title: Highlights: The Trump presidency on Feb. 24 at 12:35 a.m. EST/17:35 GMT
text: (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday: Trump says he will make a massive budget request for one of the “greatest military buildups in American history” in a feisty, campaign-style speech extolling robust nationalism to eager conservative activists. Trump signs an executive order aimed at repealing or simplifying federal regulations. Trump criticizes the FBI for failing to stop leaks of national security information to the media and directs the agency to find those who pass on classified information. Russian politicians close to the Kremlin say Trump’s declared aim of putting the U.S. nuclear arsenal “at the top of the pack” risks starting a new Cold War-style arms race between Washington and Moscow. China dismisses renewed pressure from Trump over its role in North Korea, saying the crux of the matter is a dispute between Washington and Pyongyang. China says it has no intention of using currency devaluation to its advantage in trade, responding to Trump’s description of China as the “grand champions” of currency manipulation. Mexico does not need U.S. financial aid, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong says, after Trump ordered a report on such assistance given by the United States to its southern neighbor over the last five years. ANTI-TRUMP MOVEMENT Raucous town hall meetings held by Republican Congress members are the latest outburst in a relentless series of rallies, marches and protests that shows no signs of abating more than 30 days into the Trump administration. Germany does not yet have a full picture of the approach Trump’s administration is taking on foreign, security and trade policy but is keen to engage with Washington on these issues, a Foreign Ministry spokesman says. Peru’s Trade Minister Eduardo Ferreyros says he does not think Trump would want to renegotiate the trade agreement between the two countries because it has been beneficial to the United States. 