Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States
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Donald Trump signed a deluge of executive orders on Monday, hours after being sworn in as the 47th president, leaving global banks working through the night in “war rooms” to make assessments of the likely consequences, according to a report from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
After being inaugurated as commander-in-chief at the Capitol rotunda and delivering an address that both chastized Joe Biden’s outgoing administration and promised a new “golden age of America”, Trump set to work, as he had promised, on signing a stack of executive orders.
On immigration alone, Trump moved to declare a national emergency at the southern border, end birthright citizenship, designate Central America’s cartels terrorist organizations, reinstate his “Remain in Mexico” policy and ended “catch and release” practices.
He also pardoned 1,500 “J6 hostages”, withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization and Paris climate accord, affirmed that the government recognizes only two genders, renamed the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Mount Denali, overturned 78 Biden-era regulations, froze federal hiring and postponed the implementation of a law banning Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok for 75 days.
Musk reponds to ‘Nazi salute’ controversy
This is how the tech boss responded to the outcry over his iffy gesture, replying to a commenter on his social media platform on X by saying:
“Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
Meanwhile, here’s James Liddell on whether or not he’ll be granted an office in the West Wing to carry out his DOGE activities.
Joe Sommerlad21 January 2025 13:45
Melania Trump’s inauguration hat spawns hilarious memes: ‘She looks like the Hamburglar’
The first lady’s broad-brimmed hat inevitably inspired plenty of ridicule on social media yesterday.
Here’s Kayleigh Werner with the best of the reaction.
Joe Sommerlad21 January 2025 13:30
Watch: Jon Stewart offers generous interpretation of Elon Musk’s inauguration ‘Nazi salute’
Joe Sommerlad21 January 2025 13:15
Billy Ray Cyrus gives ‘disaster’ performance at Trump’s Liberty Ball
It was by no means smooth sailing for everyone yesterday, with the 63-year-old country star suffering a set described as an “epic disaster” riddled with technical glitches.
Joe Sommerlad21 January 2025 13:00
Marco Rubio confirmed by Senate as Trump’s secretary of state
The former Florida Republican Senator became the first of the president’s cabinet picks to be given the greenlit by the upper chamber of Congress yesterday.
Joe Sommerlad21 January 2025 12:45
Truth Social: Trump announces purge of Biden administration personnel
As you might imagine, the president had little time for social media yesterday but did put up a couple of choice videos of himself signing off on executive orders.
He did announce this firing of Biden personnel late on, however.
Chef Jose Andres has already responded to Trump in mocking fashion, revealing that he submitted his resignation last week:
Here’s more from Holly Evans.
Joe Sommerlad21 January 2025 12:30
Trump orders hiring freeze and end to remote work for federal employees
“Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis,” Trump’s order states.
But department and agency heads will be allowed to “make exemptions they deem necessary,” it adds, seemingly defeating the point.
Mary Papenfuss has this on the president’s first moves to rein in the federal government.
Joe Sommerlad21 January 2025 12:15
Trump seeks to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
The president’s move to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in a move that could push a militarized agenda for the border and Latin America.
The order highlighted Mexican drug cartels and other Latin American criminal groups like Venezuela gang Tren de Aragua and Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), which it said “threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”
Joe Sommerlad21 January 2025 12:00
Trump signs order delaying TikTok ban for 75 days
It’s easy to forget now that the president initially called for a ban on TikTok during his first term in 2020.
He told reporters at the White House on Monday that he had changed his mind as he “got to use” the platform, adding that he aimed to give its parent company ByteDance more time to find a suitable American buyer.
Dismissing initial privacy concerns, he said: “TikTok is largely about kids, young kids.
“If China is going to get information about young kids out of it, to be honest, I think we have bigger problems than that.”
Trump’s revisionist attitude comes after he credited the platform with helping him to secure the support of younger voters in last year’s election, which it may or may not have actually done.
Vishwam Sankaran reports.
Joe Sommerlad21 January 2025 11:45
Trump pledges to overturn Biden’s progress on climate change
The newly sworn-in president vowed yesterday to overturn climate-focused policy, promising once again to “drill, baby, drill” for the “liquid gold” largely responsible for the world’s life-threatening warming.
“Today I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense,” he told his inauguration attendees.
Included in his calls for a return to “common sense”, Trump declared a national energy emergency, tying energy costs to inflation.
He said that America would be a manufacturing nation, stating that the country has the “largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth.”
“And, we are going to use it,” he said, adding that the US would fill strategic reserves up “right to the top.”
“We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it,” he declared.
Here’s more from our climate correspondent Julia Musto.
Joe Sommerlad21 January 2025 11:30
