Goodbye Joe!

the *DON* JONES INDEX…
		GAINS POSTED in GREEN LOSSES POSTED in RED 1/16/25... 14,895.89 1/9/25... 14,898.28
	6/27/13… 15,000.00
*(THE DOW* JONES INDEX: 1/23/25... 44.156.73 ; 1/16/25... 43,170.47; 6/27/13… 15,000.00)**

LESSON for JANUARY TWENTY THIRD, 2025 “WELCOME BACK, DONNIE!”

At high noon on Monday, Donald John Trump (nee “Drumpf”) tied Ol’ 22/24, Mister Garfield (the President, not the cat) as the only POTUS ever re-elected to Commander in Chief non-consecutively upon taking the inauguration as the 47^th President of the United States.

It was perhaps not a hard-won but a much-appreciated victory for the former Ex (45) who... perhaps in the spirit of Garfield... gifted his followers with not one but two inaugural speeches – an Official Version, (Attachment One) as soft-pedaled the revenge and retribution aspects, gave thanks to men and God and promised Gold for all (so as long as they were birthright-plus citizens, Born in the U.S.A).... and then, at his second and “real inaugural address (as) started when the teleprompter stopped” one crackling with revenge... whichTrump himself described as “a better speech than the one I made upstairs” (Vox, Attachment Two) called Dick Cheney a war profiteer, the Biden family “thugs” and, of course, claimed to have lost the election because of illegal votes – this time in California.

At that second Capitol One Arena rally in two days, that Second Adress (Attachment Three) outlined what he would do... starting that very night.. and who would pay the price.

He brought his dogsbodies (@, J.D, Elon) up to speak (New York Times, Attachment Four) and Musk thanked the crowd for choosing Mr. Trump during “a fork in the road of human civilization,” giving what many called a Nazi salute.

Others appeared to celebrate Mr. Musk’s motion. Andrew Torba, the founder of the far-right social network Gab, shared a photograph on his platform of the billionaire making the gesture, adding the caption, “Incredible things are happening already.”

Mr. Musk, 53, did not respond to an email requesting comment. Late Monday, he shared a user’s post on X that said the “salute hoax” was part of a Democratic “dirty tricks campaign” against Mr. Musk.

“Frankly, they need better dirty tricks,” Mr. Musk added.

After escorting Old Sick Joe out of the Capitol, it was off to Capitol One, signing pardons and EO’s... throwing his souvenir pens to the throng... and merching his merch. He replaced a portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt that had been hung by Biden with one of George Washington, renamed Mount Denali in Alaska Mount McKinley again – having pledged to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution from the same spot that was overrun by his supporters on Jan. 6.

BEFOREPLAY...

Some, but not all of the Show had obviouslybeen scripted in advance. A little over a year ago, Donald Trump claimed he would be a “dictator”—but only for the first 24 hours of his presidency. Now, as his Jan. 20 inauguration approaches, wrote Nick Popli (Time, Jan. 13^th) the President-elect’s plans for his first day in office are “becoming clearer.”

Trump told Republican Senators that he is preparing around 100 executive orders for the first day of his presidency, designed to strike swiftly at the heart of the Biden Administration’s legislative agenda. He has spent months teasing an ambitious list of measures he would take on Day One, including shutting down the U.S.-Mexico border, ending the Russia-Ukraine war, and pardoning Jan. 6 prisoners, among others.

“Look, I can undo almost everything Biden did, he through executive order. And on Day One, much of that will be undone,” Trump told TIME in a November interview.

Popli listed some of the main promises Trump said he would role out on Day One of his Presidency...

Close the border and reinstate travel bans

Achieved@

Mass deportations and end birthright citizenship

Paperwork achieved. Deportations will take a little longer.

Pardon Jan. 6 prisoners

Over-achieved. Trump had said that he would consider pardons “for some individuals charged with violent offenses” and that, in addition to pardoning individuals, Trump “he may establish a task force to review other cases of Jan. 6 participants still imprisoned.” Intead, he even pardoned those convicted of the most serious assaults on Capitol Police.

End the Russia-Ukraine war

Not achieved.

End the ‘electric vehicle mandate’ and Green New Deal policies

Roll back federal regulations

Ban transgender individuals in women’s sports and the military

Cut federal funding for ‘woke’ schools

End CRT and DEI mandates in schools and the military and go back in time.

“Shock and awe,” Sen. John Barrasso, (R – Wy) predicted after Republicans members of Congress received a preview of the activity to come. (USA Today, Attachment Seven)

As far as proposals likely to face legal of legislative challenges, USA noted that Trump would seemingly have to pursue an amendment to the Constitution, “which would require support from two-thirds of Congress and ratification from three-fourths of state legislatures.”

But, if successful, repeal of the 14^th could also open the door to bringing back slavery.

Trump advisers also have signaled plans to direct the federal government to more aggressively use 287(g) ‒ a federal program that empowers local law enforcement to carry out some immigration enforcement duties and promised new tariffs on imports from Canada (rescinced if conquered and made the 51^st state), Mexico and China and save TikTok (done, at least for ninety days)

The liberal Guardian U.K. noted that, even before the election, some of the country’s largest companies announced they too were pivoting back into the pocket of the clown and sunsetting some of their corporate programs.

“In December, Walmart said it was rolling back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals and would drop using the term altogether. McDonald’s made a similar statement in January. On Friday, Meta became the latest major company to announce the end of its DEI goals, saying that the company will scrap its DEI team, its equity and inclusion training programs and requirements to have a “diverse slate” of applicants when hiring.” (Jan 11, Attachment Eight)

Now that conservatives not only have a majority in the supreme court, but also the White House and both chambers of Congress, “they can launch a full-fledged attack against DEI at the federal level” and GUK predicted that.

@begin

OATH of ADDRESS...

AFTER-MATH...

It may just well have been – as a former Lesson upon the vagaries and vexations of Trump’s beloved (and, for now, believed) bro Glad Vlad Putin observed – that November’s election was all about the gays... specifically that the cultural warriors of MAGA convinced the previously noncommittal demographic of young, straight white males as didn’t qualify (intellectually or financially) for the sort of elite university educations claimed by the offspring of the elites as their birthrights. Whether from their cheap State or Community colleges, their workplaces in the fast-food franchises, auto body shops and factories (where such still existed) or from the couches in their parents’ garages, the superannuated boys of winter turned loathing against the queers and racketeers of Deep State Next; groomed by intellectuals in rooms as were so virtuous, so stuffed with DEI and @ and @ and @; the upwardly alreadily-mobile peering down disdainfully upon inferiors.

Post-election polls

But if resentment at their treatment won Trump votes from working and wish-they-were-working young white males (as well as a record turnout of black and brown American-born citizens apprehensive over the armies of the south taking over their jobs because they were paid less by elite employers), he also won their more numerous parents and entire communities worried and angry over the “kitchen-table” issues – notably the cost of gas and groceries, lesser in Trump’s first administration and, under weak old Joe and crazy Kamalala, apparently headed nowhere but up while wages stagnated (or at least, as in the last month’s Index, only now beginning to rise). Forget the plague, and evil Doctor Fauci with his mask mandates and work-from-home remedies applicable only to the cubicle parasites with their computers and their @; forget the bird flu as elevated the price of eggs to fifty cents apiece; forget the wildfires @ attributed

@ some more inaug and after quotes

Sloughing off blame for the inclusionary half-hour fantasy of his Inaugural Address upon Melania and other unnamed “advisers” who wanted him to be “nice” on this, of all days... with the goddam Godless Democrats even flying the Stars and Stripes at half mast in an extended homage to that other old loser, Jimmy Carter, New 47 brought revenge and retribution back to the fore at his celebratory peckulations and pardoneerings at the @ center with a shout out to the owners, @ hockey

It was a good day for hockey, most of the revelers agreed... many of whom had been standing in line since two in the morning in the two degree windchill, only to be notified that their tickets to the main even would not be stamped. And these weren’t bums, not by any means, they were thoughtful and earnest Americans... many of them donors (though not of the million or billion class) to the G.O.P. who shivered in silence and finally received their recognition from THEIR President, voicing THEIR aspersions and aspirations.

@ more quotes

Our Lesson: January 16 through January 22, 2025

Thursday, January 16 , 2025

Dow: 43,152.13

It’s Fig Newton Day...

The last four and a half days of Biden/Harris flutter from the bushes to explode on multiple levels like dying quail flushed from upscale Tyson processing plants... from wildfires in Los Angeles to the hostage deal in the Mideast, from plagues old (Covid) to new (Bird Flu Two, the transmissible kind) to banning Tik Tok; from the debt ceiling to kitchen ceiling, diplomatic deep fakes to military adventurism... and the actors, good and bad alike, all acting out to consolidate gains before the changeover as if they didn’t know that the donkey from “Shrek” was dead.

As a cease-fire for hostages deal gains strength, Israel ramps up bombing of Gaza as infighting among Bibi Netanyahu’s far-right legislators remain the last obstacle. The Ukraine/Russian war grinds on, with Glad Vlad hoping that the President/President-Elect (PPE) will cut Zelenskyy and the Ukes off or broker a deal as he has proposed to do with China on TikTok: perhaps a 50/50 split (as would enhance his proposed conquest of Greenland, Panama and Canada).

As TikTokers whine, wildfire survivors grieve... thousands of homes, famous enclaves in Malibu and on Hollywood Boulevard... Santa Ana winds go down, but will go up again, and the new danger arising is landslides. Immigrants, legal or not, fear the details of deportation as the Trump cabinet is largely named and Congressional hearings have taken place for some of the most controversial (Hegseth, Gabbard) with Kash Patel and more on deck).

And as tech oligarchs bend the knee to Incoming, two of them (Musk and Bezos launch rival moonshots) – Blue Origen successfully, but Space X loses its main capsule. On Earth, a drunken Southwest pilot is pulled from the cockpit, chickens and people perish in a Tyson plant explosion and a wild weekend in college and pro sports plays on.

Friday, January 17, 2025

Dow: 43,487.83

As fires and winds give way to landslides, relief and recovery begin... the death toll rises to twenty-seven. “Our schools are gone,” a resident says, “our pharmacies are gone.” “Tinder” (an unlikely choice) donates $200K to wildfire relied.

The Israeli cabinet approves the hostage deal, sends it on to parliament and relief trucks gather on the Egyptian border while Israel conducts last-minute bombing of Palestinian civilians.

Trump inauguration moved indoors in anticipation of record freezing and snowfall – not only in Washington but all over the East. Biden issues more pardons while lawyer are mobilizing to dealt with a multitude of issues... not only political but cultural (the Baldoni/Lively lawsuit) and professional football player Xavier Legette eats a squirrel on live video (he had raccoon for Thanksgiving).

Saturday, January 18 , 2025

Dow: Closed

President Joe gets a big win on his last day, after moments of peril... Israeli parliament supports hostage deal but far right opposition demands that it go through “procedures” inasmuch as the first stage calls for release of 31 Israelis (and two Americans)... mostly women and children... for 1,700 Palestinians (again, mostly women and children but with a few active terror suspects). As trucks of food and supplies are lined up on the Egyptian border, Israeli bombing lasts till the bitter end on its 469^th day.

Tik Tok shuts down early, anticipating ban after SCOTUS votes 9-0 to destroy it. Content creators whine about lost income and users bewail all the time they will have to do... other things.

President Joe’s midnight business includes more price cuts for fat people who can’t afford Wegovy or O-o-o Zempic as well as more pardons for Federal prisoners.

Police and construction workers hustle to prepare Capitol rotunda for Trump inauguration, moved indoors due to record lows and snows from Arctic – the coldest swear-in since Reagan Two in 1984. Half of the invitees moved indoors, rest are dis-invited... scuffles and screams break out among losers.

Across the country, firefighters work to contain the Palisades and Eaton fires before winds pick back up tomorrow... Dave Chappelle on SNL exclaims that “God hates those people.” (The leftwing lateniter shows signs of Trumpivoting by mocking MSNBC!)

Sunday, January 19 , 2025

Dow: Closed

It’s National Popcorn Day.

Tops are popping in the MidEast as the first hostages are tradec. Three Israeli women reunite with families in the first of six phases of Phase One, Israel stops bombing Gaza and the rolling aid trucks and returning Palestinian hostages have most Islamists hopping too. (Iran and Israeli settlers are disgruntled, but ignored.)

Freezing protesters for choice, immigrants and other issues will face a (frozen) wall of police surrounding the Capitol. Tik Tok goes dead and the youth of America wail: “what am I going to do?” (Hint from DJI: get a job, get an education?) Recognizing his high youth vote, Incoming now promises to override SCOTUS and declare a 90-day truce, also inviting Byte Dance spy Shou Zi Chew in to chew the fatted calf - along with penitent supplicant crow-eating billionaires Musk, Zuck and Bezos and (by protocol) Unhung Pence and holds a short pre-Inaug rally at the Capitol One Arema for the excluded.

Talksters discuss Trump’s victory and Steve Bannon proclaims the end of the Democratic Party as weill as the Paul Ryan faction of the GOP – comparing Djonald UnChained to Washington, Lincoln and General MacArthur. Joe’s outgoing Deputy NatSec John Finer complains that the MidEast peace was all Biden’s doing since back in May, 2024 but Robert Costa (Woodward whisperer) says Trump always saw 2020 as a pause, “not an end.” In a reversal of roles, the Bern says failed Dems will support POTUS unless “you sell out the working class” while Sen. Jim Banks (R-In) warns that Djonald has only a “short window” to finish his job before 2026 midterm campaign.

On “Face the Nation”, NSA nominee Mike Waltz (R-Fl) says that if Biden wants to own the hostage deal, he’ll get the blame if it fails and now America will have its “Reagan moment.”

Monday, January 20, 2025

Dow: Closed for MLK day

Before the noontime inauguration, while is Trump is planning his rallies and parties, outgoing President Joe issues pre-emptive pardons for other “enemies” of the incoming like Gen. Melley, Liz Cheney and Dr. Fauci and then hurries to the inauguration, along with all the other living ex-Presidents (after Trump demands the half staff flag for Jimmy be raised again). Three Israeli hostages and some Palestinian prisoners are finally reunited with their families while the Santa Ana winds pick up, sparking more California wildfires.

It’s freezing in Washington and the inauguration is moved inside... the (lesser) half of ticket holders are shunted off to the Capitol One Arena but the only big no-shows are Michelle Obama, Pelosi and Chinese President Xi (who sends his cordial VP in his place). Opera singer Christopher Maccho sings, the sergeants at arms swear in JD @get papers

A minute late, Donald Trump becomes the 47^th President of the United States and, shortly thereafter, pardons almost all the One Six prisoners/hostages except for a few violent attackers who get commutations. He also issues executive orders against migrants, gays, taxmen and windmills and then proceeds back to the Capitol One Center to give what he and others call his real Inaugural address full of revenge and retribution and then parties all over. Steven Miller @ while Jason Miller responds to press inquiries on Biden’s pardons, saying he doesn’t want to think about old Gone Joe amidst Trump’s “revolution of common sense.”

Djonald UnKissed wants to kiss Melania, but is foiled by her big hat, so they dance instead. Haters say that Elon Musk gives a Nazi salute.

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Dow: 44,025.81

It’s Shock and Awe: Day One, say the media (and also National Mariachi Day)

In the season of the Pardoneering, the Taliban gives America a much better deal than Hamas gave Israel... two Americans released for only one Bad Arab. Biden and Trump liberated go home before going back to work (selling weed, hanging Mike Pence) and Ex-President Joe whupped Donnie 2,500 to 1,500. Capitol and other police protest the freedom for Proud Boys and other violent insurrectionists like @ Torreo, @ and the Q-Anon Shaman... Marco Rubio gets confirmed as SecState and heads off to meet with diplomats from India, Japan and Australia.

Ohio State wins the college championship with a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame.

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Dow: 44,156.73

America goes back to work and so does President Trump with more pardons, Executive Orders as snow blankets the East – from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of America, skiing in New Orleans and a new Hughes Fire in California (“It’s... hot!” a resident says). more states banning cellphones, Musk mulling partial or total purchase of TikTok (reprieved for 90 days for Trump to make up his mind and the Birthright Executive Order sending all the Dreamers back to their mariachis and Chow Fun and hummus will be heard tomorrow.

As Gaza quiets and relief trucks roll in, Israel escalates by bombing the West Bank at the behest of settlers who want to annex the territory, kick out or kill the Moslems and create the first step to Eretz Israel (which will also include Syria and parts of Iran and Turkey.) Will the Cease Fire be fired and hostages decapitated? Stay Tuned.

Awards seasons recommence with the Songwriters (three pure: Tom McCauley, Rodney Jenkins and Asnley Gurley and three songwriter/performers: George Clinton, the Doobies and Mike Love).

Proud Boys fuhrer Stu Rhodes feels the love when, pardoned from an 18 year sentence, he roams the halls of Congress, respected by some, disgusting to others.

THE DON JONES INDEX

CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000

(REFLECTING… approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)

Gains in indices as improved are noted in GREEN. Negative/harmful indices in RED as are their designation. (Note – some of the indices where the total went up created a realm where their value went down... and vice versa.) See a further explanation of categories HERE

ECONOMIC INDICES		(60%)
CATEGORY	VALUE	BASE	RESULTS by PERCENTAGE			SCORE		OUR SOURCES and COMMENTS
INCOME	(24%)	6/17/13 revised 1/1/22	LAST	CHANGE	NEXT	LAST WEEK	THIS WEEK	THE WEEK’S CLOSING STATS...
Wages (hrly. Per cap)	9%	1350 points	12/2/24	+0.16%	1/25	1,545.00	1,547.53	https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/wages 30.57 .62
Median Inc. (yearly)	4%	600	12/23/24	-0.56%	1/9/25	741.00	736.83	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 40,231 43,527 3,282
Unempl. (BLS – in mi)	4%	600	12/9/24	+2.44%	1/25	543.13	556.38	http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000/ 4.2 4.1
Official (DC – in mi)	2%	300	12/23/24	+0.24%	1/9/25	229.70	229.14	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 7,001 019 036
Unofficl. (DC – in mi)	2%	300	12/23/24	+0.26%	1/9/25	262.18	261.50	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 12,177 211 243
Workforce Participation Number Percent	2%	300	12/23/24	-0.009% -0.013%	1/9/25	299.26	299.22	In 161,198 183 1,169 Out 101,061 091 1,119 Total: 262,159 74 88 61.489 479 471
WP % (ycharts)*	1%	150	12/2/24	-0.16%	1/25	150.95	150.95	https://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate 62.60 .50
OUTGO	(15%)
Total Inflation	7%	1050	12/24	+0.4%	1/25	952.88	949.07	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.3 .4
Food	2%	300	12/24	+0.3%	1/25	270.53	269.72	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.4 .3
Gasoline	2%	300	12/24	+4.4%	1/25	251.55	240.48	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.6 4.4
Medical Costs	2%	300	12/24	+0.2%	1/25	285.19	284.53	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.3 .2
Shelter	2%	300	12/24	+0.3%	1/25	258.18	257.41	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.4 .3
WEALTH
*Dow* Jones Index	2%	300	12/23/24	+1.26	1/9/25	343.64	347.95	https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/index/ 42,635.20 43,170.47
Home (Sales) (Valuation)	1% 1%	150 150	12/2/24	+3.125% +0.67%	1/25	128.32 286.52	128.32 286.52	https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics Sales (M): 4.08 4.15 Valuations (K): 406.1 nc
Debt (Personal)	2%	300	12/23/24	+0.05%	1/9/25	266.38	266.25	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 75,291 330 367
GOVERNMENT	(10%)
Revenue (trilns.)	2%	300	12/23/24	+0.16%	1/9/25	424.79	425.47	debtclock.org/ 4,977 984 992
Expenditures (tr.)	2%	300	12/23/24	-0.11%	1/9/25	295.52	295.18	debtclock.org/ 7,161 6,989 997
National Debt tr.)	3%	450	12/23/24	+0.08%	1/9/25	370.38	370.08	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 36,296 326 355
Aggregate Debt (tr.)	3%	450	12/23/24	+0.24%	1/9/25	392.14	391.19	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 100,989 1,042 1,288

TRADE	(5%)
Foreign Debt (tr.)	2%	300	12/23/24	+0.26%	1/9/25	286.81	286.06	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 8,413 435 457
Exports (in billions)	1%	150	12/9/24	+2.90%	1/25	173.96	173.96	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 265.7 273.4
Imports (in billions))	1%	150	12/9/24	+3.41%	1/25	155.10	155.10	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 339.6 351.6
Trade Surplus/Deficit (blns.)	1%	150	12/9/24	+5.63%	1/25	269.88	269.88	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 73.8 78.2

SOCIAL INDICES		(40%)
ACTS of MAN	(12%)
World Affairs	3%	450	12/23/24	+0.2%	1/9/25	472.55	473.50	Marco Rubio confirmed as SecState, then heads to Quad (Australia, Japan, India and USA) conference. Hostage deal survives... three women return to Israel, dozens more to Gaza. But...
War and terrorism	2%	300	12/23/24	-0.1%	1/9/25	291.85	291.56	With Gaza (temporarily) pacified, Israel escalates bombing in the West Bank, which settlers want annexed.
Politics	3%	450	12/23/24	nc	1/9/25	479.97	479.97	Nominees play nice until confirmed – EPS’s Lee Zeldin even denies that climate change is a hoax, Pam Bondi denies enemies list, Kristi Noem doesn’t shoot any more dogs. Trump angrily condemns lowering of flag on Jan 20^th for loser Carter. His incoming Chief of Staff Stephen Miller says Biden should let the PPE decide Tik Tok. Outgoing DOGE Vivek quits to run for Governor of Ohio.
Economics	3%	450	12/23/24	+0.2%	1/9/25	438.79	439.67	Dow closes for MLK Day then soars on bank profits from high interest rates with more tax cuts to come – LA fires, meh! Another of Trump’s promises is to fire all the IRS agents and make them work the border (taxing Mexicans?) but Elon Musk says his AI plans cost too much.
Crime	1%	150	12/23/24	+0.1%	1/9/25	219.92	220.14	Rabbi contends that the Jewish Torah written under psychedelics... true or not, outgoing Joe pardons 2,500 stoner v. only 1,500 for Trump. Stu Rhodes and Enrique Torreos pardoned – the Q-Anon shaman says “now I am going to buy some fuckin’ guns”. Miami man beats two homeless to death and another school shooting in Nashville. Three Chileans arrested in burglary of Joe Burrow’s h ome.
ACTS of GOD	(6%)
Environment/Weather	3%	450	12/23/24	-0.5%	1/9/25	369.96	368.11	Arctic blast moves inauguradion indoors to Capitol Rotunda (remember Jan. 6th?) Temporary (Trump-o-rarity) Santa Anas calm down so firefighters have a chance in California as the week starts except...
Disasters	3%	450	12/23/24	+0.1%	1/9/25	408.72	409.13	New proble,s on land (in L.A.) landslides. At sea, says 47: “Windmills!” They’re made in China and kill birds and whales. Drunken Southwest pilot yanked from seat before he can take off and kill people.
LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE INDEX		(15%)
Science, Tech, Education	4%	600	12/23/24	-0.1%	1/9/25	618.94	618.32	Oligarchs compete: Bezos rocket wins, Musk’s explodes and rains killer debris over Turks & Caicos (punishment for chintzy ammo arrests... or precursor of tourist homicides?). Says Elon: “Success is always iffy, but enternatinment is guaranteed.” TikTok goes dark, then entertainment returns.
Equality (econ/social)	4%	600	12/23/24	+0.2%	1/9/25	657.84	659.16	NCAA will given women ballers performance bonuses, just like the men. Tyler Perry’s new Netflix movie “Six Triple Eight” about the first black women in World War II.
Health	4%	600	12/23/24	-0.3%	1/9/25	441.67	440.34	Two days before leaving, President Joe orders lower prices for Ozempic and Wegovy. Chicken processing plant explodes as bird flu spreads to flamingoes and seals, Red Dye #3 banned by FDA and more states ban cellphones in schools. Vornado space heaters recalled. Viagra laced honey floods France.
Freedom and Justice	3%	450	12/23/24	+0.1%	1/9/25	481.16	481.64	Biden pardons his friends and families before Trump takes office. Ungovernmental lawyering pits Drake v. Kendrick, passengers v. slow airlines (who claim shortage of pilots... drunk or sober... air traffic controllers and more), American Express fraud, Menendez retrial, Kohberger, and the FTC sues John Deere. Taylor Swift dragged into Baldoni/Lively lawsuits. Rudy G. settles with election workers, gets to keep his car and three rings.
CULTURAL and MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS			(6%)
Cultural incidents	3%	450	12/23/24	+0.1%	1/9/25	546.45	547.00	In busy sporting week, Ohio beats Notre Dame to win NCAA crown; C. C. Sabathia, Billy Wagner and first Japanese Suzuki elected to Hall of Fame. Mike Love (above) to Songwriters’ HoF. Panthers’ star eats squirrel on video. Cancer kid gets free Superbowl ticket. Dave Chappelle on SNL says that God hates Los Angeles. RIP: “Blue Velvet” director David Lynch, actress Joan Plowright, Bob (Mister Baseball) Uecker, Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards and last of the Band, Garth Hudson.
Misc. incidents	4%	450	12/23/24	+0.2%	1/9/25	531.86	532.92	Rememberers remembering all-but-forgotten Jimmy Carter recall how Ol’39 enjoyed the fried catfish at Bonita’s in Plains.

The Don Jones Index for the week of January 16^th through 22^nd, 2025 was DOWN 2.39 points

The Don Jones Index is sponsored by the Coalition for a New Consensus: retired Congressman and Independent Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian Doohan, Administrator. The CNC denies, emphatically, allegations that the organization, as well as any of its officers (including former Congressman Parnell, environmentalist/America-Firster Austin Tillerman and cosmetics CEO Rayna Finch) and references to Parnell’s works, “Entropy and Renaissance” and “The Coming Kill-Off” are fictitious or, at best, mere pawns in the web-serial “Black Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective legal action against parties promulgating this and/or other such slanders.

Comments, complaints, donations (especially SUPERPAC donations) always welcome at feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com.

ATTACHMENT ONE – FROM CBS

The full transcript of Trump's inauguration speechy Melissa Quinn, Caitlin Yilek

Updated on: January 20, 2025 / 3:34 PM EST / CBS News

Washington — President Trump delivered his second inaugural address Monday, vowing a "revolution of common sense" and announcing "we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success."

In the 30-minute speech in the Capitol Rotunda, he promised a "tide of change" and salvation from what he said was the "decline" brought on by the policies of his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.

To that end, he's expected to sign about 200 executive orders, actions and proclamations following his address.

"The golden age of America begins right now," Mr. Trump said. "From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world."

Here is the full transcript of Mr. Trump's second inaugural address, provided by the Associated Press.

The full text of Trump's inauguration speech

Vice President Vance, Speaker Johnson, Senator Thune, Chief Justice Roberts, justices of the United States Supreme Court, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, President Biden, Vice President Harris and my fellow citizens:

The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation. And we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer.

During every single day of the Trump administration, I will, very simply, put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud and prosperous and free.

America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before. I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country. Sunlight is pouring over the entire world, and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before.

But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face. While they are plentiful, they will be annihilated by this great momentum that the world is now witnessing and the United States of America. As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust. For many years, the radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens. While the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair, we now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad.

It fails to protect our magnificent, law-abiding American citizens but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world. We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders, or more importantly, its own people.

Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina, who've been treated so badly. And other states who are still suffering from a hurricane that took place many months ago. Or more recently, Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense. They're raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now. They don't have a home any longer. That's interesting.

But we can't let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. That's going to change. We have a public health system that does not deliver in times of disaster, yet more money is spent on it than any country anywhere in the world. And we have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves, in many cases to hate our country despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to them. All of this will change starting today and will change very quickly.

Our recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal, and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom. From this moment on, America's decline is over.

Our liberties and our nation's glorious destiny will no longer be denied and we will immediately restore the integrity, competency and loyalty of America's government. Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history, and I've learned a lot along the way. The journey to reclaim our Republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed to take my life. Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.

That is why each day under our administration of American patriots, we will be working to meet every crisis with dignity and power and strength. We will move with purpose and speed to bring back hope, prosperity, safety and peace for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed. For American citizens, Jan. 20, 2025, is Liberation Day.

It is my hope that our recent presidential election will be remembered as the greatest and most consequential election in the history of our country. As our victory showed, the entire nation is rapidly unifying behind our agenda with dramatic increases in support from virtually every element of our society. Young and old, men and women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, urban, suburban and rural. And, very importantly, we had a powerful win in all seven swing states and the popular vote. We won by millions of people.

To the Black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote. We set records, and I will not forget it. I've heard your voices in the campaign, and I look forward to working with you in the years to come.

Today is Martin Luther King Day and his honor — this will be a great honor — but in his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true.

National unity is now returning to America and confidence and pride is soaring like never before. In everything we do my administration will be inspired by a strong pursuit of excellence and unrelenting success. We will not forget our country. We will not forget our Constitution. And we will not forget our God.

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. It's all about common sense. First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted. And we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country. Under the orders I sign today we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. And by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities.

As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions. And that is exactly what I am going to do. We will do it at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Next, I will direct all members of my cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices. The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices. And that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill.

America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have: the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth. And we are going to use it. We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export American energy all over the world. We will be a rich nation again. And it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.

With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers. In other words, you'll be able to buy the car of your choice. We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago. And thank you to the auto workers of our nation for your inspiring vote of confidence. We did tremendously with their vote.

I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources.

The American Dream will soon be back and thriving like never before. To restore confidence and effectiveness to our federal government, my administration will establish the brand new Department of Government Efficiency.

After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents. Something I know something about. We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again. Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the Constitution and the rule of law. And we are going to bring law and order back to our cities.

This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit based. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. This week I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from the military for objecting to the Covid vaccine mandate with full back pay. And I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It's going to end immediately. Our armed forces will be free to focus on their sole mission—defeating America's enemies. Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen.

We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end. And, perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That's what I want to be. A peacemaker and a unifier. I'm pleased to say that, as of yesterday, one day before I assumed office, the hostages in the Middle East are coming back home to their families.

America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world. A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. And we will restore the name of the great President William McKinley to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent.

He was a natural businessman and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal, which has foolishly been given to the country of Panama after the United States — the United States, I mean, think of this, spent more money than ever spent on a project before and lost 38,000 lives in the building of the Panama Canal. We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made. And Panama's promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back.

Above all, my message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor and the vitality of history's greatest civilization. So as we liberate our nation, we will lead it to new heights of victory and success. We will not be deterred. Together, we will end the chronic disease epidemic and keep our children safe, healthy and disease free. The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons. And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.

And it's the lifeblood of a great nation. And, right now, our nation is more ambitious than any other. There's no nation like our nation. Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs and pioneers. The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts. The call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls. Our American ancestors turned a small group of colonies on the edge of a vast continent into a mighty republic of the most extraordinary citizens on Earth. No one comes close. Americans pushed thousands of miles through a rugged land of untamed wilderness. They crossed deserts, scaled mountains, braved untold dangers, won the Wild West, ended slavery, rescued millions from tyranny, lifted millions from poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched mankind into the heavens and put the universe of human knowledge into the palm of the human hand. If we work together, there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve.

Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback. But as you see today, here I am. The American people have spoken. I stand before you now as proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do. In America, the impossible is what we do best. From New York to Los Angeles, from Philadelphia to Phoenix, from Chicago to Miami, from Houston to right here in Washington, D.C., our country was forged and built by the generations of patriots who gave everything they had for our rights and for our freedom. They were farmers and soldiers, cowboys and factory workers, steel workers and coal miners, police officers and pioneers who pushed onward, marched forward and let no obstacle defeat their spirit or their pride. Together they laid down the railroads, raised up the skyscrapers, built great highways, won two world wars, defeated fascism and communism, and triumphed over every single challenge that they faced.

After all we have been through together, we stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history. With your help, we will restore an American promise and we will rebuild the nation that we love. And we love it so much. We are one people, one family and one glorious nation under God. So to every parent who dreams for their child and every child to dreams for their future: I am with you, I will fight for you and I will win for you. And we're going to win like never before.

In recent years, our nation has suffered greatly. But we are going to bring it back and make it great again. Greater than ever before. We will be a nation like no other. Full of compassion, courage and exceptionalism. Our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable.

America will be respected again and admired again, including by people of religion, faith and goodwill. We will be prosperous. We will be proud. We will be strong and we will win like never before. We will not be conquered. We will not be intimidated. We will not be broken. And we will not fail.

From this day on, the United States of America will be a free, sovereign and independent nation. We will stand bravely. We will live proudly. We will dream boldly, and nothing will stand in our way. Because we are Americans. The future is ours. And our golden age has just begun.

Thank you. God bless America. Thank you all. Thank you.

ATTACHMENT TWO – FROM VOX

Trump’s real inaugural address started when the teleprompter stopped

During an impromptu speech after his formal inaugural address, the new president revealed what really animated him: revenge.

by Zack Beauchamp Jan 20, 2025, 5:25 PM EST

When it comes to speeches, there are two Donald Trumps. The first is Teleprompter Trump, who reads a prepared speech and tends to be staid, sleepy, and insincere. The second is Rally Trump, who riffs in front of a cheering crowd and is wild, aggressive, and more true to the person that Trump really is.

We saw this duality on display immediately after Trump’s inauguration.

In his official inaugural address in the Capitol Rotunda, Teleprompter Trump delivered a largely unmemorable performance — a sleepy address that gave audiences little substance to remember it by. In an impromptu follow-up performance given to the overflow crowd in nearby Emancipation Hall, Rally Trump made an appearance — giving a rambling but undeniably more energetic monologue that Trump himself described as “a better speech than the one I made upstairs.”

Rally Trump’s speech was a much better guide to what actually animates Trump than the more buttoned-down teleprompter address. And the portrait the second address painted is of a man who remains convinced of his own fictions and obsessed with revenge against those who challenged them.

The Rally Trump speech really got going when Trump began talking about things he left out of the official inaugural address. He singles out prospective pardons for January 6, 2021, Capitol rioters as an important example, saying it’s “action not words that count — and you’re gonna see a lot of action on the J6 hostages.”

You can see how deeply Trump cares about transforming the official history of January 6. It’s not good enough that he is returning to office: He needs to rewrite what happened such that the people who rioted to try and steal the 2020 election for him are the victims — “hostages” — rather than criminals. It’s all in service of the grander goal of insisting that Trump cannot lose and never has, and using his new powers to try and force reality to match.

Similar thinking was at work in Trump’s next riff on outgoing President Joe Biden’s “preemptive pardons” for potential Trump prosecution targets like Gen. Mark Milley, Liz Cheney, and Biden’s own family members.

Trump insisted these people were “very, very guilty of very, very bad crimes,” accusing the January 6 committee — which he referred to as “the unselect committee of political thugs” — of “deleting all the information on Nancy Pelosi” (it’s unclear what criminal statute this would fall under). It’s clear that Trump really does want to go after these people as part of his campaign to rewrite the events of the 2020 election; the extent to which he’s stymied by Biden’s pardons remains an open question.

Over the course of the next half hour, Trump continued down his revisionist lane.

Trump implied that Cheney opposed him not because of any perceived threat to democracy but because her dad was a war profiteer. He spent a while disputing a specific piece of January 6 testimony — that he attempted to seize the wheel of the presidential limousine to drive to the Capitol. He explicitly restated that the 2020 election was “rigged” against him, and then insisted that “we would have won the state of California” in 2024 if it weren’t for illegal votes.

The point is not that any of this is new ground for Trump. Rather, it’s that none of it is.

In his first truly authentic speech after returning to office, where he felt unchained to discuss what he really cared about, he spent the bulk of the time obsessing over election results and January 6, endlessly litigating the past and (at times openly) stating his desire to seek recompense and revenge for the indignity of losing an election.

The Rally Trump speech was the truest reflection of the once-and-current president’s feelings and, I suspect, his governing priorities. And four years of a president who uses his power to punish political enemies and reward his lawbreaking friends does not augur well for American democracy.

ATTACHMENT THREE – FROM

transcript

ATTACHMENT FOUR– FROM the NYTIMES

Elon Musk Ignites Online Speculation Over the Meaning of a Hand Gesture

Speaking at a celebratory rally in Washington, Mr. Musk twice extended his arm out with his palm facing down, drawing comparisons to the Nazi salute.

By Ryan Mac Published Jan. 20, 2025 Updated Jan. 21, 2025, 7:06 a.m. ET

“Some elections are important, some are not. But this one, this one, this one really mattered. And I just want to say thank you for making it happen. Thank you. My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured. Thanks to you.”

Elon Musk ignited speculation and chatter online when he made a hand gesture twice during a speech celebrating President Trump on Monday.

Speaking at a celebratory rally at the Capital One Arena in Washington hours after Mr. Trump was sworn in as president, Mr. Musk thanked the crowd for choosing Mr. Trump during “a fork in the road of human civilization.”

Mr. Musk, who leads Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X, and who backed Mr. Trump last year during his presidential campaign, added, “I just want to say thank you for making it happen — thank you.”

The billionaire then grunted and placed his hand to his heart before extending his arm out above his head with his palm facing down. After he turned around, he repeated the motion to those behind him.

On CNN, commentators pointed out Mr. Musk’s gesture. Erin Burnett, an anchor, noted how striking the action was. The motion soon drew comparisons online to the salute popularized by Adolf Hitler, and others interpreted it as a Roman salute, which is also known as the “Fascist salute” and was later adopted by the Nazis. The Nazi variation of the gesture is illegal in some European countries, including Germany.

“Did elon musk just hit the roman salute at his inauguration speech?” Hasan Piker, a popular streamer, asked on X.

The Anti-Defamation League, which has tangled with Mr. Musk in the past, later said on X that Mr. Musk had “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm” and that it was “not a Nazi salute.” The organization added that “all sides should give one another a bit of grace.”

Masha Pearl, the executive director of the Blue Card, a foundation that supports Holocaust survivors, said she was “deeply troubled” by Mr. Musk’s action, which she called “a Nazi salute.”

She added: “Elon Musk has been engaged with antisemitic incidents in the past. Because of that, it was an unmistakable symbol of hate, of violence, of genocide.”

“Frankly, they need better dirty tricks,” Mr. Musk added. “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”

After making the gestures, Mr. Musk continued his speech. He spoke with enthusiasm about “safe cities, secure borders, sensible spending” and the promise of bringing humanity to Mars.

“My heart goes out to you,” Mr. Musk said, placing his hand over his heart. “It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured.”

Kimbal Musk, Mr. Musk’s younger brother, later posted on X that it was “the best speech” of Mr. Musk’s life.

“Well done!” Kimbal Musk wrote, sharing a video of the speech. “This is what success feels like.”

ATTACHMENT FIVE – FROM PBS

President Donald Trump signed eight executive orders onstage Monday night at his inaugural parade and rally at Capital One Arena in Washington.

Jan 20, 2025 7:53 PM EST

WATCH: Trump returns to office and kickstarts ambitious and controversial agenda

The orders included withdrawing once again from the Paris climate accord, freezing most federal hiring and requiring federal workers to return to in-person work full-time.

After signing the orders, Trump tossed the pens he used to members of the audience.

The inauguration ceremony, including the swearings-in, took place indoors this year, a last-minute change to the pomp and circumstance due to extreme cold forecasted for the nation’s capital.

As Trump returns to the White House, he’s expected to act quickly on his campaign promises and roll back more of his predecessor’s policies. As his second term begins, his party controls both chambers of Congress and conservative justices have a majority on the Supreme Court. Trump is only the second president to return to office in non-consecutive terms, the only president convicted of a felony and the oldest person to win election to the White House.

By Zeke Miller, Chris Megerian And Michelle L. Price Updated 9:43 AM EST, January 21, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump began erasing Joe Biden’s legacy immediately after taking office as the nation’s 47th president, pardoning nearly all of his supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and issuing a blizzard of executive orders that signal his desire to remake American institutions.

It was an aggressive start Monday for a returning president who feels emboldened and vindicated by his unprecedented political comeback. Four years after being voted out of the White House, Trump has a second chance to launch what he called “a golden age” for the country.

He signed orders for increasing border security, designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, limiting birthright citizenship, freezing new regulations and establishing a task force for reducing the size of the federal government. He also rescinded dozens of directives issued by Biden, including those relating to climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Trump said that walking back into the already-remodeled Oval Office after his inauguration was “one of the better feelings I’ve ever had.” Unlike during his first term, when new staff members scrambled to figure out what exactly their president was trying to achieve, Trump moved rapidly and methodically to advance his agenda Monday.

His first action after arriving at the White House was pardoning about 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, even if they had been convicted of assaulting police officers. Trump commuted the sentences of another 14 people, including leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.

The decision amounted to a sweeping cloak of impunity for Trump supporters who upended the country’s tradition of peaceful transfers of power by trying to overturn his election defeat four years ago. Trump described them as “hostages” and said he expected them to be freed shortly. A crowd gathered outside a Washington, D.C., jail to welcome their release.

Trump’s inauguration combined formal ceremony and freewheeling rhetoric, a reminder of how Trump can abide solemnity for only so long before going off script with a blend of humor and vitriol. Before leaving the White House for an evening of inaugural balls, Trump spent nearly an hour parrying questions by reporters.

He promised that tariffs on Canada and Mexico were coming, suggested that he might visit China and praised the decorators for the new look of his Oval Office. Among other changes, a portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt that had been hung by Biden was replaced with one of George Washington.

Frigid weather rewrote the particulars of the day. Trump’s swearing-in was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda — the first time that has happened in 40 years — and the inaugural parade was replaced by an event with marching bands at Capital One Arena.

In his inaugural address, Trump declared the beginning of “the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.”

Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States Monday, overcoming impeachments, criminal indictments and a pair of assassination attempts to take on a second term in the White House.

Trump said the government faces “a crisis of trust.” He claimed to have “a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal,” promising to “give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom.”

“From this moment on,” he added as Biden watched from the front row, “America’s decline is over.”

Also present at the ceremony was Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden on the ballot after he abandoned his reelection bid last summer, only to be defeated by Trump in the general election.

Trump said he would lead a government that “expands our territory,” a reference to his goals of acquiring Greenland from Denmark and restoring U.S. control of the Panama Canal.

He also pledged to “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars” by launching American astronauts to Mars. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and the owner of a space rocket company with billions of dollars in federal contracts, cheered and flashed two thumbs up as Trump spoke.

Trump supporters who descended on the city to watch the incoming president take the oath of office from the National Mall were left to find other places to view the ceremony when it was moved inside. But a cadre of tech titans — including Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai — were given prominent positions in the Rotunda. They mingled with Trump’s incoming team in a striking display of wealth for a Republican president who is also a billionaire but branded himself as a working-class crusader.

After the ceremony, Trump walked with Biden to the building’s east side, where the Democrat left via helicopter to begin his post-presidential life.

Trump’s inaugural address was just the beginning of the thoughts he shared on his second first day as president.

Trump followed Biden’s departure with extended and unscripted remarks to supporters in the Capitol that revisited a litany of conspiracy theories about voter fraud and criticisms of perceived enemies such as former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, whom he called “a crying lunatic.”

He spoke for even longer than in his inaugural address, saying, “I think this is a better speech than the one I gave upstairs.”

Then he went to the Capital One Arena to begin signing executive orders as thousands of supporters cheered, melding the theatrics of his campaign rallies with the powers of the presidency.

“We won, we won, but now the work begins,” Trump said before a crowd of people in “Make America Great Again” hats.

He abandoned the more earnest tone of his inaugural address and taunted his predecessor while scrawling his name in thick black ink on his executive orders.

“Could you imagine Biden doing this?” he said. “I don’t think so!”

When finished, he tossed the pens into the crowd.

Trump’s inauguration realized a political comeback without precedent in American history. Four years ago, he was voted out of the White House during an economic collapse caused by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Trump denied his defeat and tried to cling to power. He directed his supporters to march on the Capitol while lawmakers were certifying the election results, sparking a riot that interrupted the country’s tradition of the peaceful transfer of power.

But Trump never lost his grip on the Republican Party and was undeterred by criminal cases and two assassination attempts as he steamrolled rivals and harnessed voters’ exasperation with inflation and illegal immigration.

Now Trump is the first person convicted of a felony — for falsifying business records related to hush money payments — to serve as president. He pledged to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution from the same spot that was overrun by his supporters on Jan. 6.

“We all believe God’s hand has been on this man to be elected,” said Pam Pollard, 65, a longtime Republican official from Oklahoma, who came to Washington to see him sworn in.

Trump has promised retribution against his political opponents and critics, and he’s placed personal loyalty as a prime qualification for appointments to his administration.

With minutes to go before leaving office, Biden issued preemptive pardons to his siblings and their spouses to shield them from the possibility of prosecution. He also pardoned current and former government officials who have been the target of Trump’s anger. Biden said “these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing.”

Trump, talking to reporters in the Oval Office late in the day, criticized Biden’s pardons, saying “that makes him look very guilty.”

A reporter asked Trump if Biden had left him a note in the desk, a tradition during presidential transitions. Trump looked in a drawer and found an envelope.

“Maybe we should all read it together?” Trump joked when holding it up for the cameras. But he didn’t open the envelope.

ATTACHMENT SIX FROM POLITICO

Trump signs flurry of executive orders

The president also issued sweeping pardons for some 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants.

First read

· Trump's space pledge

Latest

· 12hChallenging Trump on citizenship

· 12hLate to the Liberty Ball

· 13hTrump's revenge on intel officials

· 14hTrump repeals rule allowing transgender troops

· 14hBirthright citizenship EO

· 14hHarris talks fires, not future, in LA return

· 14hTrump withdraws from WHO

· 14hTrump Q & A is back

· 14hTrump's celebratory rally

· 15hTrump signs EO for TikTok

· 15hA government hiring freeze and end to remote work

· 16hTrump pardons Jan. 6 rioters

· 16hA quick reversal on Cuba

· 16hVought, Noem nominations greenlit by Senate Homeland Committee

· 17hInauguration VIPs

· 17hIt's official for Rubio

· 17hLaken Riley Act clears Senate

· 18hSenate committee advances Hegseth

· 18hRubio teed up for evening vote

· 19hMake a mountain McKinley again

· 19hPritzker v. Trump

· 19hNewsom calls for ‘common ground’

· 19hElon is here

· 19hGood times at the Congressional Luncheon

· 20hPentagon removes Milley portrait

· Trump’s agency temps

· Trump supporters excited

· Trump’s acting AG

· Post-fires homecoming for Harris

· Trump nominations

· Biden thanks his staff

· Trump lets loose in the overflow room

· Meet the new (acting) Secretary of Defense

· Trump promises health actions

· Spotted at lunch

· A new Rotunda tradition?

· Biden out

· OASAM staffer to serve as acting Labor secretary

· Video: Rallygoers on Trump's circle

· Trump promises a 'golden age'

· Cheers from Stephen Miller

· Trump looks back

· Trump rips into Biden

· A few empty seats

· Up next: Lunch

· How SCOTUS helped Trump

· Trump's Day One, summarized

· Vance sworn in

· Klobuchar notes ‘enduring democracy’

· Trump sworn in

· Biden pardons family members

· Fauci welcomes Biden pardon

· Spotted in the Capitol

· Trump’s superlatives 🥇

· Trump to rename Gulf of Mexico, Denali

· Leaderless DOD?

· Spotted in the Rotunda

· Trump’s indoor inauguration

· Trump to declare energy emergency

· Waltz quits the House

· Ramaswamy out

· The Capitol’s upstairs-downstairs vibe

· Trump removes ‘nonbinary’ gender

· Trump first immigration orders

· Trump starts day with church service

· TikTok fetes Trump all weekend

· Check-in with Speaker Johnson

· Where will everyone sit?

· Inauguration Day schedule

· Pardons for Fauci, Milley

· Welcome to Inauguration Day

BEFORE

A7 x41 FROM TIME

What Trump Says He Will Do on Day One

By Nik Popli

January 13, 2025 5:41 PM EST

A little over a year ago, Donald Trump claimed he would be a “dictator”—but only for the first 24 hours of his presidency. Now, as his Jan. 20 inauguration approaches, the President-elect’s plans for his first day in office are becoming clearer.

“Look, I can undo almost everything Biden did, he through executive order. And on Day One, much of that will be undone,” Trump told TIME in a November interview.

While some of Trump’s first-day promises can be achieved through executive action, others may require months—or even years—of negotiation with Congress. Legal battles over several of his proposed orders are inevitable, particularly regarding issues like birthright citizenship and federal mandates on transgender rights. And it’s not clear that Trump will follow through on everything he’s vowed to do in his first hours back in the Oval Office.

Here are the main promises Trump has said he would roll out on Day One of his presidency.

Close the border and reinstate travel bans

Trump’s plans to overhaul immigration enforcement are among the most sweeping of his Day One promises. He has vowed to close the U.S. southern border, reinstate his controversial travel bans, and suspend refugee admissions into the country—actions that would likely be performed through a series of executive orders soon after he is sworn in as President.

“I want to close the border,” Trump said in December 2023 of his Day One plans. He went even further on the topic at a campaign rally in July: “On Day One of the Trump presidency, I will restore the travel ban, suspend refugee admissions, stop the resettlement and keep the terrorists the hell out of our country,” he said.

Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner who was recently tapped to serve as White House deputy chief of staff for policy, told Fox News last month that Trump would issue a series of executive orders on the first day to “seal the border shut and begin the largest deportation operation in American history.” While the contours of those executive orders are currently unclear, ideas floated by Republicans include mandating the federal government to finish the unbuilt area of the southern border wall and depriving sanctuary cities of federal resources.

Mass deportations and end birthright citizenship

Trump said that he intends to launch what he calls the "largest mass deportation operation" in U.S. history on his first day in the White House. He says his focus will be on removing criminals, recent border crossers, and individuals who have been ordered deported by the courts. Under his proposed system, parts of federal law enforcement would be shifted to immigration duties, and the Biden-era migrant app, CBP One, would be discontinued.

Trump has also pledged to end birthright citizenship on his first day, which would mean children born to undocumented immigrants would not automatically gain U.S. citizenship—a move that is expected to face immediate legal challenges. “On Day One of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship,” Trump said in May 2023.

Pardon Jan. 6 prisoners

One of Trump’s most personal promises is to pardon those convicted for their roles in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Trump has repeatedly indicated that he will act quickly, issuing pardons for many of the more than 1,500 individuals convicted of crimes related to their involvement in storming the Capitol in protest of the electoral certification. Asked by TIME in December what the first 24-to-48 hours of his Administration would look like, Trump said: “I'll be looking at J6 early on, maybe the first nine minutes.”

The move will be deeply controversial and likely to reignite the political battle over the Capitol attack. While most participants were charged with misdemeanor offenses for illegally entering the Capitol, others were charged with felony offenses, including assaulting police officers. Trump has said that he would consider pardons for some individuals charged with violent offenses. In addition to pardoning individuals, Trump has suggested he may establish a task force to review other cases of Jan. 6 participants still imprisoned.

“I'm going to do case-by-case, and if they were non-violent, I think they've been greatly punished,” Trump told TIME in November. “And the answer is I will be doing that, yeah, I'm going to look if there's some that really were out of control.”

End the Russia-Ukraine war

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly said that before taking office he would put an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine before taking office—a violent conflict which has raged for nearly three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “If I’m president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours,” Trump said at a CNN town hall in May 2023. “It will be over. It will be absolutely over.”

He reiterated that promise at the September 2024 presidential debate, claiming that his relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would help him broker peace between the two nations: “I will get it settled before I even become President… When I’m President-elect, what I’ll do is I’ll speak to one, I’ll speak to the other, I’ll get them together.”

However, after winning the presidency, Trump appears to have walked back on that promise. “I hope to have six months," Trump said at a January press conference when asked how soon he could resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict. "I hope long before six months."

End the ‘electric vehicle mandate’ and Green New Deal policies

On his first day, Trump has said that he will reverse many of the climate-related policies instituted by the Biden Administration. His plan includes ending the so-called "electric vehicle mandate" and scrapping the Biden Administration’s climate subsidies. “I will end the electric vehicle mandate on Day One,” Trump said in his address at the Republican National Convention in July, referring to a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation that limits tailpipe pollution so automakers are compelled to sell more electric and hybrid models.

At a campaign rally in October, Trump said that these policies are part of a "Green New Scam" that hurts American energy producers and families. His Day One executive orders would likely focus on lifting restrictions on fossil fuel production and reversing mandates on electric vehicles, while he also pledges to expand domestic oil drilling, including the reversal of offshore drilling bans imposed under the current administration.

Roll back federal regulations

In a bid to lower the cost of living for Americans, Trump has promised to eliminate numerous federal regulations, which he argues have driven up the cost of goods and services. @SAFETY? “On Day One, I will sign an executive order directing every federal agency to immediately remove every single burdensome regulation driving up the cost of goods,” he said at a campaign rally in October 2024. His goal is to ensure that for every new regulation introduced by a federal agency, 10 regulations would be eliminated.

Trump has tasked billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former rival for the Republican nomination Vivek Ramaswamy with running a “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), which is aimed at cutting rules and reducing the size of the federal government.

Ban transgender individuals in women’s sports and the military

Trump has vowed to make moves on his first day in office to protect what he describes as "women’s rights" by banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports. “With the stroke of my pen, on Day One, we’re going to stop the transgender lunacy,” Trump said at a Turning Point USA event in December. “I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools.” (In his first term, Trump had instituted a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, which was overturned by President Joe Biden during his first year in office.)

He added: “Under the Trump Administration, it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.”

Trump has also signaled that he will convene a panel with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review whether hormone treatments for transgender individuals are linked to violent behavior, adding fuel to the ongoing debate over gender-affirming care for minors. “Upon my inauguration, I will direct the FDA to convene an independent outside panel to investigate whether transgender hormone treatments and ideology increase the risk of extreme depression, aggression and even violence,” Trump said in April 2023.

Cut federal funding for ‘woke’ schools

Trump has vowed to take a stance against what he calls "woke" educational policies, particularly the teaching of critical race theory (CRT). On Day One, he has said that he plans to cut federal funding to schools that teach CRT or enforce vaccine mandates. Trump also aims to ban CRT from being taught in the armed forces.
His Administration will also focus on removing any federal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) requirements, which he claims are divisive and harmful to the nation’s unity. His education policies are expected to face significant opposition from public school advocates and civil rights groups. “On his first day back in office, President Trump will immediately revoke Joe Biden’s sinister executive order mandating that federal departments establish an ‘equity’ enforcement squad to implement a Marxist takeover of the federal government—and he will urge Congress to create a restitution fund for Americans who have been unjustly discriminated against by such ‘equity’ policies,” Trump’s campaign website says.

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‘Shock and awe’: Trump plans 100 immediate executive actions. Here’s what could be coming.

Joey Garrison Lauren Villagran

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON ― President-elect Donald Trump intends to start his second White House term with a bang through a flurry of executive orders and directives that leave no doubt a major transformation is underway.

“Shock and awe,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., recently predicted after Republicans members of Congress received a preview of the activity to come.

Convinced he has an election “mandate” from American voters, Trump is planning to surpass the century mark in executive actions over his first few days of office after getting sworn in as the 47^th president on Monday ‒ a moment he’s called a “liberation day for America.”

“There will be over 100 executive actions ‒ commands to the bureaucracies to change their ways,” Stephen Miller, Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff for policy, told Fox News last week.

More:Exclusive poll: For Trump, a strengthened hand but skepticism on tax cuts, tariffs

The orders will bypass Congress to undo President Joe Biden’s policies ranging from climate to diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce while carrying out Trump’s campaign promises to secure the southern border, expand domestic energy production and target transgender Americans.

Many of the actions will be controversial and draw protests from Democrats and others on the political left. Some orders, particularly involving immigration, are expected to invite lawsuits.

It could be a busy few days and weeks of signatures from Trump, who has also also promised “major pardons” for people convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Here’s a look at some of the executive actions that Trump and his top advisers have signaled the incoming president might take:

Reinstating Title 42

On the immigration front, Trump has talked about a series of orders he would issue on “Day 1” to seal the U.S.-Mexico border, where illegal crossings have in recent weeks fallen to record lows.

That includes executive action to revive Title 42 authority to quickly expel asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Title 42 is an emergency public health law that both the Trump and Biden administrations used during the COVID pandemic to justify turning back migrants and asylum-seekers who crossed the border illegally. Biden ended the policy in 2023.

Mass deportations

One of Trump’s signatures campaign promises is to carry out “mass deportations” of immigrants who are in the country unlawfully.

To carry out his sweeping plans, Trump has suggested he would expand the authority of immigration agents and use the U.S. military. The expected moves have already generated pushback from Democrats.

More:As Trump plans mass deportation, Mexican views of migration harden

Ending birthright citizenship

Trump has also promised to end birthright citizenship on Day 1 of his presidency ‒ and will do so through executive action “if we can” ‒ likely setting up a constitutional legal fight.

Birthright citizenship refers to anyone born in the U.S. being considering a U.S. citizen based on the 14^th Amendment, which says “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

If he decides he can’t end birthright citizenship through executive action because of constitutional constraints, Trump would seemingly have to pursue an amendment to the Constitution, which would require support from two-thirds of Congress and ratification from three-fourths of state legislatures.

More:What is birthright citizenship and the 14^th amendment? Explaining Trump’s desired changes

Border wall and empowering local law enforcement

Trump has promised to restart construction of the border fence at the U.S.-Mexico border, an original staple of his first term policy agenda that the Biden administration halted.

About 452 miles of barriers along the southern border were constructed during Trump’s presidency, but only 40 miles of wall were placed where a barrier didn’t previously exist.

Trump turned to the federal program often in his first term. Biden campaigned on ending the Trump-era agreements during his 2020 campaign. Although Biden did not embrace the program at the same level as Trump, immigration activists have accused Biden of not fulfilling his original pledge.

More:Trump asks Biden to ‘stop selling’ unused parts of border wall

Tariffs

Trump has promised major new tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China on his first day in office.

Three weeks after his election victory, Trump said one of his first executive orders would be to sign all the necessary paperwork to levy a 25% tariff on all products arriving from Canada and Mexico.

Trump said he plans to levy an additional 10% tariff on top of existing tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States.

He’s said the tariffs on goods from the neighboring country’s are in response to “thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before.”

More:Donald Trump vows to impose 25% tariff on all products from Canada and Mexico

TikTok

With a ban on TikTok going into effect over the weekend, Trump said he plans to issue a Day 1 executive order to ensure the wildly popular social media app can continue to operate.

Trump on Sunday said he will issue an order extending the period before the sell-or-ban TikTok law goes into effect “so we can make a deal to protect our national security.”

“The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order,” Trump said in a statement.

More:TikTok shut down, but can Trump save it?: Live updates

After going dark in the U.S. on Saturday, TikTok responded to Trump’s commitment with a statement that said it is “in the process of restoring service.” TikTok thanked Trump for providing “clarity and assurance” to service providers that they won’t face penalties for making the platform available.

Biden signed bipartisan legislation in April banning TikTok if Beijing-based parent company ByteDance did not sell off its U.S. assets by Sunday. Biden cited national security concerns with the app ‒ which some fear the Chinese government could exploit to gain access to private user data or spread misinformation.

Although Trump now wants to keep TikTok operating, he tried to ban TikTok by executive order in 2020 during his first term.

‘Drill, baby, drill’ agenda

Trump, who campaigned on a mantra of “drill, baby, drill,” is expected to take multiple executive actions aimed at fulfilling his pro-oil agenda to boost the production of domestic energy, even as it’s already at an all-time high.

Trump has promised to swiftly overturn Biden’s recent action to ban offshore drilling on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. He also wants to reopen drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Among several moves expected in the energy sector, the incoming president has said he will create a new National Energy Council to “oversee the path to U.S. energy dominance.” The new council will be led by former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Interior. But how the council will be structured, staffed and operate hasn’t been detailed.

More:Biden bans new oil, gas drilling off most US coasts as Trump vows to ‘unban’ immediately

Eliminating the ‘electric vehicle mandate’

Trump has talked repeatedly about eliminating Biden’s so-called “electric vehicle mandate,” referring to an Environmental Protection Agency rule that requires auto manufacturers to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half in new light- and medium-duty vehicles beginning in 2027.

The EPA estimates that auto manufacturers may choose to build electric vehicles for about 30% to 56% of their new light-duty vehicles by 2032 and 20% to 32% of new medium duty vehicles.

Biden has used the federal government to accelerate the transition to clean-energy electric vehicles. Trump has pledged to undo the efforts.

More:Did you know your car could be a political statement? Biden and Trump views clash on Evs

Trump has said he will take executive action to end the Biden administration’s pause on issuing new permits for projects aimed at exporting liquified natural gas.

Like the emissions guidelines, it’s among several rules issued by the Biden administration to combat climate change, which Trump has called a “hoax.”

A Louisiana federal judge in July ruled the Biden administration cannot halt issuing permits for such projects. The Justice Department appealed the decision.

More:Trump prepares wide-ranging energy plan to boost gas exports, oil drilling, sources say

‘Transgender lunacy’

Trump has promised first-day action taking aim at rights for transgender people, including making it the official policy of the U.S. government to recognize only two genders: males and females.

“With the stroke of my pen, on Day 1, we’re going to stop the transgender lunacy,” Trump said in a speech last month in Phoenix.

Trump said he will sign executive orders to end “child sexual mutilation,” get transgender people out of the military and public schools, and to keep athletes born male biologically from participating in women’s sports.

The Republican-controlled House voted Tuesday to pass a bill that would ban transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ school sports, but it’s unclear if the legislation can garner 60 Senate votes and eventually make it to Trump’s desk for signature into law.

More:House passes bill that would ban transgender athletes from women and girls’ sports

DEI in the federal government

Trump has signaled he will take action to overturn Biden-era policies aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, in the federal government.

“I’ll end all of the Marxist diversity, equity and inclusion policies across the entire federal government immediately,” Trump said last month.

More:Facebook owner Meta kills DEI in latest nod to Trump and MAGA movement

DEI in business and government has become a top target of Republicans. In his first year in the White House, Biden signed an executive order that established procedures to ensure diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility are priorities in building the federal workforce.

In-person work for federal employees

Trump and his top advisers have signaled possible executive action directing federal employees to return to working in-person.

“He’s going to bring workers back to their offices,” Miller said. “He’s going to end the travesty in which federal workers are pretending to work but are not actually working. They’re at home watching Netflix while you’re paying their salaries.”

Trump has said he will fire any federal employees who don’t physically return to their offices once his new administration begins. He also pledged to challenge in court a Biden agreement allowing Social Security Administration employees to work remotely.

Work-from-home policies enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic remain in place for some federal workers.

More:Donald Trump vows to fire federal employees who won’t return to the office

End funding to ‘radical left NGOs’

Miller said Trump will take action to stop federal funding for “radical left NGOs,” though he did not specify which entities would be targeted.

NGOs, or non-governmental operations, refers to nonprofit organizations that receive federal funding.

Biden used executive authority to overturn a Trump executive order for a so-called “global gag rule” that prevented federal aid from going to foreign organizations that provide abortion services or information.

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How could Trump’s second term affect DEI initiatives in the US?

The president-elect has disparaged DEI. As Meta and Walmart drop diversity goals, here’s how others may follow

Lauren Aratani in New York

Sat 11 Jan 2025 06.00 EST

Even before Donald Trump won the election in November, multiple companies with announced they were ending their diversity initiatives. After the election, some of the country’s largest companies announced they too were sunsetting some of their corporate programs.

In December, Walmart said it was rolling back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals and would drop using the term altogether. McDonald’s made a similar statement in January. On Friday, Meta became the latest major company to announce the end of its DEI goals, saying that the company will scrap its DEI team, its equity and inclusion training programs and requirements to have a “diverse slate” of applicants when hiring.

Though some of the announcements followed conservative pressure on social media, some came unprompted, suggesting that companies who were quick to trumpet their desire to broaden their workforce after the backlash to the murder of George Floyd have cooled on an idea that seeks to increase opportunities for women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups.

Now that conservatives not only have a majority in the supreme court, but also the White House and both chambers of Congress, they can launch a full-fledged attack against DEI at the federal level.

But DEI advocates maintain this isn’t the end. Here’s how Trump’s second term could impact DEI.

An executive order banning DEI in the federal government

Toward the end of Trump’s first term in 2020, Trump signed an executive order that banned diversity training in government agencies, contractors and institutions that receive federal funding, such as non-profits. It also restricted the use of so-called “divisive concepts” that the administration deemed common in such training.

The administration was quickly hit with lawsuits over first amendment violations in the order, and a federal judge blocked it soon after.

Trump promises a crackdown on diversity initiatives. Fearful institutions are dialing them back already

After Joe Biden took office, he signed an executive order that asked government agencies to establish or promote chief diversity officers, hold DEI training and develop their own DEI plans.

Trump and his allies have railed against DEI and will likely target it again once he takes office. While it is unclear exactly what a new anti-DEI executive order from Trump would look like, he will likely scrap Biden’s executive order and once again target DEI goals in the federal government.

Such an order can’t impact private companies, even if Trump’s administration would want it to. A federal appeals court upheld a ruling this year against Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who tried to ban private employers from diversity training, on first amendment grounds.

Judicial appointments

Trump appointed more than 200 federal judges to courts around the country during his first term, in addition to the three justices he got on to the supreme court.

Trump’s impact on the judiciary from his first term is already weighing on the dozens of DEI cases that are still ongoing in federal courts around the country.

“That’s going to shape the ongoing direction of the law of DEI in the years ahead and solidifies that the interpretation of laws that protect DEI will be moving in a conservative direction,” said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at the NYU School of Law.

After Students for Fair Admissions – the supreme court case that overturned affirmative action in higher education – was decided in 2023, workplace programs became the next target. Edward Blum, the conservative legal activist who was behind the affirmative action case, said the case was only “the end of the beginning”.

DEI advocates are worried Trump’s second term will mean an even more widespread chilling effect, where companies do away with DEI initiatives out of fear of retaliation.

The Meltzer Center is tracking 68 ongoing cases that are still in court. Many of the lawsuits focus on targeted programs such as scholarship, grants or initiatives for specific affinity groups. Others focus on reverse discrimination in the workplace, for example, white job applicants or employees suing companies for allegedly giving preference to their nonwhite counterparts.

More Trump-appointed judges means even if these cases don’t get up to the supreme court, lower courts that are conservative-leaning could set legal precedents that shape the legal landscape around DEI for years to come.

Conservative judges could interpret laws that were established during the civil rights era to uphold claims of reverse racism, which have skyrocketed since Students for Fair Admissions.

Congress and the Department of Justice

On the campaign trail, Trump himself railed against what he called “anti-white feeling in this country”, telling Time in May that he thinks “the laws are very unfair now”.

Trump’s administration can utilize the legal powers of the Department of Justice, which can prosecute state and local government employers, or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which has enforcement power over private companies, to carry out what it deems are reverse discrimination cases.

“Right now, all the anti-DEI lawsuits are coming from private advocacy groups or individuals. They’re not coming from the government,” Glasgow said. “If the federal government uses its enforcement power to go after private companies, then that could have a chilling effect.”

Incoming vice-president JD Vance co-sponsored a self-explanatory bill in the Senate earlier this year named Dismantle DEI that would end all federal DEI programs, including for agencies, contracts and schools or organizations that receive federal funding.

Fears for civil rights as Trump taps Maga darling for key justice department role

The legislation would be more sweeping than what Trump could muster with an executive order. Republicans have a majority in both the House and Senate and could get it to Trump’s desk, if they choose. But with slim majorities, particularly in the House, Republicans will need the political will to get the bill passed.

A chilling effect

When Floyd was murdered in 2020, the ensuing protests around the countries encouraged companies to introduce or expand DEI programs. Commitments were made, DEI offices were created and executives were hired.

But after the Students for Fair Admissions decision, companies went quiet. Even though the decision didn’t mention the workplace, private employers stopped touting their commitments to diversity.

DEI advocates are worried that Trump’s second term will mean an even more widespread chilling effect, where companies do away with their DEI initiatives out of fear of retaliation.

“I’ve had leaders tell me things like, ‘Even the people who support DEI within our company are scared right now,’” Glasgow said. “There’s a lot of fear and anxiety out there … even if, from a policy or senior leadership standpoint, these organizations still buy into [DEI].”

When Meta announced to its employees that it was dropping its DEI goals, the company said in a statement that “the legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing now”.

“The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others,” the statement read.

But Glasgow and other researchers at the Meltzer Center say that companies shouldn’t drop their DEI initiatives completely.

Researchers have outlined ways companies can support DEI, even when the legal environment around it is murky. Companies can be careful not to scrap initiatives that are legally protected and think about areas where DEI could expand legally. Companies could also focus on making sure their companies are inclusive internally, without pushing for broader change outside the company.

“No matter how hostile the external environment becomes, we can still make sure that our policies are protecting vulnerable workers,” Glasgow said.

How the US supreme court’s affirmative action ruling unleashed anti-DEI cases

And some companies can become public advocates of DEI, against the conservative tide.

“I would like to see organizations that have a powerful voice and a powerful platform actually speaking up in defense of DEI and contributing to a conversation about why DEI is important in the public sphere, to push back on those anti-DEI narratives,” Glasgow added.

In late December, Costco’s board of directors released a statement pushing back against a holder proposal from a conservative thinktank that would require the company to evaluate and release a report on its DEI initiatives.

“A diverse group of employees helps bring originality and creativity to our merchandise offerings,” Costco said in a statement to investors. “We believe (and member feedback shows) that many of our members like to see themselves reflected in the people in our warehouses with whom they interact.”

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Trouble in Trumpworld over H-1B visas makes for strange bedfellows

Program for skilled foreign workers pits Trump and Musk against Bannon – and progressive Bernie Sanders

Callum Jones in New York

Fri 10 Jan 2025 07.00 EST

Steve Bannon, one of the architects of Trumpism, is one the most influential voices on the right. Bernie Sanders, the veteran US senator from Vermont, is among the leading figures on the progressive left. In these divided times, they have found common ground.

As Donald Trump returns to the White House, a bitter row over H-1B visas – designed to bring skilled foreign workers to the US – has exposed the delicate threads that tie together his broad coalition – and that of the Democrats.

Trump’s appointment of Sriram Krishnan, an Indian American venture capitalist, as an adviser on artificial intelligence sparked a backlash from within his base – fueled in part by anti-Indian racism and criticism of Krishnan’s views on immigration. This was the stage for an acrimonious spat over the merits and pitfalls of the H-1B scheme.

While Elon Musk, a close ally of the president-elect, has argued the visas are essential for hundreds of companies at the heart of American industry, Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, has branded the H-1B program a “total and complete scam” that deprives American workers.

Trump backed Musk over Bannon, declaring himself to be a “believer” in H-1Bs after using them “many times” in his businesses. But this fight is not over: Bannon is demanding the “complete and total elimination” of the scheme, and Musk has declared he would “go to war” to defend it.

Bannon, who still holds significant sway over Trump’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement, has received support – albeit indirectly – from Sanders, who issued a lengthy critique of the H-1B status quo last week.

“Elon Musk is wrong,” the senator wrote. “The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to hire ‘the best and the brightest’, but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad. The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make.”

About 85,000 H-1B visas are granted every year. More than half a million people are authorized to work in the US under H-1B visas. While these are temporary, and typically granted for three years, holders can try to extend them, or apply for green cards.

Tech giants are some of the biggest corporate beneficiaries, with Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, Alphabet, the owner of Google and YouTube, and Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, among those with the most approved petitions last year, according to the National Foundation for American Policy. Amazon alone had 3,871 petitions approved.

Musk, the world’s richest person, and a naturalized US citizen, was born in South Africa. He has himself held an H-1B visa and stated that “so many critical people” in his industrial empire – which includes Tesla, the electric carmaker, and SpaceX, the rockets and satellites business – have used the scheme.

Leaders in Silicon Valley have long claimed the system is essential for their businesses and beneficial to the wider economy. In an essay for the Washington Post in 2013, Facebook’s co-founder Mark Zuckerberg questioned why the US offered “so few H-1B visas” that demand greatly outstripped supply, claiming that “each of these jobs will create two or three more American jobs in return”.

But critics say it disadvantages Americans because firms are able to recruit workers from overseas – and pay them less. In a 2020 report, the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI) argued that the program enabled employers to undercut local wage levels.

Companies “have an incentive to use this program, because they can control the wages, and have a lot of control over the worker”, Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the EPI, told the Guardian. The labor standards around H-1B were too “lax”, he argued, and the broader rules “inadequate”.

Costa is in favor of reform, rather than scrapping the scheme altogether. “I agree there needs to be a way for them to hire skilled and talented people,” he said. “But that’s just not the way the program is being used right now.”

So often in politics, the fault lines of debate are drawn by political allegiance. But this is immigration. And this is Trump’s America.

“His Maga base is against immigration, but they don’t define it further,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. So on a narrow, nuanced component of the issue – in this case, H-1B visas – the coalition is divided.

“They have different interests involved. Bannon [Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff], Stephen Miller and others just want undocumented immigrants out,” said Sabato. “But of course, others have financial interests involved: Elon Musk is representing a big group of tech leaders and others.

“It’s obvious that this will lead to a compromise. Trump cannot afford to alienate his base. He cannot afford to alienate the richest man on earth, and all of his allies.”

The dividing lines of this debate are blurred by volatile protagonists. A day after Musk threatened to “go to war” on issues like H-1B, for example, he made the case for raising the minimum salary requirements for workers granted such visas to make it “materially more expensive” for firms to recruit overseas workers. “I’ve been very clear that the program is broken and needs major reform,” he wrote.

Some Democrats are already considering how they might exploit the president-elect’s struggle to unite, and universally satisfy, his base. “Let’s take back the immigration issue by making it an economic issue,” James Carville, the veteran strategist, wrote in the New York Times last week, “and force the GOP to deny bipartisan reform that expedites entry for high-performing talent and for those who will bring business into our nation.”

H-1B emerged as the first battle between the unusual consortium that pushed Trump back into power. It is unlikely to be the last.

Sabato pointed to a planned extension of Trump’s multitrillion-dollar package of tax cuts, which came into effect in 2018, and provided significant boosts to big business and wealthy Americans. “There’s going to be fights on this, that and the other,” he said.

Trump’s proposals “need to help the working class, who went with him”, added Sabato. “At the same time, he can’t alienate the rich people.”

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https://www.politico.com › news › 2024/11/06 › trump...

Nov 6, 2024 — ... enemies only rarely led to action during his first four years in office. But others — including some of Trump's closest advisers — have ...

Trump's Enemies: How the Deep State Is Undermining ...

Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com › Trumps-Enemies-State-Und...

But Trump's Enemies is also the story of how President Trump is fighting back. In the face of a gale of media disinformation and the looming black cloud of ...

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Trump's "enemies within" list

Axios

https://www.axios.com › Axios › Politics & Policy

Nov 1, 2024 — Trump has made more than 100 threats since 2022 to go after his perceived enemies.

Pam Bondi: 'There will never be an enemies list' within DOJ

2:28

10:10 · Go to channel · MAGA rift? Trump AG pick disavows 'enemies list,' breaking with FBI nominee's threats. MSNBC New 83K views · 21:28.

Trump has a list of enemies, and he wants everyone to see it

Daily Kos

https://www.dailykos.com › stories ›

1 hour ago — Bolton specifically criticized Trump for prioritizing his personal vendettas over the country's interests. Trump's enemies list—something ...

People also search for

Trump names and shames 11 people on his White House ...

Yahoo

https://www.yahoo.com › news › trump-names-shames-...

4 hours ago — The list includes some of Trump's well known “enemies” who served in ... Trump's transition team has admitted to the Daily Beast.

Thousands of potential enemies...

Coming con

BBC x58 X58 ATTACHMENT – FROM BBC

Thousands protest in Washington against Trump as he prepares for inauguration

2 days ago

By Rachel Looker

Thousands of mostly female demonstrators took to the streets of Washington DC on Saturday to rally against President-elect Donald Trump two days ahead of his inauguration.

The People's March - previously known as the Women's March - has taken place every year since 2017.

A coalition of groups organised the movement with the stated aim of confronting "Trumpism", according to its website. Smaller protests against Trump were held in New York City and on the other side of the country in Seattle.

The rallies coincide with Trump's arrival to the nation's capital for a series of weekend events in the lead-up to his swearing-in ceremony on Monday.

Saturday's People's March in Washington DC drew smaller numbers than its predecessors but still boasted thousands of marchers.

The groups behind the march are described on its website as holding "intersecting identities" and having "varied issue-based interests" with different causes such as climate change, immigration and women's rights.

Women who gathered in Washington to join the People's March told the BBC they had a variety of motivations.

One protester, Brooke, said she wanted to show her support for abortion access.

"I'm really not happy with the way our country's voted," she said. "I'm really sad that our country's leaned towards a president that's already failed us once and that we did not nominate a female candidate."

Another woman, Kayla, said it's a mix of emotions that brought her out to the streets of the nation's capital.

"Honestly, I'm just mad, I'm sad, I'm overwhelmed," she said.

The first iteration of the People's March came together after Trump defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Women called for a protest the day after Trump's first inauguration and hundreds of thousands responded.

The movement spread beyond the nation's capital with millions of women across the US carrying signs railing against the Republican president and sporting pink knit "pussy hats" - a reference to a leaked tape in which Trump had bragged about grabbing women's genitals.

The Women's March remained a key part of the so-called resistance to Trump's agenda in the years that followed.

But none of the subsequent marches have been on the same scale.

Trump, meanwhile, arrived in Washington DC later on Saturday to begin his inaugural festivities with a private event featuring fireworks at his golf club in the Virginia suburbs.

Organisers of the march said they aimed to confront Trump by "drawing on past successes and effective strategies against autocrats".

A small group of Trump supporters were at the Washington Monument on Saturday. Noticing the men in red Make America Great Again hats, one People's March leader with a megaphone approached chanting: "No Trump, no KKK."

One of the men, Timothy Wallis, told the Associated Press news agency his friends had just bought the Trump hats from a street vendor.

Mr Wallis, 58, of Pocatello, Idaho, said the People's March protesters had "every right" to demonstrate, though he said he was confused by the rancour.

"It's sad where we're at as a country," he said.

Another protester the BBC spoke to, came to Washington specifically for the march.

Susie came in from the San Francisco area to demonstrate with her sister, Anne, who lives nearby. They both attended the Women's March after Trump's first inauguration and came back in their "pussy hats".

Susie recalled the crowds of people in 2017. She said she hoped people would still take to the streets against Trump's policies.

"This time the stakes are higher," she said. "Trump has been emboldened. He's got the billionaire class and the tech class bowing down."

Anne also said she recognised the protesters are "out of touch" with a lot of America. Trump won all seven swing states and the popular vote last November.

But she added: "We're still here, and we will resist."

Holly Honderich and Alex Lederman contributed to this reporting

Time x51

X51 from time

‘I Feel Lost and Defeated’: Anti-Trump March Can't Compete With the One 8 Years Ago

BY PHILIP ELLIOTT
Senior Correspondent, TIME

Mary Kramer has lived in a near-total news blackout since Election Day. The Baltimore-area healthcare professional briefly dipped her toe back into the media puddle to watch President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, but quickly returned to limited consumption of the news. Words like “despondent,” “devastated,” and “destroyed” tumble forth as she assesses her reaction to President-elect Donald Trump’s imminent return to power.

“Eight years ago, I still had hope. I still had the fight in me,” the 65-year-old said Saturday on the north side of the National Mall, where a melange of liberal causes converged in a hodgepodge of a rally just hours before Trump was set to land near Washington to launch his Inauguration festivities. “This weekend is far from the march I attended eight years ago. That had hope and fight.”

She looked around as people milled about in a cold, grey lawn with a Lincoln Memorial under renovation standing as the backdrop for speakers. “This country is just never going to elect a woman,” she said, pointing to Hillary Clinton’s and Kamala Harris’ losses to Trump. “It’s never going to happen, and we need to see it for what it is. I’m of a mind that we are not going to have a Constitution or a democracy by the time this ends. All because we just won’t vote for a woman.”

Almost exactly eight years ago, global capitals teemed with a sense of possibility, and the sunny streets of Washington were packed. On Saturday, it was loosely attended under a drab D.C. drizzle. The Reflecting Pool between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial was partially iced over. Piles of grey snow sat next to muddy stretches of the lawn. And the tall fencing was a militaristic reminder that Trump will take office in two days, even if his Inauguration ceremony has been moved inside the Capitol in anticipation of frigid temperatures on Monday.

Many of those there seemed to grasp they were in a decided minority as they brace for Trump’s return. They’re equally frustrated with their prospects for mounting any sort of meaningful blockade to Trumpism in a city where his allies control both chambers of Congress and enjoy a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court. Whereas the first iteration of The Resistance seemed primed with potential, this facsimile feels far more muted and more than a little like a communal therapy session.

The signs and slogans were familiar. The “We Rise, We Resist, We March” and “Feminists Against Facism” prints have been de rigeur ingredients at this variety of political performance for almost a decade at this point. Others were slightly fresher, with plenty of takes from the legion of Childless Cat Ladies, as Vice President-elect J.D. Vance for some reason decided to slam Trump’s critics. Even so, it was impossible to feel any real confidence that showing up for this rally—which promoted causes at times as varied as environmental justice, Free Palestine, trans rights, and D.C. statehood—would move the needle in any measure beyond affirming the current Left’s belief that intersectionality would save it. The umbrella of the current liberal network proved mighty big, encompassing social and racial identities, niche causes like specific coral reefs, and reproductive and voting rights; it might also be fairly flimsy in the face of MAGA headwinds.

“I am tired. I am exhausted. I am angry,” said Nancy Casavis, sporting both a sweatshirt and hat with vulgar language on them to disparage Trump. The 66-year-old retired special education teacher who now calls The Villages, Fla., home, said she was bracing for a rough four years. “But we cannot sit down and shut up. I don’t want my grandkids thinking what they’re seeing in a Trump universe is OK.” So she held a bevvy of hand-made signs and took snaps that she plans to add to a collection of protest shots she is collecting to give her family members so “they know we were on the right side of this fight.”

To be sure, not everyone was so downtrodden. “I cannot believe that normal people voted for this man. But they did,” said Celia Laurent, a 65-year-old state administrator from the Baltimore area. “Which is why we have to keep marching.”

That said, no one credibly claimed the scaled-down showing matched even the smallest of cities’ demonstrations from just before the first Trump term. “I was here eight years ago. This is 1% of that,” said Anneka Hall, a 54-year-old real estate appraiser who traveled from Clovis, Calif., for the weekend—to attend Trump’s Inauguration. The move of that ceremony into the Capitol Rotunda is a bummer for Hall, whose daughter is a student in the area, but she still planned to go to a Young Republicans event Saturday evening and Trump’s Inauguration Eve rally at the downtown sports arena on Sunday.

Still, standing on a sidewalk overlooking the throng, Hall listened as the speakers ricocheted from topic to topic. “What’s wrong with hearing what the other side is doing and saying? I don’t hate the other side. It’s good to know how radical they’ve gotten.”

In that, she identified perhaps why the Democratic institutionalists were not fighting for spots on the stage, which might as well have been a reel of TikToks for as much deference the crowd gave it. Instead, the festival-roaming atmosphere was more of a safe space for those in a city otherwise full of visitors in red MAGA hats and the occasional U.S. flag doubling as a cape at other tourist spots.

“I feel lost and defeated,” said Esther Vogelzang, a 57-year-old mental health therapist from St. Paul, Minn. “I was worried people wouldn’t show up. But it turns out I am not alone.”

No, not alone. But also not joined by as many as were here eight years earlier. It’s why the second Trump era is going to be much different than the first for Democrats.

Events

Guk x42 a x42 FROM GUK

Vince McMahon reaches deal with SEC over sexual misconduct claim settlements

Former WWE CEO agrees to penalty over undisclosed settlement agreements worth $10.5m with two women

Associated Press

Fri 10 Jan 2025 11.31 EST

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says that it has settled charges against the former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) CEO Vince McMahon over his failure to disclose to the sports entertainment company’s board and others that he signed two settlement agreements worth $10.5m with two women in order for them not to reveal potential claims against him and WWE.

McMahon resigned from the WWE’s parent company in January 2024 after a former employee filed a federal lawsuit accusing him and another former executive of serious sexual misconduct. At the time, McMahon stepped down from his position as executive chairman of the board of directors at WWE’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings. He continued to deny wrongdoing following the filing of the lawsuit.

McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid an investigation into allegations that match those in the lawsuit.

WWE founder Vince McMahon resigns amid sexual misconduct allegations

The SEC said on Friday that one agreement was signed in 2019 and the other in 2022. One agreement required McMahon to pay a former employee $3m in exchange for the former worker’s agreement to not disclose her relationship with McMahon and her release of potential claims against WWE and McMahon.

The other agreement obligated McMahon to pay a former WWE independent contractor $7.5m in exchange for the independent contractor’s agreement to not disclose her allegations against McMahon and her release of potential claims against WWE and McMahon, the SEC said.

The commission said that by McMahon not disclosing the agreements to WWE’s board, legal department, accountants, financial reporting personnel or auditor, it circumvented WWE’s system of internal accounting controls and caused material misstatements in the company’s 2018 and 2021 financial statements.

The SEC’s order found that, because the payments required by the 2019 and 2022 agreements were not recorded, WWE overstated its 2018 net income by approximately 8% and its 2021 net income by about 1.7%.

Once WWE learned of the settlement agreements, it issued a restatement of its financial statements in August 2022.

“Company executives cannot enter into material agreements on behalf of the company they serve and withhold that information from the company’s control functions and auditor,” Thomas P Smith Jr, associate regional director in the SEC’s New York office, said in a statement.

The SEC said that McMahon, without admitting or denying its findings, agreed to cease and desist from violating certain provisions, pay a $400,000 civil penalty and reimburse WWE approximately $1.3m.

McMahon was the leader and most recognizable face at WWE for decades. When he purchased what was then the World Wrestling Federation from his father in 1982, wrestling matches took place at small venues and appeared on local cable channels. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums and the company’s weekly live television program, Raw, made its debut on Netflix on Monday, where it had 4.9m views globally and averaged 2.6m households in the US, according to VideoAmp.

Linda?

“ x 44 X44 From guk

Trump’s punishment for his crimes? None

Moira Donegan

At many points, it looked as if he never would be sentenced. That he was sentenced to nothing, then, is itself a small victory

Sat 11 Jan 2025 06.09 EST

What kind of a sentence, exactly, is an “unconditional discharge”? When Judge Juan Merchan, of New York, issued the sentence on Friday, he declared that President-elect Donald Trump, convicted in his courtroom of 34 felonies, will face no jail time, no probation, and no fine for falsifying business records in order to conceal an affair he had with the adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the days leading up to the 2016 election. His punishment, that is, is that there will be no punishment at all.

Trump was never likely to get jail time, which would have been unusual for any defendant faced with these charges, and over the past days Merchan had signaled that he would not impose probation, either. And maybe that’s just as well – any punishment or sanction at all that he had imposed on Trump would have been likely to be appealed and suspended, at least for the duration of Trump’s time in office. There was, that is, no formal mechanism really available by which the criminal justice system could punish Trump for the crimes he was convicted of. “This court has determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgement of conviction without encroachment on the highest office of the land is a sentence of unconditional discharge,” Merchan said, explaining his reasoning: there is no way to punish a man who is about to be the president. In a sense, the sentencing merely confirms what many of us already know: that by virtue of who he is, Trump is beyond the reach of consequence.

Even though there was no punishment, it was not a foregone conclusion that there would be any sentencing at all. Merchan had delayed the sentencing several times, so as not to appear biased ahead of the 2024 election; Trump himself had petitioned to have his conviction vacated, arguing – following the supreme court – that as a former president, he is largely immune from criminal prosecution. Merchan denied that petition in his own New York state court, but Trump made a last ditch effort to ask the supreme court to prevent him from being sentenced last week, a request the court denied not long after news leaked that Trump had a highly irregular and inappropriate personal phone call with Justice Samuel Alito just hours before his petition to the court was filed. At many points, over the course of the months since his May 2024 conviction, it looked as if he never would be sentenced; that he was sentenced to nothing, then, is itself a small victory.

Perhaps that victory is a sign of just how low our standards for institutional response to Trump have fallen. There have been so many attempts to check or punish Trump’s abuses of power through formal state mechanisms, the ones that we were told, in our grade school civics classes, existed precisely to stop a man like Trump from using the presidency the way he uses it. Impeachment was once a nearly unheard-of step, used by Congress to discipline only the most egregious presidential conduct. Trump was impeached twice, and neither time was he convicted. A congressional committee with subpoena power conducted a high-profile, monthslong investigation into his attempts to overturn the 2020 election; they won decent ratings and perhaps some moral victories, but no political ones.

Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, a timid man ill-equipped for his historical moment, was finally forced, against his apparent will, to appoint a special counsel to investigate Trump’s crimes, and that special counsel ultimately brought charges in two cases: one relating to Trump’s attempts to overturn the election, and another related to his bizarre and dangerous decision to steal classified documents from the White House after he was finally forced from office, and stack them up like old towels in the bathrooms at Mar-a-Lago. Those cases came to nothing after the supreme court, packed with Trump loyalists and appointees, intervened to stop them. A criminal prosecution in Atlanta for Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results was neutered when Trump allies in Georgia created a fake scandal around the case’s prosecutor and had her disqualified. Now, the New York case, over his fraudulent business records, has ended with no punishment.

Tremendous effort went into these attempts to hold Trump accountable through the institutions of government. But those institutions turned out to be ineffectual, weak, cowardly, or captured. They could not – or would not – stop him.

These institutions will be weakened or captured further in a second Trump administration. There will be more Trump judges appointed to the federal bench; more supreme court rulings expanding his power and limiting his liabilities; more opportunities for the law and the courts to be used to punish Trump’s enemies and reward his friends. What the law means, we have found, tends to be different depending on who it is being applied to; it is different, and less severe, when it is applied to Donald Trump.

With Trump’s non-sentencing, then, we might be able to finally abandon the futile hope that the institutions of liberal democracy can check him, that the lies and corruptions that our system of government has enabled Trump to pursue might be curtailed by some other, nobler, hidden function of that same constitutional system. There must be other modes of resistance now, other ways to keep alive the dream of a different America – more democratic, more equal, more pluralistic and more free. There are those, still, who can help us build that country, those who can help us keep the principle of it glowing, like an ember in the dark. Those people, however, will likely not be lawyers.

Hostages

IUK x46

X46 From Independent UK

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Whose ceasefire is it anyway?

President Joe Biden had barely finished speaking about the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas when a reporter asked him whether he or Donald Trump, who will succeed him next week, deserved credit for the ceasefire.

Biden immediately turned around with a grin and asked: “Is that a joke?” — then walked away.

The president, who leaves office in five days, may have been grinning, but it’s a question everyone in Washington had to ask. Democrats and Republicans immediately jockeyed to pitch whether Biden or Trump deserve the lion’s of the credit.

Many Biden administration officials who resigned from the government to protest Biden’s support for Israel credited Trump for the end of hostilities. Not surprisingly, the former and incoming president took a victory lap, and Republicans in the Senate cheered him on.

“People respect strength,” Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told The Independent. He and Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota specifically cited how Trump warned Hamas that there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages weren’t released.

Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma flatly told The Independent that Trump deserved “all of it,” in terms of credit. He was less than kind about how much Biden deserved.

“You tell me how much negotiating he did,” Mullin said, referring to the president. “He didn’t.”

But Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, another member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said that Biden deserved accolades.

“Obviously, President Biden has put in an enormous amount of work to get to this day,” he told The Independent. “To the extent that there was some coordination between both administrations, that's obviously rare, a rarity. But President Biden's putting the security of the country and our allies first.”

Murphy joined a coterie of Democratic senators who in December joined Independent Sen Bernie Sanders in an amendment to withhold military aid to Israel. Another one of those senators, Democrat Tim Kaine of Virginia, had repeatedly criticized the Israeli government’s approach to its war against Hamas.

“I want to look at details,” he told The Independent. But “boy, getting hostages home is so gratifying. And I do think it opens up other opportunities for looking for more long-term resolution.”

Senator Peter Welch came out early in support of a ceasefire, even before his fellow Vermonter Sanders, and warned The Independent that the war in Gaza could hurt Democrats in the election.

Time x48

X47 from IUK

Joe Biden concocts a positive image for his legacy while his party fumes over November

Analysis: The outgoing US president is seeking to define his presidency as more than just the lead-up to Kamala Harris’s defeat.

John Bowden

in Washington D.C.

Tuesday 14 January 2025 19:12 GMT

President Joe Biden is in the final stretch. Less than one week remains between him and his departure from the White House, Washington, and in all likelihood the American political stage as a whole.

He is working overtime to protect and define — on his terms — a legacy he once thought he’d have another four years to build. But his party and the broader American political world doesn’t seem to be on board with a vision that more and more are now saying is a delusion.

To draw that image of his one term in the White House, the president chose to make two final addresses this week. One occurred Monday, in front of staffers at the US State Department, focused on America’s global presence with Joe Biden at the helm. A second, his farewell address, will be delivered in primetime on Wednesday.

Both were set to deliver a much rosier view of his administration’s performance than even some members of his own party are willing to allow. And they have one d goal: making the Biden presidency mean something more in the minds of Americans than simply being the vessel of Kamala Harris’s defeat to Donald Trump.

“Today, I can report to the American people, our sources of national power are far stronger than they were when we took office,” said Biden on Monday, adding that America’s adversaries were conversely “weaker than they were when we came into this job four years ago.”

He’d go on to boast that he was “leaving the next administration with a very strong hand to play,” with “an America that once again is leading, uniting countries, setting the agenda, bringing others together behind our plans and missions,” and one that is “no longer at war.”

In truth, the American public’s understanding of what “at war” means has changed dramatically, leaving Biden behind. No US service members are engaged in direct combat missions, yet the Pentagon just admitted that the number of troops in Syria is double that which had been reported for months. Meanwhile, the US Navy continues to clash with Houthi forces in the waters around Yemen and US forces assisted in intercepting missiles fired by Iran at Israel in October.

A media onslaught in his final days has undermined that image as well. On Sunday, CBS’s 60 Minutes aired an expansive investigation into the US’s role in the Israeli siege of Gaza, broadcasting shocking images of young children playing with unexploded US-made ordinance and other debris from US-supplied weapons. Former State Department officials told the network they were pressured to stop raising alarms about human rights abuses.

On MSNBC, the network that hired Biden’s former press secretary to host a show, primetime opinion host Chris Hayes denounced the president last week for leaving “a disgraceful legacy” with his virtually unwavering support for Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s government over the last year. That support was “doing untold damage to the liberal international order,” Hayes argued, as he asserted it undermined US condemnations of human rights abuses in places like China and Russia.

The president will make his case on domestic policy tomorrow night. That part of his legacy, however, comes with one big asterisk: Donald Trump. How many of his decisions and policy achievements survive the next four years, with the incoming president coming to Washington once again with unified control of Congress?

That question is coupled with the reality that Trump is aiming to implement a massive deportation program upon taking office, and along with a GOP Congress is likely to target transgender Americans as well. Republicans aim to pass a tax bill in the first year of Trump’s presidency, roll back environmental regulations, and more — all of which is set to be laid at Biden’s feet, thanks to the botched manner in which the outgoing president’s party handled the 2024 cycle.

Biden himself ensured that blame would come his way last week with a pair of statements claiming that the election had been winnable despite his decision to run for re-election well into July when he finally stepped aside after a disastrous debate performance.

The president told reporters that he “would have beaten Trump, could have beaten Trump”, then echoed those comments in a USA Today interview even while admitting that he wasn’t sure he could have served a full second term. Pod Save America’s Tommy Vietor called Biden’s answers “delusional thinking”.

No longer the public speaker he was even 5 years ago and lacking the support of most of his own party, Joe Biden is fighting an uphill battle to write his last chapter.

The continued silence of Kamala Harris, his vice president, makes the situation all the more uncertain for him. As she writes her own future, the woman called in at the last minute to replace the 46th president — who ran her campaign for just 107 days — may be the one to finish his as well.

IUK x47

X48 From time

January 15, 2025

A Trump-Biden Fight Over Gaza Ceasefire Credit Misses the Point

BY PHILIP ELLIOTT
Senior Correspondent, TIME

Even before the peace deal in the Middle East had been put to page and circulated among the many anxious stakeholders, the question of credit was already at the fore. It was, as most things dealing with that region and Washington’s tentacles into it, anything but an easy verdict.

As President Joe Biden on Wednesday finished announcing the deal that would potentially end a 15-month war in Gaza, a reporter asked the twilight leader in the White House entry hall: “Who gets credit for this, you or Trump?” A puzzled Biden turned around and asked if the query was a joke. It clearly was not, nor did it carry a clear answer. The unlikely and uncomfortable answer is each man carried some responsibility for the agreement.

The fight between the Israelis and Palestinians has been a slog since October of 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. The event precipitated a massive response that plunged the region into chaos and left world leaders flummoxed by its ricochet. Palestinians say more than 46,000 of their people have died—about half being women and children—in an unrelenting ground and air campaign from Israel.

The deal announced in principle on Wednesday puts a halt to that conflict, starting in phases that kick off with hostage-for-prisoner trades and a six-week ceasefire. But the deal itself was a byproduct of complicated diplomacy back in the United States, with Biden’s team working closely with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team and regional partners in Doha. The two-fold U.S. cooperation between otherwise rival camps came after a hard-fought election in which both sides offered competing visions of peace in the Middle East, and which key leaders in Gaza were closely monitoring. It’s not a stretch to say the election-year calendar in the United States likely dragged out the negotiations far longer than might have been seen during a non-election season.

Ultimately, both Biden and Trump had a hand to play, and historians for generations will mull which pol had the bigger role. In the immediate wake of the deal, though, both sought to claim credit.

Trump, preempting Biden’s announcement, said the deal "only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November." Trump has been warning Hamas that there be would “hell to pay” if the hostages were not released before he takes office on Monday, and his negotiator, Steve Witkoff, has been conducting his own form of shuttle diplomacy in the region while Biden’s Middle East guru, Brett McGurk, has been joining by speakerphone.

For his part, Biden sought to cast the breakthrough as something that dated back to his framework announced in May and was only realized in recent weeks because of his team’s persistence. "Its terms will be implemented for the most part by the next administration," Biden said. "For the past few days we have been speaking as one team."

The eleventh-hour diplomatic push carried plenty of echoes of 1981 and the Iran hostage crisis that ended just as President Jimmy Carter was leaving office and Ronald Reagan arrived in Washington. It’s a comparison that Trump’s team has been less-than-subtle in promoting, though its historical parallels certainly have their limits. (For instance, it does not seem like Trump’s team had its own John B. Connally Jr. flying around the region to torpedo an election year peace deal the way Reagan did. Trump’s belligerent threats, however, suggest his friend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was more inclined to give Trump the win than his foil Biden.)

Biden, though, proved to be in the job when the deal here came together, and he called it “one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever experienced.” Despite Trump’s insistence that he was to credit for the deal, his envoy Witkoff made clear to reporters that McGurk was the man with the brief. The cooperation between the outgoing and incoming teams was hardly the stuff of buddy films, but both teams rightly noted that the crisis demanded more than political hacking to get it done.

With Trump’s Inauguration scheduled for next week and his campaigns over for all practical purposes, the credit question is mostly one for egos and presidential libraries. Biden is coasting toward his retirement years, Trump is roaring back to Washington this weekend to set in motion a second term. Both will rightly want to snag the prize of credit for the agreement but neither reached it alone. In perhaps the oddest last-chapter twist, Trump probably helped Biden get one last win as President, and Biden likely set in motion the first victory of Trump’s second term. It’s tough to imagine either finds much pleasure in that piece of the history, but sometimes that make-it-work ethos is what the office requires.

Coming pro

Fox x55

X55 FROM FOX

Trump inauguration: Who is expected to attend, and who is boycotting?

Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama will attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, as will world leaders and big tech CEOs

By Diana Stancy Fox News

Published January 19, 2025 4:00am EST

Former presidents, politicians, tech giants, world leaders and others will convene in Washington, D.C., on Monday for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration – while a few key figures will skip the event altogether.

Traditionally, most departing presidents do attend the inauguration of those taking over the White House. Outgoing President Biden told MeidasTouch network last month he would attend Trump’s second inauguration – even though Trump didn't show up to Biden’s inauguration four years ago. Additionally, the White House confirmed first lady Jill Biden will attend.

Likewise, all three living former presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, confirmed they will partake in the inauguration festivities, the Associated Press reports. Former first ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton will also join their spouses for Trump’s second inauguration.

But some prominent Democrats will not appear at the inauguration. Former first lady Michelle Obama and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced this week that they will skip the event.

MICHELLE OBAMA SKIPPING TRUMP INAUGURATION TO AVOID HAVING TO 'PRETEND FOR PROTOCOL'S SAKE:' REPORTS

A spokesperson for the Obamas did not provide additional information to the AP regarding Michelle Obama’s absence, although the former first lady also did not attend former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral earlier this month.

Likewise, tech giants including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Chew will attend and sit up front on the dais alongside other VIP guests.

A source familiar with the plans told Fox News Digital Chew received an invitation from the Inaugural Committee. The New York Times broke the news that Chew would attend.

CARRIE UNDERWOOD TO PERFORM ‘AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL’ AT TRUMP INAUGURATION

Trump also extended invites to several world leaders – including Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told "Fox & Friends" in December that Xi had received an invitation after Trump said that he would "love to have" the Chinese leader there at the inauguration.

"This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies but our adversaries and our competitors, too. We saw this in the first term, before," Leavitt said. "He is willing to talk to anyone, and he will always put America’s interests first."

Although Jinping will not attend, China’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that Chinese Vice President Han Zheng would visit Washington for the occasion.

The AP also reported that Trump had invited Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, and Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador. Likewise, CBS first reported that Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was invited to the inauguration, but Hungarian media reported he would not make the trip, according to Politico.

However, Milei is expected to attend, as is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Politico reports.

TRUMP SWEARING-IN TO MOVE INDOORS DUE TO COLD WEATHER, SOURCE TELLS FOX NEWS

Such appearances are unique. The AP previously reported that no foreign leaders have attended any U.S. inaugurations, according to State Department historical records.

Musical performances by Carrie Underwood, the Village People and Lee Greenwood are also scheduled for the inauguration. Underwood is slated to perform "America the Beautiful" during the swearing-in ceremony for Trump and President-elect JD Vance, a Trump Transition spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

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Trump and former first lady Melania Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration in 2021. Other presidents have also missed their successors’ inaugurations. Six other former presidents, dating back to John Adams, also skipped inaugurations for the incoming president, according to the White House Historical Association.

Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Brooke Singman, and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.

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Politics

Hundreds of New Yorkers flock to DC to toast Trump inauguration — while eyeing state GOP victories in 2026: ‘We have to fight, fight, fight’

Carl Campanile

Published Jan. 19, 2025, 3:50 p.m. ET

5 Comments

Hundreds of New Yorkers are flocking to DC for Donald Trump’s inauguration — with the fired-up GOPers even talking about winning the governorship again for the first time in a generation next year.

About 300 members of the New York State Republican Party on Sunday filled The Mayflower Hotel in the nation’s capital, where top party leaders and elected officials delivered giddy and fiery speeches about the Queens native’s historic comeback and the GOP’s return to the White House.

State GOP Chairman Ed Cox celebrated the end of the decade-long Democratic era that included the three combined presidential terms of Barack Obama and Joe Biden and the House speakership of Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

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03:50

But Cox said Republicans can’t rest on their laurels.

“We have to fight, fight, fight, to help the president move his agenda forward,” Cox said during the state party’s pre-inaugural celebratory breakfast at The Mayflower.

Lee Zeldin, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency secretary-designee and the GOP’s 2022 candidate for New York governor, said he’s thrilled about being given the opportunity to push through the 47th president’s agenda.

“Donald Trump was elected president because he understood this moment. He’s ready to meet this moment and prepared to lead this country to greatness,” he said

Zeldin and other leaders said Republicans in New York must build on Trump’s victory and make more inroads in the Empire State.

It was no coincidence that the two people who spoke back to back at the breakfast after Zeldin — New York Rep. Mike Lawler and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman of Long Island — are two top Republicans eying a run to try to topple Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2026.

Former three-term Gov. George Pataki was the last Republican to win the statehouse back in 2002.

Lawler said New Yorkers should be proud that New York- bred Trump is back in the White House.

“Floridians think Donald Trump is theirs, but we know that Donald Trump is a New Yorker through and through,” he said of the president-elect, whose Mar-a-Lago estate is in Palm Beach.

The Hudson Valley congressman mentioned the hard work ahead for the GOP-led Congress to help approve Trump’s agenda to improve the economy and secure the border.

Lawler also drew laughs when he did a Trump impersonation, recalling how the incoming president wants to “kill congestion pricing” — a new Hochul commuter tax — and lift the cap on state and local tax deductions on federal tax returns. The New York GOP House delegation recently met with Trump, and they discussed those issues.

Lawler then focused on the 2026 elections and said Hochul is ripe for defeat.

“Kathy Hochul is the most inept and incompetent governor in the entire country,” Lawler said.

Blakeman said Trump’s sweeping victory cannot be overstated.

“They tried to put him in jail. They tried to kill him,” Blakeman said, referring to prosecutions and assassination attempts against the president-elect.

Blakeman, an ally of Trump, said his policies are in sync with the 47th president, including when it comes to cracking down on illegal immigration.

The Nassau County executive said Trump is interested in strengthening the GOP in New York, mentioning the president-elect’s campaign events at the Nassau Coliseum and Madison Square Garden last year, adding, “It’s time to take our state back.”

Blakeman also has attended other recent inaugural festivities, including the America First Policy Institute gala Saturday night at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel — formerly the Trump International hotel — where he mingled with collegiate swimming champion and anti-trans-in-female-sports activist Riley Gaines and football great Herschel Walker, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Georgia in 2022.

Many New York business titans are in DC attending high-dollar events — among them billionaire mogul and WABC radio owner John Catsimatidis, who will be at four different inaugural balls.

“We’re about to save America,” Catsimatidis said.

The entire GOP House delegation will be in DC by late Sunday and Monday.

What do you think? Post a comment.

“There’s a lot of excitement and energy. People are ecstatic that President Trump is returning and will undo the mess that Joe Biden created,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn), the lone Republican in New York City’s congressional delegation.

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Crypto crowd ready for blue skies under Trump administration: Four-year ‘harassment’ is over

By Lydia Moynihan

Published Jan. 16, 2025, 6:00 a.m. ET

After years of regulatory “harassment” under the Biden administration — as one notable investor described it to NYNext — the cryptocurrency community is celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration as the end to a four-year “terror,” and heralding significant policy reversal aimed at legitimizing the industry.

This shift is marked by the appointment of crypto-friendly officials like David Sacks as AI and crypto czar and the nomination of Paul Atkins for SEC Chair, plus the promise of day-one executive orders that will create a Bitcoin reserve and end debanking.

“The entire market is relieved … we have a seismic shift in the approach and tone of the government and regulatory agencies,” Frank Chaparro, an early Bitcoin investor and director of special projects at crypto news site The Block, said. “What this means practically is, banks will be able to touch crypto — for the last four years they’ve been told they can’t.”

Simply ending debanking — or refusing to work with clients because of their crypto connection — could be enough to help the industry flourish, sources say.

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“All those banks who worked with cryptocurrencies faced regulatory harassment,” Nic Carter, a crypto investor at Castle Island Ventures who raised alarm bells about Biden’s debanking efforts told NYNext.

Carter has labeled Biden’s so-called debanking efforts “Operation Chokepoint 2.0” — a reference to the Obama Administration’s Operation Chokepoint, which aimed to crack down on illicit activity, like drug sales, but ended up going after legal businesses like firearms dealers.

Under the Biden administration, banks were told by regulators at the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) not to work with cryptocurrency companies, which handicapped the industry. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen described the administration’s action as “terrorizing” startups — and said in an interview with Joe Rogan last month that banks were pushed to debank 30 startups in which he invested.

“It’s a privatized sanctions regime,” Andreesen said.

“Banks never tell you why they’re debanking you,” Carter adds. “They may communicate verbally that there are reputational risks, but the conversation is so obscure.”

This situation resulted in crypto startups moving offshore or never launching in the first place.

With just that change alone, Carter predicts a crypto startup renaissance: “All the startups that left are coming back [to the US] … this was the number one thing crypto people wanted to change.”

And there are already some early signs of that happening, sources add.

Dennis Dinkelmeyer, the founder and CEO of European-based cryptocurrency investment firm Midas, told NYNext that he is considering launching in the US this year.

“Founders across the market are looking to make a comeback or expand into the US for the first time in four years,” Dinkelmeyer said. “Excitement is returning and you see this in recent news of big projects such as TON [Midas’ crypto bank on the blockchain] pushing into the stateside market for the first time.”

During his administration, Biden appointed officials who tried to crack down on the industry — passing laws that make it difficult for traditional institutions to hold cryptocurrency. Lawmakers and regulators saw the industry, which remains wildly speculative, as something to be tamped down rather than grown carefully, sources explain.

While they acknowledge there is risk involved, these people want to see rules that at least make it possible for crypto companies to operate and grow in the US.

On Friday, Sacks will host the first-ever Crypto Ball in Washington, DC, kicking off a weekend of celebrations ahead of Trump’s inauguration on January 20. The black-tie event, with tickets ranging from $2,500 (and already sold out) to $1 million — which includes a private dinner with the president-elect — includes such sponsors as Coinbase, Solana, MicroStrategy, Kraken, Galaxy Digital and more.

Anthony Pompliano, Founder & CEO of Professional Capital Management, explains that, in the coming months, he is optimistic the Trump Administration will get into the minutiae of regulations and change accounting rules to make it easier to transact in Bitcoin.

While many in the cryptocurrency community have been cheering on the pro-crypto executive orders Trump is expected to issue, one idea is causing more controversy: the idea of an America-first strategic reserve that would prioritize digital coins founded in the US, like Solana, USD Coin and Ripple’s XRP.

In recent weeks, Trump has met with the founders of these coins and, sources said, is receptive to the idea.

Insiders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, d concerns that it could delegitimize efforts to promote Bitcoin, which is the asset they want to prioritize.

But sources also told The Post that those fissures take a back seat to what they believe will become a crypto golden age.

Chaparro, for one, thinks Trump has already set a new tone for the industry: “It’s a radical shift — America is so back in business for crypto founders.”

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X52 FROM CNN

Trump to rally with supporters ahead of tomorrow’s inauguration

By Michelle Shen, Maureen Chowdhury, Matt Meyer and Serena Golden, CNN Updated 5:04 PM EST, Sun January 19, 2025

What we're covering...

• Inauguration nears: Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday. He plans to rally with supporters this evening at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, DC, where officials are scrambling to adjust to his inauguration’s move indoors due to dangerously cold weather.

• TikTok ban: Trump says he will move to delay a controversial ban on TikTok for 90 days shortly after he takes office. The app went dark for US users late Saturday in anticipation of the ban, but started coming back online within hours of Trump’s announcement today.

• Middle East ceasefire: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has credited both the outgoing Biden administration and Trump’s transition team for helping secure an Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, with the first release of hostages held in Gaza taking place this morning. Follow live updates on the deal.

• Plans for Day 1: Trump is expected to move aggressively on a stack of executive actions designed to reshape government policy as soon as he is sworn in.

Donald Trump’s supporters are celebrating the president-elect at a “Make America Great Again Victory Rally” in Washington, DC, ahead of his inauguration on Monday.

Speakers including Megyn Kelly, Trump adviser Stephen Miller and actor Jon Voight have spoken so far, and Kid Rock has performed.

Trump himself is set to speak later Sunday along with Vice President-elect JD Vance and their family members at the event at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington.

1 min ago

Ramaswamy is planning 2026 run for Ohio governor and will stop work with DOGE, source says

Biotech entrepreneur and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy plans to launch a run for Ohio governor before the end of the month, a source familiar with his thinking told CNN.

The source added that Ramaswamy, who was tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to co-lead the nongovernmental Department of Government Efficiency, has informed the transition team of his plans and will stop his work with DOGE once he declares his candidacy.

The accelerated timing for an announcement comes after a source told CNN last week that Ramaswamy planned to “get a couple of wins on the board” with DOGE before entering the race in Ohio, where Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is term-limited from running in 2026.

Politico was first to report on the expected timing of Ramaswamy’s announcement.

Some context: Trump had privately encouraged Ramaswamy to consider an appointment to the US Senate seat recently vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance if offered the position by DeWine, according to a source familiar with the discussions. However, DeWine on Friday named Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to fill the seat.

28 min ago

Incoming second lady Usha Vance wore a custom Oscar de la Renta gown to the Vice President’s Dinner at the National Gallery of Art on Saturday, the label said in a post on social media.

“Incoming Second Lady, Usha Vance, wears a custom noir velvet gown with asymmetric floral accents and a sweetheart neckline for the Vice President’s Dinner,” the label said in a post on Instagram of Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance.

Saturday’s dinner was held in Washington, DC, just two days before President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Vance are expected to be sworn in.

Oscar de la Renta has been worn by every presidential wife since Jackie Kennedy, CNN reported earlier this week. Outgoing first lady Jill Biden frequently wears the designer’s attire, including for her 2021 Vogue cover and the Bidens’ first state dinner in 2022.

18 min ago

Stephen Miller gives GOP lawmakers long list of executive orders Trump expected to issue

From CNN's Phil Mattingly

Donald Trump is expected to issue a long list of executive orders early in his second term, including actions on immigration, energy and the shape of government, a top adviser to the president-elect told Republican lawmakers Sunday.

Trump’s top domestic policy adviser, Stephen Miller, provided the list to the lawmakers as the president-elect is set to take office Monday. There will also be a number of actions taken to undo President Joe Biden’s executive orders.

Details given to the lawmakers were limited, and these expected executive orders will likely face immediate legal challenges. Here’s what the list included:

Immigration:

· National emergency declaration (primarily as a funding mechanism).

· Officially directing the process to reestablish Migrant Protection Protocols, which in the past has included the controversial Title 42.

· Designation of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

· A travel ban.

· A laundry list of actions that would essentially bring back all of the directives, guidance and enforcement priorities that were in place at the end of Trump’s first term.

Other actions will focus on:

· Pipeline construction.

· Permitting.

· Offshore drilling.

· Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

· Lifting the liquid natural gas moratorium.

· Withdrawing (again) from the Paris climate accords.

· Creating the National Energy Council.

· Declaring a national emergency on energy.

Shape of government:

· Orders on Schedule F, giving him the power to commence mass firings of nonpartisan federal employees, and ending remote work for federal employees.

· Officially establish the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

· Order related to diversity, equity and inclusion, known as DEI.

2 hr 8 min ago

Trump transition in discussion with a "number of countries" on deportations of Venezuelans

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition officials are in ongoing discussions with other countries to accept Venezuelan deportees, incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on Sunday.

Venezuelans make up a large of border crossings and, for years, the US has generally been unable to deport them because of frosty diplomatic relations between the US and Venezuela. Mexico has previously agreed to take some for a period of time. During the Biden administration, officials sent Venezuelan migrants to Colombia if they previously resided there.

Trump’s administration could take a similar route. Waltz said Sunday that the US could deport Venezuelans to “a number of countries that will agree to take them.”

“I think they’re going to be — they’re going to be quite aggressive, number one. Number two, they’re going to go after these criminal gangs that are terrorizing our cities, particularly MS-13, and particularly Tren De Aragua, our communities are asking for it. Our neighbors are asking for it,” Waltz said on “Face the Nation.”

Waltz was then pressed, “Tren De Aragua is Venezuelan. You can’t deport to Venezuela. So where are you going to send those?”

“Well, we’re in a number of conversations with a number of countries that will agree to take them,” Waltz responded.

1 hr 19 min ago

Blinken thanks Ukraine’s foreign minister for his "personal partnership" in call on Sunday

From CNN's Mina Allen and Samantha Waldenberg

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his final full day in the role, spoke with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Sunday and thanked him “for his personal partnership in strengthening the U.S.-Ukraine bilateral relationship.”

“They also discussed recent sanctions actions to deprive Russia of resources needed to continue its war of aggression, and continuing work to set the conditions for a secure, peaceful, and prosperous Ukraine,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a readout of the call.

Some background: Blinken has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, leading the way as the Biden administration provided more than $65 billion in aid for the war.

The secretary of state’s call with his counterpart Sunday comes the day before President-elect Donald Trump is set be inaugurated.

Questions remain as to what Ukrainian support will look like under Trump, who has expressed skepticism about continuing US aid and spoken highly in the past of Russian President Vladimir Putin — though Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has recently praised Trump, saying he hopes the president-elect will end the war.

1 hr 51 min ago

VP-elect Vance met with China's vice president Sunday, transition says

Vice President-elect JD Vance met with China’s Vice President Han Zheng on Sunday, according to a news release from the Trump-Vance transition.

The two discussed a range of topics including “fentanyl, balancing trade, and regional stability,” the transition said.

Han is China’s special representative, and is expected to attend the president-elect’s inauguration on Monday.

President-elect Donald Trump also invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration, but China sent Han in his stead.

Keep in mind: The meeting between Vance and his soon-to-be Chinese counterpart comes as Trump has privately told his advisers he wants to visit China after being sworn in to office, three sources familiar with the talks told CNN. The president-elect is seeking to facilitate an open dialogue with Beijing while also pursuing hardline stance on the country.

It also comes as drama unfolds around a controversial US ban of TikTok, which stems from the popular app’s Chinese ownership.

1 hr 57 min ago

Incoming national security adviser previews Trump's immediate actions on immigration

From CNN's Samantha Waldenberg

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01:37 - Source: CNN

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz previewed on Sunday some of the immediate actions the administration might take related to immigration.

“The president is ready to go, minute one, on getting these people out of the United States,” Waltz said on CNN, regarding Trump’s promise of mass deportations for undocumented immigrants.

Waltz laid out in detail several steps the administration will take, including “much more aggressive action” from immigration authorities, among other actions.

“You are certainly going to see a much more aggressive action from Border Patrol to lock down our border, number one,” Waltz said.

“Number two, we are working rapidly back toward a Remain in Mexico policy,” he continued, referring to the US practice of requiring asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico as they await proceedings for their claim. “Number three, you’re going to see some of our key partners step up in terms of deportation and taking some of these people back.

“And then number four: (Border czar) Tom Homan actually, absolutely is going to take much more aggressive ICE action. Our inner city mayors are begging for it. The president campaigned on it. We are going to start with the worst of the worst of the criminals, to get them out of our cities,” Waltz said.

As CNN reported earlier on Sunday, immigration is a topic central to Trump’s political identity, and his team is finalizing an aggressive slate of executive actions that will be released only hours after the president-elect is sworn in.

The package of actions amounts to a dramatic shift in immigration policy that will affect immigrants already residing in the United States and migrants seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border.

2 hr 23 min ago

Trump and Vance place wreath at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

From CNN's Aaron Pellish and Alayna Treene

President-elect Donald Trump participates in a wreath-laying ceremony, as Vice President-elect JD Vance looks on, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Sunday.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Sunday, participating in a tradition for incoming presidents and vice presidents ahead of their inauguration on Monday.

Trump and Vance were accompanied at the cemetery by members of their family, including their wives Melania Trump and Usha Vance, as well as Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

A group of Trump’s cabinet nominees slated to oversee national security and military portfolios also attended the event. Trump’s secretary of state nominee Sen. Marco Rubio, his nominee to run the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, his nominee as ambassador to the UN, Elise Stefanik, and his choice to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins, were all spotted at the ceremony.

Trump and Vance placed a wreath on the burial site before a rendition of “Taps” was played as Trump saluted the tomb.

Last year’s controversy: During the 2024 campaign, Trump and his team sparked outrage during a visit to Arlington National Cemetery that was intended to draw attention to the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. The Trump campaign posted a video on TikTok of the former president’s visit, which marked three years since the tragedy.

According to a statement from Arlington National Cemetery obtained by CNN, federal law prohibits political campaigning or election-related activities within the hallowed grounds.

The cemetery said it “reinforced and widely d this law and its prohibitions with all participants,” which includes “photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign.”

3 hr 5 min ago

Trump meme coin now worth more than $68 billion

From CNN's Auzinea Bacon

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday launched his first cryptocurrency, a meme coin called $TRUMP, which has since become the 19th largest cryptocurrency.

The coin was trading at just over $68 as of Sunday afternoon and valued at more than $68 billion, according to CoinGecko.

This is the first cryptocurrency endorsed by the incoming president, who once trashed bitcoin as “based on thin air.”

In July 2024, Trump addressed crypto’s largest convention and has since appointed Howard Lutnick, who supports the cryptocurrency company Tether, to run the US Commerce Department. Lutnick is among other crypto enthusiasts appointed to Trump’s next administration.

The meme coin’s website says it is “the only official Trump meme.” Meme coins, a class of highly volatile cryptocurrencies, often derive their branding from internet trends and cultural phenomena.

“Now, you can get your piece of history. This Trump Meme celebrates a leader who doesn’t back down, no matter the odds,” the website reads.

Its market value, which is based on the 200 million coins circulating, is capped at $13 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. The meme coin’s website said there will be 1 billion Trump coins over the next three years.

The website says the meme coin is not politically affiliated. But 80% of the coin’s supply is held by Trump Organization-affiliate CIC Digital and Fight Fight Fight LLC, which are both subject to a three-year unlocking schedule — so they cannot sell all of their holdings at once.

3 hr 30 min ago

TikTok CEO will attend Trump's victory rally Sunday, sources tell CNN

From Pamela Brown and Kaitlan Collins

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend tonight’s “Make America Great Again Victory Rally” at Capitol One Arena in downtown Washington, DC, two sources familiar with his plans tell CNN.

Chew’s attendance comes one day before the president-elect will be sworn in for his second term, and as Trump’s team mulls over how to save the popular app.

Some background: Trump said Sunday that he will move to delay a controversial ban on TikTok for 90 days shortly after he takes office. The app had gone dark for US users late Saturday in anticipation of the ban, but started coming back online within hours of Trump’s announcement.

TikTok thanked Trump in a statement Sunday, saying he had provided the “necessary clarity” needed to restore access for US users, and that it would work with him on a “long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”

Trump expressed confidence in the app’s future in his Truth Social post announcing his plans Sunday, saying he will “not let TikTok stay dark” and proposing a “joint venture” where the US could take “a 50% ownership position” in the app.

CNN has previously reported that Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, one of several tech leaders who will play a role in inaugural events.

3 hr 17 min ago

Biden says he is "not going anywhere" and encourages churchgoers to "keep the faith"

From CNN's Samantha Waldenberg, Arlette Saenz and Nikki Carvajal

President Joe Biden, in the final full day of his term, reflected on his presidency during remarks at a church in South Carolina, telling congregants that he is “not going anywhere” and urging them to “keep the faith in a better day to come.”

“Faith teaches us the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. That’s the faith we must hold on to,” Biden said Sunday.

The president reminisced on when he came to the church in February of 2020. He told the crowd that for his final trip in office, he wanted to travel to a state that was central to his political revival in 2020 and that had helped his family recover at a time of agonizing personal loss.

The president also told the crowd Sunday that he is “in no ways tired,” and that it was the honor of his life to serve as president.

Some context: While Biden considers Delaware home and Pennsylvania his birthplace, South Carolina is deeply engrained in his political and personal history.

After crushing defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire in the opening Democratic contests of the 2020 campaign, Biden turned to South Carolina for his political resurrection, drawing on support from Black voters in the state to overwhelmingly win his first primary. That victory set him on an electoral path to barrel through the Super Tuesday states and eventually capture the Democratic nomination.

3 hr 57 min ago

Sen. Kaine questions defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth's character as committee action looms

From CNN's Mina Allen

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine on Sunday said he believes President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of defense nominee Pete Hegseth has serious character flaws that may affect his confirmation.

Kaine grilled Hegseth during his contentious confirmation hearing, focusing on his quality of character. He asked about his willingness to break oaths, his past of cheating on his second wife, and the sexual assault allegation brought against Hegseth, who has claimed the encounter was consensual.

“I believe my questions of Pete Hegseth about his serial infidelity, about the allegation of sexual assault that he refused to disclose to President-elect Trump and the transition team, and his own mother’s allegation that he’s a serial abuser of women — I think those are the kinds of things that might affect how Republicans view this, if not in the committee, possibly the floor,” Kaine said on CBS’ “Face The Nation.”

“My observation of my Republican colleagues is that the only reason they ever vote no on a nominee is either a belief of gross incompetence in terms of qualifications, or serious character deficit — that’s why Matt Gaetz withdrew,” Kaine said, referring to Trump’s original attorney general pick.

Kaine said he thinks there may be a committee action on Hegseth in the armed services committee as early as Monday.

4 hr 3 min ago

TikTok is coming back online after Trump pledged to restore it

From CNN's Clare Duffy and David Goldman

TikTok is coming back online just hours after President-elect Donald Trump pledged to sign an executive order delaying a ban on the app once he takes office.

Around 12 hours after first shutting itself down, US users began regaining access on web browsers and in the app — although the page still showed a warning about the shutdown.

TikTok confirmed the move in a statement, writing, that “in agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service.”

“We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive,” the statement continues, adding that the company will now work with Trump on a “long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”

How we got here: Late Saturday night, TikTok became unusable for Americans, who were met with a message saying the app was offline due to the ban — which the Supreme Court affirmed on Friday — and asking users to “stay tuned.”

TikTok’s decision to shut the app down entirely, which the company had warned it would do, capped off several weeks of uncertainty. And it marked a significant disruption for TikTok’s 170 million American users, many of whom use the app for hours every day to find news, entertainment and community and, in some cases, to make a living.

The law, which required the app to shut down in the US on Sunday unless it divested from Chinese ownership, allows the president to delay its implementation by 90 days via executive order. Trump indicated earlier today that he plans to do so, once he’s sworn in Monday.

This post has been updated with a statement from TikTok.

4 hr 8 min ago

Democratic lawmaker stresses bipartisanship on Gaza ceasefire deal and future legislation

From CNN's Sarah Davis

Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz emphasized bipartisanship and praised both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump for the ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.

“This has always been a bipartisan issue — trying to get to a deal, trying to end the war, trying to get the hostages out — and I think both men should deserve the credit,” Moskowitz said Sunday on Fox News.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has credited both the outgoing Biden administration and Trump’s transition team for helping secure the deal.

In his interview Sunday, Moskowitz also urged Democrats in Congress to work toward bipartisan solutions with their Republican colleagues.

“I’m going to work with the president where I can, and I will disagree with my colleagues where I must,” he told Fox News. “I think Democrats last time around just resisted the president on everything. It was just constant outrage, and I think this time they need to shift to a different strategy of selective resistance.”

The Florida lawmaker did not rule out the possibility of accepting a nonpartisan role in the Trump administration, when asked in the interview.

More about Moskowitz: The second-term lawmaker, who has worked closely with Republicans like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has taken a notably friendlier approach to the incoming administration than some of his Democratic colleagues.

He is also the first Democrat to join the recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) caucus in Congress, a group formed around billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s mandate from Trump to cut government spending and regulations.

4 hr 27 min ago

Biden makes clemency and executive action moves on final full day in office

From CNN's Betsy Klein

President Joe Biden announced a pair of last-minute executive actions on Sunday, his final full day in office, including tapping into his presidential clemency power and issuing a new executive order he says is aimed at “helping left-behind communities make a comeback.”

The efforts mark additional moves by Biden to bolster his legacy and work to protect his accomplishments from President-elect Donald Trump.

Of course, there is little that cannot be un-done in the next Trump administration. Biden spent much of his first day in office reversing Trump-era policies and moves, and Trump is likely to do the same. Clemency actions, however, cannot be reversed.

“Today, I am exercising my clemency power to pardon 5 individuals and commute the sentences of 2 individuals who have demonstrated remorse, rehabilitation, and redemption. These clemency recipients have each made significant contributions to improving their communities,” Biden said in a statement Sunday morning.

Biden pardoned five people, including a posthumous pardon for civil rights leader Marcus Mosiah Garvey. He pardoned Don Leonard Scott, Jr., who was convicted of a non-violent drug offense in 1994 and went on to become the first Black speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. He also issued pardons to a criminal justice advocate, an advocate for immigrant communities, and a gun violence prevention advocate.

The NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund praised the president for the moves on Sunday, saying they “further solidify President Biden’s legacy as a leader committed to rectifying deeply entrenched harms perpetuated by the criminal legal system.”

The executive order, the White House said in a fact sheet, “prioritizes communities facing economic distress, undergoing industrial transitions, emerging as innovation hubs, and rebuilding from natural disasters” for economic development funding opportunities. The White House referred to the effort to streamline access to federal funding as a “no wrong door” approach.

This post has been updated with reaction to the moves from the NAACP.

4 hr 28 min ago

GOP Sen. Graham defends Trump's pick to lead FBI and dodges questions on Kash Patel's "enemies list"

From CNN’s Morgan Rimmer

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham defended President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, and dodged questions on Patel’s published “enemies list,” in a tense exchange Sunday on CBS.

“I take my advice on Kash Patel from (former GOP Rep.) Trey Gowdy, dear friend from South Carolina who worked with Kash. Kash was a public defender. He was a prosecutor. He worked with Trey Gowdy about the Russia hoax. So I do think he has the experience, he has the trust of the president, and we’ll see how this plays out, but Trey Gowdy is enthusiastically supporting Kash Patel and that means a lot to me,” Graham said in the interview on “Face the Nation.”

Pressed on the list of enemies Patel has published, Graham said he is ready to vote to confirm Patel: “I believe the hearing will expose him to be a very qualified man of the law. He wrote a book. He’ll have to answer questions about what’s in the book, but I’m ready to vote for him, because I know him too.”

During the testy exchange, Graham accused CBS’ Margaret Brennan of not “reporting the news fairly” in regard to Trump.

Moving Trump’s agenda forward: Graham, who is the new Senate Budget Committee chairman, also indicated in the interview that he prefers dividing Trump’s agenda into two separate packages, rather than the singular package preferred by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Graham said there are pressing needs to be addressed, potentially sooner than the time it would take to pass “one big, beautiful bill,” and named homeland security and securing the border among them.

4 hr 41 min ago

Hostage deal negotiator says he believes Trump admin will pursue Biden's "roadmap" to end war

From CNN's Aaron Pellish

Brett McGurk, the lead negotiator on the Israel-Hamas hostage deal for the Biden administration, said in an interview Sunday he believes the Trump administration will push for the next steps of the agreement to take place despite concerns the fighting may resume after the first phase of hostages are released.

Speaking to CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation,” McGurk reiterated praise for the partnership between the Biden administration officials and the incoming national security team for President-elect Donald Trump after receiving confirmation that three hostages were released.

He also expressed confidence that Israeli officials would be able to facilitate the large amount of aid crossing into Gaza.

“We in the Biden administration have been very clear, we want to see this – this deal reach all three phases, every hostage come home. I think Trump administration very much s that objective and the template, the roadmap, again, the president set out in May – this was the roadmap, ultimately, to ending the war,” he said. “That roadmap is now in place.”

McGurk reiterated the importance of the US’ support for Israel throughout its military campaign in Gaza and in Lebanon, arguing that sufficiently depleting Hamas and Hezbollah created the leverage needed to facilitate the ceasefire and release of the hostages.

4 hr 28 min ago

House speaker says Trump "likes to make deals" after TikTok goes dark

From CNN's Morgan Rimmer

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he doesn’t “have any confidence in ByteDance,” the parent company of TikTok, after the app went dark in the US late Saturday.

The move corresponded with a Sunday deadline for a controversial ban on the popular app, which President-elect Donald Trump has since said he’ll move to delay once he takes office Monday. The law allows the app to continue operating in the US only if it divests from Chinese ownership.

“They had 270 days (to divest) to be exact. The law is very precise, and the only way to extend that is if there is an actual deal in the works,” Johnson said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

In saying he planned to delay the ban, Trump also floated the possibility Sunday that the US government could take partial ownership of the social media site.

“I think President Trump is probably intrigued by all this, and he likes to make deals, as you know. So we’re very hopeful that that can happen,” Johnson said, adding that a deal to keep the app available would only work if Americans could use TikTok “safely and not have their data being mined by our nation’s enemy.”

On January 6 pardons: The speaker refused to say whether January 6 rioters who had attacked police officers should be pardoned, telling NBC he agreed with Trump that the cases need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

“Every case needs to be evaluated, as he said, but what President Trump is getting at is the lack of faith that people have right now in our system of justice,” Johnson said.

Trump and his team have drafted a slate of Day 1 pardons for people convicted for their role in the violent insurrection, two sources familiar with the plan have told CNN.

5 hr 2 min ago

Why 2 federal death row inmates want to be exempted from Biden’s commutation

From CNN’s Dakin Andone

Two federal death row inmates are asking to be exempted from outgoing President Joe Biden’s order commuting their sentences to life in prison without parole, as they seek to appeal their cases and prove their claims of innocence.

The inmates, Shannon Agofsky and Len Davis, filed petitions in federal court on December 30, a week after Biden announced he would remove 37 out of 40 federal inmates from death row. The order did not include three inmates whose crimes included high-profile mass shootings or acts of terrorism.

Both inmates asked for the US Court in the Southern District of Indiana — which encompasses Terre Haute, where most federal death row inmates are held — to issue emergency orders blocking the commutations from proceeding, underscoring the complicated nature of both the commutations and the death penalty more broadly.

“The defendant never requested commutation. The defendant never filed for commutation. The defendant does not want commutation,” wrote Agofsky, who was sentenced to death in 2004 for killing a federal inmate while serving a life sentence for another murder years earlier.

Agofsky claims he is innocent of the 1989 killing and that errors marred his 2004 case. But a commutation to a life sentence would complicate his efforts to prove these claims, he wrote, by depriving him of the “heightened scrutiny” associated with death penalty cases.

Meanwhile, Davis — a former New Orleans police officer sentenced in 2005 for orchestrating the killing of a woman, Kim Groves, who had filed a complaint accusing him of police brutality — argued the commutation carried a “host of constitutional violations” that would be explained in future filings. Davis said he has maintained his innocence and claimed the federal government did not have jurisdiction to try him for civil rights offenses in the case.

Read more about the cases and Biden’s commutation orders.

CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.

5 hr 26 min ago

Biden says he's pleased both his and Trump’s team spoke as "one voice" to finalize ceasefire deal

From CNN's Samantha Waldenberg

Forcibly displaced Palestinians return to Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza on Sunday, shortly before a ceasefire deal was implemented.

Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images

President Joe Biden told reporters Sunday that he was pleased that both his administration and President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team spoke as “one voice in the final days” to reach a Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

“It was both necessary and effective and unprecedented, but success is going to require persistence and continuing support for our friends in the region, and the belief in diplomacy backed by deterrence,” Biden said in remarks from Charleston, South Carolina.

“Now it falls on the next administration to help implement this deal,” Biden said.

Following his remarks, Biden was asked if he had concern about Hamas potentially regrouping. He responded, “No.”

Sunday marks the final full day of the Biden administration, as Trump is set to be inaugurated on Monday.

5 hr 52 min ago

Biden says "guns in Gaza have gone silent" as Hamas hands over 3 hostages

From CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg

President Joe Biden delivers remarks in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday.

Nathan Howard/Reuters

President Joe Biden said the “guns in Gaza have gone silent” as Hamas has handed over three hostages — the first group to be released under a ceasefire deal between Israel and the militant group that took effect today.

“The deal that I first put forward last May for the Middle East has finally come to fruition. The ceasefire has gone into effect in Gaza, and today, we’re seeing hostages being released — three Israeli women held against their will in the dark tunnels for 470 days,” Biden said in remarks from Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday.

“After so much pain, destruction, loss of life today, the guns in Gaza have gone silent,” he added.

Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has credited both the outgoing Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team for helping secure the deal. Biden’s team worked on the pact for many months, keeping the incoming Trump administration closely apprised on the final contours of negotiations.

5 hr 38 min ago

Jeffries says he supports removal of undocumented immigrants who are violent felons

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries arrives at a news conference in Washington, DC, on November 15.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday that he supports the removal of violent felons who are in the US illegally, but did not say whether Democrats would be willing to back funding required to carry out President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration proposals.

He acknowledged the “broken immigration system,” and said House Democrats were willing to work with the Trump administration on immigration reform and border security measures in a “bipartisan manner.”

“With respect to undocumented immigrants, what America needs is for the incoming administration to focus on violent felons, not breaking up families,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Asked if he plans to vote for legislation to fund the high price tag of mass deportations by US officials, Jeffries responded, “What we’re prepared to do is to focus on the issues that matter.”

He went on to detail cost of living concerns.

“America is too expensive, and what we need to do is to drive down the high cost of living and build an affordable economy for hard-working American taxpayers. We haven’t seen any ideas, any plans, any bills put forward by our Republican colleagues in the House to get that done,” he said.

6 hr 8 min ago

NOW: Biden makes remarks on Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release

From CNN staff

President Joe Biden is addressing the start of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal in remarks from Charleston, South Carolina.

The remarks come shortly after Hamas released an initial group of three hostages this morning, and as the Israel Defense Forces has withdrawn from multiple locations in both southern and northern Gaza, according to Israeli military officials.

Biden’s team worked on the deal for many months, keeping the incoming Trump administration team closely apprised on the final contours of negotiations.

6 hr 7 min ago

Mike Pence will attend Trump's inauguration Monday, source says

Former Vice President Mike Pence is now confirmed to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday, a person familiar with his travel confirms to CNN. He had been planning to attend but it was unconfirmed until now, given he was traveling in Asia.

This puts Pence in the same place as Trump for the second time in recent weeks. President Jimmy Carter’s funeral was the first time they had been in the same room since January 2021. Pence congratulated him, but former second lady Karen Pence did not greet the president-elect.

Notably, Pence and Trump will also be in the same location Pence was four years ago when he was evacuated to a secure location within the Capitol amid the violent insurrection on January 6.

6 hr 25 min ago

Trump says he will issue order Monday delaying TikTok ban — and proposes US take partial ownership of the app

President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday that he will take executive action on his first day in office to allow TikTok to continue operating in the US temporarily, while suggesting the US government could take partial ownership of the social media site.

Trump said in a Truth Social post he will “not let TikTok stay dark” after taking office Monday. The app went offline late Saturday evening in anticipation of the bipartisan law banning TikTok, which was passed last year and upheld by the Supreme Court last week, allowing it to take effect on Sunday.

“I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order,” Trump wrote in the post.

Trump proposed the US could take a “50% ownership position” in TikTok as part of a “joint venture,” suggesting that could mean cooperation with parent company ByteDance — or with new owners “set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose.”

“By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions,” Trump wrote.

6 hr 24 min ago

Preemptive pardons by Biden remain on the table in closing hours of presidency

Possible preemptive pardons by President Joe Biden remain on the table in the closing hours of his presidency, a source familiar with the matter said.

The president has yet to make a final decision on whether to issue preemptive pardons for individuals who might be targeted for prosecution when President-elect Donald Trump takes power, the source said. But those discussions remain underway on the president’s final full day in office.

Some background: Earlier this month, the president told reporters one factor weighing in his decision is whether Trump telegraphed any of his intentions for possible prosecution of his political opponents in the days leading up to his inauguration.

“It depends on some of the language and expectations that Trump broadcasts in the last couple of days here as to what he’s going to do,” the president said, when asked about what pardons and commutations he’s considering.

“The idea that he would punish people for not adhering to what he thinks should be policy as it related to his well-being is outrageous,” Biden said. “But there’s still consideration of some folks, but no decision.”

In an interview with USA Today, Biden said he told Trump during their Oval Office meeting shortly after the president-elect’s November victory that “there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores.”

In that same interview, Biden said he had not made a decision about preemptive pardons, including for former Rep. Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci. The president and White House officials have not detailed who is under consideration for potential preemptive pardons.

6 hr 14 min ago

House Judiciary chair says Trump will issue several immigration executive orders on Day 1

From CNN's Ali Main

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said Sunday that he expects President-elect Donald Trump to issue Day 1 executive orders on immigration, including on the southern border wall, the “remain in Mexico” policy, and asylum and parole policies for migrants.

“I think you’re going to see all those come from the president tomorrow,” Jordan told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

Jordan said he hopes Trump administration officials, including “border czar” Tom Homan, will get to work “right away” on carrying out the large-scale deportations Trump has promised.

“This issue was front and center on November 5. The American people spoke loudly and clearly. They want the border secure,” he said, adding that migrants who do not meet the qualifications under US asylum laws can also be targeted quickly.

Read more about Trump’s planned executive actions on Day 1.

5 hr 28 min ago

Trump plans to issue a series of pardons for convicted January 6 rioters on Day 1

President-elect Donald Trump and his team have drafted a slate of pardons for people convicted for their role in the January 6 Capitol attack to be issued shortly after Trump is sworn into the White House on Monday, two sources familiar with the plans told CNN.

The extent of the initial pardons is still unclear, however, one of the sources described them as enough to be seen as “delivering on his long-held promise.”

Some background: Trump has repeatedly said he plans to swiftly pardon people who were convicted for their role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

Nearly 1,600 people have been charged in connection with the January 6 riot, including at least 600 with serious felony offenses like assaulting police or using a weapon. About 80% of all cases have resulted in guilty pleas or trial convictions, and a couple hundred defendants are currently in prison, according to the latest Justice Department estimates.

Some rioters charged or convicted in the Capitol attack are returning to Washington, DC, for Trump’s inauguration, CNN previously reported. But some federal judges also recently blocked a handful of other January 6 defendants from attending the inauguration, agreeing with Justice Department prosecutors who argued that letting the rioters “return to the scene of the crime” could put police officers in danger.

The pardons are part of a larger slate of aggressive executive actions Trump is expected to take from the first day of his presidency.

CNN’s Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.

7 hr 19 min ago

Trump team working to get TikTok back online, incoming national security adviser tells CNN

From CNN's Betsy Klein

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz said Sunday that Trump’s team is working to get TikTok back online after the popular app went dark overnight following a Supreme Court decision upholding a ban.

Trump has the authority to grant ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, a 90-day extension, provided there has been significant progress toward selling the app to American ownership. ByteDance has not taken major steps to do so.

Still, Waltz indicated during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” that Trump would like to buy the app additional time.

“This is about bridging from Sunday to Monday. This is about giving the tech companies, the app stores, the providers, the cloud storage and others the confidence that we are going to work towards some time of deal and to not make this go dark, and I think that’s what you’re going to see in the upcoming 24 hours,” Waltz told Bash.

Trump, he said, is “working in real time with the various tech companies, get it back online and buy him some time to one, save it, but protect Americans’ data and protect Americans from any type of interference.”

Pressed by Bash on the national security threats the app poses, he said the incoming administration is “confident that we can save TikTok.”

“Tiktok can continue to exist, and whether that’s in American hands, owned by an American company, or whether the data and the algorithms are fully protected from Chinese interference. You know, there’s a number of formulas this can take,” he said.

7 hr 10 min ago

White House expects to see first hostages released "maybe in minutes," senior aide says

From CNN's Samantha Waldenberg

The White House expects to see a first group of hostages that have been held in Gaza released “in the coming hours, maybe even minutes,” deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told ABC News on Sunday, after a ceasefire and hostages deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect this morning.

“In the coming hours, maybe even minutes we expect to see the first three hostages released under the terms of this deal,” Finer said. “Already the fighting has ceased in Gaza, which provides enormous relief to the people there who have been living in very difficult circumstances now for more than a year, not to mention the just unconscionable circumstances the hostages have found themselves in.”

Finer told ABC the Biden administration does not “have a ton of information” about the condition of the hostages included in phase one of the deal.

Finer also said the Biden team has received “significant support” from President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, but that the Biden administration was “in the driver’s seat for the negotiations.”

“We’ve kept them fully up to speed. They deployed members of their incoming team to the region,” Finer said.

Follow live updates: CNN is tracking the developments as Red Cross vehicles drive up Gaza’s central corridor ahead of the planned release of three female Israeli hostages.

7 hr 20 min ago

GOP Sens. Cotton, Ricketts break with Trump on TikTok

From CNN's Haley Talbot and Michelle Shen

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton and GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts on Sunday broke with President-elect Donald Trump’s desire to delay the TikTok ban, after the app shut down late Saturday following several weeks of uncertainty.

“Now that the law has taken effect, there’s no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date,” Cotton and Ricketts wrote in a joint statement Sunday.

Some context: While the super-popular video app has gone dark, the decision to turn off TikTok may not be final. President-elect Donald Trump told NBC News on Saturday he will “most likely” move to delay the ban after he takes office on Monday.

“SAVE TIKTOK!” he wrote in a Truth Social post this morning.

Outgoing President Joe Biden signed a law last April that gave parent company ByteDance 270 days to sell TikTok to an owner from the United States or one of its allies or face a ban. The Supreme Court affirmed the ban on Friday.

While the law included language allowing a president to delay the ban for 90 days via executive order, Trump can’t outright undo a law passed by Congress and signed by a president with an executive order.

The only truly permanent solutions to keep TikTok online appear to be either passing a new law reversing the old one — no easy task, considering that the existing bill had such broad bipartisan support in Congress — or forcing a sale to an acceptable buyer.

7 hr 26 min ago

Ahead of inauguration, CNN poll captures the mood of Democratic and Republican voters

From CNN's Ariel Edwards-Levy

In the wake of the 2024 election, most supporters of the Democratic Party say it needs to make significant changes and that they feel “burned out” by politics, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. The party faces its lowest ratings in more than 30 years.

Donald Trump’s return to office is meanwhile remolding the GOP, with a majority of the party’s backers now saying that support for the president-elect is central to being a Republican.

Those shifts are playing out against a broader backdrop of political unhappiness, with even Republicans far more likely to say they’re disappointed and frustrated by politics than to express optimism, inspiration or pride.

A 58% majority of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say that the Democratic Party needs major changes, or to be completely reformed, up from just 34% who said the same after the 2022 midterm elections, when the party retained control of the Senate but lost the House. Over that time, the of Republicans and Republican leaners who feel the same way about the GOP has ticked downward, from 38% to 28%.

Only 49% of Democratic-aligned adults say they expect their party’s congressional representatives to be even somewhat effective at resisting GOP policies, while more than 9 in 10 Republican-aligned adults expect their party’s congressional representatives — who now control both chambers of Congress — to be at least somewhat effective at passing new laws to enact their agenda.

But across party lines, the predominant political mood is one of discontent. Most adults in the US describe themselves as disappointed (70%) and frustrated (64%) with the nation’s politics today, with nearly half calling themselves burned out.

Dive deeper on the results of the CNN poll.

8 hr 16 min ago

Trump's involvement was "very influential" on ceasefire-hostage negotiations, Israeli foreign minister says

From CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim and Catherine Nicholls

The involvement of President-elect Donald Trump was “very influential” in the ceasefire-hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told CNN on Sunday.

In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Bianna Golodryga, Sa’ar said “the strong involvement of America, the strong involvement of President Trump, was very, very influential and helpful during the last weeks.”

He said that Trump did not force Israel do to anything that it didn’t want to do, but that “we worked together to achieve a goal that was very important for us, and President Trump was very helpful in achieving that goal.”

Some background: On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said both the outgoing Biden administration and the Trump transition team had played key roles in the talks, which have resulted in the first pause in fighting in the enclave in months, and paved the way for a hostage and prisoners exchange expected to take place soon this morning.

Follow live updates on the Middle East ceasefire here.

7 hr 47 min ago

What to know about Trump's plans for aggressive Day 1 executive actions

From CNN's Kevin Liptak, Priscilla Alvarez, Jeff Zeleny, Alayna Treene and Kayla Tausche

John Moore/Getty Images

A stack of actions designed to reshape government policy will be awaiting President-elect Donald Trump’s signature as soon as he is sworn in tomorrow — a dramatic show of force meant to set the tone for the next four years.

In major metropolitan areas, immigration raids could begin almost immediately as the new president follows through on campaign promises to deport undocumented migrants.

Inside jail cells, January 6, 2021, defendants will await word of pardons, which Trump has promised to sign as soon as he returned to power.

And across the globe, leaders in foreign capitals will watch anxiously to see how the new American leader begins executing his plans for tariffs, land grabs and an end to grinding wars.

Trump is planning to issue dozens of executive actions — more than 100 just on Day 1, at least in his own telling — within his first week in office, sources familiar with his plans told CNN, including those aimed at ramping up US energy production, tightening border security, reeling in regulations and other top policy priorities.

He’s also seeking options to keep TikTok available in the United States, a task made urgent by the app going dark for users late last night ahead of a Sunday deadline.

It’s almost certain some of the items Trump promised on the campaign trail to execute on his first day won’t happen. But the scale of Trump’s plans — if they materialize — would go well beyond any recent president’s attempts at wielding the power of his office.

8 hr 12 min ago

Biden turns to South Carolina for final trip as president

From CNN's Arlette Saenz

President Joe Biden is visiting Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday for his final trip in office to speak at a church service ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day — and President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Biden boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews a short time ago, traveling with first lady Jill Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. His daughter, Ashley Biden, also appears to be aboard the plane, according to a post on Instagram.

At the service later today at Royal Missionary Baptist Church, Biden will talk about “Dr. King’s legacy and the continued fight to make Dr. King’s dream a reality,” a White House official said. The president will also visit the International African American Museum, where he and the first lady will deliver remarks.

The state of South Carolina was central to Biden’s political revival in 2020. While he considers Delaware home and Pennsylvania his birthplace, South Carolina is deeply ingrained in his political and personal history.

“He decided that as he’s bringing his 50-year public service career to a close, it was fitting and proper to do it in South Carolina,” Rep. Jim Clyburn, a close ally of the president, told CNN in an interview last week.

The Biden family also often turned to South Carolina for respite and comfort, vacationing in the coastal areas for several decades, including one family gathering in Kiawah Island just weeks after Biden’s son Beau died in 2015.

CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed to this report.

This post has been updated to reflect Biden’s departure.

Late Saturday night, TikTok became unusable for Americans, who were met with a message saying the app was offline and asking users to “stay tuned.”

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” the message read in part. The app was also unavailable on the Apple and Google Play stores, along with Lemon8 and CapCut, which are also owned by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.

TikTok’s decision to shut the app down entirely, which the company had warned it would do, capped off several weeks of uncertainty. And it marks a significant disruption for TikTok’s 170 million American users, many of whom use the app for hours every day to find news, entertainment and community and, in some cases, to make a living.

But while the super-popular video app has gone dark, the decision to turn off TikTok may not be final. In fact, it may last just a few dozen hours.

President-elect Donald Trump told NBC News on Saturday he will “most likely” delay the ban on TikTok for 90 days after he takes office on Monday. And Trump said the announcement could come on Monday, his first day in office.

Such an announcement could serve as a kind of immediate political victory for Trump with America’s youth. Although Trump supported a TikTok ban in his first term as president, he has recently said he wants to keep the app alive — posting on Truth Social this morning: “SAVE TIKTOK!”

Last month, he asked the Supreme Court to stay the law so his incoming administration could work out a deal to keep TikTok available to Americans. But the Supreme Court upheld the law on Friday.

Catch up on the TikTok situation here.

8 hr 42 min ago

GOP hopes to confirm Marco Rubio and other national security picks as early as tomorrow

From CNN’s Ted Barrett

Senate Republican leaders are hopeful but uncertain that they will vote to confirm secretary of state pick Marco Rubio — and possibly other top national security Cabinet picks — on Monday after Donald Trump is sworn in as president. That’s because Democrats have not signaled whether they will give the unanimous consent required to act so quickly.

Rubio, who is popular with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, appears best positioned to be confirmed on Day 1.

“I don’t know that there’s anything that’s firm,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN when asked whether he expected to vote on Rubio on Monday. “But I feel good that there’ll be an interest in expediting his (nomination).”

Several Democratic senators said they would be fine voting to confirm Monday, but one, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, would not commit, saying she will have to review his hearing before deciding.

That’s one of the challenges facing GOP leaders: Any one senator for any reason can object to moving quickly. If Thune were forced to break filibusters of Rubio or other Cabinet picks and any senator decided to drag out the procedural clock, it could take days to get them confirmed and consume precious floor time.

Only 51 votes are needed to break a filibuster of a nominee, and Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. That means most of Trump’s choices will be easily confirmed even if Democrats force them to take longer than they want.

Besides Rubio, a GOP aide said they hoped to get CIA director choice John Ratcliffe confirmed as early as Monday, too.

7 hr 52 min ago

Trump addresses mass deportations, Mideast ceasefire and TikTok in wide-ranging NBC interview. Catch up here

From CNN's Aaron Pellish

President-elect Donald Trump said mass deportations will begin “very quickly” after taking office, one of a number of plans he discussed in a phone interview with NBC News on Saturday.

As Trump prepares to be sworn in Monday, the president-elect also told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that he will “most likely” delay the US’ impending ban on TikTok, that he will “probably” visit Los Angeles next week to tour wildfire damage, and that he plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “fairly shortly.”

Here’s a recap of the wide-ranging interview:

Mass deportations: Trump said his administration is planning on executing mass deportations on undocumented immigrants “very quickly” after he takes office, reiterating his desire to “get the criminals out of our country.”

TikTok ban: Trump said he will “most likely” delay a ban on TikTok — which technically takes effect today — for 90 days after he takes office but noted he has not made a final decision.

Trump said it would be “appropriate” to approve an extension for the Chinese-owned social media platform, which is required to sell to American buyers by Sunday or face a ban in the US.

Los Angeles wildfires: The president-elect said he is “probably” going to visit the Los Angeles area next week to survey damage after devastating wildfires ripped through the region.

Trump told NBC News he may travel to California “at the end of the week,” saying he wanted to go Friday but decided to wait until he had been inaugurated.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire: Trump said he told Netanyahu to “keep doing what has to be done” while emphasizing his desire to see the war between Israel and Hamas end. He again warned that “all hell will break out” if the two sides do not uphold the recently negotiated ceasefire-hostage agreement, which is set to begin Sunday.

Inauguration: The president-elect spoke about his decision to move his Monday inauguration ceremony indoors amid dangerously cold temperatures projected in DC. He said he believes he made “the right decision” and promised the ceremony is “going to be beautiful, actually.”

“The weather was really looking bad in terms of the coldness, and I think it would have been dangerous for a lot of people, the crowds and everything else,” Trump said.

Sunday rally

NBC X53 @ above

1/21 DURING

Time x50 X50 FROM TIME

Donald Trump’s Disruption Is Back

By Massimo Calabresi January 19, 2025 8:00 AM EST

Lost amid the hullabaloo surrounding Donald J. Trump’s second Inauguration as President of the United States—the last-minute, cold-driven venue changes, the galas and balls, the $170 million raised from donors both big-name and anonymous—is the point of the whole extravaganza. In the summer of 1787, the delegates to the federal convention in Philadelphia included in the document they were drafting a requirement that before taking office, the President should recite the following oath: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Not everyone thought it was a good idea. Several delegates believed that oaths were pointless, almost superstitious. It’s the only verbatim pledge in the U.S. Constitution, and in retrospect it speaks to the document’s fragility, a sense that the men struggling in secret in Philadelphia were worried their hard-won agreement was so tenuous that it required a promise from future leaders to respect their work. Yet every president from George Washington on has recited the 35 words as a commitment to the rule of law in the face of unpredictable forces of change.

Trump, of course, is himself an unpredictable force for change. Whatever one thinks of him, he has altered America in ways unimaginable a decade ago. Back then, the so-called Washington consensus among Republicans and Democrats held that free trade was a near-absolute good. Presidents respected prosecutorial independence as a way of protecting citizens from an elected leader's trying to use the power of law enforcement for personal interests. For 75 years, Commanders in Chief upheld the U.S. pledge of mutual defense with its NATO allies. Trump has cast these norms aside, and the consequences are rippling around the world. He is arguably the most influential change agent to occupy the White House since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Yet the 47th President is as much a product of global change as a driver of it. The challenges his agenda attempts to address accumulated over decades, and are now greater than can be mastered by any one leader, or even one country. Transnational forces, from migration to organized crime to pandemics, have resisted both collaborative and unilateral responses since before 9/11. Today’s world is in many ways unrecognizable from what it was when America won the Cold War. In China, the U.S. faces a potential economic and military competitor unlike any before.

Trump has pledged to solve these challenges through a suite of aggressive moves. He promises everything from mass deportations to suppression of the free media through prosecution to the annexation of Greenland, the Panama Canal, and Canada—though he may be joking about that last bit. Supporters say his norm breaking will be worth it if it succeeds where others have failed, and they credit him for promising to tackle big, difficult problems: cutting government waste and reversing massive deficits, ending wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, fixing the long-broken immigration system. Trump will take office in as strong a political position as ever before, buoyed by a decisive election victory and near record-high public support, a Republican Congress unified behind him, and broader backing in the business community, most notably among tech elites, who have committed this time to working with him. To many, Trump’s ascension carries the possibility of positive change for institutions that have grown stagnant or worse.

His opponents, meanwhile, are in the process of figuring out which parts of his agenda to accept. Over time, Democrats have adopted some of the Trump prescriptions they once denounced. President Biden kept many of Trump’s China tariffs. Vice President Kamala Harris embraced his “no tax on tips” pledge during her campaign. Forty-eight House Democrats voted for the Laken Riley Act, which requires federal detention for anyone in the country illegally who is arrested for shoplifting or theft; an even greater proportion of their Senate colleagues support the bill. At the same time, Democrats are preparing to battle over many of Trump’s policies, as they have for the past 10 years.

The key moments of Trump’s second term will come when the forces of political resistance, his own advisers, the legal system, or his fellow world leaders oppose the President’s moves. Trump has threatened to deploy the military against American protesters. Will he abide by judicial rulings if an aide tells him the courts can’t force him to? It is unclear what use Trump intends to make of the partial immunity from criminal prosecution the Supreme Court granted Presidents last year.

Trump told TIME last fall, “I’ll only do what the law allows, but I will go up to the maximum level of what the law allows.” His most anxious critics point out that he is not exactly a man of his word. He changes positions and discards allies at the drop of a hat—he’s already named and replaced his White House counsel before even taking office. The 47th President is the first to enter office as a felon, convicted less than a year ago by a jury of his peers of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Reciting a simple oath doesn’t seem like much assurance that he will abide by the Constitution.

But the hard-won agreement for governing the U.S. has shown itself a survivor. It has endured the Civil War, the rise of fascism, pandemics, and extralegal affronts. It emerged from the disruptions and disgraces of Trump’s first presidency, too, including the events culminating in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. As he takes office for the second time, the pledge at the center of his Inauguration spectacle now seems less an expression of insecurity by the framers than one of wisdom. And those anxious about what is coming can be glad that on Aug. 27, 1787, the convention delegates decided to broaden their original version of the President’s oath from a simple promise to “faithfully execute the duties” of the office to a further commitment to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." It is on Trump, and America, to ensure that oath is kept.

Repeat attach/speeches

AFTER

Al Jazz timeline x83 1010 (GMT) to 0110 GMT) 1/22

X83 FROM AL JAZEERA

Donald Trump inauguration 2025 updates: Trump is sworn in as 47th president

By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours and Brian Osgood

Published On 20 Jan 2025 20 Jan 2025

· 15h ago

(01:10 GMT)

A recap of today’s events

Our live page will soon come to a close. Here’s a summary of all the events that happened on Monday, the first day of Donald Trump’s second term as president.

o In the final hours of his presidency, Democrat Joe Biden issued a series of “preemptive pardons” for those he feared would come under attack during a Trump presidency.

o They include Biden’s brothers, immunologist Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley and the members of the House Select Committee on the January 6 attack, including former Congress member Liz Cheney.

o Faced with an Arctic blast outdoors, Trump held his inauguration ceremony inside the Capitol Rotunda, surrounded by dignitaries and family.

o Trump’s inauguration was the first to invite foreign leaders to participate, and many far-right politicians were in attendance, including Argentina’s Javier Milei and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni.

o In his inaugural address, Trump denounced the “radical and corrupt establishment” of his predecessor, as well as the alleged “weaponisation” of the justice system.

o He also advanced a vision of the future that called for the expansion of US territory, including by “taking” the Panama Canal “back” from Panama.

o The Republican leader also announced he would declare a state of emergency at the southern border with Mexico and declare drug-trafficking cartels “terrorists” in order to expel them from the country.

o Trump also withdrew the US for a second time from the Paris Agreement, a landmark international treaty designed to combat climate change.

o Later, at a rally for supporters at the Capital One Arena, Trump signed a series of executive orders freezing government hiring and halting the addition of federal regulations, among other things.

· 15h ago

(01:10 GMT)

Thank you for joining us

This live page is now closed. But if you would like to learn more about Monday’s events, check out our on-the-ground coverage from Washington, DC, here.

We also have five key takeaways from Trump’s inaugural speech and a schedule of the day’s events.

For more insight beyond Monday’s news, check out Al Jazeera’s reporting on the evolution of the Women’s March protests and what Trump had promised for his first day in office.

Thank you for following along for all the day’s events.

· 15h ago

(00:57 GMT)

Trump announces nearly 1,500 pardons for January 6 defendants

Following through with one of his frequent campaign-trail promises, Trump has announced that he has pardoned all defendants who had been charged for their role in the 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

On January 6 of that year, Trump held a rally encouraging his supporters to “stop the steal” – a phrase he used to falsely allege that his 2020 defeat was the result of electoral fraud.

Trump has continued to repeat that false claim, even as he was sworn in for a second term on Monday.

His supporters left Trump’s rally and descended on the US Capitol, attacking police officers and breaking into the building in an apparent attempt to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election, which was unfolding inside.

Some supporters chanted phrases like “Kill Mike Pence”, a reference to Trump’s vice president at the time. Lawmakers were forced to flee the Capitol.

Trump himself has faced legal fallout for his actions in relation to the 2020 election, including one state-level criminal case in Georgia and one federal indictment for election interference that was dropped late last year, as a result of his recent re-election.

In addition to the nearly 1,500 defendants he pardoned, Trump also issued multiple “J6” commutations, according to a statement from the White House.

They include figures like Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right militia the Oath Keepers who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in 2022.

Trump has reportedly called on the Justice Department to drop all pending cases against January 6 defendants. An estimated 1,583 people had faced federal charges in total.

· 16h ago

(00:45 GMT)

A night of formal balls and celebrations

Even as nighttime falls on Washington, DC, Trump’s schedule remains packed.

Not only has he pledged to return to the Oval Office to sign pardons for those charged in the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, but he also has several official celebrations to attend.

They include the Commander in Chief Ball, where the musical group Rascal Flatts will play; the Liberty Ball, which will see performances by the Village People and Jason Aldean; and the Starlight Ball, where Trump will be serenaded by country singer Gavin DeGraw.

Trump will also make remarks at each event.

· 16h ago

(00:40 GMT)

An inauguration tradition moves indoors

Normally, the presidential inauguration parade marches through the streets of Washington, DC.

But with an Arctic blast spreading freezing temperatures across the US East Coast, the parade had to be revised and brought indoors to the Capital One Arena.

A series of marching bands filtered through the centre of the arena on Monday afternoon, and a brief memorial was held for Corey Comperatore, a volunteer firefighter who was shot dead during a failed assassination attempt against Trump in July.

Trump and his family watched the proceedings from the stands, offering occasional waves and fist pumps, before exiting after the president’s speech.

· 16h ago

(00:30 GMT)

Marco Rubio earns Senate confirmation

With 99 votes, Florida Senator Marco Rubio has won unanimous confirmation to the role of secretary of state, the top diplomat in the US.

The Senate confirmation vote on Monday made him the first member of Trump’s cabinet to earn the chamber’s approval.

It was a rare bipartisan vote ahead of what are likely to be more contentious Senate proceedings over candidates like Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Pete Hegseth, his choice for defence secretary.

Hegseth has faced scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive drinking while on the job. Patel, meanwhile, has spurred fears that he would use the FBI – an agency that is supposed to be nonpartisan – to pursue Trump’s political rivals.

· 16h ago

(00:20 GMT)

Trump signs a series of documents advancing policy priorities

Sitting at a desk in the centre of the Capital One Arena, Trump fulfilled a pledge to sign executive orders peeling back his predecessor’s actions.

The first document Trump signed rescinded “78 Biden-era executive actions, executive orders, presidential memoranda and others”, according to a representative narrating the proceedings.

He then proceeded to sign a series of documents that called for:

o a freeze on government regulations

o a freeze on hiring in the federal government, with exceptions for the military

o federal employees to return to in-person work, rather than working from home

o federal agencies to address the cost-of-living crisis

o the US to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, a landmark treaty designed to combat climate change

o preventing government censorship

o an end to the “weaponisation of government against political adversaries”

After signing the seven documents, Trump stood up and offered fist pumps as the crowd chanted, “USA! USA!”

At one point during the ceremony, he exclaimed, “Could you imagine Biden doing this? I don’t think so!”

· 16h ago

(00:06 GMT)

Trump talks about what was ‘wrong’ with inauguration speech

Earlier on Monday, Trump took the oath of office under the Capitol dome and gave the first speech of his second term.

But a few hours later, at the Capital One Arena, Trump told supporters he was frustrated that he did not take more jabs at his predecessor, Biden, in his inaugural speech.

“The only thing wrong with it is I had a lot of tough things to say,” Trump said of his speech.

He indicated that his aides encouraged him to hold back on his attacks against Biden.

“I have some great people that work for me: ‘Sir, this is such a great speech, so unifying. Don’t talk about Biden with his pardons of his family. We want a unified country,'” Trump said.

“ I said, ‘All right. I won’t put it in my speech, but you know what? I’m speaking in front of a hell of a lot of people at a place called Capital One Arena. And I’ll talk about it there.'”

· 16h ago

(23:55 GMT)

Trump threatens to fire ‘Biden bureaucrats’

Trump’s presidency has long spurred fears that the administration would administer “loyalty tests” to career civil service employees, who work for the government no matter the president in charge.

In his speech at Capital One Arena, Trump seemed to take aim at that sector, saying he would remove “Biden bureaucrats”.

“To gain immediate control of the vast federal out-of-control bureaucracy, I will implement an immediate regulation freeze, which will stop Biden bureaucrats from continuing to regulate,” Trump said.

“Most of those bureaucrats are being fired. They’re gone. Should be all of them, but some sneak through,” he added.

“ I’ll also issue a temporary hiring freeze to ensure that we’re only hiring competent people who are faithful to the American public.” It was unclear how he would measure such fealty.

· 16h ago

(23:50 GMT)

Trump signs executive orders on stage at Capital One Arena

The gloves have come off – completely.

At the podium at the Capital One Arena, Trump has reverted to his pugilistic campaign trail style, throwing punches at the outgoing administration of Democrat Joe Biden.

“We’re going to sign executive orders,” Trump said, referring to a pile of documents nearby.

“First, I’ll revoke nearly 80 disruptive and radical executive actions of the previous administration, one of the worst administrations in history – not one of them. The worst. Anybody would allow millions of people to pour through our borders from jails, prisons, mental institutions, insane asylums…”

There is no evidence to support that foreign countries are releasing people from prisons or mental health institutions into the US.

· 17h ago

(23:40 GMT)

Trump repeats false claims of election fraud

Even as he celebrates his first day in office, Trump has returned to his usual grievances, once again accusing his political opponents of trying to “rig” the election.

It was a throwback to Trump’s previous claims that his 2020 defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud.

For the 2024 race, he called on his supporters to turn out en masse, using the slogan “Too big to rig” – a phrase he reprised on the floor of the Capital One Arena on Monday.

“They worked so hard,” Trump said of his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who formerly headed the Republican National Committee. “They knew they’d be rigging, but they said we’re going to make it too big to rig.”

“And we did. We made it too big to rig. We won every swing state by a lot. We won the popular vote by millions and millions of votes. We won the whole ball of wax. And now we’re going to go and drill, baby, drill and do all the things that we wanted to do.”

· 17h ago

(23:35 GMT)

Trump has taken the stage at Capital One Arena

“We won! We won! But now the work begins.”

Trump declared that, later on Monday evening, he would begin signing pardons for the rioters arrested after the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“ Tonight, I’m going to be signing the J6 hostages’ pardons to get them out,” Trump said. “ And as soon as I leave, I’m going to the Oval Office and we’ll be signing pardons for a lot of people.”

As of January 6 of this year, the Justice Department had charged 1,583 people with federal crimes related to the riot. Approximately 1,009 people have pleaded guilty, and 221 have been found guilty.

· 17h ago

(23:27 GMT)

Witkoff pledges to continue Trump’s first term platform in Middle East

In his remarks, Witkoff – Trump’s envoy to the Middle East – echoed many of Trump’s talking points, including the idea that foreign allies were relying too heavily on US aid.

“We are done carrying the financial burden for nations that are unwilling to fund their own progress. The days of blank cheques are over,” Witkoff said.

He also described his role as continuing the work of Trump’s first term, from 2017 to 2021. That includes continuing work on the Abraham Accords, a series of diplomatic normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab countries in the surrounding region.

“My commitment is to continue to do the work of advancing President Trump’s vision for the Middle East,” Witkoff said. “Whether through expanding the Abraham Peace Accords, fostering an economic development or facilitating dialogue between long-standing adversaries, my focus remains on actual actionable results.”

He also underscored Trump’s self-described role as a peacemaker – and emphasised that Trump would achieve results.

“A stable and prosperous Middle East is not an unattainable dream. It is a goal within our reach, made possible by strong leadership and unwavering commitment. Under President Trump’s guidance, we have proven that the impossible can become reality.”

· 17h ago

(23:21 GMT)

Steve Witkoff addresses crowd at Capital One Arena

Witkoff, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, has welcomed on stage at the Capital One Arena the families of captives who are slated to be released in Gaza, following the recent ceasefire agreement.

Each person passed in front of Trump to receive a handshake from the president himself.

Trump has claimed credit for pushing the ceasefire deal over the finish line, after his predecessor Biden unveiled its terms in May.

· 17h ago

(23:10 GMT)

Immigration analyst says right to asylum nearly nonexistent at US border

Adam Isacson, a migration and security analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), has said that, with Trump’s cancellation of all existing CBP One appointments, the right to asylum has been effectively nullified at the US-Mexico border.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has said that more than 936,500 migrants and asylum seekers have used the CBP One app, launched in October 2020, to schedule entry appointments since January 2023.

“The Biden rule blocked nearly all asylum access between ports of entry. The Trump admin just killed all CBP One appointments at ports of entry,” Isacson said in a social media post.

“There is now virtually no way to access asylum at the US-Mexico border. The border is in a state of egregious illegality right now.”

· 17h ago

(23:00 GMT)

New Syrian leader says he hopes Trump can ‘bring peace’ to Middle East

Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that overthrew the government of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, has congratulated Trump as he returns to the White House.

“The past decade has brought immense suffering to Syria, with the conflict devastating our nation and destabilizing the region. We are confident that he is the leader to bring peace to the Middle East and restore stability in the region,” al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, said in a statement.

“We look forward to improving the relations between our two countries based on dialogue and understanding.”

Rebuilding Syria: Civil society groups call for inclusive country

· 17h ago

(22:50 GMT)

Mexico’s President Sheinbaum calls for ‘respect and cooperation’ with US

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has congratulated President Trump on his return to power, though she noted that relations with Mexico must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect.

“On behalf of the Government of Mexico, I congratulate Donald Trump POTUS on his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States of America,” Sheinbaum said in a social media post. “As neighbors and trading partners, dialogue, respect and cooperation will always be the symbol of our relationship.”

18h ago

(22:40 GMT)

Global leaders express concern over US climate change commitments

Global leaders and officials involved in efforts to coordinate a worldwide response to climate change have said that Trump’s plan to once again withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement will increase the severity of the climate crisis.

Extreme weather patterns are already affecting millions of people around the world, amplifying deadly events like heatwaves, fires and floods.

People in poor countries that have contributed relatively little to global carbon emissions are expected to bear the brunt of those disasters.

“The leadership of the United States is critical in mobilising climate finance, advancing clean energy transitions and ensuring the equitable implementation of global climate goals. Equally important is the need to promote multilateralism as the foundation for addressing climate change and other global challenges,” said Ali Mohamed, Kenya’s special envoy for climate change.

· 18h ago

(22:30 GMT)

Democrats slam Trump for prevalence of tech billionaires at inauguration

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has slammed the prominence given to powerful tech billionaires at Trump’s inauguration.

“Big Tech billionaires have a front row seat at Trump’s inauguration,” Warren said in a social media post. “They have even better seats than Trump’s own cabinet picks. That says it all.”

· 18h ago

(22:20 GMT)

Trump issues proclamation ordering flags raised

One of the first proclamations Trump issued after his inauguration had to do with a source of contention in the lead-up to his inauguration: whether the US flag would fly at full staff.

Trump was vocally upset at the prospect that the flag would be lowered for his inauguration day, as part of the mourning period for the late President Jimmy Carter.

According to the US Flag Code, federal flags are lowered for a period of 30 days following a president’s death. Since Carter died on December 29, that 30-day period overlapped with Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

But Trump took the half-mast flag as a slight against his presidency, and at his urging, Speaker Mike Johnson ordered the flag raised for the president’s swearing-in.

Trump formalised the move in his first presidential proclamation afterwards.

“I hereby order that, on this and all future Inauguration Days, the flag of the United States shall be flown at full-staff,” Trump wrote. 18h ago

(22:10 GMT)

Mike Johnson praises JD Vance as an example for young men

Toasting Vance at a post-inauguration luncheon, House Speaker Mike Johnson praised the vice president and his story — captured in his best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy — as a model for US ideals.

“ I believe God has raised your platform as he has, because you’ve been so faithful to tell that story and to inspire so many others,” Johnson, a fellow Republican, said.

“ Our hope and our prayer is, as you continue to do this, as you go to help us execute on the America First agenda, that you also do what you’ve been doing so well all along. And that is providing a model for what is possible in America.”

Vance’s memoir, however, has been criticised for peddling stereotypes about poverty in Appalachia, the region where he was raised. Some have denounced his depictions of young men unaware of their own “laziness” as overly simplistic.

Still, Johnson held up Vance’s story as an example to others.

“ What an inspiring story you’ve had, and it’s just getting started. I pray specifically that you inspire a lot of the young men in America. Some of them feel hopeless and stagnant sometimes.”

· 18h ago

(22:00 GMT)

Groups launch lawsuits challenging Musk-led advisory group DOGE

Government employee unions, watchdog groups and public interest organisations have filed lawsuits within minutes of Trump announcing plans to set up the nongovernmental Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by the Tesla CEO.

Among those filing lawsuits today were the National Security Counselors, which alleged that DOGE – which Trump has tasked with cutting back on government spending and bureaucracy – was breaking a 1972 law that governed federal advisory committees.

The American Public Health Association, the American Federation of Teachers and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, also filed legal challenges.

Another watchdog group, Public Citizen, is suing over the DOGE’s uncertain legal status, along with a union representing US government employees.

Telsa and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, which is named as a defendant in the lawsuits, didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.

· 18h ago

(21:56 GMT)

Trump arrives at Capital One Arena

Trump’s motorcade has pulled into the Capital One Arena, where his supporters have gathered to watch speeches — and even catch a glimpse of the president himself.

A small desk has been set up on the stage, where observers speculate Trump may sign executive orders in front of the crowd.

· 18h ago

(21:50 GMT)

California governor calls for ‘partnership’ on disaster response

Gavin Newsom says he is ready to work with the Trump administration on a federal response to a series of wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles in recent weeks.

Trump and Newsom have frequently clashed, with Trump blaming purported mismanagement for the blazes.

“In the face of one of the worst natural disasters in America’s history, this moment underscores the critical need for partnership, a d commitment to facts, and mutual respect — values that enable civil discourse, effective governance, and meaningful action,” Newsom said in a statement.

“I look forward to President Trump’s visit to Los Angeles and his mobilization of the full weight of the federal government to help our fellow Americans recover and rebuild.”

· 19h ago

(21:45 GMT)

Photos: Luncheons, signings and speeches

After leaving the Capitol Rotunda following his inauguration, Trump has been hopping from event to event, dining with dignitaries and presiding over an inaugural military ceremony.

First came the signing-room ceremony, where Trump put his autograph on several initial appointments and a presidential proclamation.

Then, it was off to the congressional luncheon, where he and Vice President JD Vance were toasted by lawmakers.

After the military ceremony, Trump boarded his limousine to join his supporters at Capitol One Arena, where he is expected to offer a speech — and perhaps even sign executive orders on stage. 19h ago

(21:40 GMT)

Trump says tariffs will ‘enrich’ Americans. Will they?

Trump has pledged to “tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich” US citizens.

“For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues. There will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury, coming from foreign sources,” he said during his inaugural address.

But nearly all economists point out that American consumers will pay at least part, if not most, of the cost of the tariffs.

Some exporters overseas may accept lower profits to offset some of the cost of the duties, and the dollar will likely rise in value compared with the currencies of the countries facing tariffs, which could also offset some of the impact.

The tariffs, however, won’t have the desired impact of spurring more production in the US unless they make foreign-made products more expensive for American consumers.

Many of Trump’s supporters, and even some of his appointees, also argue that he intends to use tariffs primarily as a bargaining tool to extract concessions from other countries.

Yet, if an External Revenue Service is established, it certainly suggests Trump is expecting to impose and collect many duties.

· 19h ago

(21:30 GMT)

Trump is a ‘change agent’, supporter says

David Marks, who drove from Orlando, Florida, to attend the inauguration events in the US capital, has praised Trump for using “common sense” instead of relying on bureaucracy in his governing style.

“I think he’s a change agent, no question about it,” Marks told Al Jazeera. “The system needs a breaking, and I don’t think anybody in the world can think of a better guy to break the system than Trump.”

Marks rode a bike featuring a banner with the flags of Israel and Palestine and a peace sign.

“He understands it’s in our interests to have world peace,” he said of Trump. 19h ago

(21:20 GMT)

What is the significance of birthright citizenship?

Trump has promoted a long list of controversial policies cracking down on immigration, but one of his most radical yet is a pledge to end birthright citizenship, which automatically grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States.

Experts have said that any effort to roll back birthright citizenship, a concept enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, is illegal and would be immediately challenged in court.

An order from Trump could bar the US Department of State from issuing passports to US citizens with undocumented parents, or instruct the Social Security Administration, which oversees the country’s federal pension programme, to stop recognising them as US citizens.

· 19h ago

(21:10 GMT)

‘Honour of our lifetimes to serve you,’ Biden says

The Democrat, who has tried to cement his legacy as one of fighting for the US middle class and defending democracy, has left the White House facing widespread criticism over his foreign policy positions, including his staunch support for Israel.

Biden’s decision to seek re-election, and then drop out of the race just months before Election Day, will also figure prominently in discussions around his legacy.

He was forced out of the 2024 race in July after a disastrous debate performance against Trump spurred widespread criticism. He was replaced by his Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Trump resoundingly defeated in the November 5 election.

“[Biden] became a historic president when he defeated Trump” in 2020, David Axelrod, an adviser to former President Barack Obama, told the Reuters news agency last week.

“So, obviously, the fact that Trump is resurgent and returning to power, more powerful than he was when he left, is an unhappy coda to the story.”

· 19h ago

(21:00 GMT)

What has Mexico said about Trump’s plans to take action against cartels?

When the prospect of the US military carrying out strikes against drug cartels inside Mexico was first floated by Republican presidential candidates, many wrote it off as a bad joke.

As we reported earlier, Trump has said he plans to designate several cartels as “foreign terrorist organisations”.

His election platform also said he would order the Pentagon to use “special forces, cyber warfare, and other covert and overt actions to inflict maximum damage on cartel leadership, infrastructure, and operations”.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has pushed back firmly against those proposals, warning that they would be a serious violation of Mexico’s sovereignty.

“Of course, we do not agree with an invasion or the presence of this type in our country,” she said in December in response to suggestions that Trump could deploy troops to Mexico to fight the cartels.

“Mexico is a free, independent, sovereign country – and that is above everything else.”

WAR!!!

· 19h ago

(20:55 GMT)

Elon Musk appears to do Nazi salute on stage at Trump inauguration rally

The Tesla CEO appears to have given a salute similar to the “Sieg Heil” during the rally at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.

Musk has been accused of using his social media platform X to amplify far-right voices, including those of white supremacists.

In recent weeks, he has also come out in favour of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of the country’s upcoming elections.

· 19h ago

(20:50 GMT)

Irregular crossings at US-Mexico border at four-year low

Heidi Zhou-Castro

There’s really not much action, and I am standing right on the border here in McAllen, Texas, the US.

This is the scene of the supposed “national emergency” that Trump mentioned he will be declaring today.

The only thing is that the number of unauthorised border crossings has dropped to a four-year low as of this month, [with] fewer than 50,000 Border Patrol encounters with people trying to cross without authorisation.

Despite that, we just heard Trump’s words in his inauguration speech calling this an invasion of the United States. He has to make that case in order to have this national emergency declaration survive.

Already, there is a fierce resistance on the ground. This morning, we were with a group of protesters here … who pointed to this very quiet border, saying there is certainly no invasion, no national emergency happening at the moment.

· 20h ago

(20:45 GMT)

Kash Patel, Trump’s pick for the FBI, talks immigration

Speaking at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, DC, Patel — Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation — used his family’s experiences as a model for how immigration to the US should proceed.

“ They moved here. They waited in line,” Patel said of his mother and father, both Indian immigrants living in Uganda. “They stood in line because the American dream was worth standing in line for.”

The former prosecutor added that Trump would make US immigration law “the greatest policy in the world again”.

“We are not prioritised to go after the threats that face this country and, most of all, that face our future generations. But thank God, we will be starting right now,” Patel said.

The FBI has long positioned itself as a nonpartisan agency, so it is unusual for a would-be FBI director, facing US Senate confirmation, to be appearing at a political rally.

· 20h ago

(20:40 GMT)

‘We’re going to have less issues with war’: Trump supporter

By Ali Harb

Reporting from Washington, DC

Chicago resident Shay White says he is hopeful that Trump will help end conflicts globally.

“I think we’re going to have less issues with war. Already, a few days ago what did Gaza announce? Gaza announced a ceasefire,” White, who had blood painted on his face depicting Trump after he survived an assassination attempt in July, told Al Jazeera.

Thousands of people who wanted to watch the inauguration from the Capital One Arena waited for hours in below-freezing temperatures but failed to enter the building. The arena reached its 20,000-person capacity while many were still lined up outside.

But White played down the possible disappointment from the crowd.

“We’re Americans no matter where we are,” he said. “There’s so much good energy over here.” 20h ago

(20:30 GMT)

More world leaders congratulate Trump @qx

Here are some more messages from world leaders on Donald Trump’s inauguration:

o Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Congratulations President Trump! Sara and I send our warmest wishes to you, Melania and the American people on your second inauguration as president of the United States.”

o Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries, and to shape a better future for the world. Best wishes for a successful term ahead!”

o British Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “On behalf of the United Kingdom, I send my warmest congratulations to President Donald Trump on his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States. The special relationship between the UK and the US will continue to flourish for years to come.”

o Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva: “Relations between Brazil and the United States are marked by a history of cooperation, based on mutual respect and a historic friendship. Our countries have strong ties in several areas, such as trade, science, education and culture. I am confident that we can continue to advance in these and other partnerships. I wish President Trump a successful term in office, contributing to the prosperity and wellbeing of the people of the United States and a more just and peaceful world.”

o Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni: “I am certain that the friendship between our nations and the values that unite us will continue to strengthen the collaboration between Italy and the USA, facing global challenges together and building a future of prosperity and security for our peoples.”

· 20h ago

(20:10 GMT)

People ‘looking for opportunities to speak up’, protester says

Joseph Stepansky

Reporting from Washington, DC

Rachel, a 32-year-old art historian holding a “Defend women and reproductive rights” sign, says the demonstration in Washington, DC, on Inauguration Day is meant to show one thing: community.

The protest march got about six blocks from the White House before turning away.

“It’s a reminder that there are people among us who are frustrated,” said Rachel, who only gave Al Jazeera her first name.

“People are looking for opportunities to organise and to speak up.” 20h ago

(20:05 GMT)

Pentagon removes portrait of former top general who clashed with Trump

A portrait of US General Mark Milley has been removed from the Pentagon within hours of Trump’s inauguration. The portrait was put up several days ago.

During his last hours in office, President Biden offered a preemptive pardon for Milley due to concerns about potential persecution from Trump, who has called him a “moron” and “slow thinking”.

The former US Army general frequently clashed with Trump and depicted him as a threat to democracy.

· 20h ago

(20:00 GMT)

Who pays for all this?

The official inaugural events are financed by Trump’s inauguration committee.

That committee is chaired by longtime Trump allies Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer who is Trump’s pick to be his Middle East envoy, and Kelly Loeffler, a former US senator and Trump’s nominee to head the Small Business Administration.

The committee will be responsible for covering the costs of everything but the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol, which is borne by taxpayers.

Trump raised a record $106.7m for his 2017 inauguration. This year, his committee has raised more than $170m, according to US media reports.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged to donate $1m each to the committee as have Apple CEO Tim Cook and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Uber and its CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, have each donated $1m to the fund. 20h ago

(19:55 GMT)

Ukrainian refugee hopeful Trump will help Kyiv

Ali Harb

Reporting from Washington, DC

Alla Pukhtetshka says she believes Trump will help Ukraine end its war with Russia without giving up any part of its territory.

The Ukrainian refugee, who now lives in Philadelphia, said her home country has sacrificed too much to compromise its sovereignty.

“We do hope that Ukraine will stay independent according to the borders that existed before the war. We cannot give [the] lives of our people just for nothing,” she told Al Jazeera.

Pukhtetshka hailed Trump’s inauguration as a “historic day”.

Trump repeatedly called himself a “unifier” in today’s speech, promising to bring peace across the world.

· 20h ago

(19:50 GMT)

Panamanian president pushes back on Trump’s canal claims

Jose Raul Mulino has pushed back against Trump’s statement that the US will take back the Panama Canal, which the US president falsely says is being run by China.

“The Panama Canal is and will continue to be Panamanian,” the Panamanian president said in a social media post.

“There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration,” Mulino added.

· 21h ago

(19:40 GMT)

How will Trump handle protesters? Critics point to his 2017 inauguration

Alice Speri

On January 20, 2017, Elizabeth Lagesse stopped by a coffee shop in downtown Washington, DC, on her way to Trump’s first inauguration as US president. The chemical engineering student had planned to join the protests taking place against his incoming administration.

But as soon as she walked out of the cafe, Lagesse found herself swept up in a police “kettle”, a controversial manoeuvre in which officers encircle crowds, preventing anyone from leaving. Lagesse was arrested along with dozens of others.

Some 234 people, including journalists, medics and legal observers, were ultimately arrested in Washington, DC, that day. All faced felony charges, including rioting and conspiracy to riot — serious crimes that carried the risk of decades in prison.

Experts have argued that what happened was a startling example of government overreach, with historic implications for the right to free assembly under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Those implications, experts warn, resonate well into the present day, as Trump takes office for a second term.

· 21h ago

(19:30 GMT)

Trump’s Panama Canal threat would breach UN Charter

o James Bays

James Bays

Al Jazeera's diplomatic editor

He is the president of the United States and he says he is going to take the Panama Canal back. Now, if he did that, that would be a breach of the UN Charter.

That’s the governing document that has framed international relations since World War II. Not just a matter of history though, this sets a precedent.

The reason the US condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine was the breach of the UN Charter. If Trump took back the Panama Canal, he’d be doing the same.

And so what kind of message does it send to China with regards to Taiwan? If Trump takes back the Panama Canal, then why can’t China take control of Taiwan?

· 21h ago

(19:20 GMT)

UN chief urges engagement as Trump promises to withdraw from Paris Agreement

A spokesperson for United Nations chief Antonio Guterres says US cities, states and businesses must remain engaged on climate change as Trump pledges to double down on the extraction of fossil fuels.

The Trump White House also has announced plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the global pact that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to tackle the climate crisis.

“It is crucial that the United States remains a leader on environmental issues,” UN spokesperson Florencia Soto Nino said.

“The collective efforts under the Paris Agreement have made a difference, but we need to go much further and faster together.”

· 21h ago

(19:10 GMT)

Will Trump end the Ukraine war in 100 days?

John T Psaropoulos

Ending the war in Ukraine is among the priorities of the Trump administration.

Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, retired General Keith Kellogg, told Fox News on January 8: “I would like to set a goal on a personal level, professional level. I would say let’s set it at 100 days.”

As optimistic as that sounds for a war that will reach its third anniversary next month, 100 days represents a step back from an even more optimistic timetable.

Asked how he would end the Ukraine war at a news conference on January 7 at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump pulled away from his statement on the campaign trail that he would do it in 24 hours, calling the negotiation “a tough one”.

So how does Trump plan to do it? Read more in our explainer here.

· 21h ago

(19:00 GMT)

WATCH: Mexico’s migrant crackdown

As Trump once again promises to crack down on migration at the southern US border, it’s worth noting that Mexico is already doing just that.

· 21h ago

(18:55 GMT)

Proud Boys march in US capital

Ali Harb

Reporting from Washington, DC

Dozens of members of the far-right Proud Boys group have marched to celebrate Trump’s inauguration in downtown Washington, DC, with a heavy police escort.

Asked by Al Jazeera about accusations that the Proud Boys is a white supremacist group, one demonstrator said: “We say, ‘F*** you.'”

“When people call us racist, we wear it as a badge of honour,” another added.

Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in jail in 2023 for seditious conspiracy over his role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

· 21h ago

(18:50 GMT)

Migrants left in limbo as entry appointments made on Biden-instituted app cancelled

As Trump’s term begins, authorities have announced that an app introduced by the Biden administration to manage immigration appointments at the US-Mexico border has been shut down and all appointments cancelled, effective immediately.

Many migrants and asylum seekers spend months waiting with their families for a coveted appointment through CBP One, which is used to schedule entry hearings.

Videos d on social media showed migrants breaking down in tears after learning that their appointments had been cancelled.

Andrea Flores, a former Obama administration official, slammed the move as “not only deeply unfair to the human beings who were following the rules” but one that will also destabilise the border.

· 22h ago

(18:45 GMT)

Trump promises action for ‘J6 hostages’

In remarks before a crowd of supporters, Trump pledges to help people who have faced legal consequences for their roles in the January 6, 2021, riot in Washington, DC.

A mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol that day in an effort to nullify the Republican leader’s loss in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump has previously said he could issue pardons for those imprisoned for their involvement in the insurrection.

“I was going to talk about the J6 hostages” in the inauguration speech, Trump said. “But you’ll be happy because it’s action not words that count, and you’re going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages.” 22h ago

(18:40 GMT)

Transgender people express concern about Trump administration

Joseph Stepansky

Reporting from Washington, DC

“This administration poses an existential threat to myself and people like me,” a 20-year-old woman brandishing a transgender flag in Meridian Park tells Al Jazeera.

Out of fear for her safety, she offered only a protest nom de guerre, “Cheese”.

“As someone who is transgender and who has a lot of friends who are transgender, I get pretty upset when people aren’t treating trans people very well,” she said.

“I believe in a government that has all of its people’s interests at heart, not just some of its people.”

· 22h ago

(18:35 GMT)

Trump speech long on colour, short on themes of unity

Mark Pfeifle, a former deputy assistant to ex-President George W Bush, says Trump’s speech was “over the top” and was lacking themes of unity and bipartisanship.

“It was over the top – pretty classic Donald Trump, a lot of talk and colourful language,” Pfeifle said, citing Trump’s promise to take back the Panama Canal as an example of blustery rhetoric.

“I didn’t hear a lot of unity,” he told Al Jazeera.

“I didn’t hear a lot of tenor that, if I was a Democratic member of Congress or a Democratic voter, I could say, ‘OK, I could support a lot of these ideas.’ I thought that was missing.”

· 22h ago

(18:30 GMT)

Zelenskyy, Trudeau congratulate Trump on inauguration

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Trump’s swearing-in represents “a day of hope for the resolution of many problems, including global challenges”.

“President Trump is always decisive, and the peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, which is the top priority,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also congratulated the US president on taking office for a second time.

“Canada and the US have the world’s most successful economic partnership. We have the chance to work together again – to create more jobs and prosperity for both our nations,” Trudeau said on social media.

· 22h ago

(18:25 GMT)

Biden departs US Capitol on helicopter

Alan Fisher

Reporting from Washington, DC

[The helicopter] will take Joe Biden to Joint Base Andrews, not far away. From there, he will board a flight, and he’s heading to California.

According to reports, he’s had a very dark mood over the last couple of weeks, believing that he could have beaten Donald Trump [in November’s election].

He’s not going to go away, but his influence on the Democratic Party will be much less. Now they will be looking to new leadership because, of course, it’s going to be a free run at the White House in four years because Donald Trump has to step down.

Joe Biden will have to watch as Donald Trump undoes through executive order and actions in Congress a lot of what he has put together over the last four years. 22h ago

(18:20 GMT)

Biden pardons family members as he leaves office

In one of his last acts as president, Biden issued preemptive pardons for several family members, saying he is concerned about potential political persecutions.

“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me – the worst kind of partisan politics,” Biden said in a statement. “Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”

Those pardoned include Biden’s two brothers, James and Francis. Also on the list are Biden’s sister, Valerie; her husband, John; and Sara, the wife of James Biden.

· 22h ago

(18:15 GMT)

Trump speech marked by ‘authoritarian-style rhetoric’

Jennifer Victor, a political science professor at George Mason University outside Washington, DC, says Trump’s speech referred to “winning and fighting and valuing loyalty within the government”.

“There are a lot of things in [the speech] that will put a lot of people not at ease in terms of where this might be going,” she said.

Victor also said Trump painted an “unrealistic image” of what’s to come over the next four years.

“He’s setting expectations extremely high in ways that will be impossible to meet substantively. But he perhaps also feels very confident about maybe some of his control of the information environment,” she said.

· 22h ago

(18:00 GMT)

If you’re just joining us

It’s 1pm in Washington, DC (18:00 GMT), and here are the latest developments:

o Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US president during a ceremony at the US Capitol Rotunda.

o During his inaugural address, Trump promises to usher in the “golden age of America” and to put “America first” during his four-year term.

o The Republican leader also outlines a series of executive actions he plans to take on his first day in office, including cracking down on immigration.

o Protesters are marching towards the White House, waving banners and denouncing the incoming Trump administration’s policies.

: 0:22

· 22h ago

(17:55 GMT)

As Trump speaks, Al Sharpton strikes contrast with Martin Luther King Jr

Joseph Stepansky

Reporting from Washington, DC

Speaking at the Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, DC, Sharpton has sought to draw a contrast between his rally honouring Martin Luther King Jr and Trump’s inauguration.

“Several weeks ago, when it was announced that this inauguration of Donald Trump was going to take place on Martin Luther King Day, we decided, the National Action Network, … to be in Washington because we want the people to see a tale of two cities in one district,” the reverend said.

“When Donald Trump was president before, he went into the Oval Office, and he hung a portrait of his favourite president, Andrew Jackson,” Sharpton said of the slave-owning president from 1829 to 1837.

He pointed out that Jackson’s Supreme Court nominee, Roger Taney, had overseen the 1857 Dred Scott decision, which said Black people were not considered “citizens” under the US Constitution.

“That’s who his hero is,” Sharpton said. “In this side of town, we honour Martin Luther King Jr, who gave his life, shed blood and died to open up America for everybody.”

· 22h ago

(17:50 GMT)

‘We’re taking it back,’ Trump says of Panama Canal

The US president says he plans to follow through on his threat to retake control of the Panama Canal.

“American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form,” Trump said.

For more on what’s going on, read our explainer here.

· 23h ago

(17:45 GMT)

Trump says he wants to be ‘a peacemaker’, hails Gaza ceasefire deal

The US president has noted that as of yesterday, Israeli captives held in Gaza began to be released as part of a ceasefire deal to end Israel’s bombardment of the Palestinian enclave.

“My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier; that’s what I want to be, a peacemaker and a unifier,” Trump said during his inaugural address.

Trump has touted the role his team played in securing the Gaza ceasefire deal, with critics saying that outgoing President Biden failed to apply pressure on the Israeli government to agree to stop the war.

· 23h ago

(17:40 GMT)

Trump lays out plan to fulfil campaign promises on immigration

During his address, Trump says he will crack down on immigration into the US, a cornerstone of his 2024 presidential campaign.

“First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” Trump said. “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”

The president also said he would reinstate the “remain in Mexico” policy, which forced people who had submitted asylum claims to wait in Mexico for their hearings. He also pledged to send US troops to the southern border.

During his campaign, Trump capitalised on anxieties about record irregular immigration and promised to carry out the largest mass deportation campaign in US history. He also leaned into dehumanising rhetoric, at one point calling migrants and asylum seekers “animals”.

· 23h ago

(17:35 GMT)

Trump says he will ‘restore fair, equal and impartial justice’

“Never again will the immense power of the state be used to persecute political opponents – something I know something about,” the US president says.

Trump – who, as we’ve been reporting, had faced four criminal cases against him before he won November’s election – has long accused Biden and the Democrats of seeking to derail his re-election campaign.

He has alleged – without providing any evidence – that he was the victim of a politically motivated witch hunt.

“Under my leadership we will restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law,” Trump says.

· 23h ago

(17:30 GMT)

Trump outlines executive action he plans to take

The US president says he will:

o Declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border and send troops there

o Reinstate his “Remain in Mexico” policy that forced migrants and asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their US immigration hearings

o Designate Mexican drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organisations” and “eliminate presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks” in the US

o Direct all cabinet members to “defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices”

o Declare a “national energy emergency”, adding “We will drill, baby, drill”

o Revoke a programme promoting electric vehicles

· 23h ago

(17:25 GMT)

Trump says opponents tried to take his freedom, his life

Referring to the assassination attempt against him in July of last year, the US president has said he believes he was saved by God “to Make America Great Again”.

Trump was shot in the ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The Republican leader also faced four criminal indictments linked to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Biden.

In May, Trump became the first former president ever convicted of a crime for falsifying business documents related to hush-money payments, but he has avoided any penalties for that conviction.

· 23h ago

(17:21 GMT)

Trump repeats claim that migrants are coming from prisons, mental institutions

In his inauguration speech, Trump repeats his campaign claim that the Biden administration provided “sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions, that have illegally entered our country from all over the world”.

Politifact rated this claim as “Pants on Fire!” false.

There is no evidence that countries are emptying their prisons or mental institutions are sending people to immigrate to the US.

Immigration officials arrested about 108,000 noncitizens with criminal convictions (whether in the US or abroad) from the fiscal years 2021 to 2024, federal data show. That accounts for people stopped at and between ports of entry. Not everyone was let in.

· 23h ago

(17:16 GMT)

‘Tide of change sweeping the country’: Trump

The US president has quickly slammed the outgoing Biden administration, saying that the US government has failed to defend Americans and American interests.

“We have a public health system that does not deliver in times of disaster,” he said. “And we have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves; in many cases, to hate our country despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to them.

“All of this will change starting today and it will change very quickly,” he continued to applause.

Trump added: “From this moment on, America’s decline is over.”

· 23h ago

(17:11 GMT)

Trump begins inaugural address

“The golden age of America begins right now,” the US president says.

“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer.”

Echoing a promise he made on the 2024 election campaign trail, Trump added that he will “put America first”.

· 23h ago

(17:07 GMT)

Photos: Trump is sworn in as the 47th US president

· 23h ago

(17:02 GMT)

Trump takes oath of office

“I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God,” he says.

· 23h ago

(17:01 GMT)

Vance takes oath of office

“I, James David Vance, do solemnly swear,” the US vice president says, “that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God.”

· 23h ago

(16:56 GMT)

Prayer being held ahead of swearing-in

We’ll bring you more shortly as Vance and Trump are set to be sworn into office.

· 24h ago

(16:45 GMT)

Venezuelan opposition leader in DC for Trump inauguration

Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez is in town for Trump’s inauguration as he seeks allies in his effort to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down from power.

Gonzalez and the Venezuelan opposition have accused Maduro of fraudulently claiming victory in the July 2024 election, and the Biden administration recognised Gonzalez as the legitimate president-elect.

While Trump will be surrounded by numerous foreign policy hawks, it remains to be seen how he will approach the situation in Venezuela, where US sanctions have contributed to an economic crisis and increased emigration.

During Trump’s first term, however, he took a hard line against Maduro, even announcing a reward for information that would lead to his arrest.

· 24h ago

(16:43 GMT)

Trump enters the Capitol Rotunda for his swearing-in

The US president-elect has walked in to applause.

Vice President-elect JD Vance entered the room shortly before Trump.

Outgoing President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also walked in to applause ahead of the swearing-in.

· 24h ago

(16:40 GMT)

Who will perform at Trump’s inauguration?

Opera singer Christopher Macchio has performed “O America!” during the inauguration ceremony.

American country artist Carrie Underwood also will sing “America the Beautiful”.

“I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event,” Underwood said in a statement.

Country singer Lee Greenwood – whose “God Bless the USA” was regularly played at Trump campaign events – will also perform.

· 24h ago

(16:35 GMT)

Small group of protesters gather in Washington, DC park

As all eyes are on what’s happening inside the US Capitol Rotunda, a small group of demonstrators at Meridian Park in the US capital are holding signs that read, “Defeat Trump’s billionaire agenda” and “Money for people’s needs, not the US war machine”.

Jose Morales, 18, wore a Puerto Rican flag as a cape, while brandishing a Palestinian flag.

“I came here because I stand with the Palestinian people. I also don’t think that billionaires should be able to control people,” he told Al Jazeera from the protest.

“Trump is no different from any other president,” Morales said. “They’re all for this system of big corporations, big pharma, big tech.”

Morales said he didn’t expect US Gaza policy to change under Trump, despite a tenuous ceasefire deal that came into effect on Sunday. “A pause is not an end to genocide,” he said.

· 24h ago

(16:30 GMT)

‘A better day to come?’ Biden hopes tea tradition sends message

In the lead-up to Monday’s inauguration, President Biden and his wife Jill hosted Trump for a cup of tea at the White House.

But four years ago, Trump did not extend the same invitation — an inauguration-day tradition — to Biden. Why?

Al Jazeera correspondent Kimberly Halkett explains it has to do with Trump’s false claims that his defeat in the 2020 election was marred by fraud.

“It didn’t [happen] because Donald Trump was of course contesting the results of the election,” she said.

“He was not happy with the transition to power, but this time around, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the vice president, have promised a peaceful transition of power. And that is exactly what they say is occurring.”

Halkett added that restoring the tradition was particularly important to Biden. “This is really something that has been dear to the US president’s heart. He says that he is keeping the faith, in terms of a better day to come.”

· 24h ago

(16:25 GMT)

Israeli president calls Trump ‘true friend of Israel’

Isaac Herzog has praised Trump and congratulated him on his return to the White House.

“You are a true friend of Israel. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to Israel’s security and to building a better future for our region. A special thank you for your commitment to bringing all our hostages home,” the Israeli president said in a social media post.

“We wish you and your administration great success in your service to the American people. Good luck!”

· 24h ago

(16:20 GMT)

Trump ‘a felon with access to nuclear weapons’

Joseph Stepansky

Reporting from Washington, DC

Duval Clemmons, 70, from the Bronx, New York, says he decided to travel to Washington, DC, to attend a MLK Day event at the Metropolitan AME Church to show his opposition to the divisive politics gripping the country.

“I came out because of politics and the way that it’s separating people,” Clemmons told Al Jazeera before an address by Sharpton.

“All people who are Republicans aren’t prejudiced, but all prejudiced people are Republican,” he said.

“He’s a felon coming in with access to nuclear weapons,” Clemmons said of Trump. “He’s a liar, and he’s making us weaker globally.”

“Now he’s talking about pardoning the people who stormed the Capitol [on January 6, 2021,] when so many people are still feeling the effects of that,” he said, adding: “We have to stand up to it.”

· 24h ago

(16:15 GMT)

Former US presidents, Supreme Court justices enter the room

They include Roberts, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, who will administer the presidential oath of office to Trump in less than an hour.

· 24h ago

(16:10 GMT)

What is an executive order?

As we’ve been reporting, Trump is expected to sign as many as 100 executive orders on his first day in office. But what are they exactly?

Essentially, executive orders are signed statements about how the president wants the federal government to be managed. They can be instructions to federal agencies or requests for reports. Many orders can be unobjectionable, but they can also lay out major policies.

For example, Biden signed an order to create a structure for establishing regulations on artificial intelligence. But executive orders also are used by presidents to pursue agendas they can’t get through Congress.

New presidents can – and often do – issue orders to cancel the orders of their predecessors.

The orders do not require congressional approval and can’t be directly overturned by lawmakers. Still, Congress could block an order from being fulfilled by removing funding or creating other hurdles.

During his first term, Trump signed 220 executive orders. Biden signed 160. 24h ago

(16:00 GMT)

US and world leaders attending Trump’s inauguration

Alan Fisher

Reporting from Washington, DC

There’s going to be about 700 people in the Capitol Rotunda for this service.

There will be a number of senators, former presidents and lawmakers from the House of Representatives.

We will see Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. We will see Barack Obama. We will not see Michelle Obama, who is deliberately staying away.

George W Bush will be here as will Laura Bush.

Some foreign leaders will also be here: the Chinese vice president; the president of Argentina, Javier Milei; and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

· 24h ago

(15:55 GMT)

‘We don’t want Trump to take things away from people in need’

Joseph Stepansky

Reporting from Washington, DC

Trump’s 2017 inauguration saw a wave of protests that dwarfed the number of his supporters gathered on the National Mall – but this year, things are expected to be more muted.

Valerie Adelin travelled from Brooklyn, New York, to Washington, DC, on a bus provided by the National Action Network, a group led by the Reverend Al Sharpton.

“We came here to talk about Trump and how to protect people. We don’t want Trump to take away things from people in need or take away people’s rights,” she told Al Jazeera.

“I don’t feel good about it, but it is what it is,” she said of Trump’s inauguration, which coincides with Martin Luther King Jr Day in the US.

The National Action Network is holding its MLK Day rally at the Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, DC, with a particular emphasis on the incoming administration.

“[Trump is] president, so we have to deal with it the best we can,” Adelin said.

“Martin Luther King stood for justice, peace and empowerment,” she added. “We’re celebrating his life, and that’s particularly significant today.” 24h ago

(15:50 GMT)

Trump inauguration schedule

Trump will be sworn in as president in just over an hour in the US Capitol Rotunda.

But the events don’t end when the Republican leader formally takes the oath of office and delivers his inauguration speech.

For a look at the full schedule of today’s events, check out our explainer here.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 15:45

(15:45 GMT)

Vivek Ramaswamy out at DOGE: Reports

Politico and CBS News are reporting that the entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate will leave the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a proposed advisory panel that Trump has tasked with charting a plan for radical cuts to government services.

Ramaswamy had been tapped to co-lead the new non-government body with billionaire Elon Musk once Trump takes office, but he will run for governor in the US state of Ohio instead.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 15:40

(15:40 GMT)

WATCH: Trump’s emphasis on loyalty clear in cabinet picks

See how loyalty has figured into the US president-elect’s cabinet choices, in our report below.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 15:30

(15:30 GMT)

Trump, MAGA merchandise sold outside Washington, DC, arena

Ali Harb

Reporting from Washington, DC

Dozens of vendors are selling Trump-themed merchandise around the Capital One Arena.

That includes MAGA hats and T-shirts, including some featuring Trump as one of America’s founding fathers; Trump scarves; US flags and more.

Some merchants are shouting their prices and offers to attract customers.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 15:20

(15:20 GMT)

Trump pushed Netanyahu on Gaza ceasefire, but incoming admin ‘very dangerous’

Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestinian National Initiative, says Trump has made getting a Gaza ceasefire a priority.

“Trump wants to have calm in the Middle East, as he says, because he wants to concentrate on internal issues in the United States,” Barghouti told Al Jazeera.

The Republican president-elect also has been the only person to successfully pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire deal, Barghouti noted.

“But strategically, [Trump] has a very dangerous administration for Palestinians because they are talking about dangerous things like annexation of the West Bank,” he said.

“When you have an envoy like [incoming US ambassador to Israel Mike] Huckabee saying that Palestinians don’t exist, that we are an invention – such statements coming from major people in the American administration are very dangerous.”

For more on what’s happening in Gaza, check out our live page here.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 15:15

(15:15 GMT)

Incoming official confirms no tariffs on day one

An incoming Trump administration official has confirmed an earlier report from the Wall Street Journal.

Trump will issue a broad trade memo but stop short of imposing new tariffs on his first day in office, the official said, as reported by the Reuters news agency.

The Republican leader has threatened to slap 25-percent tariffs on the US’s neighbours – Canada and Mexico – on his first day in the White House, as well as additional tariffs on imports from China.

The threat, which Trump made in November, has spurred widespread concern and warnings that tariffs could negatively impact the US economy.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 15:10

(15:10 GMT)

Flags flying at full-staff to mark inauguration

The move aims to “celebrate our country coming together behind” Trump’s swearing-in, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has said.

The flags will go back to half-staff on Tuesday to continue honouring late US President Jimmy Carter, who died in late December at the age of 100.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 15:05

(15:05 GMT)

Biden welcomes Trump to the White House

“Welcome home!” the outgoing Democratic president said as Trump stepped out of a vehicle for a courtesy visit at the White House.

Biden and Trump walked in together, followed by their wives, Jill Biden and Melania Trump. 20 Jan 2025 - 15:00

(15:00 GMT)

Timeline: Trump’s White House return

With inauguration day upon us, here’s a look at a few key dates in Trump’s campaign to get back to the White House.

o November 15, 2022: Trump formally announces his bid for re-election, despite facing a string of criminal investigations into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Biden, among other issues.

o March 5, 2024: Trump secures a decisive victory in the Republican primaries on Super Tuesday; Hours later, his final remaining GOP challenger, Nikki Haley, suspends her campaign.

o July 13, 2024: Trump survives an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Less than a week later, he formally accepts the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s convention.

o September 15, 2024: Authorities say Trump has survived a second assassination attempt at his golf course in Florida.

o November 5, 2024: After weeks of campaigning, Trump wins several battleground states to defeat his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, in the US presidential election.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 14:55

(14:55 GMT)

· 20 Jan 2025 - 14:50

(14:50 GMT)

More from Trump supporters outside Capital One Arena

Joseph Stepansky and Ali Harb

Reporting from Washington, DC

Peter Cepeda, a Trump supporter from South Texas, says he’s looking forward to an improved economy under Trump.

Cepeda, who works in the mining industry, said he also wants the incoming president to increase border security. A Latino immigrant himself, Cepeda said the main reason migration is a top issue for him is public safety.

“A lot of people are getting in without being vetted,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that he only supports immigration “the right way”.

Stacey Pendleton, another Trump supporter, was dressed in pink fleece alongside her husband, William, who was wearing a blue snuggy, as they waited to try to get into the Capital One Arena to watch the inauguration.

“We’re nice and layered up, so we’re feeling pretty warm,” said Pendleton, who turns 54 tomorrow and said she came to the inauguration as part of her birthday celebration.

But will they get into the arena despite the daunting line? “We hope so!” she said.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Pendleton told Al Jazeera. “We’re ready to get back to the way things were – stability and knowing things are going in a positive direction.”

· 20 Jan 2025 - 14:30

(14:30 GMT)

Inauguration moved indoors: What impact will it have?

National security analyst Mark Pfeifle says he’s expecting “more of a State of the Union type address” from Trump due to the relocation of the ceremony indoors.

“A smaller crowd, members of the Supreme Court, former presidents and vice presidents, members of Congress, dignitaries, that sort of thing – less so the MAGA crowd with the red hats screaming and yelling, so it will be more subdued in some ways,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The question is does he stick to the script, what’s on the teleprompter, or will he go off script and kind of fly it by the seat of his pants as he has a tendency to do in many of his rallies?” Pfeifle said.

Jennifer Victor, a professor of political science at George Mason University, agreed that the move inside “changes the whole tone of it”.

“Trump is very interested in attention and spectacle,” she told Al Jazeera.

“I expect he is going to be making some rhetorical moves and symbolic gestures to sort of make up for the fact that he can’t look upon a crowd who may be adoring of him.”

· 20 Jan 2025 - 14:25

(14:25 GMT)

Did Trump go to Biden’s inauguration?

No.

Four years ago, Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, left the White House before Biden’s inauguration, skipping the traditional greeting of the presidential residence’s next occupants and the inauguration itself.

Having not conceded his defeat in the 2020 election, Trump became the first US president in 150 years to break with a political tradition that is seen as affirming the peaceful transfer of power in the country.

20 Jan 2025 - 14:20

(14:20 GMT)

Biden’s approval rating down nearly 20 percent since taking office

As the US president’s term comes to an end, here’s a look at how his approval rating has dipped over the past four years.

Biden approval rating [Al Jazeera]

· 20 Jan 2025 - 14:10

(14:10 GMT)

Immigration, ‘law and order’ major issues for Trump supporter

o Joseph Stepansky

Joseph Stepansky

Reporting from Washington, DC

Emerald Wilson-Bey is among the happy Trump supporters who have gathered in the US capital to see the Republican be sworn in as the country’s next president.

“I feel terrific. I’m a longtime Republican and Trump supporter and I’m very happy to see him as president again,” Wilson-Bey, 42, told Al Jazeera.

The entrepreneur said government reform and accountability are big issues for her, as are immigration and “law and order”.

“I believe in election security,” she said, echoing the false claim that Trump continues to make that the 2020 election he lost to Biden was stolen from him.

“I think being an African American, I’m expected to be Democrat,” she added. “But that’s not me.” 20 Jan 2025 - 14:00

(14:00 GMT)

Milley thanks Biden for preemptive pardon

The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says he and his family are “deeply grateful” for the outgoing president’s action.

“After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights,” Mark Milley said in a statement.

As we reported earlier, outgoing President Joe Biden has preemptively pardoned some public figures ahead of Trump taking office, including officials who investigated the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol. 20 Jan 2025 - 13:55

(13:55 GMT)

Trump arrives at St John’s Episcopal Church

The US president-elect and his wife Melania have arrived at the church in Washington, DC.

The pair are attending a brief prayer service to begin inauguration day.

“This service is intentionally different from what the rest of the day is going to be,” Reverend Robert Fisher told local media last week. “What we offer is a time that’s actually a meditative time, a reflective time.”

· 20 Jan 2025 - 13:50

(13:50 GMT)

When was the last time an inauguration was held indoors?

You would have to go back exactly 40 years, to 1985, when Republican Ronald Reagan took his oath of office from the Capitol Rotunda.

That swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address – to usher in Reagan’s second term as president – was moved indoors as a result of cold winter weather, too.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 13:45

(13:45 GMT)

Trump to authorise military deployment at US-Mexico border: Report

US media outlets are reporting on the actions Trump is expected to take later today.

A Fox News reporter said in a social media post that Trump will sign 11 executive orders related to the US-Mexico border, including one authorising the deployment of US troops at the border.

One order will designate certain international cartels and crime organisations as “terrorist groups” while another will direct the departments of Homeland Security and Defense to finish construction of the border wall and deploy personnel to control the border, the reporter said.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that Trump will issue a memo directing agencies to investigate trade deficits and unfair trade practices.

But the memo will stop short of imposing new tariffs on his first day in office, the newspaper said.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 13:40

(13:40 GMT)

Frigid temperatures push ceremony indoors

Typically, presidential inaugurations are held outside the US Capitol in front of large crowds of supporters on the National Mall.

But Washington, DC, is experiencing cold winter temperatures this week – so Trump’s swearing-in will be taking place inside instead.

The Republican leader made the announcement on his Truth Social website on Friday, saying “an Arctic blast” was creating dangerous conditions, particularly for inauguration goers and officials who would be standing outside for hours.

“Therefore, I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather,” Trump wrote.

“The various Dignitaries and Guests will be brought into the Capitol. This will be a very beautiful experience for all, and especially for the large TV audience!”

· 20 Jan 2025 - 13:30

(13:30 GMT)

‘The next four years are looking really good’

Joseph Stepansky

Reporting from Washington, DC

Johnny Estrada, a 28-year old police officer from New Mexico, says he decided to come to Trump’s inauguration two weeks ago. He travelled to Washington, DC, with friends.

“We got some last minute tickets. Unfortunately, it was changed a bit on us, but we’re here,” he said, referring to the decision to move the ceremony indoors due to the cold.

“The next four years are looking really good. As far as today, I’m just happy to be here,” he told Al Jazeera. “We got to see how over the last four years some stuff didn’t work, and when Trump was the president last time around, stuff did work.”

Estrada said he is most attracted to Trump’s pledge to stop US support for foreign wars, particularly Ukraine. “Personally, I don’t like how we give money to these other countries for their wars. I’m an army veteran, and the money should be going to our country,” he said.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 13:20

(13:20 GMT)

Trump’s second term: The view from the Vatican

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church has called on Trump to promote “peace and reconciliation” and lead a society with “no room for hatred”.

In a statement, Pope Francis offered the incoming president “cordial greetings and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom, strength and protection”.

“It is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion,” the 88-year-old pontiff said.

“At the same time, as our human family faces numerous challenges, not to mention the scourge of war, I also ask God to guide your efforts in promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples.”

The message came a day after Francis condemned Trump’s plans for large-scale deportations of undocumented migrants.

“If it is true, it will be a calamity, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay,” the pope told Italian television channel Nove.

The Argentinian Jesuit has criticised Trump for his anti-migrant policies in the past. “Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian,” Francis had said in February 2016, when asked about Trump’s anti-immigration stance.

20 Jan 2025 - 13:10

(13:10 GMT)

WATCH: ‘I’m a Latino preparing for Trump’s mass deportation of migrants’

Honduras-born Jorge Paz Reyes arrived in the US as an undocumented child. Now a permanent resident, he fears Trump will deport his loved ones.

As a community activist, he’s helping Latino immigrants in New York prepare for what Trump promises would be the largest deportation programme in American history.

Watch the episode of our documentary series Close Up below:

· 20 Jan 2025 - 13:00

(13:00 GMT)

· 20 Jan 2025 - 12:45

(12:45 GMT)

Biden preemptively pardons Fauci, Milley

Meanwhile, we’ve received news that Joe Biden, in his final hours in power, has used the extraordinary powers of his office to preemptively pardon former top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

“These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” the outgoing US president said in a statement.

“Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.”

The move comes after Trump warned of an enemies list filled with those who have crossed him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and his role in the storming of the US Capitol four years ago.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 12:30

(12:30 GMT)

Trump’s promised actions: Here’s what US adults think

A new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has found that Trump lacks broad support for some of his stated top priorities.

Here are some of the poll’s key findings:

o US adults are split on mass deportations, but most support deporting immigrants convicted of violent crime

o Nearly 50 percent oppose tariffs on all foreign goods

o Only about 20 percent back pardoning most participants in the January 6, 2021 insurrection

o Just more than half of US adults support eliminating taxes on earnings from tips

o About half oppose the US pulling out of the Paris climate agreement

o There is more opposition than support for eliminating federal protections for transgender students

o About half of Republicans and Democrats oppose eliminating the debt ceiling.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 12:25

(12:25 GMT)

DC – and the US – wake up to reality of Trump’s imminent return

Ali Harb

The sun is reluctantly rising in the US capital where Trump is due to be inaugurated for a second time as president in a few hours.

A security fence stretching several blocks has been erected around the Capitol.

Heavily armed officers are guarding all entrances to the closed-off area to ensure that only authorised people are getting in.

There are few pedestrians and curious observers in the area amid the bitter cold.

Thousands of Trump supporters, meanwhile, are expected to watch the inauguration via livestream at Capital One Arena in a different part of the city.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 12:15

(12:15 GMT)

LISTEN: What does Trump’s return to the White House mean for mass deportations?

Just hours before Trump’s second term begins, many immigrants in the country face uncertainty.

The incoming president has pledged to use law enforcement, the military and federal agencies for mass deportations, along with ending birthright citizenship and reversing Biden’s border policies.

Our podcast series The Take explores what all this could mean for the immigrants who’ve built a life in the US – listen below:

In this episode:

o Maribel Hernandez Rivera, director of policy and government affairs for border and immigration at the American Civil Liberties Union.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 12:00

(12:00 GMT)

Trump’s second term: The view from China

Despite his repeated hawkish rhetoric and tariff threats, Trump last month invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration.

Xi sent Vice President Han Zheng in his place, seen as a gesture of goodwill given that China was only represented by its ambassador at the previous two US presidential inaugurations.

Trump and Xi also held a phone conversation on Friday, during which they discussed a number of issues including trade, fentanyl and TikTok. The US president-elect described the discussion as “a very good one” while Xi said both leaders hoped for a positive start to US-China relations.

On Sunday, meanwhile, Han held talks with Vance and US business leaders, including Musk, in Washington, DC.

During the meetings, Han said he hoped US companies would “take root” in China and help to stabilise bilateral relations, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Han stressed the “extensive common interests and enormous space of cooperation” the world’s two biggest economies despite “some disagreements and frictions”, according to a readout of his meeting with Vance issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 11:45

(11:45 GMT)

Trump’s nominees for his cabinet and other key posts

The US Senate has held more than a dozen confirmation hearings during which the people nominated by Trump to serve in his administration appeared to make their case.

With more hearings for other nominees scheduled for the coming days, here’s a list of Trump’s picks for a number of the top posts:

o Marco Rubio, secretary of state

o Pete Hegseth, secretary of defence

o Pam Bondi, attorney general

o Scott Bessent, treasury secretary

o Kristi Noem, homeland security secretary

o Chris Wight, energy secretary

o Sean Duffy, transportation secretary

o John Ratcliffe, CIA director

o Kash Patel, FBI director

o Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 11:30

(11:30 GMT)

How does Trump’s age at inauguration compare with other presidents?

By Mohamed A. Hussein

Born in New York on June 14, 1946, Trump is set to become the oldest individual to ever assume the office of the US president.

The 78-year-old will be five months older than Biden, who previously held the record for the oldest president on inauguration day in 2021.

In 2017, at the age of 70, Trump first became the oldest president to be inaugurated, surpassing Ronald Reagan, who was just about to turn 70 on inauguration day in 1981.

The average age of US presidents at their inauguration is 57, a figure that spans from George Washington, the first president, who was 57 in 1789, to the present day.

The youngest US president at the time of his inauguration was Theodore Roosevelt, who became president at the age of 42 after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901.

Find out more here.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 11:15

(11:15 GMT)

Trump’s second term: The view from Iran

Iran has expressed hope that the US under Trump would adopt a “realistic” approach and show “respect” for the interests of countries in the Middle East.

“We hope that the approaches and policies of the [new] US government will be realistic and based on international law and respect for the interests and desires of the nations of the region, including the Iranian nation,” Esmaeil Baghaei, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said during a weekly news briefing on Monday.

During his first four-year term that started in 2017, Trump pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” against Iran, unilaterally pulling the US out of a 2015 landmark deal that imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

Iran adhered to the deal with world powers until the US’s withdrawal in 2018 but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the pact, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have since faltered.

In an interview with US media outlet NBC News that aired last week, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted that Iran’s nuclear programme was peaceful and warned Trump against risking “war”.

He also denied suggestions that Iran plotted to kill Trump after two previous attempts on his life in 2024.

· 20 Jan 2025 - 11:00

(11:00 GMT)

ABC X75

X75 FROM ABC (22:59 to 0216 Timeline)

First pardoned Jan. 6 rioters released in DC

Two Pennsylvania brothers arrested for their role in the riots were released.

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued sweeping pardons to nearly all of the rioters charged for their actions on Jan. 6.

ByAlexandra Hutzler, Meredith Deliso, Emily Shapiro, Emily Chang, David Brennan, Leah Sarnoff, and T. Michelle Murphy

Last Updated: January 21, 2025, 2:16 AM EST

President Donald Trump returned from a campaign-style rally at a Washington, D.C., arena to the White House to sign more executive orders, including a sweeping one that pardoned those convicted of storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Earlier after taking the oath of office and events at the Capitol, Trump spoke to a roaring crowd at Capital One Arena, where he also signed several executive orders.

After he is through signing the orders, Trump will attend inaugural balls tonight.

Key Headlines

· 2:17 AM EST

2nd federal lawsuit challenges birthright citizenship executive order

· 12:02 AM EST

First pardoned Jan. 6 rioters released from DC detention facility: DOJ

· Jan 20, 2025, 8:28 PM EST

Trump says he will enact tariffs on Canada, Mexico on Feb. 1

· Jan 20, 2025, 8:24 PM EST

Former Proud Boys leader serving 22 years being processed for release: Lawyer

· Jan 20, 2025, 8:15 PM EST

Trump discovers letter from Biden in Oval Office desk

Here's how the news developed on Inauguration Day:

2:17 AM EST

2nd federal lawsuit challenges birthright citizenship executive order

President Donald Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship is a "flagrantly illegal" attempt to redefine a right "enshrined in the very fabric of our country," argued a lawsuit filed overnight in Massachusetts federal court.

The lawsuit -- brought by an undocumented expectant mother who is due in March and two nonprofit groups -- is expected to be one of the many legal challenges to the executive order that seeks to reinterpret the 14th Amendment's guarantee of citizenship to nearly every person born in the United States.

"This unprecedented attempt to strip citizenship from millions of Americans with the stroke of a pen is flagrantly illegal. The President does not have the power to decide who becomes a citizen at birth," the lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs argued that birthright citizenship is not only guaranteed in the 14th Amendment but has also been consistently codified into federal law; stripping away that right would be "overwhelming and devastating," the lawsuit argued.

"Those victimized in this way by the EO would be shorn of their national identity, stigmatized in the eyes of those who should be their fellow citizens, and forced to live with the shame, uncertainty, and fear that comes with potential banishment from their native country. Many would be rendered immediately stateless," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit asked for the Massachusetts District Court to declare the executive order unconstitutional and issue an injunction preventing the enforcement of Trump's directive.

The ACLU also filed a lawsuit challenging Trump's executive order.

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous

Show Less

12:46 AM EST

Trump family attends third inaugural ball of the evening

President Donald Trump and his family attended the third inaugural ball of the evening, the Starlight Ball.

They were joined onstage by Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance, dance with other family members at the Starlight Ball, part of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington.

Evan Vucci/AP

12:02 AM EST

First pardoned Jan. 6 rioters released from DC detention facility: DOJ

Just before midnight on President Donald Trump's first day back in office, two convicted Jan. 6 rioters walked out of the Central Detention Facility in Washington, D.C.

Paul Ingrassia, who is the incoming White House liaison with the Department of Justice, emerged after more than an hour inside the jail and said that Andrew and Matthew Valentin -- two brothers from Pennsylvania arrested for assaulting law enforcement during the attacks on the Capitol -- were processed and had left the facility.

The brothers had just received their sentences of 2.5 years apiece and taken into custody to serve them out on Jan. 17. They pleaded guilty in September 2024.

They are the only two who are expected to be released tonight, according to Ingrassia. However, family members outside of the facility said that they remain hopeful.

According to the most recent numbers from the DOJ, a total of eight pardoned inmates — out of the over 1,500 pardoned — are incarcerated inside the facility.

ABC News has not yet confirmed the release beyond the liaison's statement.

-ABC News' Jay O'Brien, Alexander Mallin, Katherine Faulders and Briana Stewart

Jan 20, 2025, 11:47 PM EST

Trump asks US military in South Korea 'How's Kim Jong Un doing?'

During his appearance at the Commander-In-Chief inaugural ball on Monday evening, President Donald Trump spoke with troops deployed in South Korea displayed on a projector screen.

"Hello, everybody. How are we doing over there? How's Kim Jong Un doing? How are you?" Trump said.

Trump told the troops that he has a "pretty good relationship" with the North Korean leader despite his "bad intentions."

"So, could I ask you, how is it going in South Korea right now? How is it doing? You have somebody with pretty bad intentions, I guess. You know, you would say that although I developed a pretty good relationship with him. But he's a tough cookie," Trump said.

Jan 20, 2025, 11:43 PM EST

California governor reacts to Trump's withdrawal from Paris Agreement

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement Monday evening addressing President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, an international treaty whose purpose is to unite governments in taking action against climate change.

"If you don't believe in science, believe your own damn eyes," Newsom said, providing accompanying photos of the fires in Los Angeles County.

Trump's executive action regarding the Paris Agreement, which was signed on his first day back in office, was just one of a handful rollbacks related to climate and the environment.

-ABC News' Marilyn Heck

Jan 20, 2025, 11:30 PM EST

Trump family dances onstage at the Liberty Ball

Marking President Donald Trump's second inaugural ball of the evening, the Trump family and JD Vance and his wife, Usha, all slow danced onstage.

Jan 20, 2025, 11:10 PM EST

ACLU lawsuit challenges Trump's order to end birthright citizenship

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order that ends birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of several organizations “with members whose babies born on U.S. soil will be denied citizenship under the order,” the ACLU said in a statement.

“Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional — it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU. "Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is."

"The Trump administration's overreach is so egregious that we are confident we will ultimately prevail,” he added.

The plaintiffs say birthright citizenship is protected by the 14th Amendment.

“For families across America today, birthright citizenship represents the promise that their children can achieve their full potential as Americans. It means children born here can dream of becoming doctors, lawyers, teachers, entrepreneurs, or even president—dreams that would be foreclosed if their citizenship were stripped away based on their parents’ status,” the groups represented by the ACLU said in the filing.

-ABC News' Armando Garcia

Jan 20, 2025, 10:58 PM EST

Brother of officer who died in Jan. 6 riots reacts to Trump's pardons

The brother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick gave his first reaction to ABC News on Monday evening after President Donald Trump pardoned of over 1,500 convicted Jan. 6 rioters.

On the call, Craig Sicknick was in shock and called the pardons a "betrayal of decency."

"The man doesn't understand pain or suffering of others. He can't comprehend anyone else's feelings," he said.

"We now have no rule of law," he added.

Sicknick also said he is now personally concerned for his safety.

His brother, Brian, was brutally attacked by rioters, video evidence shows. The 42-year-old military veteran, who worked at the Capitol for 12 years, died a day later after suffering two strokes.

A medical examiner said he died of natural causes, but also said "all that transpired on that day played a role in his condition."

Five members of Sicknick's family testified in a February 2023 trial against George Tanios and Julian Khater, the men who pepper-sprayed Brian Sicknick, describing the loss of a son, a father, a brother, a partner -- and a fellow officer with the Capitol Police.

-ABC News' Alexander Mallin

Show Less

Trump's inauguration: The full list of performers

Melania Trump's hat designer says the hat sends powerful message

Trump 2nd term live updates: More executive action plans for Day 2 amid Day 1 fallout

Without putting hand on Bible, Trump takes oath of office

Jan 20, 5:21 PM

Reflections, EO’s, Pardons

NY Mag x78

X78 FROM NY MAG con

trump inauguration Jan. 20, 2025

After Trump’s Inauguration, There Is No Limit on His Ego

By Ed Kilgore,

It is customary for human beings inheriting enormous power over others to show a bit of humility before exercising it. This is why presidential inaugurations include ritualistic invocations of national traditions, hallowed precedents, and divine favor. Those staging the second inauguration of Donald Trump did their best to surround the man with reminders that he stands in the shadow of leaders much greater than he can rightly claim to be, and in the presence of institutions, from Congress to the courts to the armed forces sworn to defend the Constitution, that constrain his authority. The reality that Trump doesn’t recognize any such restraints was made most evident by his reluctance to bow before the supreme authority of God Almighty, as he stood open-eyed during the invocations of the deity to bless his puny human efforts. Indeed, he seemed to regard God as a peer or perhaps as an aide in his confident assertion that the Lord of Hosts had saved him from assassination out of divine concern for his holy role in restoring American Greatness.

His inaugural address in its entirety followed suit. This was not a man afflicted by a single doubt, possessed of any impulse of generosity towards his adversaries, or awed in any respect by the responsibilities he was assuming. His very first words after the introductory salutations promised a “golden age” for our country, a “thrilling new era of national success;” his return to power meant that “sunlight is pouring over the entire world.” Challenges to this glorious destiny will be “annihilated by this great momentum that the world is now witnessing.” Every presidential election winner claims some sort of right to implement an agenda, but has any new president — including those facing civil war, world wars, or Great Depressions — ever described his mandate in so absolute a manner?

This makes more sense when you remember that Trump imagines himself to be America’s great persecuted hero: “Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history.” Seriously? More than Lincoln, whose time in office started with secession and ended with assassination? It’s true that no president has been hauled before the bar of justice for alleged misconduct even remotely as often as Trump. And it’s presumably because he now nestles again in the protective fortress of presidential immunity that he calls on Americans to refer to his arrival at a safe harbor as “Liberation Day!”

This man’s narcissistic determination to identify the nation’s destiny with his own is probably the main reason for his habit of alleging completely undocumented and massive voter fraud by his opponents even when he’s an election winner. No victory is ever enough to give him the license to rule that he craves:

As our victory showed, the entire nation is rapidly unifying behind our agenda with dramatic increases in support from virtually every element of our society. Young and old, men and women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, urban, suburban and rural. And, very importantly, we had a powerful win in all seven swing states and the popular vote. We won by millions of people.

In the popular vote, he won by far fewer “millions of people” than his last two opponents, or the last four presidents. Even after a post-election honeymoon, his favorability rating remains underwater, as it has been for his entire political career. No one is challenging his right to govern, but it’s not even remotely enough for him; he desires a mandate from the whole people, a mandate from heaven. Perhaps he needs that in order to pursue such ambitions as the renaming of seas and mountains, the reconquest of long-lost territories (like the Panama Canal), and the fresh conquest of Mars! Donald Trump doesn’t want to be adjudged a better president than his predecessor, but as the architect of “the greatest four years in American history.”

After this remarkable exercise in relentless rhetorical hubris, how can anyone be confident that the 47th president will temper his plans, withhold his wrath, respect the coequal powers of the Congress or the courts, or bend to the popular will? The real Liberation Day is Trump’s own; he will never again have to worry about an election, an intraparty challenge, a criminal indictment, or the subversive activities of the “deep state.” He’ll pursue his dark dreams exactly as far as he’s allowed to do by the alleged gate-keepers of the law and the Constitution. And the lassitude, even the complacency of an American public happy to be relieved of the passions of an insane 2024 election year will give our narcissist in chief even greater reason to celebrate his own kingdom, power and glory. Lord help us all.

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Hillary Clinton's Reaction to Donald Trump's Inauguration Goes Viral

Published Jan 21, 2025 at 9:07 AM EST

CLOSE X

By Chloe Mayer

Footage showing Hillary Clinton apparently mocking new President Donald Trump has gone viral after she burst into laughter during his inauguration speech.

Trump had just outlined his plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico in favor of "the Gulf of America," when Clinton collapsed into a fit of giggles, her shoulders shaking visibly as she laughed openly in the audience. One clip of the incident d on social media site X (formerly Twitter) has been viewed more than 9 million times and d by more than 15,000 other users.

The Democratic former secretary of state, who unsuccessfully ran against Republican Trump during the presidential election of 2016, was seated behind him as he launched his second term in office on Monday, so her snickers were caught by the cameras of live TV feeds and broadcast to the nation.

Newsweek has reached out by email to representatives of both Trump and Clinton for comment.

Why It Matters

The incident comes after a fractious presidential campaign, with the two sides trading increasingly bitter blows. Meanwhile, the country is embroiled in what has been described as a series of "culture wars," with various liberal policies decried as "woke" nonsense by those whose politics are more right-wing.

The discourse has created a deeply divided nation, according to a Gallup poll published in September, which showed that a record 80 percent of American adults believe the nation is "greatly divided," against just 18 percent who feel it is "united and in agreement." And another poll last month suggested that 76 percent of Americans believe that the country will be riven with "political conflict" in 2025.

It is into this febrile atmosphere that Trump has assumed office, and Clinton's laughter during his speech has been seized upon by those on both sides.

· Nancy Pelosi reacts to Donald Trump's sweeping executive orders

· Donald Trump says he could send troops into Mexico

· Donald Trump and Melania dance together at inaugural ball

· Great Wall of America, Turbo Trump: How newspapers reacted to Inauguration

What To Know

Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, were seated amongst other dignitaries at Trump's inauguration, directly behind Trump's presidential opponent Kamala Harris.

They were listening as Trump told the gathering: "America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth inspiring the awe, admiration of the entire world. A short time from now, we will be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and we will be restoring the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley [Denali], where it should be and where it belongs."

The camera happened to be panning across the audience as Trump spoke. As he mentioned his plan for the "Gulf of America," Hillary Clinton suddenly erupted into amused chuckles. She looked down as her shoulders shook with laughter, prompting Bill Clinton to glance across at her and say something.

Newsweek d the clip on X, where it was viewed by thousands, and it can be seen below:

There is no love lost between Trump and Clinton, who have their own antagonistic history.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump accused Clinton of having a legacy of "death, destruction, terrorism and weakness." He has also repeatedly taunted her by encouraging his supporters to chant "lock her up" after Clinton was found to have used a personal email server for official communications that included classified information.

For her part, Clinton accused Trump of being a liar and a racist, and said he was "not fit to be president" after a tape emerged of him describing kissing and groping women without their consent.

And Clinton has continued to criticize Trump in recent years, amid his string of legal battles and convictions. She remarked in October 2024 that Trump was now "more unhinged, more unstable" than ever.

But Clinton is not alone in mocking Trump's plan for the Gulf.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum has also previously mocked Trump's plan, by sarcastically suggesting that North America should be renamed "América Mexicana" as it was once previously known.

What People Are Saying

Predictably, the incident has divided social media.

Some online users praised Clinton for laughing openly at Trump:

An X account set up in support of the Democratic Party, called Democratic Wins Media, d a clip from CNN with the words: "Hillary Clinton just had the best reaction to Trump's statement changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. We will not fall for Trump's distractions."

An X user, a TV viewer named Scott Lacy, whose profile gave no indication of political leanings either way, said: "I'm trying to figure out why everyone is not laughing. This is a third grade policy change."

Another X user named James Knowles, whose other posts are critical of Trump, said: "Hillary Clinton couldn't contain laughing at absolute stupidity."

But others thought Clinton was disrespectful to the new president.

An X account with the name "Florida Conservative" wrote: "Hillary, once again, is sitting behind Trump as he's welcomed as President of the United States. Not a great spot to feel smug."

Another account, with the handle "JV" who identifies as an American patriot, added: "Typical condescending Democrats smirk & laugh."

And an X user named "LD," who has previously re-d a conspiracy theory post suggesting the January 6 Capitol riots were "staged," said of Clinton: "Classy as always. Not the temperament of a leader (or a professional)."

What Happens Next

Trump has signed a series of executive orders after assuming office, including a string of policies targeting immigration at the Mexican border.

He has not yet changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico, although he has promised to do so during his time in office.

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Trump attacks trans and non-binary Americans in dark inaugural speech

By Matt Tracy Posted on January 20, 2025

After flooding the airwaves with transphobic s and campaign pledges during the 2024 presidential race, President Donald Trump attacked transgender Americans and diversity, equity, and inclusion in a dark inaugural address at the Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 20.

Know What Matters

“This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” Trump said during his second inaugural speech. “We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”

@get migrants x@

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ABC X75 above, excerpts

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@get parties and ball

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Trump's inaugural brings the world's billionaire elites en masse to DC

By Reuters

January 21, 2025 1:08 AM ESTUpdated 2 hours ago

WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The attendees at a U.S. presidential inauguration do not often resemble the annual gathering of the world's richest in Davos, Switzerland, which kicked off on Monday, but the parallels were hard to ignore as Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. President.

The globe's wealthiest individuals attended Trump's inauguration in Washington on Monday and the glamorous balls to celebrate with the new president afterwards.

Among those seated prominently were the three richest men in the world: Elon Musk, Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab CEO Jeff Bezos, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, with a combined net worth of nearly $900 billion, according to Forbes.

To some, the presence of the world's wealthiest represents the apex of Trump's return to power in Washington after attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joseph Biden.

To others, it stands as a warning that the new administration's priorities in coming years will favor the most well-connected through tax, labor, trade and other policies. Ex-president Joseph Biden in his outgoing address warned of a growing oligarchy in the United States that endangers democracy.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, noted the favorable seating for the tech CEOs at the inaugural - in front of Trump's Cabinet nominees.

Musk, who spent upwards of $250 million on Trump's re-election bid, after years ago suggesting he retire following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, is perhaps the most well-situated.

The Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab CEO has been tabbed to lead a new panel to find ways to cut government spending, is expected to push for speedier regulatory approval for self-driving vehicles, and there are questions about what will happen to federal investigations into him and his companies with Trump in office.

"Some of the business people who have been cozying up to Trump represent companies that get a lot of government contracts or are worried about government regulation," said Darrell West, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Following Trump's November win over Vice President Kamala Harris, numerous CEOs quickly ingratiated themselves with Trump, particularly Zuckerberg.

Meta (META.O), opens new tab announced it would suspend factchecking on its U.S. platform. Zuckerberg sat next to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at the exclusive inauguration luncheon on Monday, an event also attended by Bezos and Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab CEO Tim Cook, and the Meta CEO also hosted a pre-inaugural ball with other billionaire Republican donors on Monday.

Numerous other members of the Forbes list were in Washington as well, including LVMH (LVMH.PA), opens new tab CEO Bernard Arnault and several family members, who rank fifth-richest worldwide; Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, who chatted up Trump during the luncheon, and Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in India.

The tie between business interests and U.S. policy was on display just before Trump took office in a frenzied few days for popular social media app TikTok.

U.S. legislators in 2024 voted by overwhelming margins to ban the app in the United States on national security concerns, only to watch Trump put the law on hold as he invited TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to the inauguration at the last minute.

Trump has floated the idea that the U.S. government could partially own TikTok, while some media outlets have reported that Beijing has discussed having Musk somehow take ownership of TikTok.

"You certainly see the obvious and overt involvement of the richest people in the world on his first day in office," said David Kass, executive director at the Americans for Tax Fairness.

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Day One of the new Trump Administration, and things are looking good for China

BYJim Edwards

January 20, 2025 at 11:13 AM EST

Analysis: During his first term as president, Trump was actively hostile to China, blamed it for the coronavirus pandemic, and wanted to ban TikTok. But this time around there has been a complete reversal. Trump, his DOGE lieutenant Elon Musk, and Chinese premier Xi Jinping are all singing from the same hymn sheet.

It’s Day One of the new Trump Administration. As the new president took the oath of office in the Capitol rotunda shortly after midday, one person will likely be pleased with how things are going so far: Xi Jinping, president of China.

That’s for three reasons:

1. Trump proposed a deal that would rescue TikTok from being banned in the U.S. and the app is now back online for Americans. TikTok, of course, is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. All large Chinese companies are in some way controlled or monitored by the Chinese Communist Party and the Biden-era law banning the app was intended to prevent China from using TikTok to collect vast amounts of data on American citizens and, perhaps, to use its algorithm to push political narratives that favor China. The U.S. Department of Defense labeled it a security risk, and it was largely banned for military personnel.

2. Xi “had an important phone call with President-elect Trump a few days ago and reached an important consensus on the development of China-US relations,” according to a statement from the Chinese government. The statement is extremely bullish on U.S.-China relations under Trump: “American business people said that the recent phone call between President-elect Trump and President Xi Jinping sent a positive signal to the outside world and was exciting. As the world’s two most dynamic and technologically advanced economies, the United States and China should carry out mutually beneficial cooperation and find a constructive and stable way to get along.”

3. On January 19, Trump surrogate Elon Musk met with China’s Vice President Han Zheng, and the pair agreed that it would be good to deepen Tesla’s ties to China. “On the same day, Han Zheng met with Tesla CEO Musk and expressed his welcome for American companies, including Tesla, to seize the opportunity, the fruits of China’s development, and make new and greater contributions to promoting China-US economic and trade relations,” the statement said. “Musk said that Tesla is willing to deepen investment and cooperation in China and play an active role in promoting U.S.-China economic and trade exchanges.”

Conspicuous by its absence is any sign of Musk criticizing China.

The Tesla/X/SpaceX chief has been vocal about alleged censorship and wrongdoing in democracies such as Brazil, Germany, and Britain. But he never-to-rarely talks about China, which is a dictatorship that routinely censors people and imposes mass imprisonment of the Uyghurs, Muslim Chinese who live in the Northeast of the country.

We don’t know why Musk is so shy about China — but it is well-known that Tesla’s largest production facility is in Shanghai, China, and he needs the government’s approval to keep it open.

All of this is a complete reversal of Trump’s historic dislike of TikTok and China. In 2020, Trump (in his first term in the White House) regarded TikTok as a national security threat and signed an executive order banning the app by forcing the sale of its U.S. business.

The reversal is also surprising because of what we are not seeing: During the coronavirus pandemic, Trump repeatedly blamed China for the outbreak and often said the name of the country with a derisory tone.

In his inauguration speech, he again singled out Chinese influence over the Panama Canal as a reason for the U.S. to perhaps intervene with force over the shipping route: “we’re taking it back,” he said.

But aside from that, Trump appears to be happy to now be doing business with China.

This is what he posted on Truth Social three days ago: “I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A. It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!”

Both Musk and Trump’s transition and inauguration committees were sent multiple messages requesting comment.

NY Post x86 X 86 ATTACHMENT – FROM NY POST

Let’s hope we — and he — can all live up to Trump’s inspiring address

By Post Editorial Board

Published Jan. 21, 2025, 9:56 a.m. ET

It was a grand speech — optimistic, ambitious, unifying, elevating.

A stark contrast not just to President Joe Biden’s 2021 address, which talked a lot about unity without doing much to unify, but also to Trump’s 2017 “American Carnage” speech, which seemed directed at a Mad Max nation and world.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” the president vowed.

“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world.”

Perhaps his grandest note came near the end, looking backward to look forward:

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Why Mayor Adams’ latest NYC budget is in far worse shape than it appears

“There’s no nation like our nation. Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts. The call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls.

“Americans pushed thousands of miles through a rugged land of untamed wilderness.

“They crossed deserts, scaled mountains, braved untold dangers, won the Wild West, ended slavery, rescued millions from tyranny, lifted billions from poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched mankind into the heavens, and put the universe of human knowledge into the palm of the human hand.

Trump's inaugural address at a glance

National emergency at the southern border

All illegal entry will be immediately halted. Millions and millions to be deported. Reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy. End Catch and Release. Send troops to the border. Designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Defeat inflation, rapidly bring down costs and prices

Declare a national energy emergency

“We will drill baby, drill!”

America will be a manufacturing nation again

“We have the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth and we are going to use it.”

Establish the External Revenue Service

“We will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.”

Establish the Department of Government Efficiency

Immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America

Bring Law and Order back to our cities

End government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into daily life. Forge a society that is colorblind and merit based.

Reinstate service members who were ejected for refusing the COVID vaccine, with full back pay

Rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Restore the name of Mount McKinley.

Take back the Panama Canal

Plant the Stars and Stripes on planet Mars

Revoke the electric vehicle mandate

“If we work together, there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve.”

He cited his own political comeback “as proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do. In America, the impossible is what we do best.”

Yet this followed all manner of other unifying notes, not least: “Today is Martin Luther King Day and … in his honor we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true.”

Trump issues 1,500 pardons for Jan. 6 defendants: ‘Going to release our great hostages’

His speech should not only ring in the ears of the American people, who suffered for four years under the yolk of misplaced shame about this great nation, but also to other Western democracies that have all but forgotten — and are in fact apologetic — about ambition, the pursuit of excellence and meritocracy for all.

It’s a lot for the nation to live up to — and for Trump himself.

In his remarks right afterward to supporters who couldn’t make it into the room, the new president admitted he’d had to resist the temptation to address Biden’s final outrageous pardons and other last-minute sabotage.

And no one could begrudge him some well-chosen words to those who ranged the entire establishment against him in many unjust and mendacious ways, eroding the trust in our institutions as they went.

But honoring the promises he made to start his presidency will require Trump to avoid getting trapped in divisiveness.

He won. The American people saw through that, and he should resolve to move on and not fall for his enemies’ bait.

Instead, he should continue to forge ahead with steel-eyed focus, and clean up the mess Biden has left in the government, the country, and abroad.

He should look to the legacy he will leave, not prosecute the past.

We think he knows that, having learned from his first term, his time in exile and working his way back — and from the near-death experience in that Pennsylvania field.

Trump 47 promises to be a more statesmanlike president, and he’s got a far stronger team beside him now to handle the necessary combat.

We hope he can join the nation in uniting behind his inspiring vision.

Reuters x87 World X87 FROM REUTERS

International reaction to Trump's inauguration

By Reuters

January 20, 2025 9:39 PM ESTUpdated 14 hours ago

Jan 20 (Reuters) - The following is reaction from global leaders to Donald Trump being sworn in as U.S. president on Monday.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT

"President Trump is always decisive, and the peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, which is the top priority."

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER

"I believe that working together again we will raise the U.S.-Israel alliance to even greater heights."

"On behalf of the people of Israel, I also want to thank you for your efforts in helping free Israeli hostages.

"I look forward to working with you to return the remaining hostages, to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and end its political rule in Gaza, and to ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel."

TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY

"Since Mr. Trump repeatedly said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war, we as Turkey will do whatever necessary in this regard. We need to resolve this issue as soon as possible. This issue will be on our agenda with our talks with Mr. Trump, and we would take our steps accordingly. I wish Mr. Trump's second term would bring good for all humanity."

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR

"Today President Donald Trump takes office. Congratulations! The U.S. is our closest ally and the aim of our policy is always a good transatlantic relationship. The EU, with 27 members and more than 400 million people, is a strong union."

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER

"Congratulations, President Trump. Canada and the U.S. have the world’s most successful economic partnership. We have the chance to work together again — to create more jobs and prosperity for both our nations."

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER

"For centuries, the relationship between our two nations has been one of collaboration, cooperation and enduring partnership ... Together, we have defended the world from tyranny and worked towards our mutual security and prosperity."

"With President Trump's longstanding affection and historical ties to the United Kingdom, I know that depth of friendship will continue."

GIORGIA MELONI, PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY

"I am certain that the friendship between our nations and the values that unite us will continue to strengthen the cooperation between Italy and the USA ... Italy will always be committed to consolidating the dialogue between the United States and Europe, as an essential pillar for the stability and growth of our communities."

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT

"Best wishes President @realDonaldTrump, for your tenure as 47th President of the United States. The EU looks forward to working closely with you to tackle global challenges. Together, our societies can achieve greater prosperity and strengthen their common security. This is the enduring strength of the transatlantic partnership."

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL

"With President Trump back in office we will turbo-charge defence spending & production. My warm congratulations to @realDonaldTrump on his inauguration as 47th President of the USA, and to @JDVance as Vice President. Together we can achieve peace through strength - through @NATO."

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL

"On behalf of the Brazilian government, I congratulate President Donald Trump on his inauguration. Relations between Brazil and the USA are marked by a history of cooperation, based on mutual respect and a historic friendship. Our countries have strong ties in various areas, such as trade, science, education and culture. I am sure that we can continue to make progress in these and other partnerships."

CHARLES, BRITAIN’S KING:

The king has sent a personal message of congratulations to President Trump on his inauguration, reflecting on the enduring special relationship between the UK and U.S., according to Buckingham Palace.

ULF KRISTERSSON, PRIME MINISTER OF SWEDEN

"Warm congratulations @realDonaldTrump on being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Sweden looks forward to continued close cooperation with the U.S."

ALEXANDER STUBB, PRESIDENT OF FINLAND

"I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you @realDonaldTrump as you assume office as the President of the United States. The U.S. is our key strategic partner and ally. I look forward to close cooperation during your term."

JONAS GAHR STOERE, PRIME MINISTER OF NORWAY

"I congratulate President Donald Trump. The United States is Norway's most important ally, and there are strong ties between our two nations. I look forward to a good working relationship with President Trump and his new administration," Stoere said in a statement."

HAMAS OFFICIAL SAMI ABU ZUHRI:

"We are happy with the departure of Biden, who has the blood of Palestinians on his hand. We hope for the end of this dark era that harmed the U.S. before anyone and that Trump can build his policies on balanced foundations that can cut the road against Netanyahu's evils that want to drown the region and the world."

SYRIA'S DE FACTO LEADER AHMED AHMED AL-SHARAA

"The past decade has brought immense suffering to Syria, with the conflict devastating our nation and destabilizing the region. We are confident that he is the leader to bring peace to the Middle East and restore stability to the region".

TAIWAN PRESIDENT LAI CHING-TE

"The United States is an important security, economic, and trade partner of Taiwan, and a strong ally that s the values of democracy and freedom. On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to the new President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance."

CUBAN PRESIDENT MIQUEL DIAZ-CANEL

U.S. President Donald Trump's action of putting the Caribbean nation back on the U.S.' state sponsors of terrorism list was "an act of arrogance and disregard for the truth."

JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SHIGERU ISHIBA

"I listened to President Trump's inaugural speech, and I felt that it was 'Make America Great Again' itself. Traditionally, inaugural speech by presidents have been more about setting a tone...I felt very much that it sounded like a continuation of what Mr Trump had been saying throughout his campaign. President Trump prioritises bilateral negoatiations over multilateral frameworks, so we will focus on how to leverage the national interests of both countries to contribute to world peace and the global economy. We aim to establish a trusting relationship through substantial discussions."

AUSTRALIA PRIME MINISTER ANTHONY ALBANESE

"I congratulate President Trump on his inauguration, it is a significant achievement to be elected President of the United States of America, not once but twice now, and I look forward to having a constructive engagement with him."

SOUTH KOREA'S ACTING PRESIDENT CHOI SANG-MOK

"The government will strive to further strengthen policy cooperation with the United States and promote mutual interests based on the d value of the Korea-U.S. alliance," Choi said, citing the alliance's slogan of "We Go Together".

HONG KONG LEADER JOHN LEE

Hopes for full efforts with U.S. President Donald Trump to promote positive relations between Washington and the Chinese-ruled city, although "we will always be prepared for the worst".

Editing by Ros Russell, Christina Fincher, Nick Zieminski and Michael Perry

Foes

GUK x88 World X88 ATTACHMENT – FROM GUK

‘Has the world gone mad? It has’: foreign reporters a view of Trump from abroad

Journalists from countries that have seen challenges to democracy give their view on the second Trump presidency

Danielle Renwick Sun 19 Jan 2025 04.00 EST

What is the view of US democracy from abroad, and what can Americans learn from other nations with a history of political tumult?

During his first term Donald Trump tested democratic norms by undermining trust in fair elections, encouraging political violence and demonizing the media and public servants. He has promised to be a dictator “on day one” of his second term.

As Trump is inaugurated for a second time, we asked political correspondents at newspapers around the world – from Hungary to El Salvador – to their view of what’s happening in America.

These are countries who have endured strongmen leaders and challenges to democracy. Do they see analogies with what is happening in the US today – and if so, what do they think the future holds for the world’s most powerful democracy?

András Pethő, Direkt36 (Hungary)

Americans should stop telling themselves “this can never happen here”. You have to brace yourself for the worst scenarios, because anything can happen.

In the first couple of years of the Orbán regime, when they proposed curbing the powers of the constitutional court and they appointed a member of Fidesz, Orbán’s party, to the state audit office, which is very important in controlling how spending public money is spent, I thought: “This would never happen in a democracy.” And then we learned that actually anything can happen, because if they have the power, they can and will [do] whatever they want.

All these institutions, whether we are talking about governments or agencies or the press, are very, very fragile. It’s very easy to dismantle them.

The American news media scene is still much more vibrant and robust than Hungary’s, so I think it would be harder for Trump or whoever, to take it over. In Hungary, a pro-government investor bought up all the local newspapers – there were only about 19 of them. That won’t happen in the US, but of course, a media crackdown or the spread of propaganda can happen in different ways. It might happen through X or through Facebook – that’s something that I’m paying attention to.

Glenda Gloria, Rappler (Philippines)

The campaign and outcome was very much like our 2022 presidential election. Leni Robredo and Kamala Harris decided late in the day to run, but when they did they galvanized a democratic base that we all thought had grown too cynical to be involved in any election.

But the narratives of [Bongbong] Marcos and Trump have had a head-start online, spreading so exponentially and viciously that no amount of groundwork could match them. Combine with a climate of fear and you can bend anything and anyone. We’ve seen that in the Duterte, years and we expect to see it – as we are beginning to – under Trump.

People who have a lot to lose and who once valued due process, freedom and accountability can easily do the bidding of authoritarian leaders. Institutions that once protected public interest can turn against it in an instant. America is in for a daily shock-to-the-system period. We know this from the Duterte years; the first two years were marked with disbelief – the daily attacks on media, the killings every night, the harassment of big business, the co-optation of the police and the military, the embrace of China despite intrusions into our territory. They seemed unreal.

Has our world gone mad? It has. We look at America now and joke: should we do workshops for our [journalism] colleagues? It’s utterly sad.

We’re paying close attention to how disinformation, and the networks that sustain it, will continue to prop up the Trump administration and Trumpism. That’s the belly of the beast. Because even the worst policies can be made right in a world of manufactured realities. How should US citizens counter or address that? We need to surface real-world experiences and initiatives that illustrate good citizenship. Islands of hope.

Carlos Dada, El Faro (El Salvador)

If you can draw any conclusions about Mr Trump from his first term, it is obvious that he has very little respect for institutions, and that his personality has an extraordinary weight over the exercise of the presidency. I don’t see anything that indicates his second term will be different.

In the case of El Salvador, Nayyib Bukele is exactly the kind of leader that Mr Trump loves. Trump embraces autocrats and derides democratic leaders, and Bukele is an autocrat. World leaders in the style of Mr Bukele – I’m talking about Orbán, Modi, Putin, of course — will just feel much more comfortable in their dismantling of democracy with Mr Trump and the presidency.

For Mr Trump, besides the personal affinities that he may have with Mr Bukele, his agenda for Central America is basically migration and security. That’s it. The traditional, post cold-war US agenda, which had a strong emphasis on democracy and human rights, is gone.

So I think as long as Mr Bukele is stopping migrants [from passing through El Salvador en route to the United States] and keeps the gangs effectively dismembered, then Washington won’t be an obstacle for Mr Bukele in his process of completely dismantling democracy and turning El Salvador into his own dictatorship.

Vinod K Jose, former editor of the Caravan and author of a forthcoming book on Indian democracy (India)

Trump’s strategy, like that of all strongmen autocrats, was to engage with voters at the level of emotion, not reason, and fiction, not facts. These are some rules in the playbook that autocratic leaders use all the time to get to power.

With Trump returning to White House, we are seeing a decisive moment in history. The third anti-democracy wave is here. The first two anti-democracy waves being the victory of Mussolini in the 1920s and Hitler coming to power in the 1930s culminating in the second world war, and the second anti-democracy wave in the 1960s with the rise of military juntas and the cold war bringing down elected governments. Now, with countries like India, Turkey and the Philippines already under anti-democracy forces, Trump’s victory empowers the hands of the autocrats world over.

Biden’s spell in office was the time given by the divine to systematically alter world history, [an opportunity] to look inward to see how Trumpism had so much support in 2016, [and to] fix the holes that drifted votes to Trump.

In that sense, the lost opportunity of the Biden years are comparable to the ten years that the Congress party had in India between the two spells of the Hindu right governments, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s (1998 and 2004) and Narendra Modi, who came to power in 2014. The Congress party came to power in 2004 and did nothing to tackle the base of the right, or to win over the sympathetic fence-sitters, or to make cultural and social allies. The result? Modi, a leader who was even more radical than Vajpayee came to power, with more popular support. The 10 valuable years in history were lost.

I fear that 10, 20 years from now, people could turn back and say the Biden years did not achieve anything to stop Trump from returning.

Fernando Peinado, El Pais and author of Trumpistas: ¿Quién llevó a Trump al poder? (Spain)

A lot of coverage about the rise of Trump and the far-right elsewhere has focused on the economy, but I wonder if we are talking enough about a huge transformation that happened in the last decade – the earthquake within our media ecosystem.

In 2016, smartphones and social media played an outsized role as compared to previous elections. That accelerated everything. The news cycle turned into a news cyclone. That helped candidates who relied on viscerality.

Since that election we’ve seen wins by populists and far-right candidates elsewhere. In Spain, the far-right Vox emerged in 2018, having previously been very fringe. Something deep has changed and perhaps the US, and UK, with Brexit, were just two early examples of what was to come. The canaries in the coal mine.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of [Francisco] Franco’s death and the legacy of Franquismo is a very polarizing topic now. What’s new is how divisive the issue of Franco has become. For decades, there seemed to be a consensus that Francoism was a dark period for Spain. But now you have the [Conservative Partido Popular] unwilling to commemorate his death, and Vox is making an outspoken defense of his legacy.

Their statements in support of Franco haven’t damaged their approval rating, and that connects with all the weird things happening in the US – Trump doing unprecedented things that would have been taboo in a previous era.

Responses have been edited and condensed

Time x72 X72 FROM TIME

Facing 4 More Years of Trump, Democrats Can’t Agree on a Plan

By Philip Elliott

January 21, 2025 6:00 AM EST

When Senator John Fetterman got word that President-elect Donald Trump wanted to meet, the Pennsylvania Democrat didn’t have to think it over too long. Even though Trump had savaged Fetterman during the 2022 campaign—going so far as to allege he had an affinity for cocaine, heroin, crystal meth, and fentanyl—Fetterman reasoned that he represents all Pennsylvanians, including the 3.5 million who had just voted for Trump.

“If the President invites you to have a conversation and to engage, I'm not sure why anybody would decide not to,” Fetterman tells TIME. “I'm in the business of creating wins for Pennsylvania.” And so, the weekend before Trump returned to the White House, Fetterman jumped on a plane to Florida to spend about an hour with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. The two talked about immigration, the sale of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, and the detention of Pennsylvania native Marc Fogel in Russia on drug charges. For Fetterman, it was about starting the next four years on productive footing.

“There's plenty of things that we can work together on, and there are parts where we aren't agreeing,” Fetterman says. “And I am going to avoid just jumping online and just dropping a lot of cheap heat.”

Eight years earlier, such a meeting would have drawn outrage in Democratic circles. This time the response to Fetterman’s pilgrimage, which caught most senior Democrats by surprise, was more ambivalent. Some party officials believe working more closely with Trump this time will be necessary as the 47th President takes office with political capital to spend and a Republican Congress lined up behind him.

At the start of Trump’s second term, the Democrats are stuck somewhere between discombobulation and despair. Conversations with two dozen Democratic sources reveal a party still struggling to figure out how they found themselves losing the White House and Senate and stuck in the minority in the House. Prescriptions for a comeback abound: A more inclusive message, not just what plays well among activists and on college campuses. More spending on state parties and less on D.C.-based consultants. Serious investments in a progressive media ecosystem to rival the conservative one. A foreign policy that is as easy to explain as Republicans’ tried-and-true “Peace Through Strength.” Better polling. Less fear-mongering about the end of democracy. More podcasts.

But those are all hunches at this point ahead of any comprehensive, sanctioned autopsy.

In fact, some Democrats fear the party is in danger of overreacting to Kamala Harris’ loss. They point to how bad a year 2024 was for incumbents around the world, from the United Kingdom to South Korea to Botswana. They stress that recent inflation made incumbents vulnerable regardless of political leaning, allowing opposition figures in nations such as Panama, India, South Africa, India, and Japan to make significant inroads. Others point to the promise of Democratic groups like suburban-powerhouse Red Wine and Blue and recruitment machines like Swing Left, which are notching successes for candidates further down the ballot.

As the debate churns, some say any remedies remain premature. “You can write a eulogy before someone dies. You cannot write an autopsy until the body is on the table,” says Jesse Ferguson, a strategist who formerly ran House Democrats’ outside spending program. In other words, the version of the Democratic Party that got killed in 2024 is still twitching. And the fact that no one in the party can agree on how to deal with Trump 2.0—or decide if Fetterman’s meeting was a shrewd move, a betrayal, or both—means Democrats are still at a loss for how to prevent more casualties.

A party strategist who’s been among those searching for a way out of the wilderness has a PowerPoint he’s been delivering since Election Day. The slides are meant to cheer his fellow Democrats up.

It starts with a grim New York Times story with the headline “Baffled in Loss, Democrats Seek Road Forward.” The piece begins: “The Democratic Party emerged from this week’s election struggling over what it stood for, anxious about its political future, and bewildered about how to compete with a Republican Party that some Democrats say may be headed for a period of electoral dominance.”

The next slide reveals the date of that verdict: Nov. 7, 2004. Two years later, Nancy Pelosi became the first woman elevated to Speaker of the House. Two years after that, Barack Obama was elected the nation’s first Black President. From the ashes of John Kerry’s defeat by George W. Bush, Democrats were able to forge a swift and successful comeback. The strategist who has been delivering this message in seemingly endless Zoom sessions for colleagues and clients says the point is that Democrats can recover quickly if they figure out the right lessons to take from the defeat.

Yet those gains 20 years ago were driven by two primary factors: the presence of Bush, who grew increasingly unpopular amid the Iraq war, and the rise of a transcendent political talent. As another strategist, Chris Moyer, a former aide to Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid, puts it: “You cannot wait around for Obama to come around. We cannot act like it’s just going to happen. We have to make it happen ourselves.”

In the meantime, Democrats are at odds over how to respond to a second Trump presidency. The so-called Resistance that propelled Democrats during his first term seems weary, if not depleted. In Congress, party leaders are settling into a strategy that focuses more on Trump’s expected failures to fulfill the promises he made to voters, and less on his norm-breaking provocations. As his latest TruthSocial posts and threats to invade Greenland make headlines, Democrats intend to stay on message: what’s he doing to curb inflation or bring down the cost of healthcare? A troll, some argue, can control the bridge only if someone feeds him.

Others fear such strategies are an inadequate response to Trump’s agenda, including the possibility of deportation camps, military deployment in U.S. cities, and investigations into his political enemies. “The consequences are no joke. People are going to die,” says Yasmin Radjy, the executive director of Swing Left. “We are not The Resistance 2.0. That is not going to be enough.”

That’s not to say the remedies are going to be fast, even if they are obvious. “We didn’t lose because of the last three months of last year,” says Rodell Mollineau, a veteran Democratic strategist who spent years advising top senators. “This didn’t happen overnight, and the fix isn’t going to be overnight, either. It’s foolhardy to think one reason is why we lost and one change will fix it.”

Yet as Democrats brace for the return of Trump’s chaos, there is little agreement on where the party’s focus should be. Few see either House Leader Hakeem Jeffries or Senate Leader Chuck Schumer—both New Yorkers—as the unifying national figure the party needs. The pair is known to donors but hardly household names who can be stand-ins as an unrivaled spokesman. Until Democrats anoint their next presidential nominee, the party will lack a single leader, and that is probably more than three years away.

Politico x74 X74 FROM POLITICO

joe Biden departs Washington as ex-president

The 46th president leaves for California after watching Donald Trump take office.

Adam Cancryn

01/20/2025, 1:28pm ET

Joe Biden is leaving town for the first time as an ex-president.

Shortly after watching President Donald Trump get sworn in, Biden and first lady Jill Biden left the Capitol and headed straight to Joint Base Andrews. The 46th president is expected to deliver a brief farewell speech before flying to Santa Ynez, California, where his friend and billionaire Democratic donor Joe Kiani has an estate.

Biden’s departure marks the end of a busy four-year term that will nevertheless be remembered primarily for enabling Trump’s political resurrection and eventual return to the Oval Office.

His final destination is also one freighted with bittersweet significance: Biden last traveled to Santa Ynez following his speech at the Democratic National Convention in August, where he officially passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris shortly after dropping his own bid for reelection.

At the time, Biden had basked in the adoration of relieved Democrats grateful for his decision to step aside and newly hopeful that Harris would charge to victory. Yet instead, Trump is back in office — and Biden is leaving Washington having shouldered much of the blame from those same Democrats for paving the way to his return.

WSW x84 X84 ATTACHMENT – FROM WORLD SOCIALIST WEBSITE

“Führer” Trump declares war on the world, and the working class

By Patrick Martin, David North

13 hours ago

The inauguration of Donald Trump will be remembered in history as an obscene fascist spectacle, in which the incoming president delivered a vile, hate-filled diatribe against the outgoing administration, immigrants, broad swaths of the US population that he views as enemies, the people of Latin America and, finally, the world’s population beyond the Western Hemisphere. Even the Germans???

In a grotesque example of life imitating political fiction, Trump himself appeared as the incarnation of President Buzz Windrip, the brutal media con man and demagogue imagined by the great American writer Sinclair Lewis in his anti-fascist novel It Can’t Happen Here.

Lewis’s dystopian novel was published in 1935 and was intended as a warning against the rise of fascism in the United States. In defense of a crisis-torn capitalism and in pursuit of profits and unlimited wealth, the American ruling class would place in power its own national version of Germany’s Hitler. Ninety years later, the grotesque inaugural ceremony of January 20, 2025 has vindicated Lewis’s warning.

Trump made no attempt to conceal the fascist inspiration of his inaugural diatribe. The speech was explicitly modeled, in both tone and content, on the first radio speech given by Hitler on February 1, 1933, two days after being elevated into the post of German chancellor. Hitler’s speech was devoted to a venomous denunciation of the Weimar Republic and its leaders, whom he accused of betraying the mythical German “Volk.” All the traitors would be swept away, and Germany would be restored to greatness.

Trump has appropriated Hitler’s perspective of the “Thousand-Year Reich” and rebranded it as his promised “Golden Age” of America. However, it will be “golden” only for Trump and the other billionaire oligarchs who were seated in attendance at his inauguration, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, the three richest Americans. They were joined by Trump’s international fascist allies like Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Argentina’s President Javier Milei.

Past and present leaders of the Democratic Party, including the departing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, former presidents Clinton and Obama, and congressional leaders like Charles Schumer, Bernie Sanders and Hakeem Jeffries attended the ceremony as well. They listened quietly and respectfully as Trump publicly berated and denounced them. None of them had the political courage, let alone sense of history and commitment to democratic principles, to walk out of the proceedings and publicly denounce the installation of a fascist president. Instead, they joined in hailing a “peaceful transfer of power” to the most reactionary government in American history.

Trump reiterated his plans for American expansionism, saying his government would “take back” the Panama Canal. He said he would issue an executive order designating criminal gangs in Mexico, El Salvador and Venezuela as “foreign terrorist organizations,” a status similar to that of ISIS and Al-Qaeda, which would provide a pseudo-legal justification for US attacks on those countries.

Trump hailed the record of President William McKinley (1897-1901), who seized Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines in the Spanish-American War, and vowed to restore McKinley’s name to Denali in Alaska, the highest mountain in North America. He also called for renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” while leaving unspoken (but clearly implicit) his calls in recent weeks for the US takeover of Greenland and annexation of Canada as the 51st state.

Trump announced that he would immediately sign executive orders declaring a “national emergency” on the US-Mexico border and deploy the military to repel what he has repeatedly depicted as an “invasion” of the United States by a foreign enemy. This is part of a package of anti-immigrant orders which will include reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which violates international law by expelling all asylum claimants, and ramping up the police-military apparatus to carry out an escalating series of raids against immigrant neighborhoods and job sites. This could lead to the round-up of hundreds of thousands, and ultimately millions of working people.

This assault on democratic rights will soon extend to the entire working class, native-born as well as immigrant. Trump seeks to outlaw all opposition, let alone resistance, to his sweeping program of cutting social benefits to finance both an extension of his 2017 tax cuts for the rich—set to expire this year—and a further massive expansion of the US military machine.

Trump declared that he would make use of the Alien Enemies Act, an infamous measure enacted in 1798, as the basis for his plans for mass detentions and deportations, portraying millions of immigrants fleeing war and poverty as though they were an invading army. The law was last invoked during World War II to violate the democratic rights of German, Italian and Japanese immigrants residing in the United States. Under the act, these individuals were subjected to registration, surveillance, relocation or internment, depending on the perceived threat level.

The purpose is to terrorize immigrant communities and divide the working class, creating the conditions for further repression against all opposition.

The dictatorial character of this program is the subtext of Trump’s self-description in explicitly messianic terms, claiming that he escaped an assassin’s bullet last summer because he had been “saved by God to make America great again.” The pomp and ceremony of the inauguration was suffused with religious and militarist rhetoric and symbols, in keeping with the presentation of Trump as a Christian nationalist chosen by God.

Trump even proclaimed the “manifest destiny” of the United States to send the first astronauts to Mars and plant the American flag on another planet. There is no doubt that governments around the world will take note of this language, particularly in Latin America and Canada.

The slogan of “Manifest Destiny,” suggesting a God-given right of the United States to expand at the expense of weaker neighbors, was first put forward by the Democratic Party, then dominated by the Southern slaveowners, in the election of 1844. “Manifest Destiny” was the justification for an aggressive US position on the boundary dispute with Canada in the Pacific Northwest, then the annexation of Texas in 1845 as a slave state, and finally the war of 1846-1848 in which the US seized and annexed half of Mexico. Abraham Lincoln repudiated that slogan as the war cry of the expansionist slave power. Trump embraces it as the war cry of the capitalist oligarchy.

The self-glorifying character of Führer Trump’s inaugural address was unmistakable. He framed himself as the directing power, announcing sweeping measures to be implemented unilaterally under the guise of declarations of national emergency. Unlike Roosevelt’s “100 Days,” which consisted of proposals to Congress for legislation which were enacted into law as the New Deal, Trump calls for “100 orders,” issued on his own authority. His speech made no reference to Congress or even to the Republican Party, emphasizing instead his unique and singular role.

But for all the nationalistic bluster, and the cowardice and complicity of the Democrats, Trump’s speech vastly overestimated the power of American imperialism and underestimated the resistance which the fascist program of Trump and the Republicans will provoke, both within the United States and on a global scale.

Trump may hail William McKinley, but McKinley was president from 1897 to 1901, at the beginning of the imperialist epoch, when the United States was a rising global power. Trump’s presidency comes as capitalism has reached a dead end, both in the US and internationally.

If any other world leader had delivered a speech in 2025 promising such a grandiose program of international aggression and global dominance, their remarks would be viewed as calling into question not just their judgment but their sanity.

Trump’s perspective is a delusion, but it is no less dangerous for that. His government will respond ruthlessly and violently, both against the inevitable opposition he encounters from other capitalist governments pursuing the interests of their own ruling classes and, above all, against the resistance of masses of working people at home and abroad.

The Democrats are well aware of the dangers. In his final hours in office, President Biden issued pardons to members of his own family and figures like retired General Mark Milley, former public health official Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the members and staff of the House committee that investigated Trump’s attempted coup of January 6, 2021. He expressed concern that the Trump administration would carry out its threats of revenge prosecutions against its political opponents.

The Democrats are concerned about protecting themselves from the wrath of Trump, but they have not lifted a finger to protect millions of immigrants and others in the working class now facing attack by a fascist president. Nor will they.

Trump is reentering the White House as the representative of a money-mad oligarchy, whose staggering wealth is in inverse proportion to its real social base. The venue of the ceremony, inside the Rotunda rather than outside the Capitol in the presence of the public, exemplified the real isolation of the ruling elite.

Elon Musk, unable to control himself, celebrated Trump’s installation with two wild Hitler salutes. But the oligarch’s enthusiasm for dictatorship is not d by the working class. The real significance of January 20, 2025 is that it has inaugurated an era of irrepressible class conflict of a magnitude and intensity without precedent in American history.

Jacob x85 X85 ATTACHMENT – FROM FROM JACOBIN

Greenland Is Not for Sale

ByAidan Simardone

Donald Trump says Greenland should be part of the US, while Denmark insists it won’t happen. But Greenlanders have dreams of their own: economic independence and freedom from foreign control.

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Isabella Weber

The Working Class Has Left the Building

Jared Abbott

In the lead-up to his inauguration, President Donald Trump identified a surprising priority: Greenland. Trump wants to purchase the island, which is an “autonomous” province of Denmark; take control of the Panama Canal; and annex Canada as part of his plan to Make America Great Again. The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from Denmark, which claims that Greenland ultimately should decide on its own independence.

Detractors have called Trump crazy and deranged. But his proposal is not without historical precedent. Trump’s bid to purchase the island marks the fifth time the United States has sought to acquire Greenland. During World War II, the US briefly occupied the island, later establishing and maintaining its northernmost airbase there during the Cold War to counter the Soviet Union. Today, with China emerging as Greenland’s top trading partner, the foreign policy establishment worries that the West will no longer be able to access its resources and shipping routes.

Europe has denounced Trump, insisting that Greenland is Denmark’s. But Greenland does not belong to Denmark or America; it belongs to Greenlanders. Greenlanders have long wanted independence, with a majority supporting the idea. The biggest barrier is not legal but economic: Greenland’s economy remains heavily reliant on Danish subsidies.

To free itself from Copenhagen’s control, Greenland should seize this moment in the global spotlight to advance its aspirations and attract the investment necessary to build a self-sufficient economy. If this wealth were equitably distributed to empower ordinary Greenlanders, as envisioned by the social democratic party Inuit Ataqatigiit, it could achieve not only independence but also liberation from the colonial poverty that has long burdened the island.

Western Interest

East of the Canadian Arctic, Greenland is the largest island in the world, with a population of only fifty-seven thousand. Indigenous people have lived on the island for millennia, with the Inuit arriving around a thousand years ago and remaining there ever since. Denmark began colonizing the island in 1728, justifying its conquest citing Norse settlement from the tenth century. This narrative conveniently ignored the fact that the Norse, who came from Iceland, abandoned the island over two hundred years before the Danish arrived.

In 1867, the US tried to purchase all of Denmark’s North American territories, including Greenland, Iceland, and the Danish West Indies. However, Congress rejected the price tag of $5.5 million for Greenland and Iceland and $7.5 million for the West Indies. The West Indies (now the US Virgin Islands) were later purchased in 1916 to protect the Panama Canal Zone, but the sparsely populated Greenland and Iceland were deemed less strategically important and were left unpurchased.

That changed during World War II, when Nazi Germany invaded Denmark. To prevent Germany from entering the North American theater, the United States occupied both Greenland and Iceland. After the war, the United States refused to leave Greenland, despite Danish protest. Worried about the rising Soviet Union, the United States offered to purchase the island for $100 million in 1946. The offer was refused, but Denmark agreed to let America defend the island.

In 1951, Thule Air Base (now Pituffik Space Base) was built to accommodate nuclear bombers that would be used against the Soviet Union in the event of war. The base’s construction displaced Greenlandic residents and, in 1968, a nuclear bomber crash contaminated the area with radiation. Greenland also hosted Camp Century, a storage site for nuclear missiles, that became a source of nuclear waste.

After the Cold War, the United States scaled back its presence in Greenland, leaving most radar stations abandoned while maintaining Thule Air Base. Interest reignited in 2007 with the discovery of rare earth metals in Greenland, which threatened China’s near monopoly over these critical resources. Greenland’s deposits could potentially meet one-quarter of the world’s demand, prompting China to deepen its economic ties with the island.

To maintain Western influence over the island, Denmark has blocked Chinese investment several times, despite the fact that the 2008 Greenland Self-Government Act grants Greenland the authority to negotiate international agreements. A recent report revealed US and Danish lobbying to prevent a mining company selling to China. While Denmark has used security concerns to justify interference in Greenlandic affairs, a recent poll shows that most Greenlanders do not see China as a threat.

Trumpian Imperialism

Trump’s recent proposal to buy Greenland is not his first. Shortly after taking office in 2017, Trump made multiple offers to Denmark, all of which were refused. While Trump has given vague reasons for wanting Greenland, including its size and importance to defend “the free world,” his focus repeatedly returns to China. “We need Greenland for national security purposes. . . . You don’t even need binoculars, you look outside you have China ships all over the place,” Trump said when announcing his plan to buy the island. He also said that, if Denmark did not sell the island, economic sanctions or military force could be used to annex it.

This is part of Trump’s wider plan to steer foreign policy toward countering China, a shift that began with Barack Obama’s East Asia strategy to pivot the United States away from the Middle East and Europe and toward the Pacific. The plan failed to dislodge the United States from entanglements in Europe and the Middle East, but it made China America’s biggest rival, as seen in the ongoing trade war and paranoia over TikTok and Chinese spies. For Trump, angering Europe may be a small price to pay if it means thwarting China.

Denmark and other European leaders have condemned Trump’s statements. “We take this situation very, very seriously,” said Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. Greenland is “European territory . . . [there is] no question of the EU letting other nations in the world, whoever they may be . . . attack its sovereign borders,” said French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot. Yet in private, Denmark has tried to appease the United States, offering increased American military presence in exchange for dropping annexation demands. Commercial?

Greenland for Greenlanders

Left out of this conversation are Greenlanders, almost 90 percent of whom are Inuit. Denouncing Trump, Germany’s chancellor said that “borders must not be moved by force,” ignoring that Denmark moved its borders to Greenland through force.

During Greenland’s colonization, Denmark coerced the population to converted to Christianity. Efforts to “modernize” the country involved forcibly relocating Greenlandic Inuit from towns to cities. In the 1950s, Inuit children were snatched from their families and brought to Denmark to turn them into “little Danes.” Inuit women in the 1960s and ’70s were fitted with involuntary contraceptives. Even today, structural inequities persists: Inuit children are five times more likely to be placed into foster care than Danish children. These policies have had devastating effects — Greenlanders live on average eight years less than the Danish and have the highest suicide rate in the world.

In the face of these hardships, Greenlanders have fought for greater autonomy. In 1979, Greenland gained home rule, and in 2008 three-quarters of Greenlanders voted in a referendum approving the Greenland Self-Government Act. Under the bill, Greenland assumes most of the functions of government, with the exception of defense and security, which remain Denmark’s responsibilities. It also gives Greenland the right to declare independence.

Two-thirds of Greenlanders support independence, but 78 percent oppose it if it means a decline in living standards. Thus, the biggest barrier to independence is not legal but economic. Danish subsidies make up 40 percent of the island’s economy and 60 percent of Greenland’s government budget. Were Greenland to become independent, these subsidies would likely disappear.

These subsidies may seem generous, but they serve to maintain Danish control. Denmark prevents other countries from giving aid to Greenland, even though one in six Greenlanders lives in poverty. This poverty in part stems from Danish colonialism, which historically favored Danish labor while exploiting Inuit workers, paying them lower wages. Greenland was a site of mining until 1987, with little revenue benefiting Greenlanders. When the last mines shut down, they left behind hazardous waste why?and poisoned fish — the island’s main export and a vital food source.

Securing Greenland’s Future

Denmark’s blocking of Chinese investment on the island has been due to security concerns. However, the greatest threat against Greenland is not China but the United States. Denmark, for its part, has historically been no great friend to Greenlanders. US interest in Greenland predates Trump and spans over 150 years. While Trump’s threat to use military force is extreme, his concern about China aligns with the foreign policy establishment. Even some Democrats, such as Senator John Fetterman, have expressed openness to the idea of the United States purchasing Greenland. Regardless of Trump’s actions, America’s military presence at Thule Air Base gives it significant influence over the island. As Marc Jacobsen, associate professor at the Royal Danish Defense College notes, “The US has de facto control already.”

Denmark, like any colonial metropole, has framed its actions as defending Greenland — first from China and now from America. But as long as Denmark controls Greenland, the island will become militarized while remaining in poverty. While Denmark has granted legal autonomy to the island, it has intruded on its economic autonomy, preventing the island from getting assistance from other countries.

For independence to become a reality, Greenland must first achieve greater economic self-sufficiency. Without such support, Greenland risks remaining a colony in all but name, even if it gains formal independence. If Greenland uses this moment to stake out a path to independence, it will likely seek partnerships with countries and organizations that respect its economic aspirations — not sell its autonomy to the highest bidder.

Being the object of Danish-American rivalry has its risks, but it also presents an opportunity for Greenland. Its place in the spotlight gives the country a platform to voice its demands. Greenlandic prime minister Múte Egede has made these aspirations clear, telling reporters that “we have a desire for independence, a desire to be the master of our own house.”

@get NATL. REVIEW OR RIGHT TRUMP HATE

Presidections

1440 x73

X73 FROM 1440

Monday, January 20, 2025

A list of Trump’s inauguration promises that he can (and can’t) keep

Welcome to the second Donald Trump era in Washington, although in practice, the first never really ended.

A majority of Republicans in the House Representatives voted to overturn the 2020 election results. Much of the party referred to him as “President Trump,” even after he left D.C.

Now back as president, Trump delivered a dark and heavily partisan inaugural address Monday. He used it to rehash plenty of his old scores, from arguing that he had been politically persecuted to promising that “the violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.”

Trump also used his opening remarks to tout the litany of various executive orders (EOs) that he plans to sign as president. Unsurprisingly, many of the EOs focus heavily on immigration, such as listing drug cartels as a terrorist organization, declaring a national emergency to surge troops at the U.S.-Mexico border and supposedly ending birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Other EOs focus on rolling back protections for LGBTQ+ people, with an expected series of anti-trans orders. Trump announced in his speech that “the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female” and that “sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

He also bragged about executive orders that will allow for oil drilling in regions such as Alaska, declaring “drill baby, drill.”

As president, Trump has plenty of authority to enact his policies — however, there are still some limits on the extent of what can be changed by executive order. See here for more areas where he might have trouble – and, also...

Quotes:

“At one point they were seeing us as insurrectionists...now it’s changed to we’re all going to get pardoned, you know, that label has been lifted.”

Virjilio Burciaga, who joined the mob at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, on coming back for Trump's inauguration.

“Now, I’m going out to buy some fucking guns...”

The Q-Anon Shaman

What else you need to know

What's in a salute: Tesla CEO and “first buddy” Elon Musk drew a ton of immediate outrage online and on cable news after he made an “odd-looking” gesture that many felt was fascist during his speech at the Capitol One Arena on Monday to celebrate President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Justin Baragona writes.
Keep on projecting: During the 2024 campaign, Donald Trump publicly disavowed Project 2025 and distanced himself from it. But, David Maddox reports, as MAGA supporters today crowded in for the Heritage Foundation’s packed watch party for the inauguration, there was no sense of distance from the incoming administration, just one of uncontained jubilation and gloating over defeated enemies.

Polls

PBS x81 X81 FROM PBS

Who supports Trump’s agenda? Here’s what an AP-NORC poll shows

Politics Jan 20, 2025 9:32 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump will start implementing a far-reaching agenda when he takes office for the second time on Monday, but a poll finds that despite his claims of an “unprecedented and powerful mandate,” the incoming Republican president lacks broad support for some of his top priorities.

Just over half of U.S. adults favor eliminating taxes on earnings from tips, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, but some of his other pledges — like pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, increasing oil drilling on federal lands and imposing new tariffs — are less widely favored.

There is room for opinion to shift on many of the proposals, since a sizable of Americans hold a neutral view. But some are more clearly unpopular. A majority of U.S. adults, for instance, oppose pardoning most people who participated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, indicating that one of the actions Trump has promised to undertake quickly will likely be unwelcome to many Americans.

Here’s what Americans think about some of the major actions that Trump has promised — including some that could start to take effect as early as Monday.

US adults are split on mass deportations, but most support deporting immigrants convicted of violent crime
Trump has long promised to deport millions of people in the country illegally, although he fell far short of this goal in his first term. In his second four years in the White House, though, he has pledged to begin the largest deportation program in U.S. history, which could begin as soon as he’s sworn in.

The poll finds that targeted deportations of immigrants who have been convicted of a crime would be popular, even if they involved immigrants who are in the country legally, but that support doesn’t extend to mass deportations.

About 8 in 10 U.S. adults favor deporting all immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who have been convicted of a violent crime – including about two-thirds who are strongly in favor – and about 7 in 10 support deporting all immigrants living in the U.S. legally who have been convicted of a violent crime.

Deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally and have not been convicted of a crime is a much more divisive proposal. US adults are slightly more likely to oppose this policy than to favor it, and only about 4 in 10 are in support.

Nearly half of US adults oppose tariffs on all foreign goods

Tariffs on foreign goods entering the country are one of Trump’s proposed fixes for high food prices and illegal immigration, which are issues that motivated many of his voters in November.

According to the AP-NORC poll, though, almost half of US adults “somewhat” or “strongly” oppose imposing a tariff, also known as an import tax, on all goods brought into the U.S. from other countries. About 3 in 10 are in favor, and about one-quarter are neutral, saying they neither favor nor oppose this policy, which indicates that opinion could move in either direction if the tariffs are implemented.

Republicans are much likelier than Democrats and independents to support broad tariffs, but a significant — about 4 in 10 — are either opposed or unsure. Just over half of Republicans favor imposing a tariff on all goods brought into the U.S.

Only about 2 in 10 support pardoning most Jan. 6 participants

Trump promised throughout his campaign to issue pardons to many of the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes for their actions related to the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, saying he would “most likely do it very quickly” in a December interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

But even if he doesn’t use his clemency power on behalf of all the rioters, as some of his supporters have suggested, pardoning many of the participants would be an unpopular move.

According to the AP-NORC poll, about 2 in 10 US adults “somewhat” or “strongly” favor pardoning most people who participated in the attack. A much larger — about 6 in 10 — “somewhat” or “strongly” oppose this move, including half who are strongly opposed, and about 2 in 10 are neutral.

Members of Trump’s own party are divided on the pardons, although they’re more likely to support them overall. About 4 in 10 Republicans favor pardoning many of the Jan. 6 participants, while about 3 in 10 are neutral and about 3 in 10 are opposed.

Eliminating taxes on earnings from tips is especially popular with young adults

A pledge to exclude workers’ tips from federal taxes came up frequently on the campaign trail and was also embraced by Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. And although it could be costly and difficult to enact, it’s one of Trump’s campaign promises with the highest support from Americans overall.

The poll found that just over half of US adults “somewhat” or “strongly” favor eliminating taxes on earnings from tips, while about one-quarter are neutral and about 2 in 10 are opposed.

The proposal is more popular with Republicans than Democrats, and it also has particularly high levels of support with adults under age 30.

US adults are split on whether to increase oil drilling on federal lands

Trump has promised to establish American “energy dominance” in part by boosting oil and gas drilling, including on federal lands.

U.S. adults aren’t so sure about it. The AP-NORC poll found that about one-third of Americans “somewhat” or “strongly” favor increasing oil drilling on federal lands, while about 4 in 10 are opposed. The rest — about one-quarter — say they neither favor nor oppose this move.

Increasing oil drilling is broadly popular with Republicans but not with Democrats or independents.

About half oppose withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement

In his first term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and although President Joe Biden immediately rejoined it upon taking office, Trump has promised to pull out a second time when he takes office.

About half of Americans “somewhat” or “strongly” oppose that action, and even Republicans aren’t overwhelmingly in favor, according to the poll. Only about 2 in 10 US adults “somewhat” or “strongly” in favor of withdrawing from the Paris agreement, while about one-quarter are neutral.

Much of the opposition comes from Democrats, but Republicans display some ambivalence as well. Slightly less than half of Republicans are in favor, while about 3 in 10 are opposed.

More opposition than support for eliminating federal protections for transgender students

A judge recently struck down a rule from the Democratic Biden administration expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students, which Trump had promised to end on his first day, after making anti-transgender themes central to his campaign.

But although there were some signs that his messaging struck a chord with voters, the new poll found that opposition is higher than support for eliminating protections for transgender students under Title IX, the federal law that prohibits any high school or college that receives federal funds from discriminating on the basis of gender.

Almost half of U.S. adults “somewhat” or “strongly” oppose getting rid of these protections, while about 3 in 10 are in favor and the rest are neutral.

About half of Republicans and Democrats oppose eliminating the debt ceiling

As a government shutdown loomed at the end of last year, Trump proposed raising or even eliminating the debt ceiling, a limit set by lawmakers that determines how much the federal government can borrow to pay its existing bills. The issue could reemerge soon if Trump pushes the expensive tax cuts that he promised on the campaign trail.

In general, Trump’s stance isn’t popular, although there’s some room for opinion to shift. About half of U.S. adults oppose eliminating the debt ceiling, while about one-quarter are in favor and about 3 in 10 are neutral.

But in another unusual moment of bipartisan accord, Democrats are only slightly more likely than Republicans to oppose getting rid of the debt ceiling.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,147 adults was conducted Jan. 9-13, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

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