US President Donald Trump on Friday gave a press conference at the Oval Office in Washington, in which he discussed a wide range of subjects.
Trump said that his administration was in negotiations with Palestinian militant group Hamas and urged them to release all hostages held in Gaza.
"We are in very deep negotiation with Hamas," Trump told reporters, saying the situation will be "tough" and "nasty" if Hamas continues to hold Israeli hostages.
"We said let them all out, right now let them all out. And much better things will happen for them but if you don't let them all out, it's going to be a tough situation, it's going to be nasty," Trump said, adding that Hamas was "asking for some things that are fine."
The Washington Post recently reported on a plan being worked on by the Trump administration outlining what Gaza would look like following a ceasefire.
Palestinian militants took over 250 hostages into Gaza after an October 2023 attack in Israel that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's ensuing assault on Gaza has killed tens of thousands of people, internally displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted accusations of genocide and war crimes, which Israel denies.
About 50 Israeli hostages are still being held by Hamas in Gaza, with 20 thought to be still alive.
'LOST': TRUMP SLAMS LEADERS OF INDIA AND RUSSIA FOR MEETING WITH CHINA
Trump said India and Russia seem to have been "lost" to China after their leaders met with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.
"Looks like we've lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!" Trump wrote in a social media post accompanying a photo of the three leaders together at Xi's summit in China.
But during the later press conference, he backtracked on his comments regarding India.
"I don't think we have (lost them)," he said. "I've been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil, as you know, from Russia. And I let them know that."
Xi recently hosted more than 20 leaders of non-Western countries for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I'll always be friends with Modi," Trump told reporters on Friday. "He's a great prime minister. He's great. I'll always be friends, but I just don't like what he's doing at this particular moment. But India and the United States have a special relationship. There's nothing to worry about."
He told reporters on Thursday night at the White House that he planned to talk to Putin soon.
2026 G20 SUMMIT TO BE HELD AT TRUMP'S GOLF CLUB IN MIAMI
Trump will host the Group of 20 world leaders for a 2026 summit at his Doral golf club near Miami.
The G20 comprises 19 member countries, the European Union and the African Union, which rotate hosting the economic policy-focused event. A date for the event has not been confirmed.
Trump also announced that he will not attend this year's G20 event, which is to be held in South Africa, and that Vice President JD Vance will go in his place.
Trump has previously hosted foreign leaders and corporate executives at his properties in the United States and abroad, including his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and golf clubs in the Washington area, New Jersey, and also in Scotland.
Beyond the golf course, the Doral property includes a clubhouse, pool, restaurants, spa and event space, including the Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom, according to the official website.
'MAXIMUM LETHALITY': LONG-AWAITED NAME CHANGE IS FINALISED
Trump signed an executive order on Friday to rename the US Department of Defence the "Department of War," reverting to a title it held until after World War Two.
Trump's move represented his latest effort to rebrand the US military, which has included his decision to preside over a military parade in downtown Washington, and to restore the original names of military bases that were changed after racial justice protests in 2020.
The order would authorise Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials to use secondary titles such as "Secretary of War" and "Deputy Secretary of War" in official correspondence and public communications.
"It's a very important change, because it's an attitude," Trump said as he signed the executive order at a ceremony in the Oval Office. "It's really about winning."
Hegseth, introduced during the ceremony as the Secretary of War by Trump, cheered the change, which he has long advocated.
"We're going to go on the offense, not just on defence. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality," Hegseth said.
The Department of Defence was called the War Department until 1949, when Congress consolidated the Army, Navy and Air Force in the wake of World War Two.
Historians say the name was chosen in part to signal that in the nuclear age, the US was focused on preventing conflict.
Hegseth has said that changing the name is "not just about words, it's about the warrior ethos."
TRUMP DENIES CONSIDERING REGIME CHANGE IN VENEZUELA
The United States is not talking about changing the government in Venezuela, Trump said on Friday, as the United States ordered an additional ten stealth fighter jets to compliment a growing military buildup in the Caribbean.
"We're not talking about that, but we are talking about the fact that you had an election which was a very strange election, to put it mildly," Trump said.
He had been asked by reporters about a claim made by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro this week that the United States was "seeking a regime change through military threat."
The new deployment comes on top of an already bristling US military presence in the southern Caribbean, as Trump carries out a campaign pledge to crack down on groups funneling drugs into the United States.
On Thursday, the Pentagon accused Venezuela of a "highly provocative" flight by its fighter jets near a US Navy warship.
Trump warned Venezuela that the US military had authorisation to shoot down the jets if commanders believed they needed to, saying: "If they do put us in a dangerous position, they'll be shot down."
Trump demonstrated his new approach to fighting the drug war with a US military strike on Tuesday that killed 11 people and sank a boat from Venezuela which Trump said was transporting illegal narcotics.
Trump has accused Maduro of running the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, which his administration designated a terrorist organisation in February.
He compared the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans in drug overdoses to war dead, as he sought to justify the military activity.
"Think if you're in a war and you lose 300,000 ... We're not going to allow it to happen," he said.
VACCINES THAT WORK SHOULD BE USED: TRUMP
Trump said that Florida's plan to end all state vaccine mandates was a "tough stance" and said there are vaccines that work and people should take them.
"I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don't have to be vaccinated. It's a very ... tough position," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
"You have vaccines that work. They just pure and simple work. They're not controversial at all. And I think those vaccines should be used, otherwise some people are going to catch it, and they endanger other people," he said.
His comments put him at odds with the man he appointed to oversee vaccines, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has long been an anti-vaccine campaigner.
Leading US medics have warned of the "negative influence" Kennedy could have in his position.
TRUMP SAYS HE HAS DECIDED ON NEXT CITY TO SEND IN US TROOPS
Trump said on Friday he has decided on another US city where he plans to deploy National Guard troops to help combat crime, but declined to name the location.
The president has in recent weeks floated sending troops to several Democratic-led cities, including Baltimore, Chicago and New Orleans, as part of a broader law-and-order push.
Trump said on Friday that he "sort of" knows who he is going to pick to succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve.
He says his shortlist is down to four people and includes Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, although Bessent has publicly said he doesn't want the job.
Trump said he's also considering former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and current Fed Governor Christopher Waller.
The president has made clear he intends to install a Fed leader more aligned with his push for rapid interest rate cuts, accusing Powell of being too late to act on borrowing costs and of hurting home buyers with higher mortgage rates.
The choice of a Fed chair will carry high stakes for financial markets, which closely watch Fed leadership changes for clues about the direction of interest rates and inflation policy.