In the 50 days since Donald Trump entered the White House, there have been announcements and headlines almost every day.
Here’s an A-Z of the last 50 days under Trump 2.0.
A is for Associated Press, banned from White House events for still using “Gulf of Mexico” rather than Trump’s Gulf of America rebrand. It’s one of a number of changes in media access to government that favours Trump-friendly outlets.
Image: Donald Trump signed a proclamation declaring 9 February 2025 as the ‘Gulf of America Day’. Pic: Reuters
B is for bromance. French President Emmanuel Macron re-affirmed the thigh-patting friendship with Trump when both men leaned in for the tickle in an Oval Office encounter that laid bare the pair’s mutual affection. Macron addressed him as “Dear Donald” in a meeting that had Ukraine as its focus.
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0:46
Is Trump and Macron’s bromance still intact?
C is for the US Constitution, which many see as challenged by Trump 2.0. It divides power equally between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. Trump appears to be expanding the executive power of the president in a way that undermines the ‘checks and balances’ structure of government to suit his political will. This is being contested in a number of legal challenges.
Image: Protesters in Washington DC in January. File pic: Reuters
E is for Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and ‘First Buddy’ in the White House, who is in charge of DOGE. Questions persist around the extent of his unchecked authority and conflict of interest as well as access, through DOGE, to government and personal information.
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Image: Elon Musk holds a chainsaw during the Conservative Political Action Conference. File pic: Reuters
G is for Greenland, the mineral-rich Arctic territory belonging to Denmark which Donald Trump wants to acquire. Of the self-governing island, he told a recent joint address to Congress: One way or the other, we’re going to get it.” Denmark and the Greenlandic government say it’s not for sale.
Image: Icebergs float near Sermitsiaq Island, Greenland. File pic: Reuters
H is for how on earth did that happen? The question could apply to a number of things – let’s settle here for the AI video of a re-imagined Gaza as a luxury resort, variously populated by bearded belly dancers, a gold statue of Trump, and the president himself sat sipping cocktails with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
Notably, it was shared on social media by President Trump, who has spoken of his wish to “own” the Gaza Strip.
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0:35
President shares ‘Trump Gaza’ AI video
I is for Indian PM Narendra Modi, who met Trump in DC but not before sitting down with Elon Musk and his children. Musk wants access to India for his Starlink internet service and Tesla vehicles. Critics say the meeting raises questions about him using his Trump-adjacent position to benefit his global business.
Image: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi points at Donald Trump during a press conference at the White House on 13 February. File pic: Reuters
J is for Justice, as in Department of. Long-serving officials at the DoJ have been removed, creating vacancies in traditionally non-partisan roles that opponents say Trump will fill with people who share his ideology. The president has claimed the DoJ has previously weaponised the law against him. Critics say he will do the same, against his opponents.
Image: File pic: Reuters
K is for Kash Patel, newly appointed director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Controversially, he once amplified Donald Trump’s threats to see retribution against political opponents, saying: “We will go out and find the conspirators not just in government, but in the media.”
L is for a list of other controversial appointments, including:
Image: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives for his confirmation hearing. File pic: AP
Pete Hegseth, defence secretary, who faced allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct, and concerns about his qualifications.
Tulsi Gabbard, director of National Intelligence, who held a 2017 meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad. Following the invasion of Ukraine, she shared claims that were widely debunked and identified as Russian propaganda.
M is for Moscow. Donald Trump has been on the phone to the Russian capital several times as he resets US relations with Vladimir Putin. He wants Russia back in the G8 and the US is contemplating lifting sanctions as it seeks to improve economic and diplomatic relations.
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0:56
Are there similarities between Trump and Putin?
N is for nervousness created by the on-off tariff saga. President Trump has partially paused 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico after falls in the stock markets. Tariffs on China and other countries (TBC) remain on the agenda, in spite of trade war fears and economists’ concerns about business uncertainty, low consumer confidence and the effect on prices.
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3:27
Why are tariffs such a big deal?
O is for order, as in changing world order. Trump’s strategy challenges the geopolitics that have cemented the United States and its allies and secured peace since the Second World War. His warmth towards traditional adversaries like Russia and China suggests he’s prepared to change the political paradigm and realign a more insular America according to self-interest.
P is for Panama Canal. President Trump says he would consider using military force to seize it from Panama, one of Washington’s closest allies in Latin America. He claims, without evidence, that it’s controlled by China.
Image: A cargo ship sails towards the entrance to the Panama Canal. File pic: Reuters
Q is for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, of the Kansas City Chiefs. Trump watched him at American football’s ‘Superbowl’ in February, the first sitting president ever to attend. He praised Mahomes’ wife for her vocal support of him but there were no words for the partner of team-mate Travis Kelce. She is, of course, the singer Taylor Swift – no fan of Donald Trump.
Image: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. File pic: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images/Reuters
R is for Rubio. Marco Rubio, secretary of state, was among cabinet secretaries who rowed with Elon Musk in a meeting over his department cuts. Trump intervened to say he still supported the DOGE mission but department secretaries would be in charge from now on. It’s the first real sign of Trump placing limits on Musk.
S is for special relationship. “We like each other, frankly, and we like each other’s country,” said Trump of UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. At a White House meeting, the PM delivered an invitation for a state visit from King Charles. The pair talked Ukraine but Starmer will have liked hearing Trump say there was “a very good chance” of a trade deal “where tariffs wouldn’t be necessary”.
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2:11
What happened when Starmer met Trump?
T is for Trudeau, as in Justin Trudeau. The departing Canadian prime minister has been a target of Trump as has Canada itself, which Donald Trump wants to make the 51st state of the US. He has insisted on referring to its PM as “Governor” and placed Canada, along with Mexico, at the front of the queue for US tariffs.
Image: Justin Trudeau holds a news conference on imposed US tariffs. Pic: The Canadian Press/AP
U is for USAID. The work of the Agency for International Development has been dismantled. More than 10,000 people have lost their jobs at the agency which spends billions on programmes worldwide, including to ease poverty, treat disease and promote democracy. It is widely viewed as a valuable ‘soft power’ tool for the US but Elon Musk has called it a “criminal organisation” and Donald Trump said it was “run by a bunch of radical lunatics”.
V is for Vance, as in JD Vance. The vice president is viewed as the right-hand man who can articulate Trump policy in a way that Trump himself can’t. His speech to the Munich security conference reflected a reshaping of transatlantic relations, stunning the room by accusing allies of ignoring their own voter concerns about free speech and migration.
Separately, he caused offence in the UK when he said a US mineral deal in Ukraine was a better security guarantee than troops from “some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years”. He later insisted he hadn’t specified a particular country, adding that British – and French – troops had fought bravely alongside the US.
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1:27
Did JD Vance insult British troops?
W is for ‘wokeism’. Ending it is at the heart of the Trump agenda. He has limited diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) recruitment policies across the federal government and military. It included the firing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles Q Brown. Previously, defence secretary Pete Hegseth had questioned whether he had been made chairman because he was black.
X is for X, full name X Æ A-Xii. He’s the four-year-old son of Elon Musk who, during an Oval Office news conference, wiped a bogie – or ‘booger’ – on the Resolute desk. Donald Trump, a self-described germaphobe, sent the desk to be cleaned afterwards.
Image: Donald Trump and X Æ A-12 in the Oval Office on 11 February. File pic: Reuters
Y is for Yosemite, the national park where DOGE cuts hit in an unexpected way. Some rangers and staff were let go as part of a 1,000-strong reduction in the National Park Service by Elon Musk’s agency, raising questions about what kind of efficiencies Musk is seeking.
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1:45
‘Why me?’ Musk’s DOGE department cuts national park jobs
Z is for Zelenskyy. An Oval Office news conference with the Ukrainian president ended in extraordinary, unforgettable scenes of shouting and finger-pointing when Trump and his vice president rounded on their guest. Zelenskyy was criticised for not wearing a suit and not expressing thanks during the meeting. Zelenskyy is dealing with a president who called him a dictator and claimed Ukraine started the war. It’s awkward.
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Listing the White House and Buckingham Palace among other places “not for sale”, his answer on the 51st state question appeared well prepared.
But when it came to the issue of tariffs, the new premier struggled to get a word in edgeways.
Instead, his body language spoke volumes – the clenched jaw, a hand raised several times in an attempt to interject, and the silent mouthing of two words – “never, never”.
That was Carney’s response when Trump suggested never saying never to the annexation question.
Image: President Donald Trump meets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office. Pic: AP
Diplomats on both sides will be relieved that the meeting was more cordial than the prelude.
On his Truth Social platform, Trump posted: “Why is America subsidizing Canada by $200 billion a year, in addition to giving them FREE military protection, and many other things?”
If that was a $200bn bid for Canada, the people have spoken and their message to the former real-estate tycoon now occupying the White House is very clear: “Canada is not for sale.”
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth cancelled military aid to Ukraine without a direct order from Donald Trump about a week after he was sworn in as president, according to a report.
The pause led to the US Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) stopping 11 flights from US bases in Delaware and Qatar which were loaded with artillery shells and other weaponry and had been bound for Ukraine, according to Reuters.
Hours later, Ukrainian and Polish officials then asked Washington what was happening but top national security officials in the White House, Pentagon and US State Department were unable to provide answers, said the news agency.
The pause came as Ukraine’s military was struggling to fight off Russian forces in eastern Ukraine and in the consequential battle for Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces were losing ground and have since all but been forced out.
Reuters reported that records it reviewed showed Mr Hegseth had given a verbal order to stop the weapons shipments soon after attending an Oval Office meeting on 30 January, where cutting military aid to Kyiv was discussed, but Mr Trump did not give an instruction to stop it.
The president was unaware of Mr Hegseth’s order, as were other top national security officials in the meeting, Reuters said.
According to TRANSCOM records, the verbal order originated from Mr Hegseth’s office, the news agency claimed. It added that a TRANSCOM spokesperson said the command received the order via the Pentagon’s Joint Staff.
Within a week – 5 February, the military flights were back in the air.
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2:02
‘Some places are never for sale’
Asked to comment on the report, the White House told Reuters that Mr Hegseth had followed a directive from President Trump to pause aid to Ukraine, which it said was the administration’s position at the time.
It did not explain why, according to those who spoke to Reuters, top national security officials in the normal decision-making process did not know about the order or why it was so swiftly reversed.
‘Complex and fluid situation’
“Negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine War has been a complex and fluid situation. We are not going to detail every conversation among top administration officials throughout the process,” said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
“The bottom line is the war is much closer to an end today than it was when President Trump took office.”
It is unclear if Mr Trump subsequently questioned or reprimanded Mr Hegseth.
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1:32
Why Trump fired Waltz – but kept Hegseth
Mr Hegseth and other top US officials, including national security adviser Mike Waltz, came under fire in March after a journalist was accidentally added to a group chat where they discussed plans to conduct airstrikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.
Waltz ultimately intervened
Reuters reported Mr Waltz ultimately intervened to reverse the military aid cancellations. Mr Waltz was forced out last Thursday and has been nominated as US ambassador to the United Nations.
The cancellations cost TRANSCOM $2.2m (£1.6m), according to the records reviewed by Reuters. In response to a request for comment, TRANSCOM said that the total cost was $1.6m (£1.2m) – 11 flights were cancelled but one incurred no charge.
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An order halting military aid authorised under the Biden administration went into effect officially a month later, on 4 March, when the White House made an announcement.
Despite the brief pause in February and the longer one that began in early March, the Trump administration has resumed sending the last of the aid approved under Mr Biden. No new policy has been announced.
Donald Trump has denied posting an AI image of himself as pope – and said Catholics who were offended “can’t take a joke”.
A picture of the president wearing white and gold robes in the style of a pontiff was posted to his account on Truth Social and caused outcry among some Christians.
“I had nothing to do with it, somebody made a picture of me dressed like the Pope and they put it out on the internet,” he said on Monday.
“That’s not me that did it, I’ve got no idea where it came from, maybe it was AI.”
When it was pointed out to him that some Catholics were offended by the image, he replied: “Oh, they can’t take a joke.”
“The Catholics loved it,” he also claimed.
Image: Pic: Donald Trump/Truth Social
President Trump insisted that he first saw the image – which was posted on Friday night on his Truth Social account and later promoted by the White House on its official X account – on Sunday evening.
He also noted that first lady Melania Trump “thought it was cute”.
President Trump was not baptised as a Catholic and therefore is ineligible to be pope, neither is he allowed to participate in the conclave.
Some 133 cardinal electors – those under the age of 80 – will take part in the conclave and begin voting for the new pontiff on Wednesdayafter the death of Pope Francis last month.
The rituals of the event, held in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, are elaborate and date back centuries.