had a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the minerals deal between the US and Ukraine passed the parliament in Kyiv, which Trump said was “very good and productive”, Leavitt says.
Asked if there were any expectations Trump would meet Vladimir Putin, Leavitt says that was “not going to happen so far”.
Donald Trump’s suggestion of reducing China’s tariffs from the current rate of 145% down to 80% was just “a number the president threw out there”, the White House press secretary has said.
Trump remains firm the US is not going to unilaterally reduce tariffs on Chinese goods without concessions from Beijing, Karoline Leavitt says.
“That was a number the president threw out there, and we’ll see what happens this weekend,” she says.
Donald Trump is “committed to the 10% baseline tariff” for all countries, despite a trade deal between the UK and US, Karoline Leavitt has confirmed.
“The president is committed to the 10% baseline tariff, not just for the United Kingdom, but for his trade negotiations with all other countries as well, permanently,” she says.
“Even after the deals are done, that is going to remain. The president is determined to continue with that 10% baseline tariff.”
Turning now to tensions between India and Pakistan, the White House press secretary says Donald Trump wants to see things “de-escalate as quickly as possible”.
She said he has “good relationships with the leaders of both countries”.
Leavitt adds that secretary of state Marco Rubio has been in “constant communication”, with both leaders “trying to bring this conflict to an end”.
Donald Trump’s press secretary has been asked about some critical comments the new pope, Leo XIV, appears to have made about Trump and his vice president JD Vance before he was elected pontiff.
But Karoline Leavitt dodged the question, saying Trump is “very proud to have an American pope” and “it’s a great thing for the United States of America and for the world”.
In the past, a social media account bearing Pope Leo’s name before he became pontiff shared posts that were critical of the Trump administration (see 4.13pm post).
It shared an opinion piece in February which criticised US vice president JD Vance for his beliefs about some aspects of Christian teaching.
And in April, when Trump had a meeting with El Salvador’s president to discuss using a prison where alleged human rights abuses took place to jail suspected gang members flown from the US, the account reposted a comment that included: “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed?”
Donald Trump and his trade team are pushing for the “best deal possible for America” in talks with China on their tariff war this weekend, Karoline Leavitt says.
“As President Trump has said, the United States and China have been talking for some time over the course of the administration. And now teams from both countries will meet in person to continue discussions,” she tells reporters.
“You can be certain that President Trump and his trade team will ensure we work to achieve the best deal possible for America.”
Asked what Trump expects to come out of the talks, and whether he will be disappointed if his team can’t secure a deal, Leavitt says yesterday’s “success” – the trade deal between the US and UK – “is a great first step” and “now we are moving forward with many other countries”.
She adds: “We’re talking to dozens of our trading partners around the world. But of course, China is a major, country, a major player in this space. And the president has said, and he’s right, China needs the United States of America. They need our markets. They need our consumer base.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is now heralding the “historic trade agreement” with the UK.
She said it “provides American companies unprecedented access to the UK markets while bolstering US national security”.
“This is just the first of many trade deals to come,” she added.
“Get ready for more historic deals in our country to boom like never before.”
Yesterday, the UK and US struck a landmark trade deal.
As a result of the deal, car export tariffs will be reduced from 27.5% to 10%, to match Donald Trump’s baseline levy.
Separately, the UK steel industry now won’t face high tariffs after the US agreed to scrap the 25% rate for the UK.
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