Main points
- Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th president of the US
- ‘The golden age of American begins right now,’ he told the Rotunda of the US Capitol
- ‘We will drill baby drill,’ Trump said as he declared a national energy emergency
- With just minutes to go in his presidency, Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons for his family. Biden left Washington DC following the swearing-in ceremony
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
Key reads
That’s where we will leave our live coverage of the Trump inauguration and the beginning of a new era in US politics for today. But you can continue to read our extensive reporting and analysis over the coming days. There is certain to be no shortage of news. Good night for now.
The big question being asked in Dublin and other capitals around the EU is whether Donald Trump’s decision to hold off on imposing tariffs on imports into the US on day one is a sign of a more considered approach. Or is it just, as one senior business source put it last night, “a temporary reprieve”, writes Cliff Taylor.
Trump promised that “instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.” He suggested “massive” amounts could be raised by this policy. But instead of moving immediately to impose tariffs as he had indicated he would, he instead said that federal agencies would examine trading practices being used by other countries.
This could pave the way for tariffs by providing a rationale for Trump to move ahead – and give him some legal cover to do so without Congressional approval. Or it could be that tariffs are kept in reserve as a threat as Trump tries to renegotiate trade deals and put pressure on countries like Mexico and Canada to control immigration and drug smuggling.
What happens is important for Ireland. Trump had suggested tariffs of 10 to 20 per cent on imports from countries around the world, a potentially big issue for companies exporting from Ireland to the US, including US pharma subsidiaries here and domestic firms in areas like food and engineering.
Some move on tariffs by Trump looks inevitable, though its shape remains unclear after the inauguration speech and the initial executive orders. This may reflect some uncertainty, with reports that his senior cabinet and advisers favour different approaches.
Ireland will hope that those favouring focused tariffs on China in particular win out. But there is still a lobby calling for wider or so-called blanket tariffs, hoping they would raise revenue to help cut taxes elsewhere and renew the tax cuts introduced in 2017 which run out this year. However blanket tariffs would be bad news for a small trading country like Ireland which would lose out in the inevitable trade war that would follow.
Ireland will also closely watch Trump’s move on corporation tax but as this will require negotiations with Congress it will take longer to play out. Here again Trump has promised to take an aggressive approach, saying America will no longer be “beholden” to foreign organisations for its tax policy – presumably referring to the OECD corporate tax policy which Ireland signed up to. Were the US to withdraw from this completely, it would mean complications here.
Things are getting set up for the inauguration “parade”, which is also indoors now at the Capital One Arena given the plummeting DC temperatures. As the final touches are put in place, there are questions surrounding the presence of a lone desk on stage. Will this be where many of the giant pile of executive orders are ceremonially signed? It would probably be an effective crowd-pleaser.
Some more of Trump’s more trivial Day 1 changes – well, trivial depending on who you ask.
He has vowed to rename North America’s tallest peak, Denali in Alaska, as Mount McKinley – to “restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs”, he said.
Alaska’s US senators vehemently opposed a prior suggestion to do so by Mr Trump in 2017.
Of course, that could be a simple dig at Barack Obama who in 2015 changed the name to Denali to reflect the traditions of Alaska natives.
The federal government has sought to change place names considered disrespectful to native people.
Mr Trump also announced plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Martin Luther King III, the son of the legendary civil rights leader, said part of what Trump must do is to engage with those who did not support him.
“I think we’re going to be in some level of turmoil for a little while, but again if the president is saying unity – advocating and encouraging unity – maybe we can get there,” he told Sky News.
As for Trump’s name-checking of his father during his speech, Luther King III said: “What he has said he’s going to do in some of those executive orders, the over 200 that he’s going to sign, are sort of inconsistent [with] what Martin Luther King jnr would want to see.”
Luther King III, who is also a civil rights campaigner, said he could not see unity being achieved if Trump is the president he was in the past.
“What’s going to happen when people are deported? If it is achieved, that goal of deporting several million people, displacing and destroying families, I just don’t know what all that’s going to mean. But I think [there are] some great challenges before our nation and it’s going to take great leadership again to bring the nation together.”
There was some relief in senior government circles that President Trump did not announce any tariffs or other measures that would present immediate issues for Ireland the EU, reports Pat Leahy.
Dublin was watching Mr Trump’s inaugural address closely and senior figures who spoke afterwards on condition of anonymity said that while many elements of the speech were concerning, they were not surprising and had been flagged repeatedly in advance.
Mr Trump held off announcing any new tariffs – which could provoke an immediate response from the EU, potentially triggering a transatlantic trade war – but signalled that his administration would examine the issue in greater detail, a move contained in some of the many executive orders signed by the new president in the hours after taking office.
There was some concern at Mr Trump’s announcement of an “external revenue service” which he appeared to suggest could be established to collect taxes from US companies operating abroad, including the many which have substantial operations in Ireland. But an executive order issue only requires the US government to assess the feasibility of creating such a service to collect tariffs and taxes.
Sources in Dublin said the Irish Government would continue with an intense effort to reach out to the high echelons of the Trump administration, while also building ties with the Republican Party in Congress.
Front Row Seat for Tech Giants
During the inauguration ceremony tech leaders including Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg; Apple’s Tim Cook; Google’s Sundar Pichai; Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; and Tesla’s Elon Musk, gathered together to symbolize the increasingly close relationship between the tech industry and the new American president, reports The Guardian.
The industry leaders were originally supposed to sit on the dais – a position of honor where Trump’s family members, former presidents and other high-profile guests when the ceremony was still scheduled to be held outside.
But with the frigid weather in Washington on Monday, the inauguration was moved inside the Capitol, scrambling existing seating arrangements, and promoting the tech leaders to positions next to Trump family members and ahead of cabinet nominees.
“Big Tech billionaires have a front row seat at Trump’s inauguration,” posted the Massachussetts senator Elisabeth Warren on X. “They have even better seats than Trump’s own cabinet picks. That says it all.”
On Sky News Piers Morgan said the “whole issue of wokeism” and the far-left agenda has been so disruptive to society, not just in the US but around the world, and noted that many “screeching U-turns” had been done, including by tech leaders.
He said efforts to take Trump into a criminal court was going to come back and haunt many liberal critics.
It “fueled him and empowered him and drove him to his victory”, he said, and noted that Trump’s attack on Biden was a result of that prolonged criticism.
“I’ve known Trump a long time … his whole template for life is that if somebody whacks you, you whack them 10 times harder,” he said, discussing the various media attacks.
“Everyone will benefit, I think, from being a bit more fair-minded and little bit less hysterical about him.”
Given Trump’s long-running remarks to his supporters at the Capitol Visitor Center, today’s inaugural events are running behind schedule.
Elon Musk has made a few remarks about the new administration in his own speech. “Can you imagine how awesome it’s going to be to have American astronauts plant the flag on another planet for the first time?”
“And let me tell you, I’m going to work my ass off for you guys,” he says.
“As the president said we’re going to have a golden age; it’s going to be fantastic. One of the American values I love is the optimism.”
There is a lot of major change happening in Washington today but in one very minor change, Reuters has reported that the Pentagon has removed an official portrait of Mark Milley, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and very much a perceived enemy of Trump.
Milley was Trump’s top military advisor between 2019 and early 2021 but in the aftermath of the January 6th attack on the Capital, he called Beijing to reassure China of US stability.
On social media Trump would describe the phone call as “an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.”
Before leaving office, Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons for several people Trump had targeted for retaliation, including Milley.
Speaking at the Capitol on Monday, Trump questioned the move referring to “pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the unselect committee of political thugs.”
Harry McGee considers the issue of Trump tariffs…
Determined to sign as many as 100 Executive Orders on the first day of his presidency, Donald Trump’s inaugural speech was designed to show that the administration was going to hit the ground running.
And some of the actions that the 47th US president has promised he will take early in his administration could have repercussions for Ireland.
During the course of his speech he said that the US would establish an “External Revenue Service”. Its duties would be to collect revenues from countries who were exporting goods to the State.
“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” he said. “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.
But speaking to the audience in Capitol buildings during the inauguration ceremony, he did not specify which countries or blocs would be the target of the new protectionist measures, or the nature of the tariff regime that he proposes.
For exporters, the one silver lining is that tariffs do not seem to form part of the first day of policy implementation. He vowed during the presidential campaign that, on the first day of his presidency, would impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, and a 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the new president will ask federal agencies to investigate trade deficits and unfair trade and currency practices by other countries, with a particular emphasis on China, Canada and Mexico.
So, at the very least, it looks like tariffs will be part of a two-phase process. For now, there is a stay.
However, it is likely that tariffs will be imposed and that could have implications for Ireland. The State’s exports to the US is one of the biggest components of its trade, with a value of some €60 billion in 2024. Pharmaceutical, and medical, products would account for the largest percentage of Ireland export trade to the US.
When Trump assumed the 45th presidency in 2016, his administration also imposed tariffs. They had the biggest impact on Irish dairy exports to the US, including butter, cheese and cream liquors. There was also a move to impose tariffs on Irish whiskey, but a series of diplomatic interventions with influential Irish-Americans in the Republican Party ensured that those price barriers were not introduced.
The other concern is another of the president’s campaign promises to reduce corporation tax in the US to 15 per cent from 21 per cent. This would be the second reduction of this tax bracket under a Trump presidency. In 2017, he reduced the rate of corporation tax from 35 per cent to 21 per cent.
If that reduction were to go ahead, it would mean that the rate in the US would be exactly the same as the rate in Ireland. That would reduce the incentive for US multinational companies to maintain significant presences in Ireland. On a wider scale, Trump has also said that if global-scale US companies are expanding, that should happen in the United States and not overseas.
Now that he’s finished with his speeches, the day shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, Trump is set to begin his second term with a flourish – by signing those 100 executive orders. He won’t even wait until he’s in the Oval Office and as set-pieces go, it certainly promises to capture attention.
Interestingly, Bloomberg reports that Trump will not unveil China-specific tariffs on his first day in office.
The incoming administration will start with potential engagement with Beijing rather than igniting another trade war.
The decision not to immediately target Beijing on Monday reflects a shift by the incoming president into a negotiating mode and an eagerness to cut another deal with Chinese president Xi Jinping, a person familiar with the decision said.
Instead, Trump will call for federal agencies to study tariff policies and the US’s trade relationship with China, Canada and Mexico, according to incoming officials for the Trump White House.
The planned move, first reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by Trump officials, won’t impose new tariffs on Monday, but could set the stage for trade duties in the coming weeks or months.
“This has been a long journey, a journey that started in 2015,” Trump says in his off-the-cuff speech to supporters, recalling how he used to say “no” when asked if he would run. Until one day he thought: “Let’s give it a shot.”
“Then we took on Hillary. She didn’t look too happy today,” he says, although he did call her a very nice person.
He says that if he felt he had lost the election in 2020, he would not have run again. So the second time around they made it “too big to rig”.
As regards the polling system and the “fake news”, he said when pollsters called true-Trumpers and asked how they were going to vote, they were told to mind their own business. Discarding those responses from the results, he maintains, meant they got it very wrong.
Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe has said the European Union must stick together and play to its own strengths, deepening economic bonds between member states, during what he said was a “historic juncture” in world politics as Trump takes office once again.
Donohoe was speaking in Brussels after chairing a meeting of eurozone finance ministers. Commenting on Trump’s inauguration he said Europe needed to “make ourselves stronger” by doubling down on planned financial reforms to free up private capital. It was crucial that European leaders made the case for the necessity of global trade between the EU and the US continuing, he said.
Separately, EU economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the bloc would be ready to defend its economic interests from policies pursued by Trump “should that become necessary”.
Here are some video highlights from today’s inauguration.
Trump is in jubilant form. This address is a lot less formal – obviously enough – than the inauguration, so it might give us a little more insight into his current state of mind.
He is praising his new vice president and Mike Johnson.
“He is a man who is liked by everyone,” Trump says of Johnson, although that is not strictly true of Congress.
Trump is giving his own inauguration speech a little post-analysis. He says he was going to talk about the January 6th “hostages” and he has promised action. He was going to talk about the committee hearings into January 6th, he said, and wastes no time in doing so now, making claims about various information that was deleted. And he is, of course, criticising Liz Cheney.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has just addressed a crowd outside the Capitol as Trump arrives to do likewise. He’s walking down the marble steps now – it’s a long way and time since the golden elevator at Trump Tower.
JD Vance takes the podium first to congratulate Trump on his speech. “Sir you didn’t hold back, that was a hell of a way to start the next four years,” he says.
While Ireland might not have as much to fear from Trump 2.0 as Mars, Panama or Greenland, there is one line in his inaugural address that will have the alarm bells ringing very, very loudly in some circles very close to home.
He said he would tariff and tax countries to enrich Americans, promised an overhaul of the trade system, and said the United States would establish an “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 TV pictures are now of Joe Biden, the now former president, leaving the Capitol in a helicopter – just a plain helicopter now, given it loses its official “Airforce” designation with him onboard. It’s a symbolic moment – Biden leaving Washington while his successor stays behind to take the levers of power.
The swearing in as it happened.
Trump’s speech is over – it lasted just over 30 minutes and started with talk of a golden age and ended with talk of a golden age.
Here are some more snippets from the speech.
“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 a 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.
“We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made and Panama’s promises to us have been broken, the purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. … 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, vigour and the vitality of history’s greatest civilisation. 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.
Ambition is 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.
“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.
“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.
It is now the ‘official policy’ of the US that there are only two genders – male and female.
Trump says “we will drill baby drill” as he promises a complete overhaul of US energy policies.
Referring to the assassination attempt during the summer he says 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 appears to be that for the optimism for now and a decent chunk of the next part of his speech is devoted to criticising the outgoing administration and addressing the “horrible betrayal” of the last election.
“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 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 in the United States of America.”
That was a very stirring version of the Battle Hymn of the Republic sung by the US Naval Academy.
And now for his inaugural address.
“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,” is how it begins.
The Taoiseach Simon Harris has congratulated Donald Trump on his inauguration as president of the United States and said that he hopes that Mr Trump will visit Ireland during his term of office.
“This is very important moment for President Trump personally and for the United States,” Mr Harris said in a statement released by Government Buildings this evening.
“As the torch of democracy passes peacefully from one leader to the next, I send him, and the people of the United States, my very best wishes.
“The Government very much looks forward to cooperating with President Trump and his administration in the months and years ahead.”
Mr Harris said that he looked forward to building on the “strong, enduring, and dynamic relationship between our two countries, a relationship that draws strength from our deep, historical people-to-people connections, the support of the US to peace on this Island, as well as our growing and mutually beneficial economic relationship.”
Mr Harris said that US leadership will be “essential” if the world is to tackle the challenges of “conflict, climate change, threats to democracy, and the need to secure economic growth and stability”. “President Trump is, of course, no stranger to Ireland, having visited on a number of occasions,” Mr Harris said.
“He has invested in this country and its people, through his magnificent golf links in Doonbeg. I hope that we will have the opportunity to welcome him back during his term.”
The 35 word oath has been sworn by Donald Trump and just like that he is the 47th president of the US.
JD Vance has just been sworn in as vice president of the US by Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar, as the chairwoman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, gave a short speech ahead of the swearing in.
This is a snippet of what she had to say.
“There is a reason this ceremony takes place at the Capitol. In other countries, it might be in a presidential palace or a gilded executive office building. Here, it is traditionally held at the Capitol, the people’s house. It is a fitting reminder of the system of checks and balances that is the very foundation of our government: three equal branches of government.
“That is how, for nearly 250 years, our great American experiment, grounded in the rule of law, has endured. So, as we inaugurate a new president and vice-president, let us remember that the power of those in this room comes from the people, the construction workers who build our country, the teachers and healthcare workers who nurture us, the troops defending our freedoms and yes, the firefighters in Los Angeles putting themselves on the line for us. Our democracy’s strength and grit must match theirs. May God bless our nation.
With minutes to go in his presidency Joe Biden has just issued preemptive pardons for members of his family.
“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me—the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,” he said in a statement.
“That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T Owens, and Francis W Biden.”
It won’t be long now – the swearing-in is set to take place at 5pm, after which Donald Trump will become the 47th president of the US in what must be one of the most extraordinary political comebacks in US history.
All the great and good of American politics are arriving including former presidents and vice presidents so it won’t be long until the ceremony begins. We have a live stream on this story so you will be able to follow it all.
President Vladimir Putin said Russia’s ready for talks with the US on the war in Ukraine as he offered congratulations to incoming President Donald Trump on his inauguration.
“We congratulate the US president-elect on taking office,” Putin said at a televised meeting of his security council ahead of the inauguration in Washington. Russia welcomed Trump’s desire to restore direct contacts and his statements on the need to prevent a third world war, he said.
“We are open to dialogue with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict,” Putin said. “Its goal should not be a short truce, not some kind of respite for regrouping forces and rearmament with the aim of subsequently continuing the conflict, but a long-term peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people, all nations that live in this region.”
Trump said earlier this month that a meeting with Putin is being set up, raising the prospect that he could push to start negotiations to make good on his pledge to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine. The two leaders haven’t yet spoken directly since Trump won election as president in November.
US multinationals based in Ireland take decisions based on a “longer view” than the four-year cycles of United States presidential administrations, Minister for Finance Jack Chambers has said.
The Fianna Fáil minister made his remarks as the Government braces for potential economic shocks from a second Donald Trump presidency.
There is concern among Irish officials that the new Trump administration will have states like Ireland in its crosshairs, as it is seen as a big beneficiary of foreign direct investment from US multinationals in the tech and pharmaceutical sector.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Chambers said the Government was hoping to avoid the US and the European Union falling into a cycle of “tit for tat” retaliatory measures that could lead to a trade war.
A protectionist shift from both powers to hike tariffs on imports from the other would put “significant costs and burdens” on ordinary people in the US and Europe, he said.
Mr Chambers said multinational companies deciding to repatriate their intellectual property back to the US from the Republic, would have an impact on the amount of corporation tax they paid in Ireland.
“I think a lot of companies domiciled in Ireland take a longer view than one particular [US] administration … But clearly if intellectual property is moved, that could have consequences for corporation tax,” he said.
“We know that there is overall volatility of corporation tax receipts, that isn’t something that’s changed because of a new US administration,” he said. That risk was there due to a small concentration of big multinationals accounting for significant portions of the total amount of corporation tax paid in the Republic, he said.
The invitation list to the inauguration is a revealing snapshot of Trump’s political preferences, with far-right figures, even minor politicians and fringe commentators, in favour, while mainstream leaders are overlooked.
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is expected to be the most senior European leader to attend the inauguration, having made a short visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf club in Florida this month, during which Trump described her as “a fantastic woman” who is “really taking Europe by storm”.
Notable absentees include the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who invited Trump to the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris last month, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.
At the inauguration, the EU will be represented by its ambassador to the US, the Lithuanian diplomat Jovita Neliupšienė.
The commission’s chief spokesperson said there was no meeting scheduled between von der Leyen and Trump, “so there are attempts to establish such a meeting as soon as possible”.
The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, will also be absent, although the UK’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, said he was confident the UK leader would meet Trump “within the next few weeks”.
While leaders from Europe’s traditional centre-right and centre-left will be absent, the far-right will be out in force. Those expected to attend include Éric Zemmour, a former French presidential candidate who has convictions for hate speech and is an exponent of the far-right “great replacement” theory,
Tom Van Grieken of Belgium’s far-right Vlaams Belang party, and Mateusz Morawiecki, a former Polish prime minister for the national-conservative Law and Justice party.
At least three officials from Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland are attending, including its co-leader Tino Chrupalla.
Some British Trump supporters have sounded exultant. “We are so back,” tweeted the Reform UK party leader, Nigel Farage, who is in Washington to celebrate the inauguration.
Also in the US capital is the former UK home secretary Suella Braverman, who was filmed by Channel 4 News arriving at the airport wearing a Make America Great Again baseball cap, alongside the actor and polemicist Laurence Fox.
Donald Trump’s presidency will boost right wing political forces across Europe, the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said, as he announced an offensive “to occupy Brussels”.
Hungary’s long-serving prime minister and Trump ally was speaking as European far-right and nationalist politicians flocked to Washington to welcome the returning US president at Monday’s inauguration.
Orbán, who has a record of inflammatory statements about the EU, cited Trump and the far-right Patriots for Europe group in the European parliament, saying: “So the great attack can start. Hereby I launch the second phase of the offensive that aims to occupy Brussels.”
US-Israeli Trump Influencer Siggy Flicker, a new addition to the president’s inner circle, has given an interview to Germany’s Bild tabloid. Derek Scally has some highlights.
“Donald Trump appreciates people who tell the truth. I’m known for expressing my opinion clearly and directly, and that’s why we got along right away.”Siggy [real name Siglit] jetted around with Trump during his election campaign around the United States.
Trump, a native New Yorker, turned out to be a great music lover. “The Phantom of the Opera is his absolute favourite. Every time we were on the road with the Trump Force One, one of the songs from the musical played,” says Flicker, who became a reality star in 2015 as one of the “Real Housewives of New Jersey”.
In the plane, the president sits completely relaxed “like a king” – in front of him a huge television on which he plays music videos. According to Flicker, his favourite songs include Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad O’Connor (†56), November Rain by Guns N’ Roses and I Feel Good by James Brown.
Trump, who is known for never drinking alcohol, only serves non-alcoholic drinks on the plane – always his favourite drink Diet Coke, of course.
On the outbound flight there are snacks such as peanuts, chips and sweets.
”But on the return flight there is always McDonald’s,” says Flicker. On his plane “he has his own seat, and right next to him are his papers. But the seat opposite always remains free, because this is the seat of First Lady Melania Trump.
Regardless of whether she flies with her or not, no one sits in her seat – and the place next to it always remains unoccupied,” she continues.
Melania Trump “needs no attention and no cameras. She is the most beautiful, elegant first lady that America has ever had. She embodies a type of European sophistication that American women can’t easily buy.”
The incoming US first lady, Melania Trump, has followed her husband’s lead by launching a multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency meme coin, amid a rally in digital currencies as he prepares to return to the White House.
The price of the incoming president’s token, $Trump, had tripled to more than $70 (£57), giving it a total value of over $14bn shortly after its launch on Friday. However, the launch of his wife’s coin, $Melania, pared back those gains as investors piled into her rival coin.
More from Vladimir Putin who said he was open to talks on Ukraine.
There will be a lot of talk of executive orders in the hours ahead and one of the first to be signed will see Elon Musk taking centre stage.
Donald Trump will sign an order aimed at establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk will be working at that department although for how long is anyone’s guess.
Nigel Farage has said the British government needs to have a good long think about what it has done with a view to building bridges with the incoming administration in the US.
The Reform UK leader, who is in the US for Trump’s inauguration, told the PA news agency: “I think this Labour Party appears to be totally at odds with the American administration and I think that the mayor of London’s comments on the eve of the inauguration were spectacularly unhelpful.”
Over the weekend, London mayor Sadiq Khan warned in a newspaper editorial that western democracies need to be aware of the rise of “resurgent fascism” as Mr Trump returns to the White House.
Asked if he was still willing to act as a go-between for the UK Government and Mr Trump, Reform UK leader Mr Farage said: “Yes. I think it has got rather more difficult. But yes.”
Mr Farage said he feared “the relationship would have been unmendable” if the deal with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands had been completed ahead of Mr Trump’s inauguration.
He added: “So at least there is a reprieve there, but I think the British Government need to have a long, deep, hard think.”
Have you wondered why the photograph of Donald Trump to be used across much of the official programming has him looking so, well, grumpy? We have a piece on the pic that – amongst other things – suggests Trump might think smiling shows weakness.
Donald Trump will declare a national emergency at the US southern border with Mexico later today and announce plans to send additional armed forces to help secure the border, an incoming Trump administration official said. The official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of Trump’s inauguration as president, said the incoming president would also designate criminal cartels as designated global terrorists.
He will also move to end birthright citizenship in the US, suspend refugee resettlement for at least four months, reinstate the “remain in Mexico” policy and build that wall between the US and Mexico that has been talked about for the guts of a decade now.
Today is a good day for crypto currencies but not all cryptos are equal and some are doing a whole lot better than others, with one in particular having the best of days.
It is a great day for Donald Trump and the Maga Army, it is a great day for Fox News, It is a great day for crypto and the tech bros. And – improbably – it is a great day for the Village People.
At the risk of stating the obvious, not everyone in the US is celebrating today. AOC certainly isn’t.
It is wall to wall Trump on Fox News today as you might imagine,.
The Russian president Vladimir Putin has just formally congratulated Donald Trump ahead of his inauguration as his security council meets to discuss what it might mean.
Donald Trump will issue a memo later today directing agencies to investigate trade deficits and unfair trade practices, but will stop short of imposing new tariffs on his first day in office, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
Donald Trump is to begin “the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense”, according to excerpts of his inaugural address that are doing the rounds on the news wires.
Time’s take on its person of the year.
French prime minister François Bayrou has warned that Europe will have to stand up to Donald Trump and his policies or face being “crushed”.
“The United States has decided to embark upon an extremely domineering form of politics, via the dollar, via its industrial policy, via the fact that it can capture the world’s investments and the world’s research,” Bayrou told reporters, as he held a New Year’s address in the city of Pau.
“And if we don’t do anything, our fate is very simple – we will be dominated. We will be crushed. We will be marginalised,” he also said.
In one of his last acts as president, Joe Biden has granted pardons to people his successor threatened to punish, fending off potential retribution by President-elect Donald Trump against those he perceived as political enemies.
Those pardoned include retired Gen Mark Milley, Anthony Fauci and members of Congress who served on the select committee investigation the January 6th, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
Liz Cheney, the former Wyoming Republican congresswoman who helped lead the investigation into the insurrection was among those pardoned.
Eleventh-hour pardons have become a predictable feature of the modern presidency, with presidents waiting until their final moments in office to grant their most controversial acts of clemency.
The people at Reuters have put together a short video of some of the best inauguration moments of times past.
The Trump team is said to be putting the finishing touches on around 100 executive actions that he will sign in his first days in office, starting later today.
The first measures by Trump, who has vowed to be a dictator only “on day one” of his second term, are set to include curbing immigration, increasing tariffs and deregulating sectors ranging from energy to cryptocurrencies.
“I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every crisis facing our country,” Trump told a rally of supporters in Washington last night.
Details of the first blitz of executive actions were still under wraps at the weekend, but the incoming president wants to make a national emergency declaration regarding the southern border, free up federal resources to detain migrants crossing from Mexico, limit the ability to seek asylum and launch what he has described as the largest deportation effort in US history.
Addressing a rally at Washington’s Capital One Arena on Sunday, Trump said: “Tomorrow at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline, and we begin a brand new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride.”
He is also expected to act on US trade policies with a view to forcing trading partners to cut deals on issues ranging from migration to drug trafficking and – maybe – the sale of Greenland.
Pope Francis has offered well-wishes to US president-elect Donald Trump in a traditional message sent ahead of the presidential inauguration ceremony in Washington.
The pontiff, who has previously expressed sharp disagreement with Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, said he would pray that God grants Trump “wisdom, strength and protection” as he takes up the presidency again.
“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,” said the pope.
His congratulatory note comes a day after Pope Francis said Trump’s reported plan to sharply intensify immigration-enforcement actions across the US would be a “disgrace”.
Wondering what the next four years might be like? A story on our site this morning might give you just a hint of what is to come.
Conor McGregor was among the attendees at a pre-inauguration rally for Donald Trump in Washington DC where the US president-elect told supporters on the eve of being sworn into office he would end “American decline”, Sarah Slater writes.
“We are so back!” McGregor posted on social media platform X, posing next to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who joined the 20,000-strong crowd at the Capital One Arena on Sunday.
Speakers and performers at the event included musician Kid Rock, actor Jon Voight, and Dana White, the CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), while billionaire supporter Elon Musk joined the president-elect on stage.
Events will start in the morning with a service at St John’s church. Trump will then head to the White House for tea with outgoing president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden before heading to the US Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony. With a parade along the way, the day will be capped by lavish, black-tie inaugural balls throughout Washington.
Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th US president today having previously being inaugurated as the 45th.
He will be only the second president in the country’s history to serve two non-consecutive terms, after Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s.
What can we expect? Well, it is likely to be a day of pomp and circumstance marking the peaceful transfer of power following his extraordinary political comeback.
Some 250,000 people are expected to brave freezing weather and descend on central Washington to see Trump become president again.
