The Trump administration has suspended delivery of all US military aid to Ukraine, blocking billions in crucial shipments, as the White House piles pressure on Kyiv to sue for peace with Vladimir Putin.

The decision affects deliveries of ammunition, vehicles and other equipment, including shipments agreed to when Joe Biden was president.

It comes after a dramatic blow-up in the White House on Friday during which Donald Trump, infuriated over what he claimed was the Ukrainian leader’s disrespect and ingratitude, told Volodymyr Zelenskyy he was “gambling with” a third world war. Zelenskyy was told to come back “when he is ready for peace”.

Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said on Tuesday that Kyiv still had the means to supply its frontline forces but warned thousands of lives were at risk and vital US-provided air defence systems could be affected.

“We will continue to work with the US through all available channels in a calm manner,” Shmyhal told a press conference. “We only have one plan – to win and to survive.”

Moscow celebrated the decision, with the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying the US had been “the main supplier of this war so far”.

European and Nato allies were not informed in advance, a Polish foreign ministry spokesperson said.

“This is a very important decision, and the situation is very serious,” Paweł Wroński told reporters. “This sentence may sound banal, but it has great political significance – it [the decision] was made without any information, or consultation, neither with Nato allies, nor with the Ramstein group,” he said. The Ramstein group is an alliance of 57 countries that has coordinated aid to Ukraine during the war.

Governments in Europe, fearful of an emboldened Russia during a US administration that resents a cold war-era pact to support its allies against aggression, have rushed to boost their own military spending.

The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced proposals on Tuesday to strengthen Europe’s defence industry and increase military capabilities by mobilising close to €800bn (£661bn). The EU is holding an emergency summit on Thursday.

The White House’s decision followed a meeting that included Hegseth and the vice-president, JD Vance, along with the secretary of state, Marco Rubio; the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard; and Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.

Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said Trump appeared to be pushing Ukraine towards capitulation. “To stop aid now means to help Putin,” Merezhko told Reuters. “On the surface, this looks really bad. It looks like he is pushing us towards capitulation, meaning [accepting] Russia’s demands.”

Razom for Ukraine, a Ukrainian advocacy group, said: “By abruptly halting military assistance to Ukraine, President Trump is hanging Ukrainians out to dry and giving Russia the green light to continue marching west. Razom for Ukraine urges the White House to immediately reverse course, resume military aid and pressure Putin to end his horrific invasion.”

The US Congress has approved $175bn (£138bn) in total assistance for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion nearly three years ago, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. In December, shortly before leaving office, Biden announced an additional $5.9bn in security and budget assistance.

US assistance to Ukraine includes military aid, budgetary assistance largely delivered through a World Bank trust fund, and other funds that had been delivered through the US Agency for International Development, which has been throttled by the Trump White House.

Some of the money sent by the US to Ukraine helps the country pay the salaries of teachers and doctors, and keeps the government running.

Weapons assistance from the US has been facilitated through two programmes: presidential drawdown authority (PDA), which allows the president to quickly transfer weapons and equipment from US stocks to foreign countries without the need for congressional approval; and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), under which military equipment is procured from the defence industry.

In total, the US has pledged $31.7bn of weapons aid to Ukraine through PDA. The majority – well over $20bn, according to a Reuters analysis – has been shipped.

The announcement pertains mainly to aid that had been previously approved but not yet disbursed. Trump has not approved any new aid under his own presidential authority since taking office and a new congressional aid package appears unlikely, at least in the near term.

​US Democrats said the aid pause was dangerous. Brendan Boyle​, a congressman in Pennsylvania who is a co-chair of the congressional EU caucus, ​said it was ​“reckless, indefensible and a direct threat to our national security”​.

Earlier on Monday, Trump had expressed fresh outrage at Zelenskyy for saying the end of the war could be “very, very far away”.

Trump posted a link to an Associated Press story outlining Zelenskyy’s comments and said: “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!

“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US. Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”

Later on Monday, Trump said Zelenskyy “won’t be around very long” unless he succumbed to pressure and made a deal on US terms.

The Trump administration was also reported to be drawing up a plan on Monday to restore ties with Russia and lift sanctions on the Kremlin.

The White House has asked the state and treasury departments to draft a list of sanctions that could be eased for US officials to discuss with Russian representatives in the coming days as part of the administration’s broad talks with Moscow on improving diplomatic and economic relations, Reuters reported, citing a US official and another person familiar with the matter.

In an interview recorded on Monday before the announcement of the suspension, Vance told the Fox News channel’s Hannity that giving the US an economic interest in the future of Ukraine would serve as a security guarantee – a reference to the minerals deal about which Zelenskyy had been summoned to Washington.

“If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine,” Vance said.

Reuters contributed to this report

Ukraine’s allies were not told in advance of Donald Trump’s decision to pause military aid, Poland’s foreign ministry has said, as rattled European politicians reaffirmed their backing for Kyiv faced with dramatic further evidence of a US policy shift.

The US president’s announcement “was made without any information or consultation, neither with Nato allies nor with the Ramstein group which is involved in supporting Ukraine,” the ministry spokesperson Paweł Wroński said on Tuesday.

Wroński described the decision, which piles pressure on Kyiv’s remaining allies to step up alternative aid and appears intended to push Ukraine towards capitulating to Russia’s demands, as “very important” and the situation as “very serious”.

Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, told a cabinet meeting in Warsaw that Europe faced unprecedented risks, including “the biggest in the last few decades when it comes to security”.

Tusk said his government would have to make some “extraordinary” decisions. “A decision was announced to suspend the US aid for Ukraine, and perhaps start lifting sanctions on Russia. We don’t have any reason to think these are just words,” he said.

“This puts Europe, Ukraine, Poland in a more difficult situation,” he said, adding that Warsaw was determined to “intensify activities in Europe to increase our defence capabilities” while maintaining the best possible relations with the US.

The French minister for European affairs, Benjamin Haddad, said Trump’s move had made the prospect of peace more distant because it “only strengthens the hand of the aggressor on the ground, which is Russia”.

France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, said the US decision meant it was now vital that Europe help Ukraine hold the frontline against Russia, which he said was “the first line of defence for Europe and France”.

The time had come for Europe to drop it’s dependency on US weapons, he added. “We are faced with a choice that is imposed on us, between effort and freedom, or comfort and servitude,” he told MPs.

Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said: “Two things are now essential for peace through strength: additional aid – military and financial – for Ukraine, which is defending our freedom. And a quantum leap to strengthen our EU defence.”

EU leaders are scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss a five-part, €800bn (£660bn) plan presented by the European commission to bolster Europe’s defence industry, increase military capability and help provide urgent military support for Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, who hosted a crisis meeting of European and other leaders on Sunday, said London was “absolutely committed to securing a lasting peace in Ukraine” and was engaging with key allies.

The spokesperson said the UK had already committed to provide Ukraine with £3bn a year in military aid for as long as it took and was providing a £2.26bn loan using sanctioned Russian assets.

The Czech Republic’s prime minister, Petr Fiala, called for a fundamental shift in European policy, saying Trump’s decision meant “we must strengthen our economic and military capabilities and take full responsibility for our own security”.

Europe would have to increase significantly defence investment, he said, adding that “ensuring our security also means intensifying our support for Ukraine. We cannot allow Russia’s aggressive policy, which threatens us all, to succeed.”

Estonia’s foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, said Europe must step up assistance to Ukraine to fill the gap left by the US freeze, which followed a public bust-up in the White House between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“Europe must increase military aid to Ukraine to allow Ukraine to continue fighting for a just and lasting peace,” he said, adding that Tallinn had already decided to boost its assistance by 25% this year.

He said one option for obtaining additional resources to help Ukraine was to use Russia’s assets frozen in Europe. “Claims that there are no legal ways to use Russia’s frozen assets are unfounded,” he said.

“The sole perpetrator of the war must feel pressure and the victim of the aggression must have strong support because it is the only way to force Russia to give up its goals and achieve lasting peace in Ukraine.”

Denmark’s defence minster, Troels Lund Poulsen, said Ukraine was “completely dependent” on some US aid, including Patriot missiles. “So this will put Europe in a situation where we now really need to do more ourselves to help Ukraine,” he said.

Only Hungary’s illiberal government struck a discordant note, with a spokesperson for the country’s Moscow-friendly prime minister, Viktor Orbán, saying the US and Hungary shared the same stance. “Instead of continuing weapons shipments and the war, a ceasefire and peace talks are needed as soon as possible,” they said.

A five-part plan to bolster Europe’s defence industry and increase its military capability could raise nearly €800bn (£660bn) and help provide urgent military support for Ukraine after the US suspended aid to Kyiv, the head of the European Commission has said.

Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday the 27-member bloc would propose giving member states more fiscal space for defence investments, as well as €150bn in loans for those investments, and would also aim to mobilise private capital.

Presenting the “ReArm Europe” package in Brussels, von der Leyen said: “This is a moment for Europe, and we are ready to step up.” The proposals “could mobilise close to €800bn of defence expenditures for a safe and resilient Europe”, she added.

The announcement followed Washington’s decision to suspend all US military aid to Ukraine, blocking billions of dollars’ worth of ammunition, vehicles and other vital equipment as Donald Trump piles pressure on Kyiv to agree a peace deal with Russia.

The US president’s announcement came after heated exchanges in the White House on Friday between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and a crisis meeting in London on Sunday at which European leaders rallied round Kyiv.

Trump’s direct approach to Russia on ending the Ukraine war has thrown Ukraine’s future into question and left Europe contemplating the stark prospect of the US withdrawing longer-term support from Ukraine and from its European allies.

“A new era is upon us,” the commission president wrote to EU leaders. “Europe faces a clear and present danger on a scale that none of us has seen in our adult lifetime … We are living in the most momentous and dangerous of times.”

The commission’s plan includes €150bn of new joint EU borrowing that would be lent to EU governments to fund pan-European capabilities in areas such as air and missile defence, artillery systems, missiles, ammunition, drones and other needs.

“It will help member states to pool demand and to buy together. This will reduce costs, reduce fragmentation, increase interoperability and strengthen our defence industrial base,” von der Leyen said.

“With this equipment, member states can massively step up their support to Ukraine. So, immediate military equipment for Ukraine,” she added.

The commission would also propose loosening the fiscal constraints the EU puts on government spending to “allow member states to significantly increase their defence expenditures” without triggering punishing budget deficit rules, she said.

“If member states increase their defence spending by 1.5% of GDP on average, this could create fiscal space of close to €650bn over a period of four years,” von der Leyen said. Defence spending in many EU states is below the Nato target of 2% of GDP.

The package also includes action by the European Investment Bank – which EU member states want to drop limits on lending to defence firms – and on a savings and investments union to help European companies access capital.

EU leaders are due to discuss the proposals at a special summit devoted to defence spending in Brussels on Thursday – although diplomats have said immediate decisions beyond strong commitments were unlikely.

France’s finance minister, Eric Lombard, said on Tuesday that his country would have to spend “faster and harder” on defence even if it meant it would have to make savings elsewhere, although though the welfare system would largely remain intact.

Lombard rejected seizing Russian assets to fund European military spending, saying Paris’s position was that “these Russian assets … belong notably to the Russian central bank” and seizing them “would be contrary to international agreements”.

China and Canada have announced retaliatory measures against the US after Donald Trump imposed his sweeping tariffs plan, despite warnings it could spark an escalating trade war.

US tariffs of 25% have come into force against goods from Canada and Mexico, the US’s two biggest trading partners, and 20% tariffs against Chinese goods – doubling the levy on China from last month.

The duties will affect more than $918bn (£722bn) worth of US imports from Canada and Mexico.

China said on Tuesday it would impose fresh tariffs on a range of agricultural imports from the US next week.

Its finance ministry said additional 15% tariffs would be imposed on chicken, wheat, corn and cotton, with further 10% tariffs on sorghum, soya beans, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables and dairy products. It has also raised additional complaints against the US with the World Trade Organization.

The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said Ottawa would respond with immediate 25% tariffs on C$30bn (£16.3bn) worth of US imports. He said previously that Canada would target US beer, wine, bourbon, home appliances and Florida orange juice.

Tariffs will be placed on another C$125bn (£68bn) of US goods if Trump’s tariffs are still in place in 21 days. “Tariffs will disrupt an incredibly successful trading relationship,” Trudeau said, adding that they would violate the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement signed by Trump during his first term.

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said on Tuesday that there was no justification for Trump’s tariffs and said her government would respond with tariff and non-tariff measures.

Asian markets were down – after sharp falls in US markets on Monday – as Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.2%, Taiwan’s benchmark TWII index was off 0.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.3%.

The Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso fell to their lowest levels in a month on Tuesday. The US dollar index, which tracks the currency against six peers, fell to a three-month low, down 0.75%.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 dropped by 81 points, or 0.8%, a day after rising to more than 8,900 points for the first time. Germany’s Dax and Spain’s Ibex indices fell more than 2%, while France’s Cac 40 was off almost 2%.

Trump and his allies claim that higher tariffs on US imports from across the world will help “make America great again” by enabling it to obtain political and economic concessions from allies and rivals on the global stage.

Businesses, inside the US and worldwide, have warned of widespread disruption if the Trump administration pushes ahead with this strategy.

Since winning November’s presidential election, Trump has focused on China, Canada and Mexico, threatening the three markets with steep duties on their exports unless they reduced the “unacceptable” levels of illegal drugs crossing into the US.

While he slapped a 10% tariff on China last month, Trump has repeatedly delayed the imposition of tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He has pledged to bring down prices in the US, but economists have warned that consumers in the country could be adversely affected by his trade plans.

A 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico and a 10% levy on China amounts to “the largest tax increase in at least a generation”, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a thinktank that estimated the move would cost the typical US household more than $1,200 each year.

Trump has vowed to go further, threatening to introduce “reciprocal” tariffs on countries that have their own duties on goods made in the US. He has said these will come into effect as soon as next month.

The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, claimed that Chinese manufacturers would swallow the US tariffs. He said on Tuesday: “China’s business model is export, export, export, and that’s unacceptable. I am highly confident that the Chinese manufacturers will eat the tariffs; prices won’t go up.”

Trump has said the tariffs on China are because the government has failed to stop illicit fentanyl entering the US, which Beijing says is a “pretext” to threaten China.

“China opposes this move and will do what is necessary to firmly safeguard its legitimate interests,” a foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said. “If the United States … persists in waging a tariff war, a trade war, or any other kind of war, the Chinese side will fight them to the bitter end.”

China’s finance ministry said: “The US’s unilateral tariff increase damages the multilateral trading system, increases the burden on US companies and consumers, and undermines the foundation of economic and trade cooperation between China and the US.”

The ministry said products shipped from the US to China that departed before 10 March and arrived before 12 April would not be subject to the tariffs.

Serbian opposition lawmakers have lit flares and discharged teargas during the opening day of the spring session of parliament, in a sign of support for anti-corruption protests.

At the legislative session on Tuesday, after the ruling coalition led by the Serbian Progressive party (SNS) approved the agenda, some opposition politicians ran out of their seats towards the parliamentary speaker, Ana Brnabić, and scuffled with security guards.

Others tossed smoke grenades and teargas, with live TV showing black and pink smoke inside the building.

A live video feed showed Brnabić lambasting the opposition’s protest, saying: “Your colour revolution has failed, and this country will live; this country will work and this country will continue to win.”

Brnabić said two lawmakers had been injured, including one who had had a stroke and was in critical condition. “The parliament will continue to work and to defend Serbia,” she told the session.

Serbia has been rocked for months by student-led anti-corruption protests after the collapse of a train station roof last year, which killed 15 people.

The movement has put increasing pressure on the Serbian government and on president, Aleksandar Vučić, spurring the resignation of several high-ranking officials, including the prime minister in January.

The collapse of the station roof in Novi Sad in November followed extensive renovations to the building. It ignited long-simmering anger in the country over corruption and the alleged lack of oversight for construction and development projects.

Vučić and other government officials have oscillated between calling for talks and alleging that the demonstrators are being backed by foreign powers.

Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report.

A plan to revive the mammoth is on track, scientists have said after creating a new species: the woolly mouse.

Scientists at the US biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences plan to “de-extinct” the prehistoric pachyderms by genetically modifying Asian elephants to give them woolly mammoth traits. They hope the first calf will be born by the end of 2028.

Ben Lamm, co-founder and chief executive of Colossal, said the team had been studying ancient mammoth genomes and comparing them with those of Asian elephants to understand how they differ and had already begun genome-editing cells of the latter.

Now the team say they have fresh support for their approach after creating healthy, genetically modified mice that have traits geared towards cold tolerance, including woolly hair. “It does not accelerate anything but it’s a massive validating point,” Lamm said.

In the research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, the team used a number of genome editing techniques to either genetically modify fertilised mouse eggs or modify embryonic mouse stem cells and inject them into mouse embryos, before implanting them into surrogates.

The team focused on disrupting nine genes associated with hair colour, texture, length or pattern or hair follicles. Most of these genes were selected because they were already known to influence the coats of mice, with the induced disruptions expected to produce physical traits similar to those seen in mammoths, such as golden hair.

However, two of the genes targeted in the mice were also found in mammoths, where they are thought to have contributed to a woolly coat, with the changes introduced by the researchers designed to make the mouse genes more mammoth-like.

The team also disrupted a gene associated with the way fats are metabolised in mice and was also found in mammoths, which they suggest could play a role in cold adaptation.

The researchers edited different combinations of these genes, with one technique allowing them to make as many as eight edits in seven different genes at the same time.

While many of the experiments did not result in mouse pups, mice that were born had various combinations of distinctive hair types including woolly coats, long hair and golden-brown coats.. However, they had a similar average body mass whether or not the gene relating to fat metabolism was modified.

“The efficiency of the edits varied, but many individuals [were] 100% for all attempted edits,” said Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s chief science officer.

Lamm said the team hoped to be able to carry out behavioural tests for cold tolerance in the coming months.

Robin Lovell-Badge, head of stem cell biology and developmental genetics at the Francis Crick Institute in London, who was not involved in the work, praised the technical aspects of the study.

But he said it did not unpick the mechanisms by which the genes produce different hair types, and that de-extincting mammoths would be far more complex than simply altering a few genes for cold tolerance – not least as it was unclear if genetic modifications would be needed to ensure the animals not just look like mammoths but behave like them too.

“My overall concern is whether this is a sensible use of resources rather than spending the money on trying to prevent species becoming extinct,” Lovell-Badge said, adding another problem is that, at present, there are no results on whether the modified mice are indeed cold-tolerant.

“As it is, we have some cute-looking hairy mice, with no understanding of their physiology, behaviour, etc,” he said. “It doesn’t get them [the researchers] any closer to know if they would eventually be able to give an elephant useful mammoth-like traits and we have learned little biology.”

Others stressed the work did not involve introducing mammoth genes into mice, but mainly involved making changes to mouse genes to produce known effects on their coats.

Dr Tori Herridge of the University of Sheffield, said: “Engineering a mammoth-like elephant presents a far greater challenge: the actual number of genes likely to be involved is far higher, the genes are less well understood – and still need to be identified – and the surrogate will be an animal that is not normally experimented upon.”

And while some said the goal of reviving the mammoth had drawn closer, others were more sceptical. “Mammoth de-extinction doesn’t seem to be on the horizon anytime soon,” said Herridge.

Donald Trump on Tuesday will deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress since reclaiming the presidency and promising a new “golden age” for America.

Before a chamber packed with members of Congress and their guests, the president will lay out his second-term vision after a radical start that has dramatically reshaped both domestic and foreign policy.

In just a few weeks since being sworn into office, Trump has empowered Elon Musk to dramatically downsize the federal workforce, threatened allies with tariffs and coddled longtime American foes. His administration has initiated sweeping mass layoffs of federal employees, mobilized officers from nearly every federal law enforcement agency and the US military to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations, and rattled Europe with his pursuit of a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine on terms preferential to Moscow.

New polling shows warning signs for Trump. More Americans held a negative view of Trump’s presidency so far than a positive one, a new CNN survey found. Meanwhile, a poll conducted by NPR/PBS News/Marist showed a majority of people in the US believe the country is headed in the wrong direction and say that the president has been “rushing to make changes without considering the impact”.

Yet Trump, emboldened by his return to power, has shown no signs of changing course, even as backlash brews.

Trump last week used his first cabinet meeting to tout the success of his administration’s efforts to root out alleged fraud, waste and abuse in the federal government, a mission led by Musk and his team at the so-called “department of government efficiency” or Doge. But the aggressive cost-cutting effort has sparked adverse reactions, with US residents boiling over in anger at town halls and protests across the country.

Congressional Republicans have declined to put up any opposition to the stunning power grabs of the president and Musk, a tech mogul turned top White House adviser. Democrats out of power in Washington, have largely watched from the sidelines, rallying public support and backing legal challenges they hope will provide the checks and balances that Republicans will not. Federal judges have slowed or temporarily halted several of the administration’s actions, but Democrats and observers fear some of the damage will not be easily undone.

The speech will take place hours after Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from US neighbors Canada and Mexico took effect on Tuesday, underscoring the administration’s embrace of economic nationalism as a way to force allies and foes alike to bend to his demands.

The House speaker, Mike Johnson, formally invited Trump to speak to Congress in January, writing that the address would allow him to share his “America First vision for our legislative future”.

The House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, announced in a Dear Colleague letter that he would attend Trump’s address to “make clear to the nation that there is a strong opposition party ready, willing and able to serve as a check and balance on the excesses of the administration”.

“The decision to attend the Joint Session is a personal one and we understand that members will come to different conclusions,” Jeffries wrote.

“However, it is important to have a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber. The House as an institution belongs to the American people, and as their representatives we will not be run off the block or bullied.”

Several Democratic lawmakers have announced that they will attend with guests who have been harmed by Trump’s policies – federal employees, refugees and Americans who rely on social safety net programs that congressional Republicans have proposed slashing to pay for the president’s tax cut and immigration agenda. The newly elected Democratic senator Elissa Slotkin of battleground Michigan will deliver the party’s formal rebuttal after Trump speaks.

Chris Murphy, a senator who has emerged as one of the sharpest Democratic critics of the president, said he expected Trump’s address to be a “Maga pep rally, not a serious talk to the nation”. In a Sunday interview on CNN, Murphy said he would not attend.

“I think Donald Trump is going to spew a series of lies about his alignment with Russia, about what he’s trying to do to allow Elon Musk to essentially monetize the American government to enrich Musk and his billionaire crowd,” he said. “And I’m just not going to be a part of that.”

Donald Trump on Tuesday will deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress since reclaiming the presidency and promising a new “golden age” for America.

Before a chamber packed with members of Congress and their guests, the president will lay out his second-term vision after a radical start that has dramatically reshaped both domestic and foreign policy.

In just a few weeks since being sworn into office, Trump has empowered Elon Musk to dramatically downsize the federal workforce, threatened allies with tariffs and coddled longtime American foes. His administration has initiated sweeping mass layoffs of federal employees, mobilized officers from nearly every federal law enforcement agency and the US military to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations, and rattled Europe with his pursuit of a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine on terms preferential to Moscow.

New polling shows warning signs for Trump. More Americans held a negative view of Trump’s presidency so far than a positive one, a new CNN survey found. Meanwhile, a poll conducted by NPR/PBS News/Marist showed a majority of people in the US believe the country is headed in the wrong direction and say that the president has been “rushing to make changes without considering the impact”.

Yet Trump, emboldened by his return to power, has shown no signs of changing course, even as backlash brews.

Trump last week used his first cabinet meeting to tout the success of his administration’s efforts to root out alleged fraud, waste and abuse in the federal government, a mission led by Musk and his team at the so-called “department of government efficiency” or Doge. But the aggressive cost-cutting effort has sparked adverse reactions, with US residents boiling over in anger at town halls and protests across the country.

Congressional Republicans have declined to put up any opposition to the stunning power grabs of the president and Musk, a tech mogul turned top White House adviser. Democrats out of power in Washington, have largely watched from the sidelines, rallying public support and backing legal challenges they hope will provide the checks and balances that Republicans will not. Federal judges have slowed or temporarily halted several of the administration’s actions, but Democrats and observers fear some of the damage will not be easily undone.

The speech will take place hours after Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from US neighbors Canada and Mexico took effect on Tuesday, underscoring the administration’s embrace of economic nationalism as a way to force allies and foes alike to bend to his demands.

The House speaker, Mike Johnson, formally invited Trump to speak to Congress in January, writing that the address would allow him to share his “America First vision for our legislative future”.

The House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, announced in a Dear Colleague letter that he would attend Trump’s address to “make clear to the nation that there is a strong opposition party ready, willing and able to serve as a check and balance on the excesses of the administration”.

“The decision to attend the Joint Session is a personal one and we understand that members will come to different conclusions,” Jeffries wrote.

“However, it is important to have a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber. The House as an institution belongs to the American people, and as their representatives we will not be run off the block or bullied.”

Several Democratic lawmakers have announced that they will attend with guests who have been harmed by Trump’s policies – federal employees, refugees and Americans who rely on social safety net programs that congressional Republicans have proposed slashing to pay for the president’s tax cut and immigration agenda. The newly elected Democratic senator Elissa Slotkin of battleground Michigan will deliver the party’s formal rebuttal after Trump speaks.

Chris Murphy, a senator who has emerged as one of the sharpest Democratic critics of the president, said he expected Trump’s address to be a “Maga pep rally, not a serious talk to the nation”. In a Sunday interview on CNN, Murphy said he would not attend.

“I think Donald Trump is going to spew a series of lies about his alignment with Russia, about what he’s trying to do to allow Elon Musk to essentially monetize the American government to enrich Musk and his billionaire crowd,” he said. “And I’m just not going to be a part of that.”

Taiwan’s government has promised its most advance semiconductor technology will not be moved to the US under a new $100bn (£79bn) deal signed between the chip maker TSMC and Donald Trump, amid accusations that it is allowing the island’s national security to be undermined.

The government said the deal must still go through government assessments, which would take into account the interests of the country as well as investors.

The surprise announcement on Monday by Trump and the chief executive of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), CC Wei, has prompted controversy and confusion in Taiwan, where the industry is crucial to its economy and national security.

On Monday, TSMC said it would increase its existing US investment by $100bn, building five new “cutting edge” facilities on US soil.

Trump said the deal meant TSMC would avoid the industry-wide 25% tariffs amid efforts to bring more manufacturing to the US and assert US trade dominance over rivals and allies. Wei said the deal meant TSMC was “producing the most advanced chip on US soil”.

That statement has been called into question by pledges from government officials that the tightly protected tech would stay onshore. The presidential office spokesperson Karen Kuo, said the government would ensure TSMC “will keep its most advanced manufacturing processes in Taiwan”.

But the specifics of any restrictions are unclear. In November, Taiwanese officials and media said TSMC would begin production of its most advanced 2-nanometer chip in its US facilities from about 2028. Asked if this was still the case, officials referred the Guardian to comments by economics minister on Tuesday, saying “next year, 2nm and 1.6nm [chips] will not be produced in the US”.

TSMC and the ministry of economics have been contacted for clarification.

Government statements also suggested TSMC had not yet applied for government approvals required for foreign investments of that size, when the deal was announced. The Taiwan minister of economic affairs, Kuo Jyh-Huei, said that assessment would “take into account the interests of investors and the country”.

Kuo, however, emphasised that the office had “full knowledge” of TSMC-related investments in advance.

TSMC produces almost all of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, and the industry is often referred to as Taiwan’s “silicon shield”, incentivising the US and allies to support Taiwan against Chinese invasion in order to keep the tech out of Beijing’s control.

Opposition figures have said the deal would reduce Taiwan’s defences. The defence minister, however, said he was still convinced the US would protect Taiwan.

“Taking away Taiwan’s technology sector will reduce the power of Taiwan’s’ ‘silicon shield’,” said James Yifan Chen, the assistant professor in the department of diplomacy and international relations at Tamkang University in Taiwan. “Taiwan without semiconductor and tech industries will be like Ukraine without nuclear weapons.”

The deal drew criticism from the opposition in Taiwan. The leader of the KMT’s legislative caucus, Fu Kun-chi, asked “Where is Taiwan’s national security if TSMC become ASMC and the sacred mountain that protects the country is gone?”

“The more TSMC produces in the US, the lower Taiwan’s geopolitical importance will be, and the less incentive the US will have to help Taiwan in the future,” said the KMT legislator Ko Ju-Chun.

On Monday, Trump said that an invasion of Taiwan would be “catastrophic” but the TSMC investment reduced the impact on US interests. “[It] will at least give us a position where … in this very, very important business, we would have a very big part of it in the US,” he added.

Trump’s second presidential term has been marked by an upending of US foreign policy, including a stunning rejection of Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia.

Taiwan has long seen parallels between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s own invasion threats, but despite Trump repeatedly questioning the worth of continuing to support Taiwan, the government in Taipei has been hesitant to criticise or question the leader of its most powerful and significant supporter.

The Taiwan defence minister, Wellington Koo, said he was still “convinced” that the US would not abandon Taiwan. Koo said the “rapid and strange” changes in the international situation had raised questions about Trump’s core interests, but he believed the cost of a Taiwan war was too high for the US to allow it to happen.

“I think it is impossible for the US to withdraw from the Indo-Pacific because it is the core interest of the US, whether from the perspective of economic growth, political views or military security,” he said.

Taiwan’s government has scrambled to deter Trump from imposing tariffs on Taiwan and crucial industries. It has sent government delegations to Washington, and promised to increase defence spending and reduce its trade surplus with the US. The TSMC deal was widely seen as a move to avoid tariffs, an outcome Trump said had been achieved, but Kuo on Tuesday rejected suggestions it was related.

“TSMC already has plants in the US and Japan, and it’s now building new a plant in Germany,” Kuo said. “These have nothing to do with tariffs. TSMC’s global expansion is a crucial development.”

Additional reporting by Jason Tzu-kuan Lu and agencies

The shadow defence secretary and other MPs have reacted with fury after JD Vance appeared to describe a proposed Anglo-French peace deployment to Ukraine as “20,000 troops from some random country that has not fought a war in 30 or 40 years”.

It comes after Downing Street said Keir Starmer had spoken to Donald Trump on Monday night, part of continued UK efforts to try to patch up a faltering peace plan for Ukraine.

During an interview with the Fox News channel’s Hannity, Vance, the increasingly outspoken US vice-president, was scathing about the idea of other countries being able to give meaningful security guarantees after any peace deal.

A proposed minerals agreement would give the US more economic interests in Ukraine and thus provide “a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that has not fought a war in 30 or 40 years”, Vance said.

While UK politicians are largely united in agreeing that a US military presence in some form will be necessary in any peace deal, there was immediate outrage about Vance’s apparent dismissal of a UK military that fought alongside American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

James Cartlidge, the Conservative shadow defence secretary, said: “Britain and France came to their [the US’s] aid, deploying thousands of personnel to Afghanistan, including my own brother and numerous parliamentary colleagues, past and present. It’s deeply disrespectful to ignore such service and sacrifice.”

On Tuesday, Vance said it was “absurdly dishonest” to argue that he had been referring to the UK or France, despite the countries being at the forefront of efforts to provide a non-US peacekeeping force.

“I don’t even mention the UK or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond,” he tweeted. “But let’s be direct: there are many countries who are volunteering (privately or publicly) support who have neither the battlefield experience nor the military equipment to do anything meaningful.”

Asked about Vance’s initial comments, Starmer’s official spokesperson did not directly address them but reiterated the fact that UK forces had fought recently alongside their American counterparts.

“The prime minister, and I think this whole country, is full of admiration for all British troops who have served, for instance, in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom have lost their lives in the process, and have fought alongside allies, including the United States,” he said.

The spokesperson said the prime minister had spoken to Trump twice over the weekend and again on Monday night.

In contrast to Cartlidge, Kemi Badenoch declined to condemn Vance’s remarks. “I know JD Vance quite well,” the Conservative leader told GB News. “I’ve looked at the comments; I don’t think he actually said that. A lot of people are getting carried away.”

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, who is close to Trump and Vance, was trenchant in his response, telling GB News: “JD Vance is wrong – wrong, wrong, wrong.” He added: “For 20 years in Afghanistan, pro rata our size against America’s, we spent the same amount of money; we put the same number of men and women in. We suffered the same losses.”

Johnny Mercer, the Conservative former armed forces minister, who is no longer an MP, called Vance a “clown”.

Mercer, who served in Afghanistan as an army officer, said: “I read JD Vance’s book, making the mistake of finding him quite interesting. By his own admission he spent his time in the Marines ‘writing articles and taking pictures’. Perhaps if he had got his hands dirty serving his country like so many of his fellow American and British veterans, chasing his own country’s crazy foreign policy ideas, he might not be so quick to dismiss their sacrifice.”

The Liberal Democrats said Peter Mandelson, the UK ambassador to Washington, should seek an apology from Vance. The party’s defence spokesperson, Helen Maguire, who as a Royal Military Police officer served in Iraq, said: “I saw first-hand how American and British soldiers fought bravely together shoulder to shoulder. Six of my own regiment, the Royal Military Police, didn’t return home from Iraq. This is a sinister attempt to deny that reality.”

Jagtar Singh Johal, the British human rights activist accused of terrorism has been acquitted on all charges in a case in Punjab, after a court rejected the allegations against him made by Indian authorities.

Johal has been held in detention for seven years awaiting judgment, but must remain in prison since he is facing eight essentially duplicate cases brought by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) based on the same alleged confession.

The ruling is likely to lead to renewed pressure on the UK Foreign Office to secure his release on the basis that a court, after exhaustive investigation, has been unable to compile any credible evidence against him.

Johal’s lawyers allege he was forced to sign his name on a blank piece of paper after police tortured him with electricity and brought petrol into the cell and threatened to burn him alive. He faces the threat of the death penalty in the eight duplicate cases against him.

The central allegation in all nine cases is that Johal transferred money to supposed co-conspirators, and that this was used to fund a series of attacks in Punjab in 2016-17. The Indian authorities do not claim Johal was directly involved in any of these attacks.

Reprieve, the organisation that represented him during the case, said the “prosecutors supplied no credible evidence to support it, over seven years and almost 150 court hearings. NIA prosecutors have also had seven years to build a case, and have produced no physical evidence, no email trail, no CCTV footage, no record of a bank transfer, no notes or recordings of telephone calls.”

Johal’s brother Gurpreet Singh Johal said: “We’ve always said the allegations against Jagtar are baseless, and now the court in Punjab has agreed, the whole case against him has been exposed as a fabrication. This demolishes the eight NIA cases – there’s nothing left. … Surely, the UK government recognises that this injustice cannot continue?”

Johal’s MP, Douglas McAllister, said: “The government must act now to secure Jagtar’s release. This is a unique opportunity to secure a resolution with the Indian authorities and bring this young British man back to his family in Dumbarton. Without decisive diplomatic action, he faces being imprisoned for decades while the remaining trials drag on, despite the complete lack of credible evidence against him.”

Dan Dolan, Reprieve’s executive director, said: “For Jagtar to remain imprisoned and facing a death sentence after this acquittal would be a mockery of justice. The eight essentially duplicate cases against him flagrantly violate the ‘double jeopardy’ principle, which protects people from being put on trial twice for the same crime and is enshrined in both international and Indian law. The remaining cases against him should be dropped, and Jagtar set free.”

James Harrison, the Australian known as “the man with the golden arm” because of his prolific baby-saving blood donations, has died aged 88.

In his lifetime, Harrison rolled up his sleeve more than 1,100 times to give his plasma which was then used in 2.4m doses of anti-D medication to save at-risk newborn babies.

Harrison’s blood was special because it contained what the Australian Red Cross described as a “rare and precious” antibody, essential to make anti-D injections.

Anti-D injections are a life-saving medication given to RhD-negative mothers whose blood is at risk of attacking their unborn babies. Without it, their babies can suffer haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn (HDFN), which can be fatal.

Harrison first donated blood in 1954 and reportedly never missed a fortnightly appointment. His final donation was in 2018, aged 81. He was inspired after undergoing lung surgery as a 14-year-old, himself receiving many blood transfusions, the Red Cross said.

Since the introduction of the anti-D treatment in the 1960s, mothers and babies no longer face the adverse outcomes of HDFN.

The disease occurs when blood types of a mother and baby are incompatible and can result in miscarriage, stillbirth and other complications.

Dr David De Leacy, a retired Australian pathologist and transfusion specialist, said the disease was now “an historical problem” thanks to anti-D.

He likened the anti-D treatment to immunisation against any other virus, with babies protected if administered early enough.

The only catch is people like Harrison and his blood are rare. In 1999 Harrison was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia.

“He was … very proud to have saved so many lives, without any cost or pain,” Harrison’s daughter, Tracey Mellowship, told the Red Cross in a statement.

“It made him happy to hear about the many families like ours, who existed because of his kindness.”

The CEO of Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, Stephen Cornelissen, described Harrison as a “remarkable, stoically kind” man who “extended his arm to help others and babies he would never know”.

In Australia, the Red Cross said recruiting new anti-D donors was as an ongoing challenge. It has fewer than 200 anti-D donors nationwide, who help about 45,000 mothers and their babies each year.

In addition to the 2m doses from his donations, labs still hold blood from Harrison.

Using blood from Harrison and other donors, Australian scientists are attempting to grow the anti-D antibody in a lab – a process the Red Cross has fondly dubbed “James in a jar”.

Harrison died in his sleep on 17 February, the Red Cross said.