President Donald Trump started his second term with a wave of executive actions and orders and a push to get his top Cabinet officials confirmed.
Trump on Monday declared a national border emergency; issued a sweeping pardon for nearly everyone convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot; helped give TikTok a reprieve and signed dozens more executive orders overhauling how the country deals with immigration, the economy, global health, the environment and gender.
The president attended a prayer service at the National Cathedral on Tuesday, where a bishop called on him to have “mercy” for LGBTQ children and immigrants unlawfully in U.S. Tuesday afternoon, he’s meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the GOP leaders charged with helping turn his agenda into law.
Keep up with the USA TODAY Network’s live updates.
The Trump administration ordered executive branch agencies to close all “diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility” offices by close of business Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Tuesday evening.
Charles Ezell, the Office of Personnel Management’s acting director, announced the move to agency heads via a Tuesday memorandum first obtained by CBS News.
All employees of offices “focusing exclusively on DEIA initiatives and programs” will go on paid administrative leave Wednesday afternoon. Ezell further directed agencies to submit plans by Jan. 31 to permanently fire the employees.
The memorandum includes a template email to the federal workforce urging them to report any effort to “disguise” diversity programs “by using coded or imprecise language.” The message threatens “adverse consequences” for employees who don’t report such practices.
Ezell’s memo also orders agencies to “cancel any DEIA-related trainings.”
—Davis Winkie
The U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday that in response to Trump executive orders, it will immediately surge capabilities to counter illegal immigration. The surge would include more boats, cutters, aircraft and specialized forces to increase Coast Guard presence in six locations including the southeast border around Florida. The Coast Guard said it was to prevent mass illegal migration from Haiti and Cuba. Another area would be the southwest border between the U.S. and Mexico in the Pacific.
“Together, in coordination with our Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense teammates, we will detect, deter and interdict illegal migration, drug smuggling and other terrorist or hostile activity before it reaches our border,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday, the Coast Guard’s acting commandant.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
On his first day in office, President Trump not only revoked the security clearance of his former National Security Adviser John Bolton, but also his U.S. Secret Service protection.
This was not the first time Trump had stripped the advisor turned critic of the secret service detail. In September 2019, after Trump ousted Bolton from his position, he suspended the protection within hours. Bolton was subsequently granted security by former President Joe Biden.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Bolton said he was “disappointed but not surprised” that Trump had decided to terminate the protection.
–Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
President Donald Trump defended his sweeping pardons for violent offenders from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack – and commuting the sentences of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members – arguing they’ve been treated more unfairly than murderers.
“Murderers today are not even charged,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “You have murderers that aren’t charged all over. You take a look at what’s gone on in Philadelphia, take a look at what’s gone off in L.A.”
Trump’s claim that people are not charged for homicide in major U.S. cities is false.
Trump added that the Jan. 6 defendants “have already served years in prison,” even though many were only recently sentenced. “And they’ve served them viciously. It’s a disgusting prison. It’s been horrible. It’s inhumane. It’s been a terrible, terrible thing.”
Asked about commutations he gave for leaders of the far-right groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, Trump said: “I thought their sentences were ridiculous and excessive.”
Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack and commuted sentences of 14 others, all members of either the far-right group Proud Boys or Oath Keepers.
That includes Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the Oath Keepers, who had received the second-longest sentence of 18 years for his role in the riot. Rhodes left a federal prison in Cumberland, Maryland, early Tuesday.
Relatives of Enrique Tarrio, former leader of the Proud Boys who received the longest sentence of 22 years for seditious conspiracy, said they expected his release on Tuesday.
-Joey Garrison
President Donald Trump said he is open to Elon Musk buying TikTok one day after the president issued an executive order that halts enforcement of a ban on the mega popular video app for 75 days.
“I would be, if he wanted to buy,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, emerged as a potential buyer days before the application was set to shut down.
The president said he’s also open to another tech giant to acquire TikTok: Larry Ellison, the chief technology officer of Oracle. Ellison was present at the White House with Trump.
“I have the right to make a deal. So the deal I’m thinking about Larry, let’s negotiate in front of the media,” Trump said, adding that he met with the wonders of TikTok and said that the company should sell to someone in the United States and give half to the U.S. government.
“They’ll have something that’s actually more valuable because they have the ultimate partner, and the United States will make it very worthwhile for them in terms of the permits and everything else,” Trump said.
– Rebecca Morin
Donald Trump is meeting with Republican lawmakers at the White House, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. While the meeting is private, the GOP officials are expected to discuss Trump’s top GOP priorities, including implementing mass deportations, hitting foreign countries with tariffs and more.
Trump will speak momentarily about a new infrastructure investment, a bipartisan priority across Washington.
– Marina Pitofsky
When Donald Trump’s team took over the White House website this week, it made quick work of taking down web pages espousing the views of the previous administration.
A silhouette of Trump and a bold-faced “AMERICA IS BACK” message appeared on the homepage. New links to presidential statements and remarks appeared along with the text of a mountain of newly signed executive orders.
But what was missing from the revamped White House website was nearly as noticeable to frequent visitors: pages promoting tourism, equity, internships and information about former American presidents of both political parties. Bio pages for former U.S. presidents including Republican stalwarts Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan turned up error messages along with those of Democrats Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
The White House indicated the errors were unintended and temporary. “It’s day two. We are in the process of developing, editing and tweaking the White House website. As part of this ongoing work, some of the archived content on the website went dormant. We are committed to reloading that content in a short timeline,” said principal White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields.
– Francesca Chambers and Sudiksha Kochi
Mexico’s president suggested her country will let migrants wait for asylum hearings in Mexican territory after Donald Trump said he’d reinstate a program known as the “Migrant Protection Protocols.”
On Tuesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo said Trump’s day-one declaration mimics his 2018 order, with which Mexico complied. The country allowed thousands of asylum-seekers to wait in cities along its northern border for immigration court hearings in the U.S.
“We have our own migration policies,” she said during a news conference. “But we’re also a humanitarian government.”
Mexico will consider repatriating some foreign nationals, she said. The program, also called “Remain in Mexico,” was used during the first Trump administration to return nearly 70,000 people to Mexico to await court hearings, according to the American Immigration Council.
Sheinbaum Pardo also noted that few migrants are reaching Mexico’s northern border with the U.S. as a result of Mexico’s own immigration enforcement.
– Lauren Villagran
Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday that will end automatic citizenship for children whose parents are foreign nationals, whether they’re here legally or not.
On Tuesday, a coalition of 18 states sued Trump and federal agencies in U.S. District Court in Massachussetts, claiming the order violates the Constitution. The ACLU filed a separate legal challenge in New Hampshire on behalf of immigrant advocacy organizations on similar grounds.
It would, they said, upend a foundational aspect of the United States of America: that anyone born here is from here.
The executive order, called “Protecting the Value and Meaning of American Citizenship, would prevent federal agencies from issuing Social Security cards, passports or welfare benefits to U.S.-born children in a sweeping reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the United States.
– Lauren Villagran
Donald Trump says he wants to “save TikTok.” But during the final months of his first term as president in 2020, he tried to shut down the wildly popular social media video app.
It marks a dramatic evolution as Trump begins his second term. His previous administration raised concerns about TikTok sharing personal data with the Chinese government.
But Trump is now shrugging off the same risks as he’s getting hailed as TikTok’s savior after seeing its benefits help him connect with young voters en route to winning back the White House.
“Because I got to use it,” Trump told reporters Monday during a wide-ranging Oval Office media session when asked why he changed his mind about TikTok. “And remember, TikTok is largely about kids, young kids. If China is going to get information about young kids, I don’t know. To be honest with you, I think we have bigger problems than that.”
– Joey Garrison
Donald Trump on Tuesday said he plans to remove over 1,000 appointees from the administration of former President Joe Biden and that he had fired four individuals immediately, including celebrity chef Jose Andres and former top general Mark Milley.
However, Andres said on social media that his two-year term on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition was already over. The Spanish chef, whose World Central Kitchen food aid program feeds people impacted by disasters, said he submitted his resignation last week.
“My Presidential Personnel Office is actively in the process of identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social overnight.
“Let this serve as a notice of dismissal,” Trump wrote, and named Milley, Andres, his former Iran envoy Brian Hook and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who Biden appointed to an export council. “YOU’RE FIRED!”, he wrote.
– Reuters
At her confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Elise Stefanik clashed with Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Asked by Van Hollen if she subscribed to Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich’s view that Israel has a “biblical right to the entire West Bank,” Stefanik said she did.
“Peace and stability” in the region would be “very difficult to achieve…if you continue to hold the view that you just expressed,” Van Hollen shot back.
Pressed by Van Hollen on whether she believes Palestinians have a right to self-determination, Stefanik responded “I believe the Palestinian people deserve so much better than the failures that they’ve had.”
She added, “I want to ensure that, number one, we bring the hostages home.”
– Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde directly addressed Donald Trump during a sermon on Tuesday, telling the president sitting in the audience at a prayer service at the National Cathedral “In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on people in our country who are scared.”
“There are gay, lesbian, transgender children in Democratic, Republican, independent families, some who fear for their lives,” Budde said. She also reflected on working class immigrants in the U.S. unlawfully, saying “They may not be citizens or have proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here,” said Budde, who has previously criticized the president.
Trump during all three of his presidential campaigns called for mass deportations and other immigration crackdowns, often using dehumanizing language about immigrants.
He also often insulted transgender people on the campaign trail, and one of his first orders in office on Monday was that the federal government will recognize only two sexes, male and female, that are not changeable.
− Marina Pitofsky
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., pressed Elise Stefanik on a gesture Elon Musk made at a speech on Monday after Donald Trump’s inauguration that drew accusations of being a Nazi salute. But Stefanik, who has said combatting antisemitism would be one of her main objectives as U.S. ambassador to the UN, said the gesture was nothing of the kind.
“No, Elon Musk did not do those salutes,” she said. “The American people are smart and they see through it. They support Elon Musk.”
The Anti-Defamation League later said the gesture was not a sieg heil, calling it an “awkward” move during a “delicate moment” in a statement met with some disagreement.
Murphy read several comments from Christian nationalist and white supremacist groups, including the Proud Boys, praising Musk’s gesture.
“I simply don’t believe that if a member of the squad made that same gesture last night, that there wouldn’t be commentary from you and others,” he said, referring to the “squad” of Progressive Democratic congressmembers.
– Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Elise Stefanik, Donald Trump’s pick to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, promised at her confirmation hearing to “stand with Israel” and called United Nations resolutions aimed at Israel are “antisemitic rot.”
“I was interested in this position because, if you look at the antisemitic rot within the UN, there are more resolutions targeting Israel than any other country, any other crisis combined,” she told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The UN has accused Israel of “extermination” and possible war crimes in Gaza.
Stefanik also touted that she voted to defund UNRWA, the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians. The agency was the largest humanitarian organization still working in Gaza, until its operational ability in the enclave was hit when Israel banned it in October after around a dozen of its members were found to be on Hamas’ payroll or involved in its Oct. 7 attack.
She praised then-U.S. ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan for opposing a UN resolution passed 50 years ago that classified zionism as “a form of racism and racial discrimination” and said she would hope to embody “that type of leadership” in the position.
– Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Trump is attending a service of prayer for the nation on Tuesday at Washington’s National Cathedral, joined by Vice President JD Vance and other dignitaries.
Afterward, he’ll meet with congressional leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, before delivering remarks on American infrastructure.
– Francesca Chambers
Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance are attending a prayer service at the National Cathedral, alongside their spouses, first lady Melania Trump and second lady Usha Vance.
The cathedral calls the gathering a “service for the nation, not any politician or political party.”
“This service was designed to pray for unity, reconciliation and bridge-building in our divided nation,” the cathedral says on its website.
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde is preaching at the service, but it will also feature worship rooted in Jewish, Muslim and other faith traditions.
– Marina Pitofsky
Usha Vance, 38, is the nation’s new second lady, but she’s been out of the spotlight more than the first couple or her husband, Vice President JD Vance.
Chilukuri, 38, was born and raised in San Diego as the child of Hindu Indian immigrants. She met her husband at Yale Law School, when they were assigned as partners for their first major writing assignment.
Before Usha Vance hit the campaign trail with her husband, she worked at Munger, Tolles & Olson, a law firm that specializes in litigation, corporate, professional liability, employment, financial restructuring, tax and executive compensation. She left the firm when JD Vance secured the vice-presidential nomination.
– Amaris Encinas
The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday gave their stamp of approval to Scott Bessent, Trump’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department.
Two Democrats, Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, joined their Republican colleagues in voting for Bessent.
If Bessent is confirmed by the entire Senate, he’ll be the first openly gay Treasury secretary in U.S. history, as well as the highest-ranking LGBTQ official.
– Marina Pitofsky
Some of the richest people in the world were among the guests invited to witness President Donald Trump take the oath of office for the second time on Monday.
As some of Trump’s top allies, the tech billionaires were given VIP seating next to top U.S. officials and his family for the swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol rotunda. Seated in front of Trump’s incoming Cabinet were Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.
Their presence in Trump’s orbit underscores not only the incoming administration’s pro-business agenda, but the likely influence the world’s wealthiest tech leaders could have on U.S. policy.
Read more: Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg attended Trump’s inauguration: What are their net worths?
– Kathleen Wong
Donald Trump turned an executive order signing ceremony into an impromptu press conference Monday, answering dozens of questions from reporters.
Trump talked about imposing 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada starting Feb. 1, mulled sending military special forces into Mexico to fight drug cartels and said he’s not confidant a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas will hold. He also reiterated his desire to acquire Greenland from Denmark.
The press conference came after a long day of events that saw Trump sworn into office at the U.S. Capitol, where his inauguration ceremony was moved because of frigid temperatures.
– Zac Anderson
Elise Stefanik, Donald Trump’s pick as the U.S. ambassador at the United Nations, will face senators on Tuesday morning at her confirmation hearing begins.
Stefanik, a Republican lawmaker from New York and top Trump ally, has served five terms in Congress. Her close relationship with Trump briefly stirred speculation that he was considering her for vice president.
Stefanik garnered praise in conservative circles for now-viral questions she posed to the heads of three Ivy League schools at a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism, as protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza rocked colleges nationwide.
After Stefanik asked the three presidents – of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania–- whether calling for the genocide of Jews called for disciplinary action, they waffled and gave indirect answers. Two of the three later resigned.
– Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Donald Trump discovered a personal letter Monday in the Oval Office from former President Joe Biden.
The letter-writing tradition from outgoing to incoming presidents dates back to 1989, when Ronald Reagan left a brief letter for George H.W. Bush.
Trump declined to reveal the contents of Biden’s letter Monday.
– Zac Anderson
People convicted in the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, began to be released from prison overnight after President Donald Trump approved pardons Monday for nearly 1,600 people charged in the riot.
Trump commuted the sentences for 14 defendants, including Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the Oath Keepers militia who received the second-longest sentence of 18 years. Rhodes left a federal prison in Cumberland, Maryland, early Tuesday.
Relatives of Enrique Tarrio, former leader of the Proud Boys who received the longest sentence of 22 years for seditious conspiracy, said they expected his release on Tuesday.
Neither Rhodes nor Tarrio entered the Capitol, but they were convicted of seditious conspiracy for helping plan the attack.
–Bart Jansen and Reuters
President Donald Trump pardoned nearly all the 1,600 people charged in the Capitol attack Jan. 6, 2021, fulfilling a campaign pledge critics said would “endorse attacks on democracy.”
The total includes hundreds of people convicted of felonies for attacking police and temporarily interrupting Congress from certifying the 2020 election victory of former President Joe Biden.
“These are the hostages,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “Full pardon. This is a big one. We hope they come out tonight.”
About 1,270 have been convicted and 1,100 had been sentenced in the riot, according to the Justice Department. About 600 people were charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement.
The list of those receiving clemency included 14 people receiving commutations to end their sentences, including top members of two militia groups, the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. Stewart Rhodes, who was leader of the Oath Keepers, had been sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy.
“We’re excited about it,” Ed Tarpley, a Rhodes lawyer, told USA TODAY. “This is an answered prayer and we’re all very happy.”
Nayib Hassan, a lawyer for Enrique Tarrio, who received the longest sentence of 22 years for seditious conspiracy as a leader of the far-right Proud Boys gang, said he wasn’t sure if Tarrio got a pardon or commutation.
– Bart Jansen
Country music star Carrie Underwood took the stage during Trump’s inauguration to sing “America the Beautiful,” but she paused as there appeared to be a technical glitch. She proceeded to sing the song without instrumentation before shaking Trump’s hand.
− Marina Pitofsky
President Trump sported a tuxedo and bowtie and first lady Melania Trump wore a black and white dress as they concluded Inauguration Day at a trio of balls in downtown Washington, D.C.
Just before 10:30 p.m. Monday, the first couple shared their first dance to an Elvis-style rendition of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” at the Commander in Chief Ball. Vice President JD Vance, also in a tuxedo, and second lady Usha Vance, in a sparkly blue dress, joined the president and first lady for a spin on stage.
Trump later made an appearance at the Liberty Ball and ended his night at the Starlight Ball at Union Station. In one of his final dances of the evening, the president took to the floor alongside his family members and the Vances to Frank Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way.”
– Rebecca Morin
President Trump began signing his first wave of executive orders around 7 p.m. Monday, after his swearing-in ceremony and a parade, and just before the evening’s inaugural balls that stretched well past midnight.
He started by rescinding 78 executive orders approved by his predecessor Joe Biden, including efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, protect federal lands from oil drilling and reduce the cost of prescription medications.
Trump also declared a national border emergency and ordered the U.S. armed forces to repel “forms of invasion” at the U.S.-Mexico border, including illegal migration and drug trafficking. The new president’s moves also include halting enforcement of a ban on TikTok in the U.S. for 75 days, mandating how the U.S. government recognizes gender on federal documents and change official names of Mount Denali in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.
– Laura Villagran and Bart Jansen
Donald Trump said during his inauguration ceremony in the Capitol rotunda that he believes “a tide of change is sweeping the country.”
“I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success,” he said.
But the president also laid out a list of conservative priorities and campaign promises, including declaring an emergency on the southern border, rolling back climate change priorities and more. He also hit Panama’s management of the Panama Canal and vowed to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
− Marina Pitofsky
Donald Trump had his left hand down at his side – and not on one of the two Bibles his wife Melania held up for him – during his swearing-in ceremony.
Does it matter? Not according to the Constitution.
Article II of the Constitution says the incoming president must swear an oath of office, saying: “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.”
But the Constitution also protects religious freedom and holds that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
− Josh Meyer
