White House says Trump is NOT revoking TPS for Ukrainians

The White House says that reports claiming that President Donald Trump is looking to revoke legal status for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are false. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said as much on Thursday.

On her social media account, she wrote, "This is more fake news from Reuters based on anonymous sources who have no idea what they are talking about. The truth: no decision has been made at this time."

This is more fake news from Reuters based on anonymous sources who have no idea what they are talking about.

The truth: no decision has been made at this time. pic.twitter.com/djf0CjTfiD

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 6, 2025

Here's what is going on:

On Thursday, Reuters put out a report claiming that the Trump administration is going to "revoke" the legal status of some 240,000 Ukrainians.

The New York Post explains:

More than 200,000 Ukrainians were approved to come to the US under former President Joe Biden’s administration through Temporary Protected Status and the “Uniting for Ukraine” program. The Uniting for Ukraine program was suspended on Jan. 27, one week after Trump took office. Ten days before Biden left office, the Department of Homeland Security extended the TPS program for Ukrainians until 2026, apparently as a pre-emptive move against action by Trump.

Reuters, in its initial report, claimed that Trump was revoking the legal status of these individuals. But, after Leavitt called the outlet out, it appears that it has "updated" its reporting.

Reuters is now claiming:

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would soon decide whether to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia, following a Reuters report that his administration planned to take that step.

In other words, now it is just a possibility - that Trump might revoke the legal status of these individuals - rather than a certainty.

Trump weighs in

Unlike Reuters' first report, the second one is actually backed up by words straight from Trump's mouth.

Trump, on Thursday, said:

We’re not looking to hurt anybody, and we’re certainly not looking to hurt them, and I’m looking at that. There were some people that think that’s appropriate, and some people don’t, and I’ll be making a decision pretty soon.

The Post notes that Trump is not making this move in response to his recent Oval Office blowup with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Rather, the outlet reports:

[D]iscussions about ending the TPS program for Ukrainians were underway before Trump had a major disagreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last week.

At the time of this writing, it remains unclear how Trump will handle this situation.