Donald Trump will signal the first executive orders of his term in the next few minutes.
There are several stacked on a table at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, where he is lately attending the inauguration parade.
Before we start running through what each order entails – which will be revealed as he signs them – here’s a quick bit of context for you.
What are decrees?
An executive order is a legally binding directive issued through the president to government officials and agencies that sometimes cannot be overridden during his term.
They allow a president to make vital decisions temporarily and without congressional approval, which can be controversial, given that the United States was born out of opposition to the tyrannical monarchy.
Some orders may be simply important, but others will be more symbolic of the new president’s direction.
Why is there so much noise around these orders?
While executive actions are common on the first day of a new presidency, what Trump’s team appears to be planning is on a scale unseen in modern times.
They will probably also do so on debatable issues, such as mass expulsions, pardons for those involved in the January 6 riots, and increasing oil production.
Donald Trump performed some of his famous dance moves shortly after taking the stage.
We’re just listening to various marching bands made up of firefighters, police departments, the military and schools.
Once they are finished, we will hear from the President himself.
However, it’s probably safe to say that bands are for everyone, with Vivek Vance hunting less than excited. . .
President Donald Trump has just taken to the stage at the Capital One Arena.
He left to a loud applause with his wife Melania.
We’ll hear from the new president shortly.
Donald Trump denounced the resolution to reduce flags during much of January, coinciding today with his inauguration.
He accused Democrats of being “giddy” at the prospect of the Stars and Stripes at half-staff back in the day.
This is because historically flags are lowered after the death of a former president, for 30 days.
Jimmy Carter died at the age of one hundred last month, meaning the US flag code covers Trump’s inauguration today and every day until January 28.
But the flags of the United States Capitol, at least, fly to the more sensible “to celebrate the rapprochement of our country,” after the intervention of Trump’s best friend and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson.
The next day, flags would be flown at half-mast in Carter’s honor.
In 1973, then-President Richard Nixon raised flags that had been lowered following the death of former leader Lyndon Johnson in order to honour the first US prisoners of war released from Vietnam – though this hiatus only lasted a day.
In the past, Trump raised a giant flag at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, which was returned to its full height after being lowered for Carter’s burial.
“No one can see this,” Trump wrote on social media on Jan. 3, adding that “no American can rejoice. ”
“Let’s see how it plays out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Donald Trump’s task when it comes to the war in Ukraine is to drive up the cost of victory for Vladimir Putin so that it becomes insurmountable, the former secretary general of NATO has said.
Speaking to Sky News, Jens Stoltenberg said: “We all want the war to end, but the quickest way to end the war is to lose the war.”
He says that such a solution will not bring peace, but it will bring occupation.
“So the challenge is to end the war so that Ukraine prevails as an independent country in Europe,” he says.
“I don’t think we can replace Putin’s brain – he still needs Ukraine – but I think we can replace his calculation so that the value he has to pay for it is too high. “
Stoltenberg believes the only way to achieve this is for the United States, NATO and other partners to flood Ukraine with weapons “so that they can improve their position on the battlefield and therefore also their position at the negotiating table in the long run. ” term”.
Watch his full interview here:
Donald Trump has arrived at the Capitol One Arena.
Crowds of his supporters are already there and they’re expected to watch the new president wield his powers for the first time in his second term.
He must point out a series of decrees on stage, with a special table prepared especially for this purpose.
By Nicole Johnston, Asia correspondent
There is no doubt that China and the Indo-Pacific region are contemplating how to manage a second Trump presidency, but given the high degree of unpredictability ahead, the most productive technique will likely be a cautious wait-and-see strategy.
Trump has railed against China’s export-driven economy and trade surplus with the US. He has also called out China’s export of the chemical precursors for fentanyl, blaming it for the US opioid crisis.
Along the way of the crusade, Trump invoked one of his favorite lines against China by calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus. “
He threatened to impose price lists of up to 60% on Chinese products.
This hardly leads to warm relationships. But in classic Trump fashion, the wonderful disruptor is also interacting with President Xi Jinping and helping China and the rest of the world ask: What will he do?
The two leaders have held a rare phone conversation. Trump said they discussed trade, fentanyl and TikTok.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump has told advisers that he needs to go to China after taking office.
Before the election, he told the newspaper that China would not galvanize him because Xi knew he was “crazy. “
Trump invited Xi to the inauguration. The Chinese president declined but is sending his vice-president, Han Zheng.
Trump has a penchant for strongman leaders and autocrats. He has previously expressed his admiration for Xi Jinping.
The president unbalances the Chinese. Will it be an agreement or an agreement?No one knows.
The Chinese do not want a trade war with the US. But if Trump’s isolationist foreign policy preference means China is left to expand its influence in this region and beyond, Beijing will regard that as a major advantage.
Martin Luther King III expressed great fear about the direction the United States is taking after Donald Trump is officially president today.
Speaking to Sky News, Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s son said: “The president said in his remarks that he needs to unify the country, part of that will be through compromise and dialogue, talking to those who didn’t.
“I hope he does [but] I don’t know. “
Trump’s inauguration fell on the same day as Martin Luther King Day, and he asked if he thought Trump’s messages resonated with his father’s words.
“What he [Trump] said he was going to do in some of those executive orders — more than two hundred he’s going to point out — is something inconsistent with what Martin Luther King Jr. would need to see,” he said.
“So, I think we must wait and see what happens. I want to be an optimist, but I’m very concerned – I’m gravely concerned about the direction the nation is choosing to go into.”
Donald Trump will soon set foot in the Capitol One Arena, after the first honors ceremony.
Crowds of his supporters are already there – as they were last night for his MAGA victory rally – and they’re expected to watch Trump put parts of his agenda into action straight away.
As we reported last night, a senior Trump adviser told us that the new president will give orders before he even arrives at the White House.
These could simply focus, among other things, on similar policies on immigration and energy.
And the first of what could be a flurry of orders today will be signed at the arena, in front of his supporters.
Our American sister network NBC News reports that they have already been waiting for Trump.
By Ben Kamisar, NBC News
His presidency has lasted hours and we are already reminded that there is a Trump with a script and then there is a Trump without a script.
Trump took on the country and the federal government in his inaugural address with a tone that reflected the core goals of his administration.
But minutes later, when the president arrived at the Capitol Visitor Center’s Emancipation Hall to meet with some of his most ardent supporters, his tone changed.
Trump’s script covered issues affecting the party’s “MAGA” wing: denouncing “fake news”; call for “J6 hostages”; accusing former House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of failing to provide security at the Capitol ahead of the January 6, 2021, riot; criticizing Biden’s last-minute pardons for the “unselected committee of political thugs” (a reference to the Jan. 6 House committee); and name political enemies.