Donald Trump has doubled down on his proposal for a US “takeover” of Gaza despite international criticism of the plans. Last night the president banned trans women from female sports – watch live below as sports correspondent Rob Harris answers the key questions on the ban.
Thursday 6 February 2025 14:32, UK
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Sports correspondent Rob Harris is on hand to answer the key questions after Donald Trump banned transgender women and girls from playing in female sports in an executive order last night.
With the US set to host the Olympics in 2028 and the World Cup in 2026, he’ll be looking at what the ban means for athletes, schools and athletic associations.
We’ll be streaming live as Rob talks us through what we can expect – watch from 2.30pm by pressing play at the top of this page.
Donald Trump revealed last night he previously offered to build a ballroom for the White House for $100m.
He never heard back from the Biden administration, he said.
“They just didn’t know what to do… so I’m going to try and make the offer to myself.”
You can watch him speaking below…
Donald Trump is speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.
“We have to bring religion back,” he begins.
Addressing an audience gathered in Capitol Statuary Hall, he says he has signed an executive order to create a new national park “full of statues of the greatest Americans who ever lived”.
He pays tribute to the 67 people killed by a collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, before turning to the attempt on his life in Pennsylvania in July.
“None of us knows exactly when our time on earth will be over. You never know. A truth I confronted a few short months ago when there was an incident that was not fun. It was not a good thing. But God was watching me.”
Up until now the president has stuck to his script, but he is spending several minutes recapping the events of that day.
“It didn’t effect my hair, can you believe it,” he says of the bullet, to laughter in the room.
This is the first of two prayer breakfasts the president is attending today, with the second in Washington Hilton hotel later this afternoon.
Watch Trump’s address here:
Alongside a potential trade war and the future of Gaza, one of the most important issues in Donald Trump’s in-tray is the fate of Ukraine.
Trump is seeking a swift end to the war, and hints of a meeting with Vladimir Putin have been made for several weeks.
Preparations for the meeting are now at an “advanced stage”, according to Russian media, after three years of virtually no high-level contact between Putin and Western leaders.
It could take place in February or March, senior Russian politician Leonid Slutsky told state news agency RIA Novosti.
Last month, Trump threatened to impose “high levels” of sanctions on Russia and tariffs on imports from there if Moscow did not reach a settlement with Ukraine.
At the same time, he said he sympathised with the Russian position that Ukraine should not be part of NATO.
Oil and nuclear weapons
Trump has also said talks could cover efforts to reduce nuclear weapons.
Putin has been modernising his nuclear forces after suspending a treaty, New START, which limited the number of warheads and missiles deployed.
He has previously rejected talks with Washington on replacing the treaty when it expires in February next year.
For his part, the Russian president has indicated he wants the talks to focus on Ukraine and oil prices.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are seen by Russia as possible venues for a summit, two Russian sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.
By Stephen Murphy, Ireland correspondent
An Israeli suggestion that Ireland was “legally obligated” to take in Palestinians from Gaza has been dismissed as “unhelpful” by the Irish government.
Israel Katz had posted on X claiming that countries like “Spain, Ireland, Norway and others” were obliged to take in Palestinians, as he ordered the IDF to prepare plans for their “voluntary departure”.
A spokesperson for Irish foreign minister Simon Harris told Sky News: “The priority for Ireland and the international community must remain on ensuring the sustainability of the ceasefire, the release of the hostages, a significant surge in humanitarian aid, the rebuilding of Gaza, and a political process that delivers a two-state solution.
“The objective must be that the people of Palestine return safely to their home and any comments to the contrary are unhelpful and a source of distraction.”
The Palestinian ambassador to Ireland also condemned the comments from the Israeli defence minister.
Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid told Sky News that “we will never leave” Gaza, and she was opposed to the relocation of Palestinians to “any place in the world”.
“Palestine is our homeland and [we] will never accept to be displaced to any other place.
“Ireland is beautiful place for the Irish people. Palestine is the homeland of the Palestinians. We will never leave.
“We strongly reject Trump’s plan and hope that Israel learns how to respect the international law and State sovereignty,” Dr Abdalmajid said.
“Gaza is an integral part of Palestine and our people will never give up their right to self-determination. No force on earth will uproot us from our land. Palestine is our land and we will remain.”
Donald Trump has doubled down on his plan for the US to take control of Gaza in a social media post mocking a political rival.
“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” he posted on his social media site, Truth Social.
“The Palestinians, people like Chuck Schumer, would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region.”
The president has mocked Schumer since he nodded rather than shook Benjamin Netanyahu’s hand when the Israeli prime minister addressed Congress last year.
At the time, Trump told supporters at a rally: “Chuck Schumer has become a Palestinian. Can you believe it? He’s become a proud member of Hamas.”
Senate minority leader Schumer, who is Jewish, called the remark “unhinged”.
In his latest post on Truth Social, Trump continued: “They [Palestinians] would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free.”
No US soldiers would be needed to take the territory, he claimed.
“The US, working with great development teams from all over the world, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth.
“No soldiers by the US would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!”
His comments come after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attempted to row back on some of his remarks yesterday.
She told reporters that Gazans would be “temporarily relocated” while the territory was rebuilt, not permanently displaced.
A line of Mexican national guard and army trucks have been rumbling along the border near Texas today.
They are the first of an extra 10,000 troops Mexico has sent to its northern frontier to placate the Trump administration, who threatened the country with tariffs.
Masked and armed National Guard members picked through brush running along the border barrier on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, pulling out makeshift ladders and ropes tucked away in the trenches.
At least 1,650 troops were expected to be sent to Ciudad Juarez, according to government figures, making it one of the biggest receivers of border reinforcements in the country.
Lord Mandelson, most famous for his role as Tony Blair’s spin doctor, has arrived in Washington DC to take up his post as British ambassador to the US.
He is due to start work on Monday, with the government hoping to build bridges with the Trump administration and exempt British goods from the global tariffs the new president has threatened to impose.
Mandelson, who earned the nickname Prince of Darkness while serving as a minister under Blair, has faced a choppy journey to his appointment, with the Trump administration initially reported to have been considering not granting approval.
He has distanced himself from previous comments he made about the president, including that he was a “danger to the world” and “little short of a white nationalist and racist”.
Mandelson said his past comments were “childish and wrong”.
“In 2019, I was a bit irate,” Mandelson said.
He praised Trump as a “nice” and a “fair-minded” person who could become “one of the most consequential American presidents I have known in my adult life” in an interview with Fox News.
Mandelson made his name as one of the UK’s first spin doctors, credited with helping bring New Labour to power.
“The movement to impeach the president has begun.”
This was the announcement made by Democratic politician Al Green in the House of Representatives yesterday as he accused Donald Trump of advocating for ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
“Ethnic cleansing in Gaza is not a joke, especially when it emanates from the president of the United States, the most powerful person in the world, when he has the ability to effect what he says,” he said.
“Ethnic cleansing in Gaza is no joke and the prime minister of Israel should be ashamed.”
Green quoted Martin Luther King Jr in saying “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.
“Injustice in Gaza is a threat to justice in the United States of America,” said Green.
“I rise to announce that the movement to impeach the president has begun.
“I will bring articles of impeachment against the president for dastardly deeds proposed and dastardly deeds done.”
There were several failed attempts to impeach Trump during his first term, and two successful ones.
The first charged the president with soliciting Ukraine’s interference in the 2020 election and obstructing a subsequent impeachment investigation. The second charged Trump with incitement to insurrection over the Capitol riots on 6 January 2021.
He was acquitted on all counts by the Senate in both cases.
Trump is considering plans to use threats to withdraw from the World Health Organisation to put the US in charge.
Citing a proposal document and two sources, the Reuters news agency said Trump’s team advised he push for an American official to serve as director-general when Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s term ends in 2027.
The US is the WHO’s single-biggest funder, but Trump has ordered America to leave the global health agency in January 2026.
The proposal document calls for the appointment of a US special envoy in 2025 to oversee negotiations with the WHO about potential reforms.
The plan, compiled by an outside policy expert, accuses the WHO of being “chaotic” and failing to execute reforms.
The organisation’s director of transformation, Soren Brostrom, rejected the criticisms, saying the agency has undertaken its most fundamental reforms to date under Tedros.
He said any member state can propose a director-general and push for their candidate.
The WHO’s executive board selects a shortlist of contenders and the candidate who secures at least two-thirds of member states’ votes is chosen for the role.
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