The Latest: Trump heads to Georgia after securing Board of Peace pledges for Gaza relief funds

President Donald Trump is in Georgia Thursday for a trip designed to help boost Republicans' political standing heading into the midterms.

In the battleground state, the president is expected to zero in on economic issues. The White House has long said Trump would focus more on the economy, and he frequently complains that he doesn't get enough credit for it. But recent months have been dominated by other issues, including deadly clashes during deportation efforts in Minneapolis.

Trump began the day by announcing at his inaugural Board of Peace meeting that nine members have agreed to pledge a combined $7 billion for a Gaza relief package and five countries agreed to deploy troops for an international stabilization force in the war-battered Palestinian territory.

But $7 billion is only a fraction of the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild Gaza, where a shaky ceasefire deal looms over Trump's ambitions for his board to rival the United Nations in solving world conflicts.

The Latest:

Trump is serious about strike threat, government official tells Iran

One senior regional government official said he has stressed to Iranian officials in private conversations that Trump has proven that his rhetoric should be taken at face value and that he's serious about his threat to carry out a strike if Iran doesn't offer adequate concessions.

The official said he's made the case to the Trump administration that it could draw concessions from Iran in the near-term if it focuses on nuclear issues and leaves the push on Tehran to scale back its ballistic missile program and support for proxy group for later.

The official also said Trump ordering a limited strike aimed at pressuring Iran could backfire and lead to Khamenei withdrawing Iran from the talks.

Trump rants about looming Supreme Court decision on tariffs

The president kicked off his remarks at a Georgia steel company by complaining about the fact that many of his tariffs have been challenged and are waiting a ruling from the Supreme Court that could come as soon as Friday .

''I have to wait for this decision!'' Trump said. ''I've been waiting forever!''

''What a country,'' he said. ''So sad.''

Trump calls it a ‘disgrace' to have to defend tariffs in court

With the Supreme Court's tariff's decision still pending, Trump during a tour of Coosa Steel expressed exasperation that his administration is even in court over the issue.

''Every country in the world was ripping us off,'' Trump said, addressing reporters as he toured the plant with owner Andrew Saville. ''And to think that we have to be before the Supreme Court on a thing like this.''

The high court's decision over the legality of Trump's tariffs is still pending, three months after the case was argued.

In Georgia, Trump says federal authorities seized ‘all those crooked ballots'

Stopping at The Varsity hamburger restaurant in Rome, Georgia, Trump said Democrats were ''fighting like hell'' against his administration's seizure of voting records and ballots in Georgia's Fulton County.

''All those crooked ballots were taken,'' he said, of the FBI search last month. Trump has long seen Georgia as central to his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen by Democrats and President Joe Biden, a fabrication that he reiterated this week during a White House reception on Black History Month.

Audits, state officials, courts and Trump's own former attorney general have all rejected the idea of widespread problems that could have altered the election.

Ahead of taping a podcast interview, a steel company tour and remarks on the economy, Trump called the Fulton County situation ''a disgrace'' and said his administration was ''cleaning it up.''

Police in the town of Aberdeen believe someone Wednesday afternoon threw from a moving vehicle a flash-bang — which creates a very loud noise — that landed 150 yards from a tent where the site operates in a park.

No one was injured and no property damage occurred. Police Capt. Shannon Blackburn said investigators believe the cylinder was detonated because of the voting site, which is being used for next month's primary elections. Flash-bangs can be used to attempt to disperse crowds.

Blackburn said witnesses reported hearing what they thought was a blown electrical transformer, and saw no vehicle or potential suspect. The investigation is continuing.

Aberdeen is a town of 9,000 about 70 miles southwest of Raleigh.

Early voting for the March 3 primary runs Feb. 12-28. Races includes nominations for a U.S. Senate seat, and for various congressional, legislative and judicial positions.

The president was asked about his threat that ''really bad things'' will happen to Iran if it does not strike a deal with the U.S. over its nuclear program.

When asked by a reporter what the goal of a strike would be, Trump said, ''I'm not going to talk to you about that. We're either going to get a deal or it's going to be unfortunate for them.''

He said Iran has 10 to 15 days to reach a deal.

''I would think that would be enough time,'' he said.

Milei praises Trump and announces humanitarian assistance for Gaza

''Our track record in peacekeeping operations is a proven asset that we put at the service of the stabilization force,'' Milei said during his speech. Since their creation in 1994, the Cascos Blancos have operated in more than 80 countries.

Milei said Argentina believes ''in a diplomacy that assumes risks to achieve peace'' and praised Trump's determination to pursue a solution in Gaza.

''Argentina participates in this Council with the conviction that peace requires political will and an institutional framework capable of sustaining real solutions over time. Trump has led by example by mediating the peace agreement in Gaza,'' Milei added.

Trump gives non-denial denial on aliens

President Donald Trump on Thursday refused to say whether he's seen evidence that aliens had visited earth.

Trump said that former President Barack Obama shared classified information by recently suggesting that aliens are real.

''I don't know if they're real or not. I can tell you he gave classified information,'' Trump said of Obama. ''He's not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information.''

Trump continued: ''I don't have an opinion on it. I never talk about it. A lot of people do. A lot of people believe it.''

Trump says arrest of former Prince Andrew ‘is a shame'

The president said to reporters as he prepared to head to Georgia for an event that the arrest of the former prince is ''very sad. I think it's so bad for the royal family.''

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger to give Democratic response to Trump's State of the Union address

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address next week, just months after resoundingly winning an office previously held by a Republican.

The Democratic rebuttal will immediately follow Trump's address to Congress next Tuesday, offering the party's most high-profile opportunity to deliver a countermessage.

Spanberger, who served three terms in Congress, became Virginia's first female governor earlier this year. She won the race by a double-digit margin, campaigning on affordability and lowering costs for families.

Usha Vance encourages supporters to donate to diaper banks after baby news

''Your support means more to us than we can say,'' she said Wednesday in a social media post.

But she asked supporters to refrain from sending gifts and to consider helping others instead.

''We would be honored if you would consider making a donation to your local diaper bank to help families in need,'' she said.

The newest member of the Vance family, the couple's third son, is due in July. They also have a young daughter.

US pays $160M partial payment toward more than $2 billion dues to UN regular budget

The payment comes as Trump adjourned his first meeting Thursday of the Board of Peace, a new initiative many see as his attempt to replace the U.N. Security Council's role in preventing and ending conflict around the world.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had warned earlier this month that the world body faces ''imminent financial collapse'' unless its financial rules are overhauled or all 193 member nations pay their dues, a message clearly directed at the United States.

The U.S. owes $2.196 billion to the U.N.'s regular operating budget, including $767 million for this year, according to a U.N. official. The U.S. also owes $1.8 billion for the separate budget for the U.N.'s far-flung peacekeeping operations, and that also will rise.

FIFA kicks in funding for a national football stadium in Gaza

FIFA President Gianni Infantino outlined a new plan by the world's governing body of football — ''soccer'' for those who live in the U.S. — to bring new sports opportunities to war-torn Gaza.

Specifically, FIFA pledged to spend $50 million for a national football stadium in Gaza to hold between 20,000 and 25,000 spectators in addition to a FIFA academy at a cost of $15 million. The organization also vowed to build 50 ''FIFA arena mini pitches'' and five full-sized pitches at a total cost of $7.5 million.

Slavery exhibit removed by Trump administration is returning to Independence Mall in Philadelphia

Workers are restoring an exhibit depicting the history of the nine people once enslaved in Philadelphia amid a legal fight between the city and the Trump Administration.

Mayor Cherelle Parker visited the site Thursday morning and saw the work being done, spokesperson Joe Grace said.

A federal judge had set a Friday deadline for the Interior Department to restore the exhibit on the people enslaved by George Washington at the former President's House on Independence Mall.

Trump closes out Board of Peace with promise to bring UN ‘back to health'

In the last of several statements made about the United Nations, Trump ended his inaugural meeting Thursday by hinting that the U.S. -- the world body's largest donor -- will be making more changes to the institution, including to the appearance of its headquarters in New York.

Many world leaders and diplomats have been worried that Trump's new initiative was an attempt to eclipse the U.N. Security Council. But Trump attempted to assuage those concerns, saying that the U.S. will ''work again with the United Nations and, bring it back to health.''

He added that his administration plans to ''fix up even the building.''

''I like to see beautiful buildings. I like to see buildings fixed up physically, not look like they are in disrepair,'' Trump said. ''We don't like that. So we're going to do a job with the United Nations.''

Billionaire investor Marc Rowan, a member of the Board of Peace's executive committee, said reconstruction would begin in Gaza's southern city of Rafah.

He said 100,000 homes for 500,000 people, about a quarter of Gaza's population, were initially planned, along with $5 billion of infrastructure. He said ''over time,'' 400,000 new homes for Gaza's entire population were planned, with $30 billion in infrastructure projects.

He gave no timeline for when construction would begin.

''This is not a problem of money or collateral,'' he said. ''This is a problem of peace.''

Board of Peace meeting ends after leaders regaled Trump with compliments in Cabinet-like session

Pakistan called him the ''savior of South Asia,'' while others said that years of U.S. foreign policy efforts by his predecessor failed to do what Trump has done in the last year.

The glowing remarks that went around from each corner of the globe resembled the same format and tone of Trump's Cabinet meetings, which involve less policy substance and more adulation for the Republican president.

Netanyahu: No rebuilding Gaza until Hamas disarms

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his pledge that Gaza will not be rebuilt until Hamas disarms.

''We agreed with our friends in the United States: There will be no reconstruction of the Gaza Strip before the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip,'' he said in a speech to graduating officers at an army base in southern Israel.

Iran holds drills as US carrier nears Mideast ahead of possible war

Iran held annual military drills with Russia on Thursday as a second American aircraft carrier drew closer to the Middle East, with both the United States and Iran signaling they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran's nuclear program fizzle out.

Trump said he hopes to reach a deal with Iran, but the talks have been deadlocked for years, and Iran has refused to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups. Indirect talks held in recent weeks made little visible progress, and one or both sides could be buying time for final war preparations.

Iran's theocracy is more vulnerable than ever, following 12 days of Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites and military last year, as well as mass protests in January that were violently suppressed. But it is still capable of striking Israel and U.S. bases, and has warned that any attack would trigger a regional war.

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Despite repeatedly underscoring the importance of preventing and ending conflict, Trump made several pointed remarks during his Board of Peace meeting directed at Iran as the U.S. has amassed a significant military in the region.

The Republican president stood in front of many of the same regional allies who have pressured the U.S. in the last few weeks to not take military action against Iran and once again warned its longtime adversary to come to the table with an acceptable deal or face the consequences.

''We have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise bad things happen,'' Trump said.

Amid Trump's statements about peace, tensions with Iran remain high

The inaugural meeting of Trump's Board of Peace comes perhaps ironically at a time of high tension between the United States and Iran and one of the largest U.S. military buildups in the Middle East in decades, with one aircraft carrier group in the region already and another on the way.

US stabilization force leader plans 12,000 police and 20,000 soldiers for Gaza

Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, the leader of the newly-created International Stabilization Force, announced that Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania have all pledged troops to the effort. In addition, Egypt and Jordan, which border the Gaza Strip, have agreed to train the police and security forces.

''With these first steps, we help bring the security that Gaza needs for a future of prosperity and enduring peace,'' Jeffers said.

An arts panel made up of Trump appointees unanimously approves his ballroom

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts unanimously approved Trump's proposal, despite raising concerns at the panel's January meeting. Some commissioners had questioned the lead architect about its ''immense'' design and scale, roughly twice the size of the White House itself.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued in federal court to halt construction. And the project is scheduled for additional discussion at a March 5 meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission, now led by one of Trump's top aides.

Vance tries to sell Board of Peace as a win for the US

The vice president nodded to domestic politics heading into the midterm elections in his brief statement to the board.

''The reason that we're here today is yes to save lives and yes to promote peace, but this creates incredible prosperity for the American people,'' Vance said.

He said the countries represented on the board represent ''trillions of dollars of investment'' in the U.S., and support millions of American jobs by buying goods made in America.

Trump says Board of Peace will be ‘looking over' UN

The Republican president repeated his concerns and criticism of the United Nations during his Board of Peace meeting, saying the UN should have been more involved in conflict-solving than it has been.

But, Trump also said that the U.S. is going ''to be working with the United Nations very close.''

''Someday I won't be here. The United Nations will be, I think, is going to be much stronger,'' he said. ''The Board of Peace is gonna almost be looking over the United Nations, and making sure it runs properly.''

Trump says US pledges $10 billion to the Board of Peace

''The Board of Peace is showing how a better future can be built, starting right here in this room,'' Trump said.

Trump announces 9 countries pledging a combined $7 billion to Gaza relief package

Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait are the countries that are making pledges, Trump said.

''But every dollar spent is an investment in stability and the hope of new and harmonious (region),'' said Trump in thanking the donors.