Trump Launches ‘Digital Fort Knox’ for Bitcoin as Crypto Markets Decline: Live Updates

The outgoing Canadian Prime Minister seems to be taking Trump’s recent actions quite personally.

Trudeau is nearing the end of his term after a forced resignation by his party due to internal disagreements on how to handle the U.S. president and his tariffs on Canadian imports.

During a media address on Thursday, the PM became visibly emotional while expressing his dedication to the country.

“On a personal level, I have ensured that every day in this office, I prioritize Canadians, that I stand by their side, and I’m here to assure you that even in these final days of this government, we won’t let Canadians down now or in the future,” he stated, with tears in his eyes.

“We must remain strong and united in our response, and we will continue to support each other, as the unity among Canadians is vital to standing up against a trading partner that is significantly larger than us.”

While Trump praised Claudia Sheinbaum following their conversation, the same cannot be said for his interaction with Trudeau.

The Wall Street Journal reports that, contrary to Trump’s assertion that the exchange was “somewhat friendly,” it was actually heated and included profanity.

Here’s further insight from Katie Hawkinson.

The president is reportedly planning to revoke temporary legal status for around 240,000 Ukrainians who escaped the conflict with Russia, according to a senior administration official.

This action, as confirmed to Reuters by both the official and three other sources, could expose refugees to quick deportation back to their country amidst the ongoing war, possibly as soon as April.

This approach starkly contrasts with the welcome extended to those fleeing the conflict by the Biden administration three years ago.

Here is Trump’s not-so-reassuring response regarding this issue yesterday:

The president is reportedly contemplating changes to the terms of U.S. relations with NATO to favor those members that allocate a specific percentage of their GDP to defense.

Officials informed NBC News that under this updated policy, the U.S. may refrain from assisting a NATO member that comes under attack unless they meet a predetermined GDP defense spending benchmark.

This modification would diverge from NATO’s Article 5, which asserts that an attack against one ally is an attack against all, a principle that has only been invoked once in support of the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks.

Here’s the president seemingly forgetting history regarding that matter yesterday:

Gustaf Kilander provides additional details.

During the press meeting yesterday, the president expressed a variety of unusual remarks, including accusing “globalists” for negative market reactions to his tariff policies, asserting that America doesn’t require Canadian lumber (so much for that), and extolling astronaut Suni Williams’ impressive hair after being trapped in space for nine months.

Here are his recent comments on Zelensky and the potential for ending the war in Ukraine.

Also in the Oval Office yesterday, the president attacked the liberal commentators after Wallace criticized his decision to appoint brain cancer survivor DJ Daniel, 13, as an honorary Secret Service agent during his address to Congress on Tuesday.

Wallace compared the gesture to Trump’s pardoning of Capitol rioters and expressed concern that Daniel “may never have to defend the Capitol against Donald Trump’s followers.”

“Worse than UJ is ‘MS-DNC,’ which is the lowest of the low,” the president responded.

“The good news is that very few people watch them now. They have lost all credibility; and frankly, what Nicole Wallace said – I’ve never liked her; she’s not particularly talented – but I must say, what she said recently about that young man is shameful. She should resign.

“Rachel Maddow should resign too. Nobody pays attention to her anymore. I have doubts about whether her salary is really what I hear – but she’s certainly lost all credibility. They both should resign due to their comments about that young person who is suffering.”

Here’s Josh Marcus with details on Trump contradicting himself by stating he never watches liberal networks like MSNBC and UJ.

Yesterday, the president unexpectedly convened a cabinet meeting to clarify Musk’s and DOGE’s roles, following significant judicial resistance to their powers to mandate large-scale federal employee layoffs.

Trump informed his cabinet members that the billionaire and his DOGE staff lack the authority to terminate government workers without direct permission, seeking to establish clear boundaries after weeks of confusion and disorder.

Here’s how he articulated this on Truth Social, as well as during his latest press conference in the Oval Office:

Yesterday, the president postponed a planned 25 percent tariff on most items from Mexico and Canada for a month after discussing with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Sheinbaum described her call with Trump as “excellent and respectful,” while the conversation with Trudeau was reportedly more intense, with Trudeau later stating he anticipates his nation will continue to be in a trade conflict with the U.S. for the foreseeable future.

Trump mentioned he was granting exemptions for any goods compliant with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement he negotiated during his first term but expects to reinstate the tariff increase on April 2.

Here’s Andrew Feinberg with the complete story.

Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing a strategic cryptocurrency reserve for the United States, consisting of the 198,000 bitcoins already held by the government through law enforcement seizures, valued at an estimated $17 billion.

White House crypto and AI advisor David Sacks stated that this initiative would “not impose any cost on taxpayers.”

“The U.S. will not divest any bitcoin stored in the Reserve. It will function as a store of value,” Sacks posted on X.

“The Reserve is akin to a digital Fort Knox for the cryptocurrency commonly referred to as ‘digital gold.’”

However, the announcement triggered a downturn in bitcoin prices on Thursday night, with other cryptocurrencies not included in the initiative also seeing declines.

In related news, Trump is set to host a “Digital Assets Summit” at the White House later today.

A single day of humiliation over the party’s response to Donald Trump’s speech to Congress was not enough for Democrats, who opted for a second round of internal conflict on Thursday.

Green, who was escorted from Trump’s speech on Tuesday by the sergeant-at-arms, is not particularly worse off. He will likely benefit from increased fundraising due to the backlash.

“If I had to do it again, I would,” he told reporters on Thursday.

Whether the same can be said for his ten colleagues, who flirted with what Jeffries described as a “political and partisan game,” is less clear, as is the actual strategy being pursued by Democratic leadership.