The Trump presidency on Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. EST
(Reuters) – Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday:
JAPAN
Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe open a new chapter in U.S.-Japan relations with Trump abruptly setting aside campaign pledges to force Tokyo to pay more for U.S. defense aid.
IMMIGRATION
Trump says he is considering issuing a new travel ban executive order, while a White House official says the administration does not plan to escalate a legal dispute over Trump’s original travel ban to the Supreme Court.
Trump’s proposed barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border would be a series of fences and walls that would cost as much as $21.6 billion and take more than three years to construct, according to a report seen by Reuters.
CHINA
Trump changes tack and agrees to honor the “One China” policy during a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a major diplomatic boost for Beijing which brooks no criticism of its claim to self-ruled Taiwan.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
The Washington Post reports White House national security adviser Michael Flynn privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with Moscow’s ambassador during the month before Trump took office. Flynn had previously denied discussing sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposes Slovenia, the birthplace of Trump’s wife Melania, as a good place for a meeting with Trump, but says the decision on a location is not Moscow’s alone.
Trump expresses support for an undivided Ukraine in a letter to Lithuania’s president, using language similar to that of his predecessor Barack Obama’s, and seen as likely to be welcomed by Kiev and North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies.
ADMINISTRATION
Trump pulls Elliott Abrams as a contender for the No. 2 position at the State Department after learning that the Republican foreign policy veteran criticized him during the 2016 election campaign, sources say.
Tom Price is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of Health, which Trump says will allow his administration to fulfill his pledge to dismantle Obamacare and reshape the healthcare system.
BANKING
The Federal Reserve Board’s top bank regulator says he will resign, giving a boost to Trump’s plans to ease reforms put in place after the 2007-09 financial crisis.
Two U.S. senators are seeking details from Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s chief executive on the extent to which the bank’s employees were involved in drafting Trump’s executive orders on banking and fiduciary regulations.
(Compiled by Bill Trott and Jonathan Oatis; editing by Andrew Hay, Grant McCool and G Crosse)