President Donald Trump's administration pulled back a proposed spending freeze that threatened to disrupt hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to US programmes, a White House official said on Wednesday.

The head of the Office of Management and Budget sent a memo to the chiefs of US government departments and agencies saying the earlier order "is rescinded", NBC News and other outlets reported.

The first major domestic policy reversal of the Republican president's new term came after one federal judge had temporarily blocked the freeze and before another judge was due to hear a separate legal challenge.

The proposal had thrown the federal government into chaos and disrupted payments to medical and child-care providers.

Separately, the White House said Trump will target pro-Palestinian student protesters for deportation in a sign that he is broadening his immigration crackdown to include people based on their political views.

The White House said Trump will sign an executive order that would revoke student visas for college students and other non-citizens who took part in anti-Israel protests that roiled college campuses last year.

"We will find you and we will deport you," Trump said in a statement. Trump has been a vocal supporter of Israel during its war on Palestine's Gaza.

Trump's immigration crackdown until now has focused on deporting migrants who don't have a legal basis to stay in the United States. This order, if implemented, would target those who are in the country legally.

It was the latest boundary-pushing move for a president who has moved quickly to assert power since taking office on January 20. He has halted wide swaths of foreign aid, pardoned supporters who attacked US Capitol police and offered buyouts to thin the ranks of civil-service workers.