Skip next section Which executive orders did Trump sign on day one?
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Which executive orders did Trump sign on day one?
Donald Trump has been fast to act on promises he made ahead of his inauguration, signing numerous executive orders as on Monday.
They clearly indicate his priorities and include:
- Rescinding 78 regulations established by his predecessor,
- An order to all federal departments to tackle the cost-of-living crisis
- An order to stop government censorship
- The withdrawal of the US from the
- The withdrawal of the US from the
- The declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border
- Making it US policy to have only two genders, male and female
Trump also signed pardons for almost all 1,600 defendants who after elections that Trump has falsely claimed were rigged.
But as DW correspondent Carla Bleiker notes in an article about Trump’s first acts during his second term, not all of the orders will mean immediate change for the country, with many subject to mandatory study and review.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pP9D
Skip next section Commander-in-Chief Ball in pictures
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Commander-in-Chief Ball in pictures
President Donald Trump’s inauguration celebration continued on Monday evening with the Commander in Chief Ball.
It was the first of three evening stops as he was also due to attend the Liberty Ball and Starlight Ball.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pP3q
Skip next section Legal battles erupt over Trump’s ‘DOGE’ advisory panel led by Elon Musk
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Legal battles erupt over Trump’s ‘DOGE’ advisory panel led by Elon Musk
Minutes after Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish the Department of Government Efficiency, its creation was challenged in court.
Despite its name, “DOGE,” as it is known, is not a department but rather an advisory panel headed by billionaire .
During the election, it was first proposed that DOGE would find “drastic” cuts to the federal government. But the executive order said the group’s aim was to “modernize federal technology and software.”
Government employee unions, watchdog groups, and public interest organizations sued within minutes of the announcement. Among them were National Security Counselors, the American Public Health Association, the American Federation of Teachers, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and Public Citizen.
They argue DOGE was breaking a law that governed federal advisory committees and was also suing over the DOGE’s uncertain status.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pP1y
Skip next section Trump suspends US foreign development aid programs for review
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Trump suspends US foreign development aid programs for review
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order temporarily suspending all US foreign development assistance programs for 90 days.
The order mandates that all department and agency heads responsible for these programs immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds.
During the 90-day suspension, the programs will be reviewed to determine their alignment with Trump’s policy goals.
The order, one of many signed on his first day back in office, criticizes the “foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values.”
The order even went as far as stating that these programs often, “destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4pP0S
Skip next section Trump signs order to withdraw United States from WHO
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Trump signs order to withdraw United States from WHO
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the .
The in 12 months and will stop all financial support for its work.
Trump criticized the WHO for failing to act independently from the “inappropriate political influence of WHO member states” and for requiring “unfairly onerous payments” from the US compared to countries like China.
“World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said as he signed the order during his first day back in the White House.
The US is the WHO’s biggest financial backer, contributing around 18% of its funding.
Trump started the process of quitting the WHO in his first presidential term, but President Joe Biden was able to stop the process when he took office in January 2021.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pP0N
Skip next section Trump delays TikTok ban
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Trump delays TikTok ban
President Donald Trump signed an order to delay implementing the law banning TikTok in the United States for 75 days.
When asked what the TikTok order meant, Trump said, it “just gave me the right to sell it or close it.”
TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance missed a deadline on Saturday to sell its US subsidiary to non-Chinese buyers or be banned in the country.
The video-sharing platform took itself over the weekend before returning when Trump vowed executive action.
The US president signaled his frustration with the reasoning behind the possible TikTok ban, saying China made a lot of other things that are sold in the US, including phones.
But he said it was in China’s interest to approve a deal to sell the company.
Earlier, TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended Trump’s inauguration, sitting behind the president as one of his guests.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pOza
Skip next section Trump says Putin is ‘not doing well’ in Ukraine and should make a deal
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Trump says Putin is ‘not doing well’ in Ukraine and should make a deal
US President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is “destroying Russia” by continuing the .
Trump answered impromptu questions from reporters while signing executive orders at the White House, saying he would speak to Putin soon.
“He can’t be thrilled,” Trump said about the way the war is going, adding “he is not doing well.”
“I think he would be very well off to end that war,” Trump said.
He also said Ukrainian President “wants to make a deal” to end the war.
Previously, Zelenskyy has said that Kyiv will end the war on its “own terms” with no room for compromise.
About one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory is currently under Russian control.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pOzI
Skip next section Marco Rubio confirmed as Secretary of State
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Marco Rubio confirmed as Secretary of State
The Senate has swiftly confirmed Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, voting unanimously on Monday to give President Donald Trump the first member of his new Cabinet on Inauguration Day.
Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, was confirmed with a 99-0 vote, with Democrats describing him as a friend.
Rubio will immediately face the challenge of executing President Trump’s foreign policy.
In his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump renewed threats to and afterwards raised the possibility of imposing tariffs on neighboring countries while saying “we need” Greenland “for international security.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4pOyU
Skip next section Tense times as Europe braces itself for Trump’s second term
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Tense times as Europe braces itself for Trump’s second term
“There is much to analyze,” DW’s Washington bureau chief Ines Pohl said of Donald Trump’s first few hours in office, from his addresses to executive orders.
But “whatever the new “Golden Era” means exactly, it won’t be easy for Europe to find a good way to work with the Trump administration.”
However, for the prosperity of both Europe and the United States, “shared interests” must be found.
Meanwhile, DW’s US correspondent Janelle Dumalaon highlighted that events on the day of Trump’s inauguration were “running more than two hours behind schedule” amid the furor of the occasion.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pOwV
Skip next section Trump signs a number of executive orders
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Trump signs a number of executive orders
Among the numerous executive orders and actions Donald Trump signed during his inauguration was one that aimed to end the “weaponization of government.”
He has often charged that the US justice system has been used against him.
He also reversed all the executive orders of the Biden administration.
Trump also signed executive orders freezing federal hiring and ordering all workers back to the office after many have been working from home in recent years.
Executive orders enable presidents to create policy outside the typical lawmaking process. However, they are often the result of extensive negotiations among various agencies.
If a president issues an executive order without legal authority, the courts can overturn it.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pOwC
Skip next section Trump sign executive orders to withdraw from Paris Climate Accord
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Trump sign executive orders to withdraw from Paris Climate Accord
Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders during his presidential parade at Capitol One Arena.
It included a withdrawal from the .
This decision marks a defiant rejection of global efforts to combat climate change as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.
According to the agreement’s rules, exiting would take about a year after submitting formal notice to the United Nations.
Trump also signed the notice to the UN, informing the world body of the US withdrawal.
In his earlier remarks, Trump said the US, the world’s top oil and gas producer, will expand drilling.
“Now we are going to drill baby drill,” he said.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pOu9
Skip next section Trump says he will sign pardons for January 6 defendants
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Trump says he will sign pardons for January 6 defendants
President Donald Trump vowed to sign pardons for “a lot of people” charged and convicted for the on January 6, 2021.
He also referred to the rioters as January 6 hostages.
During the election campaign, Trump voiced sympathy for some of the rioters and decried long sentences.
On January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.
More than 1,580 people have been criminally charged with participating in the riot.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pOtn
Skip next section Habeck says EU ‘prepared for trade war’ with US but says both sides would suffer
01/21/2025January 21, 2025
Habeck says EU ‘prepared for trade war’ with US but says both sides would suffer
Speaking with DW, outgoing Vice Chancellor , the ‘s top candidate for , said Germany and the EU must do more to help themselves when it comes to innovation, infrastructure and new technologies.
Habeck, speaking of the prospect of with the US as Donald Trump takes the reins of power in Washington, said: “Europe is prepared, should the US impose tariffs,” adding that he hoped that would not be the case.
Europe, he emphasized, could impose “countermeasures that would affect the American economy, including the consumer sector,” but said in his eyes that would be “the wrong way” to deal with Trump.
Habeck said the EU could join forces and “arm wrestle” with the US but suggested that it wouldn’t help either side and that he would like to avoid such a situation.
Instead, he argued that more tax incentives and investments were needed to ensure that outdated infrastructure can be revitalized in order to grow the economy and produce the technologies of the future in Europe.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pOta
Skip next section Ramaswamy will not join DOGE
01/20/2025January 20, 2025
Ramaswamy will not join DOGE
Vivek Ramaswamy, who was picked by Donald Trump to co-chair the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, , will not serve in the non-elected team.
“Vivek Ramaswamy played a critical role in helping us create DOGE,” said Anna Kelly, who is a spokesperson for the group. “He intends to run for elected office soon, which requires him toremain outside of DOGE.”
recently signaled interest in campaigning for the governorship of his home state of Ohio.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pOrB
Skip next section Ex-General Mike Milley’s portrait removed from Pentagon after Trump sworn in
01/20/2025January 20, 2025
Ex-General Mike Milley’s portrait removed from Pentagon after Trump sworn in
Retired General Mike Milley’s portrait was removed from the on Monday just hours after Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Milley, who served as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Trump and Biden, , especially as Trump stepped up efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, with Milley calling him “fascist to the core” and a “wannabe dictator.”
Trump in turn, threatened to go after Milley, even musing that in earlier times he would have been put to .
More recently, , protecting him against politically motivated retribution from Trump, who has promised to go after his “political enemies.”
Traditionally, portraits of retired chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff hang at the building’s entrance as a sign of respect. Milley’s portrait was unveiled earlier this month.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pOq9
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