He’s emboldened, he’s organized and he’s still Trump: Takeaways from the president’s opening days

He’s emboldened, he’s organized and he’s still Trump: Takeaways from the president’s opening days
Donald Trump takes his oath as president at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 26 January 2025
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He’s emboldened, he’s organized and he’s still Trump: Takeaways from the president’s opening days

He’s emboldened, he’s organized and he’s still Trump: Takeaways from the president’s opening days
  • Within hours of being sworn in, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people who were convicted or charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters
  • In a matter of days he uprooted four years of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government
  • He has acted to try to end civil service protections for many federal workers and overturn more than a century of law on birthright citizenship

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s first week in office isn’t over yet, but already it offers signals about how his next four years in the White House may unfold.
Some takeaways from the earliest days of his second term:
He’s emboldened like never before
Within hours of being sworn in, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people who were convicted or charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters. Those pardoned include people who attacked, bloodied and beat police officers that day. The Republican president’s decision was at odds with earlier comments by his incoming vice president, JD Vance, and other senior aides that Trump would only let off those who weren’t violent.
The pardons were the first of many moves he made in his first week to reward allies and punish critics, in both significant and subtle ways. It signaled that without the need to worry about reelection — the Constitution bars a third term — or legal consequences after the Supreme Court granted presidents expansive immunity, the new president, backed by a Republican Congress, has little to restrain him.
Trump ended protective security details for Dr. Anthony Fauci, his former COVID-19 adviser, along with former national security adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his onetime deputy. The security protections had been regularly extended by the Biden administration over credible threats to the men’s lives.
Trump also revoked the security clearances of dozens of former government officials who had criticized him, including Bolton, and directed that the portrait of a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, retired Gen. Mark Milley be removed from the Pentagon walls.
He’s way more organized this time

In his first days in office, Trump demonstrated just how much he and his team had learned from four often-chaotic years in the White House and four more in political exile.
A president’s most valuable resource is time and Trump set out in his first hours to make his mark on the nation with executive orders, policy memoranda and government staffing shake-ups. It reflected a level of sophistication that eluded him in his first term and surpassed his Democratic predecessors in its scale and scope for their opening days in the Oval Office.
Feeling burned by the holdover of Obama administration appointees during his first go-around, Trump swiftly exiled Biden holdovers and moved to test new hires for their fealty to his agenda.
In a matter of days he uprooted four years of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government, sent federal troops to the US-Mexico border and erased Biden’s guardrails on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency development.
In his first term, Trump’s early executive orders were more showpieces than substance and frequently were blocked by federal courts. This time, Trump is still confronting the limits of his constitutional authorities, but is also far more adept at controlling what is within them.
But Trump is still Trump
An hour after concluding a relatively sedate inaugural address in the Capitol Rotunda, Trump decided to let loose.
Speaking to an overflow crowd of governors, political supports and dignitaries in the Capitol Visitor Center’s Emancipation Hall, Trump ripped in to Biden, the Justice Department and other perceived rivals. He followed it up with an even longer speech to supporters at a downtown arena and in more than 50 minutes of remarks and questions and answers with reporters in the Oval Office.
For all of Trump’s experience and organization, he is still very much the same Donald Trump, and just as intent as before on dominating the center of the national conversation. If not more.
Courts may rein Trump in or give him expansive new powers
He has acted to try to end civil service protections for many federal workers and overturn more than a century of law on birthright citizenship. Such moves have been a magnet for legal challenges. In the case of the birthright citizenship order, it met swift criticism from US District Judge John Coughenour, who put a temporary stay on Trump’s plans.
“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is,” Coughenour, who was nominated by Republican President Ronald Reagan, told a Justice Department attorney. “This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.”
How those court cases play out will determine not only the fate of some of Trump’s most controversial actions, but just how far any president can go in pushing an agenda.
Trump is betting that oil can grease the economy’s wheels and fix everything
The president likes to call it “liquid gold.”
His main economic assumption is that more oil production by the United States, OPEC would bring down prices. That would reduce overall inflation and cut down on the oil revenues that Russia is using to fund its war in Ukraine.
For Trump, oil is the answer.
He’s betting that fossil fuels are the future, despite the climate change risks.
“The United States has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we’re going to use it,” Trump said in a Thursday speech. “Not only will this reduce the cost of virtually all goods and services, it’ll make the United States a manufacturing superpower and the world capital of artificial intelligence and crypto”
The problem with billionaires is they’re rivals, not super friends
Trump had the world’s wealthiest men behind him on the dais when he took the oath of office on Monday.
Tesla’s Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and LVMH’s Bernard Arnault were all there. SoftBank billionaire Masayoshi Son was in the audience. Later in the week, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and OpenAI’s Sam Altman appeared with Son at the White House to announce an artificial intelligence investment of up to $500 billion.
Musk, the Trump backer who is leading the president’s Department of Government Efficiency effort, posted on X that SoftBank didn’t have the money. Altman, a rival to to Musk on AI, responded over X that the funding was there.
By surrounding himself with the wealthiest people in tech, Trump is also stuck in their drama.
“The people in the deal are very, very smart people,” Trump said Thursday. “But Elon, one of the people, he happens to hate. But I have certain hatreds of people, too.”
Trump has a thing for William McKinley
America’s 25th president has a big fan in Trump. Trump likes the tariffs that were imposed during Republican William McKinley’s presidency and helped to fund the government. Trump has claimed the country was its wealthiest in the 1890s when McKinley was in office.
But McKinley might not be a great economic role model for the 21st century.
For starters, the Tax Foundation found that federal receipts were equal to just 3 percent of the overall economy in 1900, McKinley’s reelection year. Tax revenues are now equal to about 17 percent of the US economy and that’s still not enough to fund the government without running massive deficits. So it would be hard to go full McKinley without some chaos.
As Dartmouth College economist Douglas Irwin noted on X, the economic era defined by McKinley was not that great for many people.
“There was a little something called the Panic of 1893 and the unemployment rate was in double digits from 1894-98!!” Irwin wrote. “Not a great decade!”


Trump says he discussed ending Ukraine war with Russia’s Putin

Trump says he discussed ending Ukraine war with Russia’s Putin
Updated 14 sec ago
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Trump says he discussed ending Ukraine war with Russia’s Putin

Trump says he discussed ending Ukraine war with Russia’s Putin
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday about starting negotiations immediately to end the war in Ukraine.
“We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelensky, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform.

Indonesia, Turkiye agree to set up drone factory during Erdogan’s visit

Indonesia, Turkiye agree to set up drone factory during Erdogan’s visit
Updated 12 February 2025
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Indonesia, Turkiye agree to set up drone factory during Erdogan’s visit

Indonesia, Turkiye agree to set up drone factory during Erdogan’s visit
  • Indonesian, Turkish leaders agree to speed up CEPA talks, increase trade to $10 billion
  • Drone factory joint venture deal signed by Turkiye’s Baykar and Indonesia’s Republikorp

JAKARTA: Indonesian and Turkish defense companies agreed on Wednesday to set up a jointly operated drone factory, as the two countries signed a series of deals during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

Erdogan arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday to co-chair with his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto, the first meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council — a bilateral mechanism for state-level negotiations.

After the council meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a joint venture deal between Turkish drone maker Baykar and Indonesian defense firm Republikorp at the Bogor Palace, West Java.

“Indonesia and Turkiye will also strengthen our defense and security cooperation, including education and training for our armed forces, intelligence partnership and counter-terrorism efforts. We also agreed to increase our cooperation and joint production in the defense industry,” Prabowo said during a joint press conference.

“Our meeting was active and productive, we have the same commitment to strengthen our partnership.”

The agreement to set up a drone factory in Indonesia was signed by Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar and Republikorp Chairman Norman Joesoef. Details of the deal were not immediately available.

Baykar drones, particularly unmanned aerial combat vehicle Bayraktar TB2, gained global prominence after they were used by Ukraine’s military against Russian forces following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Indonesia and Turkiye — both members of the Group of 20 biggest economies — also agreed to speed up negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or CEPA, to boost bilateral trade, worth about $2.4 billion in 2024.

They signed nine agreements, which besides defense, covered trade, higher education, health care and agriculture.

“We considered it important to enhance our cooperation across various fields,” Erdogan said.

“We will work toward increasing our annual bilateral trade to $10 billion with balanced values. We are committed to do all things necessary to realize this commitment.”


UK Muslim, Jewish leaders present reconciliation accord to King Charles after summit

UK Muslim, Jewish leaders present reconciliation accord to King Charles after summit
Updated 12 February 2025
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UK Muslim, Jewish leaders present reconciliation accord to King Charles after summit

UK Muslim, Jewish leaders present reconciliation accord to King Charles after summit
  • Chief rabbi: Agreement represents ‘bold first step towards rebuilding meaningful trust’

LONDON: Senior Muslim and Jewish leaders from Britain held a secret summit that resulted in the signing of a historic reconciliation accord that was presented to King Charles III, The Times reported.

The summit was hosted last month at the 17th-century Drumlanrig Castle in Scotland and involved 11 religious leaders.

The resulting agreement, dubbed the Drumlanrig Accord, was presented to the king on Tuesday.

He hailed the “marvellous exercise” and said the “least he could do” was host the religious leaders.

The summit, held at the invitation of the duke of Buccleuch, aimed to repair ties between the UK’s Muslim and Jewish communities in the wake of the Gaza war.

“The leaders were honoured to be able to present a copy of the accord to his majesty the king at Buckingham Palace, underscoring its profound national and societal significance,” the group of faith leaders said.

“A new framework for engagement … built on mutual respect, dialogue and practical collaboration” between British Muslims and Jews was laid out in the accord. It highlights the shared spiritual heritage of the two faiths.

Both communities committed to working together on “practical initiatives that support the most vulnerable.”

Observers hope that the accord will lead to the establishment of a joint body that could monitor Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents in Britain.

The idea for the summit was put forward by the chief imam of the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society, Sayed Razawi, who had been working for a year to bring Muslim and Jewish figures together for dinners and meetings.

Ephraim Mirvis, chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, also played a key role.

Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam were represented. Civil servants and community groups also attended.

Razawi said: “Initially people were slightly nervous as they were coming in and saw this huge castle that takes your breath away, but within an hour and a half people were best of friends, joking, talking about each other’s families, discussing issues and problems.”

After eight hours of discussion, the faith leaders agreed upon the accord. They met again on Tuesday at Spencer House in London to sign the document, before walking together to Buckingham Palace to present it to the king.

Mirvis said the accord represents “a bold first step towards rebuilding a meaningful trust between Muslim and Jewish communities over the long term.

“They do not gloss over our differences; they acknowledge them. But they also send out a powerful message that in times of division, when it is far easier to retreat into fear and suspicion, we are prepared to take the more challenging path to reconciliation.”


Gaza family gets UK residency through Ukraine visa program

Gaza family gets UK residency through Ukraine visa program
Updated 12 February 2025
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Gaza family gets UK residency through Ukraine visa program

Gaza family gets UK residency through Ukraine visa program
  • Home Office rejection of family’s claim breached their human rights: Judge
  • They faced ‘dire situation’ amid ‘daily threats to their lives from Israeli military attacks’

London: A Palestinian family fleeing Gaza have been granted the right to live in Britain through a scheme for Ukrainian refugees.

The family of six refugees were granted anonymity and permitted to join their brother in the UK following the ruling.

It is believed to be the first time refugees from outside Ukraine have used the Ukraine Family Scheme to receive residency rights.

An original rejection of the family’s claim by the Home Office breached their human rights, an immigration judge, Hugo Norton-Taylor, ruled.

More than 70,000 visas were granted to Ukrainians and their family members through the scheme, which launched in March 2022 and closed in February last year.

The Palestinian family applied through the scheme in January 2024, a month before it closed, arguing that their situation was “compelling” enough to justify an exception to the rules.

The mother, father and four children aged 7, 8, 17 and 19 were living in a Gaza refugee camp.

They faced “daily threats to their lives from Israeli military attacks” after an airstrike destroyed their home, the judge said. The family’s sponsor arrived in Britain in 2007 and is now a citizen.

Documents show that Norton-Taylor found that they were living in a “dire situation.” The family were exposed to a humanitarian crisis resulting from “the Israeli government’s indiscriminate attempts to eliminate Hamas.”

An initial rejection of their claim by a Home Office tribunal argued that instituting a resettlement scheme for Palestinians was not the body’s responsibility.

But Norton-Taylor found that the rejection interfered with their right to a family life. He highlighted the “incredibly dangerous” situation for Palestinians in Gaza and warned of the family’s “high risk of death.”

A Home Office spokesperson said the department had contested the claim “rigorously,” adding: “The latter court ruled against us on the narrow facts of this specific case.

“Nevertheless, we are clear that there is no resettlement route from Gaza, and we will continue to contest any future claims that do not meet our rules.”


Bangladesh cuts airfare for Saudi-bound migrant workers

Bangladesh cuts airfare for Saudi-bound migrant workers
Updated 12 February 2025
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Bangladesh cuts airfare for Saudi-bound migrant workers

Bangladesh cuts airfare for Saudi-bound migrant workers
  • Under the new scheme, base fares for flights to the Kingdom are set at $360
  • Workers must be registered with Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training

DHAKA: The Bangladeshi government has introduced a special discounted airfare to reduce migration costs for expat workers traveling to Saudi Arabia and other foreign employment destinations, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism said on Wednesday.

The decision was issued by the ministry in a circular on Tuesday, directing all airlines and travel agencies operating in the country to provide special fares for Bangladeshis traveling on work visas.

“It’s an inter-ministerial coordinated decision aimed at reducing the burden on our remittance earners. We have instructed all airlines operating in Bangladesh to adhere to these base fare guidelines,” said Abu Naser Khan, additional secretary at the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.

“Our migrants have been burdened by the high cost of airfare. Our chief adviser, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, is deeply sympathetic to the plight of migrant workers, and this base fare reduction has been implemented following his guidance and approval.”

The national flag carrier, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, has already approved the reduced fare scheme, while other carriers need to take measures by the end of next week to decrease ticket prices.

“A task force has been formed to monitor the situation on the ground. Led by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, this task force will include representatives from all relevant stakeholders,” Khan said.

“Bangladeshi migrants who are traveling as new recruits to any country with a smart card issued by the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training are eligible for this opportunity.”

The decision is to prevent travel agencies from manipulating ticket prices.

“There was a trend here in Bangladesh to book the air tickets much earlier without the details of the passengers. This practice creates a crisis in the availability of the tickets, forcing the migrants to pay a high fare,” said Afsia Jannat Saleh, secretary general of the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh.

“This system was called group booking. The agents booked tickets at the rate of $300-400, but the migrants needed to pay up to $900 for a one-way ticket.”

Most Bangladeshi expat workers look for opportunities in Saudi Arabia, where about 3 million of them live and work. They are the largest expat group in the Kingdom and the largest Bangladeshi community outside Bangladesh.

“At the moment, most of our migrants are traveling to Saudi Arabia ... Since September last, the number of migrants travel has just doubled. Earlier, it was around 44,000 per month, and now it stands around 84,000,” Saleh told Arab News.

“In the case of traveling to Saudi Arabia, now migrants will be able to save around $100.”

Under the new airfare structure, base fares — excluding taxes — are set at $360 for flights on the Dhaka-Jeddah, Dhaka-Madinah and Dhaka-Riyadh routes. Earlier, the cheapest price ranged between $430 and $480.