A look at President Trump's first full day in the White House
On Monday, Donald Trump took the Oath of Office and was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. He is only the second man in the nation’s history to return to the Oval Office after a hiatus. He has promised to "act with historic speed" – and on his first day in office, he signed more than 200 executive orders. This sweeping, initial wave of policy initiatives concentrated on border security, energy, reducing the cost of living for American families, ending DEI programs across the federal government, and more.
Coverage for this event has ended.
President Donald Trump unveiled plans Tuesday to create artificial intelligence data centers with Softbank, OpenAI, and Oracle as part of the “largest AI infrastructure project in history.”
The project, dubbed Stargate, includes an initial investment of $100 billion that is slated to grow to $500 billion over Trump’s term in office, and will build “colossal” data centers in the U.S. to power AI.
Trump said that the project will create thousands of jobs for Americans who will work in “big, beautiful buildings."
An initial data center will launch in Texas, with others following in other states at a later time.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son joined Trump at the White House to announce the effort.
“That’s a massive group of talent – and money,” Trump said of the CEOs.
President Donald Trump stood by his decision to issue pardons to more than 1,000 people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots.
Trump told reporters Tuesday to “stop interrupting” him as he defended his choice to sign pardons Monday evening for approximately 1,500 defendants who were charged with crimes stemming from the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Trump previously promised in December to move quickly and pardon them.
Additionally, he commuted the sentences of six people on Monday, including the leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist groups.
John Bolton served as Trump's chief national security advisor during his first term
President Donald Trump explained his decision to pull John Bolton's secret service detail during a press conference from the White House Tuesday.
Bolton, who served as Trump's chief national security advisor during his first term before getting fired by the president, had his U.S. Secret Service protection detail discontinued by Trump before his first 24-hours in office even expired.
During Trump's Tuesday press conference, he responded to a reporter's question asking him to explain the move.
"I think that was enough time," Trump responded. "You take a job, you want to do a job we're not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we?"
Trump went on to say he thought Bolton was "a very dumb person" but asserted that he thought he "used him well because every time people saw me come into a meeting with John Bolton standing behind me they thought that he'd attack them because he was a warmonger."
"He's the one that got us involved, along with Cheney and a couple of others, convinced Bush -- which was a terrible decision -- to blow up the Middle East. You know? They blew up the Middle East and we got nothing out of it except a lot of death. We killed a lot of people and John Bolton was one of those guys -- a stupid guy. But, no, you can't have that for life. You shouldn't expect it for life."
Trump (Fox News)
During a press availability on Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced he would be visiting North Carolina and California in the coming days.
Trump made implicit reference to areas of the Smokies decimated by Hurricane Helene , claiming Democrats had abandoned the Tarheel State in the wake of the historic storm that affected a large swath of the U.S. and particularly the area from Damascus, Va., to Augusta, Ga.
Trump also appeared to suggest Democrats and Democratic policy failures in the lead-up to the Los Angeles wildfires have left the party “dead, politically” in California.
“What they’ve done is destroyed [Los Angeles],” he said, speaking of sprinklers without water and hydrants without proper water or pressure.
He said California’s leaders either have “a death wish [or] they are stupid, or there’s something else going on.”
When he travels to California, he may notably encounter one of his longtime political foes, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is now the state’s junior senator.
Vice President JD Vance swore in new GOP Senators Ashley Moody of Florida, and Jon Husted of Ohio on Tuesday, solidifying a 53-seat Republican majority in the upper chamber.
Moody previously served as Florida’s attorney general, and is filling former Sen. Marco Rubio’s U.S. Senate seat. President Trump tapped Rubio to lead the State Department, and the Senate confirmed Rubio to the post Monday.
Husted previously served as Ohio’s lieutenant governor, and is taking over Vance’s Senate seat.
China's flag juxtaposed next to a bag of pills laced with fentanyl
During a press conference Tuesday afternoon from the White House President Donald Trump said he was considering a 10% tariff on China "based on the fact they're sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada," as early as Feb. 1.
Trump said during his press conference that he had previously reached a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the end of his first term to levy the death penalty against people in China trafficking fentanyl to North America, but asserted the deal was never followed through by Joe Biden.
"He should have followed up. Because if they got the death penalty they wouldn't be sending fentanyl to Mexico, Canada and other places," Trump said.
President Donald Trump said that all the Israeli hostages would have died if he hadn’t returned to the White House.
"The hostages are starting to come back,” Trump said. “If I weren't here, they wouldn't be back ever. They would have all died."
Trump’s comments come after Palestinian militant group Hamas recently released three Israeli hostages that were in captivity for almost 500 days, as part of a cease-fire and hostage release agreement. Israel also released 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal.
Fox News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.
Trump and Thune (Getty)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters the congressional Republicans’ meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday “went well [and] covered a lot of ground.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed that sentiment, adding that strategy and priorities for Congress were discussed.
“[It was about] where we are and where we are headed – a great spirit of unity.”Johnson claimed the GOP is “united and excited” to work with the White House during Trump’s second term.
The Speaker added he would not yet give specifics on the supposed “big, beautiful bill” being crafted, but that the effort will be bicameral.
Asked about the January 6 protesters pardoned by Trump, Johnson said he has not had the chance to review the commutations on a case-by-case basis.
Image of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
Several Republican Senators have either publicly disagreed or refused to directly support President Donald Trump's blanket pardons for roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants.
Those Senators include, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Bill Cassidy, R-La.
“The president made that decision. You’ll have to ask him. I will not defend it,” said Rounds.
“I just can’t agree,” Tillis said of Trump’s pardons. “I’m about to file two bills that will increase the penalties up to and including the death penalty for the murder of a police officer and increasing the penalties and creating federal crimes for assaulting a police officer — that should give you everything you need to know about my position.”
“I do not believe those individuals warrant clemency,” said Collins.
However, while Tillis and Collins said they were not supportive of Trump's pardons, they noted that they were equally disappointed with former President Joe Biden's decision to preemptively pardon members of his family.
"I hope anybody who’s going to be critical of what occurred last night is also very critical of a massive overreach by President Biden’s prospective pardons" Tillis said.
“This week has been a terrible week for our justice system,” added Collins.
Other GOP Senators, like Cassidy and Capito, did not directly say they disagreed with President Trump's pardons, but insisted they were against giving breaks to people who attack law enforcement officers.
“I think that whether you’re in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Shreveport, Monroe, Lafayette, Alexandria, Lake Charles or Washington, D.C., it’s wrong to assault anybody — but certainly to assault an officer,” Sen. Cassidy said in response to the pardons.
“I understand why they feel that way,” Capito said referring to the family of Brian Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer who died from a stroke days after the Jan. 6 siege in the U.S. Capitol. The family put out a statement following Trump's pardons calling the move an "undoing of the justice" already determined by the court.
“I think that for me personally, I have great appreciation for the Capitol Police, and I hope they know it and appreciate it," Capito added.
Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense
Democratic Senators on the Armed Services Committee, the main committee that handled Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearings, are reviewing allegations sent to them in an affidavit from Hegseth's former sister-in-law about alleged domestic abuse and other issues in his previous marriage.
The allegations from Danielle Hegseth, who was married to Pete Hegseth's brother, alleged that the Defense Secretary nominee has both a history of alcohol abuse and domestic violence against his ex-wife, Samantha. The allegations argue that Samantha feared for her life so much at a certain point, that she had to run and hide in a closet from her husband.
The accusations have been slammed by Republicans, including Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., who serves on the Armed Services Committee, and President Donald Trump's son, Don Jr.
"This is a desperate, last-minute attempt by Dems and the media to smear Pete Hegseth and tank his nomination," Sheehy said Tuesday on social media. "Pete’s ex-wife is on record saying the claims are false, but the media doesn’t care because it hurts a Republican. Nobody should fall for this."
Meanwhile, Don Jr. slammed a social media post from NBC News' managing editor, Amanda Terkel, that highlighted reporting on the allegations.
"Notice how this 'reporter' doesn't include in her tweet the most important part of their failed hit piece: That Hegseth's ex wife is ON THE RECORD denying these claims," Don Jr. said in post on X. "Shouldn't that be the headline here? This is exactly why we say that the media is the enemy of the people!!!"
Hegseth's nomination received approval along party lines this week from members of the Senate Armed Service Committees. His nomination now goes to a full floor vote in the Senate.
President Donald Trump’s son Eric said his father will deliver “transformational wealth” under his administration, a day after his father vowed to deliver a "golden age” to Americans.
“In my opinion, there has never been a better time to invest in the United States,” Eric Trump said in a post on X. “Bet on our markets, on energy, on technology and on crypto - bet on the greatest nation on earth - a nation that has been freed from its constraints and shackles and now has limitless potential! No question Biden left a mess - but that mess will be corrected and the next four years are going to be spectacular. Transformational wealth will be created and I hope everybody enjoys the ride.”
Already, President Trump has signed more than 100 executive orders , ranging from issuing a regulatory and hiring freeze upon the federal government, preventing “government censorship” of free speech, and directing every department and agency to address the cost of living crisis.
Former President Joe Biden doled out a flurry of pardons during his final days in office, but he did not issue a pardon for Jack Smith, or other figures connected to cases involving President Donald Trump, who has frequently castigated those he feels have unjustly targeted him.
In a post on Truth Social earlier this month, Trump asserted that "Corrupt Democrat judges and prosecutors" had targeted him "at levels of injustice never seen before."
Biden also did not pardon figures Trump has publicly assailed, including Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York Judge Juan Merchan, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Trump has often decried Jack Smith, the special counsel who sought to wage two federal cases against him, but who has now resigned. Trump has repeatedly called the man "Deranged Jack Smith."
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought a case that led to a jury finding Trump guilty of charges of falsifying business records. Bragg has been one of the targets of Trump's ire.
Trump has also excoriated Judge Juan Merchan, who was involved in Trump's New York criminal trial. Earlier this month, ahead of Trump's inauguration as president, Merchan sentenced Trump to an unconditional discharge.
The Georgia Court of Appeals declared Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis disqualified from a Trump-related election interference case.
Excerpted story by Alex Nitzberg.
Alaskan Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan
Both of Alaska's Republican Senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, have said they are against President Donald Trump's push to rename North America's tallest peak located in Alaska, which former President Obama renamed in 2015.
Obama changed the name of the peak in 2015 from Mount McKinley to Mount Denali, a word deriving from the language of Alaska' s Koyukon Athabascan people that means "High One" or "Great One." Trump has previously called those efforts by Obama an "insult to Ohio," where President William McKinley was born.
But neither of Alaska's GOP Senators think bringing back the peak's former name is a good idea, which Trump did on his first day as president via executive order.
“My view on this is to keep it Denali —that’s what the Athabaskan people named it 10,000 years ago. They’re brave. They’re strong. They’re patriotic,” Sen. Sullivan told CNN Tuesday. However, Sullivan added that he was supportive of other day-one executive orders from Trump, such as those related to energy.
"Awful! Awful idea," Sen. Murkowski told local Alaska news outlet KTUU last month. "We already went through this with President Trump back and at the very, very beginning of his first term, when Sen. Sullivan and I went to his office and we were talking about a whole range of things and he raised that issue then and both Dan and I leaned into it."
In addition to renaming the Alaskan peak, Trump also signed an order during his first day in office renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity will present an interview with President Donald Trump from the Oval Office on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.
The "Hannity" exclusive sit-down will be Trump’s first Oval Office interview since returning to the White House. Trump will discuss the executive orders he’s signed thus far, his plans for his first 100 days in office and more.
Trump has signed dozens of executive orders since he was sworn into office on Monday, advancing his administration's goals on issues from illegal immigration to withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
Hannity has been the top-rated program in his timeslot for the past 15 years and is the longest running cable news host in history.
Excerpted story by Brian Flood.
Pro-life supporter holds up sign at D.C's annual March for Life
The Thomas More Society, a pro-life group in Illinois, sent a petition to President Donald Trump urging him to pardon anti-abortion protesters who they say were unfairly targeted under Joe Biden.
"While Biden’s prosecutors almost entirely ignored the firebombing and vandalism of hundreds of pro-life churches and pregnancy centers, they viciously pursued pro-life Americans, obtaining convictions against them under the federal 'FACE Act' and the Ku Klux Klan Act’s 'Conspiracy Against Rights' felony provisions," the group said in its letter to Trump.
Trump indicated more than once during his campaign that he was open to issuing pardons for the FACE Act, passed in 1994, which makes it a federal crime to obstruct people's access to abortion clinics. According to the Thomas More Society, Biden used the FACE Act to increase the sentences of crimes that would have otherwise been minor misdemeanors.
"Peaceable actions like these usually merit, at worst, a minor misdemeanor conviction. And had they been opposing anything but abortion, Joe Biden would have given them medals—instead Biden wanted them branded as ‘convicted felons’ and imprisoned for years in a federal penitentiary," the letter asserted.
Ten of the defendants the group is urging Trump to pardon received prison sentences ranging from 10 to 57 months for protesting in and outside of abortion clinics. Three of the defendants are in their 70's, including Joan Andrews Bell, who, at 76, has seven adult children and seven grandchildren. She was sentenced to over two years in prison.
Fox News' Kristine Parks and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
The Trump administration says it is ready to push back against "the Left’s resistance" in court, after a top civil rights group filed a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants.
"Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda," Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, told Fox News Digital.
"These lawsuits are nothing more than an extension of the Left’s resistance – and the Trump administration is ready to face them in court," he said.
Trump signed the order Monday night, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," which ends birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants.
The order seeks to clarify the 14th Amendment, which states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
Excerpted story by Adam Shaw.
World leaders ranging from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted to President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
While some leaders issued a warm welcome to Trump following his inauguration, other countries responded with less enthusiasm about a second Trump term.
"I believe that working together again we will raise the US-Israel alliance to even greater heights,” Neytanyahu said in a video message posted to X.
Meanwhile, Putin signaled interest in taking up peace discussions with Trump amid the conflict in Ukraine.
"We see the statements by the newly elected President of the United States and members of his team about the desire to restore direct contacts with Russia," Putin said, according to a Reuters translation.
"We also hear his statement about the need to do everything possible to prevent World War III," he added. "We of course welcome this attitude and congratulate the elected President of the United States of America on taking office."
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also extended his congratulations to Trump and Vice President JD Vance, claiming that working together with NATO could deliver “peace through strength.”
"With President Trump back in office we will turbo-charge defense spending and production,” Rutte said in a post on X.
Other leaders, including those from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, also congratulated Trump following his inauguration.
But Trump’s comments vowing to "take back" the Panama Canal, which the U.S. fully handed over to Panama in 1999, prompted Panama President José Raúl Mulino to push back on Trump’s sentiments.
"The Canal is and will continue to be Panama's and its administration will continue to be under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality,” Mulino said in a statement.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
Trump (Fox News)
Congressional Republican leaders met with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, and are expected to give public remarks after their White House summit.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana are expected to address the press as to what was discussed in their first meeting with the new president since he began his second term.
Trump clashed with some congressional Republicans late last year as the federal government was facing a potential shutdown that was ultimately narrowly averted.
Other Republican leaders present at Tuesday’s meeting include House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota and House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain.
On the Senate side, Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming and Conference chairs Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia were also part of the discussion.
While Trump had signed a slew of executive orders on his first day in office, he also signaled eagerness to work with congressional Republicans to pass key parts of his agenda through the legislature.
Migrants from a caravan in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, march while heading to the US border on January 20, 2025 (Getty)
Arizona’s legislature is considering significant legislation to ensure the key border state cooperates with the mass deportation push by the new Trump administration amid questions about the extent to which states will aid the government.
Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican, is introducing the "AZ ICE Act," which would require sheriff’s departments and the Arizona Department of Corrections to enter into co-operative agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The agreements are based on 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows ICE to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers certain immigration functions, including identifying and detaining suspected illegal immigrants."
The 287(g) program allows ICE — through the delegation of specified immigration officer duties — to enhance collaboration with state and local law enforcement partners to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of noncitizens who undermine the safety of our nation’s communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws," ICE’s website says.
Petersen’s bill would also require law enforcement to comply with ICE detainers -- which are requests that ICE be notified when an illegal immigrant is being released from state or local custody. "Sanctuary" jurisdictions do not comply with detainers.
Excerpted from a story by Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs pardons for January 6 defendants in the Oval Office at the White House on Inauguration Day in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
In one of President Donald Trump's first executive actions on Inauguration Day, he terminated nearly 50 former intelligence officials' security details who said the 2020 Hunter Biden laptop had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."
Among the officials was Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton, who said he was "disappointed but not surprised" by Trump's executive order.
Bolton, who departed the Trump administration in November 2019, has continued to receive U.S. Secret Service protection due to reported threats from Iran. Trump ended Bolton's security detail after his first term in 2020, but former President Joe Biden reinstated his protection when he took office.
“Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden’s national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to once again extend Secret Service protection to me in 2021," Bolton told CNN.
The executive order signed Monday night, called the "Holding Former Government Officials Accountable for Election Interference and Improper Disclosure of Sensitive Governmental Information," highlights the actions of 51 former intelligence officials who, in the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election, signed a letter suggesting that the news surrounding Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
"It is the policy of the United States that individuals who hold government-issued security clearances should not use their clearance status to influence U.S. elections," the order reads.
"Federal policymakers must be able to rely on analysis conducted by the Intelligence Community and be confident that it is accurate, crafted with professionalism, and free from politically motivated engineering to affect political outcomes in the United States," the order reads. "The signatories willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions. This fabrication of the imprimatur of the Intelligence Community to suppress information essential to the American people during a Presidential election is an egregious breach of trust reminiscent of a third world country."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon more than 1,000 people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots was “un-American.”
Schumer told reporters Tuesday that the pardons were “un-American,” noting that some of those pardoned were convicted for crimes like seditious conspiracy.
Trump signed pardons Monday evening for approximately 1,500 defendants who were charged with crimes stemming from the riot at the U.S. Capitol, keeping a vow he made in December to move quickly and pardon them.
Additionally, he commuted the sentences of six people on Monday, including the leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist groups.
Marco Rubio was sworn in as Secretary of State Tuesday
Newly sworn in Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed with NBC "Today" show news anchor, Craig Melvin, after being pressed by Melvin about his view on President Donald Trump's decision to pardon Jan. 6 defendants.
Shortly after Rubio was introduced, NBC played a clip of Rubio's past comments condemning the events that took place on Jan. 6, 2021, during which he sarcastically said that Putin would be proud of what took place that day. After the clip, Melvin questioned Rubio on what message Trump's decision to grant pardons to Jan. 6 defendants sends to the rest of the world.
Rubio replied to Melvin that he would not "engage in domestic political debates" considering his new role as Secretary of State. "I hope you guys all understand that my days – at least in the time at the Department of State – of engaging in domestic politics will be put aside as I focus on the affairs the United States has around the world and the engagements we have to have to make our country a safer, stronger, more prosperous place," Rubio added.
Still, Melvin continued pressing Rubio during the segment, following up with a question about whether the move to pardon the Jan. 6 defendants would embolden people to commit future attacks.
"I think it's unfortunate, you know, our first engagement as I agree to come on this morning with you. I'm going to be working on foreign policy issues, and you want to revisit these issues that are going on in domestic politics. I'm just – it's not going to happen," Rubio responded. "If you have questions for me about foreign policy and engaging in the world, I'd be happy to talk to you about those."
ESPN on Monday decided to air a message from President Trump during halftime of the college football national championship between Ohio State and Notre Dame.
Trump could not make the game, which took place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, as he was celebrating his return to the White House and going to inauguration balls.H
is message, however, was clear: "the golden age of America has begun."
"Hello to my great, fellow Americans. This has been a historic and exciting day for our country. In recent years, our people have suffered greatly, but starting now, we’re going to bring America back and make it safer, richer and prouder than ever before," Trump said.
"We’ll have a nation filled with compassion, strength and exceptionalism. Through our power and might, we will stop wars, and we will bring our world to peace. We will be respected again, and we will be admitted again — admired like we haven’t been in many, many years. We’ll put America first, and by doing so, we’re gonna make America great again."
Excerpted story by Ryan Gaydos.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Vance looked visibly annoyed as a bishop delivered a liberal leaning political sermon during the prayer service at the National Cathedral.
Trump, Vance, and their families attended a service at the church on Tuesday as part of a long-held tradition for newly sworn in leaders. However, during the service, the bishop's sermon took a political turn.
"There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families. Some fear for their lives," Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde claimed, before talking about immigration.
"And the people who pick our crops, clean our office buildings, labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat at restaurants and work the night shifts at hospitals, they may not be citizens, or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals," Budde said.
After the sermon, Trump and Vance looked at each other and shook their heads, appearing to be visibly annoyed. The remarks come just one day after Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, signing a day one executive orders declaring a national emergency at the border and that there are only two genders: male and female.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., touted her fiery grillings of college administrators during her confirmation hearing Tuesday for the role of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, telling lawmakers that the exchanges were a "watershed moment" for her that exposed "antisemitic rot" in some U.S. colleges.
"My oversight work led to the most viewed testimony ... in the history of Congress. This hearing with university presidents was heard around the world and viewed billions of times because it exposed the antisemitic rot in colleges and universities, and was a watershed moment in American higher education," Stefanik, President Donald Trump's pick for the U.S. envoy to the U.N., told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday.
Stefanik, a conservative firebrand, has repeatedly grilled "morally bankrupt" college leaders over their handling of antisemitism on campus in the aftermath of Hamas's attack on Israel.
During last year's college school year, agitators and student protesters flooded college campuses nationwide to protest the war in Israel, which sparked instances of antisemitism and prompting more Jewish students to share they do not feel safe on certain campuses.
Most notably, Stefanik grilled Ivy League college administrators from Penn and Harvard, her alma mater, in December 2023 regarding whether "calling for the genocide of Jews" violates the respective school’s codes of conduct.
The school leaders waffled in their responses during the hearing— and shortly after those remarks went viral, both Harvard's former president, Claudine Gay, and Penn's former president, Liz Magill, resigned from their high-profile positions.
Excerpted from Fox News Digital's Emma Colton.
Newly confirmed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters at the State Department in Washington. Reuters Photo.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered his first address from the State Department after being sworn in Tuesday morning by Vice President JD Vance.
Rubio thanked his wife Jeanette and introduced his four children, before introducing lawmakers who have supported him through his nomination promise.
"I want to thank President Trump," he said. "It's an extraordinary honor and privilege to serve in this role."
"I am new to this department but I am not a stranger to it," he said. "Our president, when it comes to foreign policy is centered on one thing, and that is the advancement of our national interest."
Rubio is entering office at time when the U.S. continues to find itself embroiled in conflicts around the globe, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s aggressive tactics in the South China Sea and as a crucial partner in establishing a seemingly tenuous cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas as Jerusalem looks to return the remaining 95 hostages still held in Gaza.
Other major areas of the globe likely to keep Rubio busy will be evolving U.S. relations with Mexico, Panama and potentially, Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he would like to acquire.
"Some of the challenges we face have no historic precedent," Rubio told State Department employees. "Things are moving fast.
"Think about how much the world has changed in the last five years," he added. "My sincerest hope and my prayer us that we will as a nation be able to leave future generations with a country and a planet safer and better that the one that was left for us."
President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, is garnering praise online for shaking former President Joe Biden's and former Vice President Kamala Harris' hands at his father's inauguration on Monday.
"Barron Trump just shook hands with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. This kid will be our President one day. Bet on it," conservative personality Nick Sotor posted to X of the Inauguration Day exchange.
The youngest first son shook Biden's and Harris' hands shortly after his father took the oath of office as the 47th President of the United States. The 18-year-old New York University freshman participated in a handful of inaugural festivities on Monday, including attending a church service at St. John's that morning with his family, as well as the inaugural parade later in the day.
Excerpted from a story by Emma Colton.
President Donald Trump arrived at the Commander-in-Chief Ball shortly after 10 p.m. ET on Monday and shared his First Dance with first lady Melania Trump – his first of three ball appearances that night.
Shortly after the band played "Americans, We," Trump was introduced by an emcee at the Walter Washington Convention Center in Mount Vernon Square. The event is geared toward service members.
For his first dance, Trump and the first lady danced to a contemporary rendition of Julia Ward Howe’s 1861 Civil War anthem "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
The song was the clarion call of the Union Army of the Potomac – and the opposite number to the Confederate Army’s "Dixie."
Fox News' Charles Creitz and Alec Schemmel contributed to this post.
A bulletproof vest worn by federal immigration officials
President Donald Trump's day one executive orders included a move to limit restrictions placed on federal immigration officials under the Biden administration.
Previously, under a memo signed by Biden's Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, federal immigration officials were restricted from enforcing immigration laws in certain "protected areas," such as schools, healthcare facilities and places of worship, among others.
Under Trump's Inauguration Day reversal of that order, immigration officials are now told to use "a healthy dose of common sense" alongside that same discretion. The memo states further that it is not the purview of the Secretary of Homeland Security to "create bright line rules regarding where our immigration laws are permitted to be enforced."
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents who spoke to Fox News Digital said the move will free them up to go after more illegal immigrants.
Meanwhile, a second day one order from Trump ordered a review of the Biden administration's expanded use of humanitarian parole. The new order emphasizes that the authority be used going forward on a "case-by-case basis," noting that parole authority has been "abused" in the past and should only be "a limited use authority, applicable only in a very narrow set of circumstances."
Under the humanitarian parole memo the heads of ICE and Customs and order Protection are directed to compile a list of instructions, policies and procedures related to parole, review them, and formulate a plan to phase out any that are not in accord with the statute.
EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are moving to back up President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship as it faces an expected flurry of legal challenges.
House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Brian Babin, R-Texas, is planning to introduce a new bill on the issue this week, Fox News Digital was told, with more than 20 GOP lawmakers already signing on to co-sponsor the effort.
Babin told Fox News Digital that he saw an issue both with people coming over the U.S.-Mexico border illegally and having children here, and wealthier foreigners coming to the U.S. just to have children, colloquially known as "birth tourism."
Like Trump’s order, his bill would limit birthright citizenship to babies born with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or a lawful non-citizen serving in the U.S. military. It would exclude children born to illegal immigrants or parents on temporary visas.
Babin said he discussed the bill with members of Trump’s circle before the executive order was issued.
Doug Collins testifies at VA confirmation hearing
Veterans Affairs secretary nominee Doug Collins promised the agency he's been tapped to lead would not be involved in migrant healthcare, after reports it had been doing just that.
"In 2023 it was reported to us the VA specialty care system was funding illegal aliens health care would you please look into that?" Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., asked.
"Yes senator I will. I do not believe any money taken outside of the VA to help the veteran is a worthy cause for the money that has been appropriated for the veteran," said Collins.
An effort by the VA to help ICE process health care treatment for illegal immigrants despite a growing backlog of U.S. veterans led to uproar among Republicans last year.
The arrangement between the VA's Financial Service Center (VA-FSC) and ICE to process claims for migrant medical care is a longstanding one that actually predates the Biden administration and was outlined in a 2020 memo during former President Donald Trump's administration.
When an illegal migrant under ICE detention requires health care, they are typically treated onsite by medical professionals. However, if specialist or emergency care is required, they may be taken to an independent private provider.In such cases, ICE contracts with the VA’s Financial Service Center (VA-FSC) to process reimbursements to those providers. According to a report from July, ICE has hundreds of letters of understanding in which ICE’s Health Service Corps (IHSC) will reimburse providers at Medicare rates. That uses the VA-FSC’s Healthcare Claims Processing System, which is a portal that allows providers to submit and view claims and access other resources.
(Getty Images)
In 2022 then-Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., penned an op-ed for Fox News Digital touting the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice bill, as "the most significant change to our justice system in decades."
The legislation enacted several changes in U.S. federal criminal law aimed at reforming federal prisons and sentencing laws in order to reduce recidivism, decreasing the federal inmate population, and maintaining public safety.
President Donald Trump's VA secretary nominee wrote: "To date, over 7,500 folks have been able to regain their lives after the passage of the First Step Act. These are Americans who made mistakes years ago, received unduly harsh penalties that sent them to prison for decades, and have now regained their freedom. This year, they get to spend Christmas at home with their families thanks to this legislation.
"It goes to show that when it comes to criminal justice reform, major progress is more than possible; I’ve witnessed it firsthand."
(Getty Images)
President Donald Trump and his family are attending a prayer service at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. to kick off his first full day as the 47th president of the United States.,
Since the inauguration of former President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, newly sworn-in presidents and their second in command have attended a prayer service to mark their first day in office.
Trump will attend the service at 11 am on Tuesday, where Vice President Vance and his family will also be in attendance. Several other government and community leaders were also invited to attend this year’s service
The service will be held to "will welcome our interfaith and ecumenical partners to pray for guidance in the years ahead," according to the National Cathedral website. The service will be led by Washington Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, Cathedral Dean Randy Hollerith and Bishop Ann Ritonia.
Senate Finance Committee lawmakers voted Tuesday to confirm President Donald Trump's nominee for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, a 16-11 vote of approval that sends his confirmation to the Senate for a full floor vote.
Democrat Sens. Maggie Hassan and Mark Warner joined Republicans on the panel to vote in favor of Bessent, Fox News has learned.
Before lawmakers voted Tuesday, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, praised Bessent as a leader who "understands the challenges of everyday families."
"He's a person who's lived the American dream," Marshall said of Bessent.
Speaking to Senate lawmakers last week, Bessent outlined his desire to extend Trump’s 2017 individual tax cuts, defended Trump's proposed tariffs, and urged harsher Russian sanctions, particularly on its oil sector.
Reporting by Fox News's Breanne Deppisch and Fox News Radio's Ryan Schmelz.
As Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., appears Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to seek confirmation to Donald Trump’s Cabinet as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, several former diplomats who spoke to Fox News Digital say that an immediate concern for her should be reining in U.S. expenditures at the world body.
Outflows to the organization grew from $11.6 billion in 2020 to $18.1 billion in 2022, when the U.S. covered one-third of the total UN budget.
A former senior U.S. diplomat told Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity that, with "many different tasks in front of her, [Stefanik] will need to be selective about what she really wants to pursue." The diplomat cited chief areas of concern as cronyism and corruption, and employing more Americans at the UN.
He said the UN is "an organization that doesn’t align often with U.S. foreign policy," which makes it "kind of weird to be pouring in all this money," and then "seeing a lot of anti-American sentiment and support of causes that we take issue with."
Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Treasury Department, sparred with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., over whether the U.S. is heading toward an oligarchy during his first confirmation hearing last week.
President Biden said in his farewell address that "an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights, freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead."
In response, Sanders said he agreed with Biden and specifically called out tech giants Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg during Bessent’s confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Finance Committee. "The three billionaires you listed all made their money themselves," Bessent said Thursday. "Mr. Musk came to the country as an immigrant."
Sanders cut Bessent off and reiterated his question.
"Well, I would note that President Biden gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two people who I think would qualify for his oligarchs," Bessent said.
Scott Bessant attending the Trump inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Senate Finance Committee lawmakers are voting now on the confirmation of President Donald Trump's nominee for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent.
Bessent, a billionaire political donor, investor, and businessman who formerly worked with George Soros, said at his confirmation haring that fiscal spending is "out of control," and endorsed harsher Russian sanctions, among other things.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal expressed concerns about President Donald Trump's hiring freeze at government agencies.
"I was chagrined yesterday that there was no mention in our address by President Trump about veterans," Blumenthal, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, said at the start of a confirmation hearing for VA secretary nominee Doug Collins.
"I was disappointed to see in the executive orders that a hiring freeze will be opposed, apparently, on the VA. I am hopeful that you Congressman Collins, I’m going to be very blunt will be the kind of advocate for VA and our veterans will need in this administration. There will be potentially heavy pressures on you to cut and slash to reduce access and eligibility, because the VA frankly is a target rich environment for cost cutters."
He warned Collins to fight back on Trump's cost-cutting efforts.
A day one executive order signed by Trump directs federal agencies not to fill any vacant federal positions or create any new roles, except those deemed essential for national security matters. He also directed the Office of Personnel Management, Office of Management and Budget to work with the Department of Government Efficiency to submit a plan for reducing the size of the federal government “through efficiency improvements and attrition.”
"I hope you'll push back strongly on inappropriate influences that operate outside of well-established federal transparency rules," he said. "There will undoubtedly be pressure on you to scale back and cut costs at every opportunity but I can't emphasize how important it will be to me and I hope all of us on this committee that you fight those efforts with every fiber of your being."
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department, Scott Bessent, challenged Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., about whether the U.S. and China are facing a clean energy race against one another during his first confirmation hearing last week.
Wyden questioned Bessent, who appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday for a confirmation hearing, about whether he would back the Trump administration to advance policies to promote natural oil and gas.
“We are in a clean arms race in clean energy with China,” Wyden said. “Are you going to be on the side of people who want to unravel this?”
“Just so we can frame this for everyone in this room – China will build one hundred new coal plants this year,” Bessent said. “There is not a clean energy race. There's an energy race.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) speaks after he was sworn in by Vice President J.D. Vance. Photo by ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images
Newly sworn in Secretary of State State Marco Rubio said he would take "15 seconds" to speak in Spanish during his ceremony and said “I know a lot of the people back home would be very proud, and I want to make sure I acknowledge that.”
In Spanish Rubio said, “I give thanks to God, to my family, including my family who is not here with us today."
"To my dad, who came to this country in 1956. And the purpose of his life was that we would be able to live the dream that wasn’t possible for him. It’s an incredible honor to be the Secretary of State of the most powerful and best country in the history of all humanity," he added.
Rubio also thanked President Donald Trump for the opportunity, before then switching back to English, at which pointed he turned to Vice President JD Vance and joked, “I just said I saved a bunch of money by switching to Geico," drawing laughs from the room.
Danielle Wallace contributed to this post.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (Getty Images)
Two of President Trump's cabinet nominees are set to be grilled by members of the Senate on Tuesday afternoon, marking the first confirmation hearings of the first full day of the new Republican administration.
Former Rep. Doug Collins, Trump's pick to head the Veterans Affairs Department, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Trump's nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will both begin their confirmation hearings around 10 am EST.
Collins, an Air Force Reserve chaplain, will testify before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, while Stefanik faces questioning from members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Several of Trump's key nominees underwent confirmation hearings last week, with Sen. Marco Rubio being the first to be officially confirmed as Secretary of State of Tuesday. Still awaiting confirmation are Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi, and Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum.
Two more of President Donald Trump's nominees will face questions from senators Tuesday, while a third, Treasury nominee Scott Bessent, will get a committee vote.
Former Rep. Doug Collins, an Air Force Reserve chaplain, will testify before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee as he seeks confirmation to lead the Veterans Affairs Department.
And Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as Trump's nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
The Senate Finance Committee, meanwhile, will convene at 10:15 a.m. and vote on whether to advance Bessent's nomination to be secretary of the Treasury. Collins will be the first potential cabinet official to receive a hearing after Trump's whirlwind of a first day in office.
After announcing that a "Golden Age of America" had begun in his inaugural address, the president swiftly took more than 200 executive actions on Monday to see his policy vision come to life. It remains for the Senate to confirm the key officials who will carry out Trump's orders.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Chris Pandolfo.
Florida Republican Marco Rubio was sworn in as the next Secretary of State on Tuesday by Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday.
Standing alongside his wife, Jeanette, who he thanked for her support, Rubio pledged to uphold the "promises" made by Donald Trump from the campaign trail.
"His primary promise when it comes to foreign policy is that the priority of the United States Department of State will be the United States - it will be furthering the national interest of this country," he told reporters following his swearing in ceremony. "He's given us a very clear mandate.
"Everything we do must be justified by the answer to one of three questions, does it make us stronger? Does it make us safer? And does it make us more prosperous? If it doesn't do one of those three things, we will not do it," Rubio said.
Rubio, who sailed through this confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations last week, was the first to be approved to President Trump's Cabinet after the upper chamber unanimously voted to approve his appointment on Monday.
Rubio served as U.S. senator since 2011 prior to this nomination by Trump last year following his November win for the White House.
The Florida Republican is among the least divisive figures Trump Cabinet choices, enjoying bipartisan support and confirmed unanimously Monday.
President Donald Trump used his first day back in the White House to sign a flurry of new memos, executive orders and rollbacks of Biden-era policies, delivering on what the administration described as his promises to U.S. voters.
The White House social media accounts, which now officially belong to the Trump administration, highlighted the many new actions Trump took on his first day in office.
The White House noted on X that Trump used the afternoon to sign more than 40 executive orders and memos, launch over 200 executive actions, and speak to reporters for some 60 minutes in an Oval Office briefing.
"Promises Made, Promises KEPT," the White House account added.
The actions include pardons of more than 1,000 persons convicted in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a national emergency declaration the U.S.-Mexico border, and withdrawing the U.S., for the second time, from the Paris climate accord.
“With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense,” Trump said during his inaugural ceremony remarks. “The Golden Age of America begins right now.”
Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders are meeting with President Trump on Tuesday
Congressional Republican leaders are meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday afternoon to discuss his agenda, sources told Fox News Digital.
The top four House GOP leaders – Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain, R-Mich. – are all expected to attend, Fox News Digital was told.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., are also reportedly attending.
The meeting is scheduled to occur at 3 p.m. ET, after Trump meets privately with Johnson and Thune. It comes a day after Trump signed a flurry of executive orders rolling back former President Biden’s policies and installing several of his own on issues like border security and immigration.
Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, Republicans have been debating how to proceed with a massive conservative policy overhaul using a process known as budget reconciliation – which will require buy-in from nearly all GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate.
Donald Trump supporters who attended the president's parade at Capital One Arena in downtown D.C. on Inauguration Day and in the weekend festivities shared their experiences braving the freezing temperatures in the nation's capital.
"This morning we got up at 4. We got on the train at 5 [in the morning] and got here, and already the line was forming," one Trump supporter said, noting they traveled from Texas to attend. "We stayed in the cold weather for five hours."
The cold was so punishing Sunday that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser activated a city-wide hypothermia alert— which did nothing to deter Trump's supporters.
Gina Raper, a Trump fan from North Carolina, told Fox News that she arrived as early as Friday to attend Trump's Sunday rally ahead of the formal swearing-in ceremony and "stood out all day in the rain" to secure a seat there.
"Then we were there at, like, 4:30 or 5 this morning, all day" Monday ensure they got to attend the parade as well, she said.
The back-to-back events at Capital One arena served largely as victory laps, both for the president and for his longtime fans.
Rallygoers descended into Washington in droves and saw their endurance tested by the sheets of rain, sleet and snow that came in waves as temperatures plummeted.
Still, lines to get in the door wrapped around city blocks and weaved through miles of 10-foot fencing designed to block off roads and bolster security. Wait times varied, but most waited for hours.
When asked what they hope to see out of the new Trump administration, the supporters who spoke to Fox News Digital highlighted Trump's plans to secure the border and "rebuild" the military.
One supporter said he was hoping to see the new Trump administration challenge the pharmaceutical and food industries, which are priorities of Trump's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Reporting by Breanne Deppisch and Alec Schemmel
The White House has brought back the famous Diet Coke button so that President Donald Trump can order his drink of choice easily from the Oval Office.
The red button, which is hidden in a wooden box and was used by Trump during his first term, was again spotted on the Resolute Desk after he was sworn in as the 47th president Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Oval Office, where presidents meet with foreign heads of state, congressional leaders and deliver the presidential address, is an area of the White House often personalized to reflect the values and goals of the incoming commander in chief.
"We're going to be going over to the beautiful Oval Office, one of the great offices in history, even if it wasn't beautiful, it's the Oval Office, but it is beautiful, and we love the Oval Office," Trump said at the Capitol One Arena on Monday following the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol. "Wars start and then there. Everything starts and ends at the Oval Office."
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Danielle Wallace.
President Trump plans to announce a "massive" new infrastructure initiative on his first full day in office, the White House teased Tuesday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt teased the announcement during an interview on "FOX & Friends" Tuesday morning. She said Trump will hold an event at 4 p.m. to detail the initiative.
Leavitt confirmed that the initiative does not relate to the wildfires in California, as Trump has already signed executive orders relating to that crisis.
Trump has signed dozens of executive orders since he was sworn into office on Monday, advancing his administration's goals on issues from illegal immigration to withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
The Second Inaugural Address of President Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States, was superb. It should be remembered as the "Golden Age of America" speech, but it will probably just be referenced as Trump’s Second Inaugural.
It was Abraham Lincoln who borrowed from the Book of Proverbs when he described the American commitment to individual liberty as the "apple of gold" protected by the Constitution’s "frame of silver."
Lincoln declared in 1861 that "there is in the Union a crucial promise of ‘Liberty to all’" and noted it was "the principle that clears the path for all — gives hope to all — and, by consequence, enterprise, and industry to all."
"The expression of that principle," asserted Lincoln, "in our Declaration of Independence, was most happy, and fortunate." Our greatest president continued: "Without this, as well as with it, we could have declared our independence of Great Britain; but without it, we could not, I think, have secured our free government, and consequent prosperity. No oppressed people will fight and endure, as our fathers did, without the promise of something better than a mere change of masters."
This is an excerpt from an opinion article by Hugh Hewitt
President Donald Trump sees "great promise" in the United Nations, according to his UN ambassador nominee Elise Stefanik, who said she would bring "reform" to the organization.
"When discussing this nomination with President Trump, the President shared with me that he sees great promise in the United Nations if it focuses on its founding mission of international peace and security. President Trump has long advocated for peace and no new wars," she will say, according to excerpts of her opening statement for Tuesday's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, obtained by Fox News Digital.
She will pledge to support Israel – as it faces chronic criticism for the war in Gaza – and work to ensure the agency is using U.S. tax dollars to advance U.S. interests.
Stefanik, who currently serves as the House GOP Conference chair, is expected to sail to confirmation in the U.N. role. Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, has already said he will vote for her – they are both strong Israel supporters. She served on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, but she went viral for her work on the other side of the table last year when she questioned university presidents and their policies surrounding pro-Gaza protests during Education Committee hearings.
As Congress has found, TikTok represents a serious threat to U.S. national security. It allows the Chinese government to access vast troves of data on TikTok’s 170 million American users. On Friday, the Supreme Court held that Congress’s 2024 Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which requires the sale or closure of TikTok, did not violate the First Amendment.
Nevertheless, the Trump administration reportedly will issue an executive order this week suspending the law for 90 days. According to press accounts, Trump aides say he needs time to make a deal to keep the social media site open.
But such an order may well violate the 2024 Act. The law gave TikTok 270 days to find a buyer or face a shut down – that time period ended on January 19, 2025. Trump has two problems. One, he takes office January 20, 2025, on day after the sale-or-divest requirement has already taken effect. There is no 270-day period left to extend. TikTok must close or be sold before Trump took office. Professors don’t give students an extension after a paper’s due date has already passed.
Getty Images
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance will attend the Washington National Cathedral's interfaith Service of Prayer for the Nation this morning, one day after the presidential inauguration.
“We are in a unique moment in our country’s history,” the Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, Dean of Washington National Cathedral, said in a recent statement. “This will be a service for all Americans, for the well-being of our nation, for thanksgiving of our democracy and the importance of the core values that must undergird our life together.”
Pope Francis shared his prayers and extended "cordial greetings" to Trump ahead of his inaugural ceremony Monday morning.
"I ask God to guide your efforts in promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples," Pope Francis said in a message addressed to the then-president-elect.
"On the occasion of your inauguration as the forty-seventh President of the United States of America, I offer cordial greetings and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom, strength, and protection in the exercise of your high duties," his message read.
The men who held the nation’s highest office before President Donald Trump remained mum on his taking the presidency on Monday.
All four living former presidents – Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden – attended the inauguration ceremony, and sat behind Trump as he gave a politically charged speech about his vision for the future of the country.
None had any public well-wishes for the incoming president after the swearing-in ceremony. Asked whether they planned to put out a statement on it, none of their offices responded Monday afternoon.
Biden only addressed his supporters and staffers in remarks before boarding a government helicopter to be whisked away from Washington, D.C.
"We're leaving office, we're not leaving the fight," he told them.
Two of President Trump's nominees will testify before the Senate today.
Veterans Affairs Secretary nominee Doug Collins is expected to speak before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, starting at 9 a.m.
Ambassador to the UN pick Elise Stefanik will appear before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations at 10 a.m.
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted yesterday to recommend Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth for confirmation yesterday on a party-line vote.
Hegseth faced a Senate grilling last week from Democrats in his committee hearing, including his previous comments related to women serving in military combat roles, and was also interrupted by protesters who disturbed the hearing at some points.
Trump nominated Hegseth in November, just days after his decisive election win over Vice President Harris, lauding him "as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country."
Live Coverage begins here