Trump promises blizzard of executive orders on first day of presidency
On the eve of his White House return, Donald Trump promised to move “with historic speed and strength” to sign a blitz of executive orders.
The Republican promised to act unilaterally on a wide array of issues, using his presidential powers to launch mass deportation operations, slash environmental regulations and end diversity programmes.
Trump is expected to sign more than 200 executive actions today. This would include executive orders, which are legally-binding, and other presidential directives like proclamations, which are usually not.
The incoming president promised executive orders that would ramp up artificial intelligence programmes, form the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), make records available related to the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963, direct the military to create an Iron Dome missile defence shield and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies from the military.
He also told supporters he would stop transgender women from competing in female sports categories and hand back control of education to America’s states.
Trump is also expected to address immigration, but experts say his promise to deport millions of undocumented migrants will face enormous logistical hurdles, and potentially cost tens or hundreds of billions of dollars.
Donald Trump to take oath of office as US braces for vengeful second term
Incoming commander-in-chief had promised retaliation against his foes with majorities in both Congress chambers
The United States was bracing for a new era of disruption and division on Monday with Donald Trump scheduled to be sworn in as its 47th president, promising a blitz of executive orders and radical shake-up of the global order.
Trump’s inauguration ceremony has been moved inside to the rotunda at the US Capitol building because of bitterly cold weather. The high sandstone hall at the Capitol’s centre is the same spot where some of his supporters rioted on 6 January 2021 in an attempt to overturn his election defeat.
Few imagined then that Trump, twice impeached and now a convicted criminal, would set foot inside the White House again. But over the weekend the 78-year-old revelled in his improbable political comeback with supporters of his Maga (Make America great again) movement.
On Saturday Trump held a party at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, that featured an Elvis Presley impersonator and a fireworks display that illuminated the night sky. In keeping with tradition, he spent Saturday night at Blair House, the president’s official guest residence on Pennsylvania Avenue, across from the White House.
He held a private breakfast with Republican senators there on Sunday. His schedule for the day included a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery and addressing a campaign-style “Maga Victory” rally at a downtown sports arena.
“We won,” declared an exultant Trump after walking on stage at Washington’s Capital One Arena, accompanied by his signature campaign anthem God Bless the USA.
Vowing to “take our country back”, the soon-to-be 47th president said: “Tomorrow at noon the curtain closes on four long years of American decline and we begin a brand new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride.”
“We’re going to stop the invasion of our borders,” Trump promised. “We’re going to unlock the liquid gold that’s right under our feet … We’re going to bring back law and order to our cities … We’re going to get radical woke ideology the hell out of our military.”
Trump promised that on Monday he would “act with historic speed and strength and every crisis facing our country”. He also sought to claim credit for restoring TikTok to American users and for Sunday’s release of hostages from Gaza.
Earlier at the rally, taking place in a sports area with basketball and ice hockey championship pennants hanging from the roof, Trump’s senior adviser, Stephen Miller, promised that Trump would on Monday issue “an executive order ending the border invasion, sending illegals home and taking America back”.
Trump added: “The border security measures I will outline in my inaugural address tomorrow will be the most aggressive, sweeping effort to restore our borders that the world has ever seen.”
Trump also signaled that he plans to immediately undo the prosecutions of his supporters who stormed the Capitol on 6 January 2021 in an effort to keep him in office. “Tomorrow everybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision on the J6 hostages,” he said.
His inauguration at noon on Monday will be the first attended by foreign leaders Chinese vice-president Han Zheng, Argentina’s president Javier Milei and Italy’s premier Giorgia Meloni. Trump will then deliver an inaugural address that he claims will be unifying in tone.
“January 20th cannot come fast enough!,” he posted on his social media site. “Everybody, even those that initially opposed a Victory by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Administration, just want it to happen.”
Kamala Harris, Trump’s opponent in last year’s fraught battle for the White House, will also be in attendance as JD Vance takes her place as vice-president. Harris, who became the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden was forced to withdraw from the race in July, had framed Trump as a fundamental threat to democracy who would exploit his regained power to settle political scores while ignoring the needs of average Americans.
After an indoor parade for 20,000 supporters, Trump is expected to hit the ground running by issuing a slew of executive orders. He has promised that on day one he would pardon January 6 insurrectionists, seal the southern border and launch the biggest ever deportation programme of undocumented people.
Trump’s team plans to kick off a major raid in Chicago starting on Tuesday with up to 200 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers descending on the city, targeting undocumented people with criminal records as minor as traffic violations, the Wall Street Journal reported.
One notable absence among the many invited dignitaries will be Michelle Obama, as the former first lady has said she will not attend the event after skipping former president Jimmy Carter’s funeral earlier this month as well. But another well-known former first lady, Hillary Clinton, will witness Trump’s second swearing-in, eight years after she attended his first inauguration following her defeat to him in the 2016 presidential contest.
In that first inaugural address, Trump adopted an ominous tone as he described a country teetering on the edge of calamity, vowing to end “American carnage”. Trump’s aides have indicated that his speech will be much more hopeful this time around, in a surprising change for a man who derided the US as “a nation in decline” under Biden and Harris’ leadership as he campaigned last year.
As Trump takes the reins of power, Biden will depart the White House for the final time as president on Monday morning. He leaves office with an unsually low approval rating amid ongoing attacks from fellow Democrats, many of whom blame Harris’s loss on Biden’s refusal to exit the presidential race earlier.
In his farewell address on Wednesday, Biden largely sidestepped questions about his legacy and instead delivered a frank warning about the nation’s “concentration of power and wealth” in the hands of a privileged few while truth and facts have become ever harder for the public to access.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” Biden said.
As he marked the end of a political career that first began with his election to the Senate in 1972, Biden concluded: “After 50 years of public service, I give you my word, I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands – a nation where the strength of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure. Now it’s your turn to stand guard.”
That responsibility begins Monday, as the US embarks on four more years of Trump’s leadership, more unsure than ever of what they may bring.
Triumphant Trump returns to White House, launching new era of upheaval
WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Donald Trump will be sworn in as U.S. president on Monday, ushering in another turbulent four-year term with promises to push the limits of executive power, deport millions of immigrants, secure retribution against his political enemies and transform the role of the U.S. on the world stage.
Trump’s inauguration completes a triumphant comeback for a political disruptor who survived two impeachment trials, a felony conviction, two assassination attempts and an indictment for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss.
The ceremony will take place at noon (1700 GMT) inside the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, four years after a mob of Trump supporters breached the symbol of American democracy in an unsuccessful effort to forestall the Republican Trump’s 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The swearing-in was moved indoors for the first time in 40 years due to the extreme cold.
Trump, the first U.S. president since the 19th century to win a second term after losing the White House, has said he will pardon “on Day One” many of the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
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“What we’re really talking about is a fundamentally different economy, a fundamentally different country in terms of its racial and gender and social makeup, and we are as a country struggling to figure out what that means,” he said. “It’s an existential moment.”
Trump will enjoy Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress that have been almost entirely purged of any intra-party dissenters. His advisers have outlined plans to replace nonpartisan bureaucrats with hand-picked loyalists.
Even before taking office, Trump established a rival power center in the weeks after his election victory, meeting world leaders and causing consternation by musing aloud about seizing the Panama Canal, taking control of NATO ally Denmark’s territory of Greenland and imposing tariffs on the biggest U.S. trading partners.
His influence has already been felt in the Israel-Hamas announcement last week of a ceasefire deal. Trump, whose envoy joined the negotiations in Qatar, had warned of “hell to pay” if Hamas did not release its hostages before the inauguration.
Unlike in 2017, when he filled many top jobs with institutionalists, Trump has prioritized fealty over experience in nominating a bevy of controversial cabinet picks, some of whom are outspoken critics of the agencies they have been tapped to lead.
He also has the backing of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who spent more than $250 million to help get Trump elected. Other billionaire tech leaders who have sought to curry favor with the incoming administration, such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai and Apple’s Tim Cook, will join Musk in attending Monday’s ceremony, according to Reuters and other media.
‘AMERICAN CARNAGE’
The inauguration will proceed amid heavy security after a campaign highlighted by an increase in political violence that included two assassination attempts against Trump, including one in which a bullet grazed his ear.
Federal authorities are also on alert after the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans, when investigators say a U.S. Army veteran inspired by the Islamic State drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers, killing 14. Last week, the FBI warned of potential copycat attacks.
Eight years ago, Trump delivered a bleak inaugural address vowing to end the “American carnage” of what he said were crime-ridden cities and soft borders, a departure from the tone of optimism most newly elected presidents have adopted.
The traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue past the White House will now take place indoors at the Capital One Arena, where Trump held his victory rally on Sunday. Trump will also attend three inaugural balls in the evening.
Many of the executive orders are likely to face legal challenges.
Trump will be the first felon to occupy the White House after a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to cover up hush money paid to a porn star. He escaped punishment at his sentencing, in part because the judge acknowledged the impossibility of imposing penalties on a soon-to-be president.
Winning the election also rid Trump of two federal indictments – for plotting to overturn the 2020 election and for retaining classified documents – thanks to a Justice Department policy that presidents cannot be prosecuted while in office.
Trump wants 50% US ownership of TikTok
US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday told his supporters that he wants Chinese-owned short-form video app TikTok to be at least 50% owned by US investors.
On the eve of his swearing-in, Trump told a rally in Washington that he would allow the app to continue operating in the US, “but let the United States of America own 50% of TikTok.”
“TikTok is worth nothing, zero without an approval,” to operate, Trump said. “If you do approve, they’re worth like a trillion dollars, they’re worth some crazy number.”
“I’m approving on behalf of the United States, so they’ll have a partner, the United States, and they’ll have a lot of bidders and the United States will do what we call a joint venture,” Trump continued.
The popular app blocked access for US-based users for about 12 hours on Sunday as a new US law mandating TikTok either be sold by its current Chinese owners, ByteDance, or else be banned in the country was set to come into force.
The app came back online after Trump, who is set to take office on Monday, said that he would issue an executive order reinstating the platform in the US.
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