Foreign News
Trump turns executive orders into rally spectacle
Donald Trump took an ordinary presidential act – rescinding orders from a previous administration of different party – and turned it into a spectacle.
After giving another winding speech – his third of the day – Trump moved to a small desk on the stage at the downtown sport arena where his indoor inaugural parade had just concluded. Then he went to work freezing new federal regulations and hiring, reversing Biden administration directives, mandating federal workers work in-office full-time and withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords.
“Can you imagine Joe Biden doing this?” he asked after signing the regulation freeze – but that could have applied to visuals of the moment as much as to the content of the orders.
He also signed more symbolic orders to end the “weaponisation of government” and instruct his administration to address the higher cost of living.
It’s just the start of what promises to be a record number of first-day executive actions, including a promised pardon of many of some who participated in the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.
After the arena ceremony, Trump tossed the pens he used into the crowd – another Trumping flourish.
This is the list of executive orders signed by President Trump in front of his supporters inside the arena in Washington DC [as it was described to the arena]
- The rescission of 78 Biden-era executive actions
- A regulatory freeze preventing bureaucrats from issuing any more regulations until the administration has full control of the government
- A freeze on all federal hiring, excepting the military and a number of other excluded categories until full control of the government is achieved
- A requirement for federal workers return to full-time in-person work immediately
- A directive to every department and agency in the federal government to address the cost-of-living
- Withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement
- A directive to the federal government ordering the restoration of freedom of speech and preventing government censorship of free speech
- A directive to the federal government ending the “weaponisation” of government against the “political adversaries” of the previous administration
[BBC]
China has executed two men who committed deadly attacks that killed dozens in November, raising concerns about a surge in what are called “revenge on society crimes”, state media reported.
Fan Weiqu, 62, who rammed his car into a crowd outside a sports stadium in the southern city of Zhuhai, killing at least 35 people, was executed on Monday.
The attack was the country’s deadliest in more than a decade, according to authorities. Police said Fan was upset over his divorce settlement.
Also in November, 21-year-old Xu Jiajin killed eight people and injured 17 in a stabbing attack at his vocational school in the eastern city of Wuxi.
Police said Wu had failed his examinations and could not graduate, and was dissatisfied about his pay at an internship. He was also executed on Monday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged local governments to take measures to prevent such attacks, known as “revenge on society crimes”.
The two men’s death sentences were issued by the intermediate people’s courts in the cities of Zhuhai and Wuxi, respectively, in December, and approved by the Supreme People’s Court, according to state media.
Violent crimes are rarer in China than in many Western countries, but the country has seen a rise in recent years. Stabbings and car attacks have challenged the governing Communist Party’s reputation for strict public security and crime prevention.
They also carried a shock factor that led some to question perceived social ills such as frustration with a slowing economy, high unemployment and diminishing social mobility.
China classifies death penalty statistics as a state secret, but some rights groups believe the country executes thousands every year. Executions are traditionally carried out by gunshot, though lethal injections have also been introduced in recent years.
[Aljazeera]
Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 47th President of the United States a short while ago.
He was sworn into office on two Bibles – one given to him by his mother, and the Lincoln Bible which has been used by several other previous presidents – including Abraham Lincoln in 1861.
President Trump swore to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution.
It is the first time since the 1890s that a president who was defeated in an election has returned victorious to take the oath for a second time.
On the eve of his return to the White House, President-elect Donald Trump promised to sign a blitz of executive orders on his first day as president, telling supporters that he would move with “historic speed and strength” in the hours after taking the oath of office.
Addressing a racuous crowd of thousands in a Washington DC arena for a “Victory Rally”, Trump offered a preview of the next four years and celebrated his November election victory over the Democrats.
The Republican promised to act unilaterally on a wide array of issues, using his presidential powers to launch mass deportation operations, slash environmental regulations and end diversity programmes.
“We put America first and it all starts tomorrow,” he told the crowd at the campaign-style event, adding: “You’re going to have a lot of fun watching television tomorrow.”
Trump is expected to sign more than 200 executive actions on Monday. This would include executive orders, which are legally-binding, and other presidential directives like proclamations, which are usually not.
“Every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration will be repealed within hours of when I take the oath of office,” the incoming president said.
Trump promised executive order that would ramp up artificial intelligence programmes, form the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), make records available related to the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963, direct the military to create an Iron Dome missile defence shield and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies from the military.
He also told supporters he would stop transgender women from competing in female sports categories and hand back control of education to America’s states.
“You’re going to see executive orders that are going to make you extremely happy,” he told the crowd. “We have to set our country on the proper course.”
Presidents usually take executive action when they enter office but the volume of day one orders from Trump could dwarf his predecessors and many are expected to be challenged in court.
He promised that his executive blitz on Monday would target illegal immigration – an issue at the heart of the Republican’s winning campaign for the presidency.
But experts say his promise to deport millions of undocumented migrants will face enormous logistical hurdles, and potentially cost tens or hundreds of billions of dollars.
Trump is also expected to issue pardons for people convicted of taking part in the January 6 riots at the US Capitol in 2021 led by his supporters.
He referred to January 6 rioters as “hostages” and promised that everyone would be “very happy” with his decision on Monday.
The rally took place at the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington DC, which has a capacity of around 20,000.
It began with a performance by Kid Rock and featured speeches from TV personality Megyn Kelly, actor Jon Voight and Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller.
Elon Musk also gave a brief speech after Trump touted his creation of Doge, an advisory agency that the tech billionaire is set to run with Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur who made a failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Trump’s family also joined him on stage, including sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric, and Eric’s wife Lara Trump.
Supports of the president-elect have flooded the nation’s capital this weekend despite bitterly cold temperatures and snow on Sunday.
Monday’s inauguration ceremony has been relocated indoors into the Rotunda of the US Capitol for the first time in 40 years due to the poor weather conditions, leaving thousands of people who had hoped to watch the ceremony along the National Mall disappointed.
The temperature is expected to be about -6C (22F) at noon local time, when the swearing-in takes place.
Supporters have instead been asked to watch the event from the Capitol One Arena, which will also host a version of the traditional outdoor parade.
Trump has said he will “join the crowd” there after taking the oath of office and delivering his inaugural address. The themes of his speech will reportedly be unity, strength and “fairness”.
Franklin Graham – the son of famous evangelist Billy Graham – will give the invocation during Monday’s inauguration ceremony.
“I think President Trump is a much different man than he was in 2017,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme. “I think God has strengthened him and he’s come through this a much stronger man and he’s going to be a much better president for all these hardships he’s gone through.”
[BBC]
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