Author: PolitCens

MEXICO CITY — Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s executive order moving toward designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations would only impact Mexico if there’s close coordination between the two governments.

She said that Mexico would defend its sovereignty and independence while seeking coordination with the U.S. in the wake of the order signed Monday.

“We all want to fight the drug cartels,” Sheinbaum said at her daily press briefing. The U.S. “in their territory, us in our territory.”

Trump’s order highlighted Mexican drug cartels and other Latin American criminal groups like Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). The order says they “threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”

The order did not list any Mexican cartels by name but said Cabinet secretaries would recommend groups for designation as terrorist organizations in the next 14 days. It was among a slew of executive orders Trump signed Monday to kick off his administration, several of which focus on securing the southern border.

“The Cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs,” the order reads.

It was unclear what the impact could be for fighting the cartels, but there was concern it could be another way to make it more difficult for people from the countries where those groups operate to access the U.S.

It came in addition to measures including the declaration of an emergency on the U.S. southern border, a promise to slap 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Feb. 1 and ending the use of the CBP One app, which allowed migrants to apply for asylum appointments before reaching the border.

Trump has also promised to carry out mass deportations and threatened military intervention in Mexico to fight cartels, something sharply rejected by Sheinbaum.

Many have voiced concern the terrorist designation could provide the U.S. justification to take military action against cartels.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, an organized crime expert at the Brookings Institution, said the order could have “huge implications from trade to migrants.”

As cartels have gained a firm grip on control of the lucrative migrant smuggling trade in recent years, it’s virtually impossible for migrants and asylum seekers to pass through Mexico and other Latin American countries without paying some sort of fee to cartels.

The moment they do, Felbab-Brown said, it could disqualify them from seeking asylum.

“Trump can essentially prevent the vast majority of undocumented migrants trying to cross the U.S. border from getting asylum,” she said.

Mike Vigil, a former head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s foreign operations, said he expected any terrorism designation to have very little impact on day-to-day operations against cartels because many of the same anti-terrorism powers American authorities would be granted are already employ in counter-narcotics efforts.

“It’s already been done. This is nothing new,” Vigil said. “It’s all political theater and tossing a piece of stale salami to [Trump’s] base.”

He said logistically the order would likely allow the U.S. to seize assets of groups in the U.S., sanction U.S. citizens that do business with terrorist organizations and block members of those groups from entering the U.S.

“It’s not going to allow the U.S. to send troops into Mexico like so many people think simply because people forget that Mexico is a sovereign country and it would be an act of war,” he said.

The move comes as cartel violence has intensified in northern Mexican states after the kidnapping and detention of kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada sparked an all-out war between rival factions of the Sinaloa cartel. Gunmen continue to leave mutilated bodies scattered across the state and kidnap people even from hospitals.

It’s part of a larger shifting dynamic in cartel warfare in the Latin American nation. Years ago, a handful of criminal organizations headed by a few key capos controlled large parts of Mexico. Now, many more factions have violently fought for power, as they’ve become more agile and harder to pin down.

They’ve used more sophisticated tools like bomb-dropping drones, improvised explosive devices and rigged armored vehicles, and have expanded into migrant trafficking and the avocado trade. Meanwhile, thousands of Mexican citizens have gotten caught in the crossfire, having been slain or gone missing.

 
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Washington — President Donald Trump is spending his first full day back in the White House meeting with congressional leaders, making an infrastructure announcement and demonstrating one of his favored expressions of power: firing people.

The new president posted on his Truth social media platform early Tuesday that he would fire more than 1,000 presidential appointees “who are not aligned with our vision,” including some high-profile names.

Trump fired chef and humanitarian Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, retired Gen. Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, former State Department official Brian Hook from the board of the Wilson Center and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council.

“YOU’RE FIRED!” Trump said in his post — his catchphrase from his reality TV show, “The Apprentice.”

Former President Joe Biden also removed many Trump appointees in his first days in office, including former press secretary Sean Spicer from the board overseeing the U.S. Naval Academy.

Trump planned to continue to build on his barrage of Inauguration Day announcements, with the White House promising a “massive announcement” on infrastructure. Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to detail the announcement in advance, but she said in an interview on Fox News that it would send a message to the world.

“You won’t want to miss it,” she said.

“Infrastructure week” became a punchline during Trump’s first administration as White House officials promised repeatedly — over years — to train a focus on major public works projects, only to have Trump himself quickly shift emphasis elsewhere while major legislation on infrastructure never materialized.

It was enough of a pattern that Biden joked about how his predecessor couldn’t pull off even a week of focus on infrastructure while his administration oversaw passage of billions of dollars for bridges, tunnels, roads and other projects for the coming 10 years.

“He didn’t build a damn thing,” Biden said frequently of Trump, adding that his own administration delivered “infrastructure decade.”

Trump wants to ban Chinese companies from owning vital U.S. infrastructure in sectors such as energy, technology and agriculture, and he says he will force Chinese owners to sell any holdings “that jeopardize America’s national security.”

Trump also attended a national prayer service Tuesday morning at Washington National Cathedral, a customary visit for new presidents and one that will wrap up his four days of inauguration-related events.

Later in the day, the president was expected to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other GOP (Republican) legislators. It’s the first formal sit-down for the GOP leadership teams including Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso and the new president as they chart priorities for using Republican power in Washington.

Despite an ambitious 100-day agenda, the Republican-led Congress is not on the same page on some ideas and strategies as they rush to deliver tax cuts for the wealthy, mass deportations and other goals for Trump.

Trump used the first hours of his presidency on Monday to sign a series of executive orders and memorandums, moving quickly to show that his new hold on the U.S. government would be a stark change from his predecessor.

He pardoned hundreds of people for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accords and the World Health Organization, began his immigration crackdown by declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and sought to end automatic citizenship for anyone born in America, which is expected to run into constitutional challenges.

He also signed an order that intends to pause a ban on TikTok for 75 days to give its China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer.
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In the Southwest United States, bird migrations are shifting as global temperatures warm. Gustavo Martіnez Contreras takes us to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in the state of New Mexico.
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Davos, Switzerland — EU chief Ursula von der Leyen declared Tuesday that Europe was ready to negotiate with the United States and seek to improve ties with China as Beijing warned against damaging trade wars in the face of Donald Trump’s protectionism.

Trump returned to the White House on Monday, and while he may not be physically present in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos, he is the elephant in the room for the executives and leaders hobnobbing at the annual World Economic Forum.

With Beijing and Brussels facing some of the biggest risks from the return of self-professed tariff-loving Trump, China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took to the stage first at the forum.

“Protectionism leads nowhere and there are no winners in a trade war,” Ding said, without mentioning Trump directly.

Trump threatened on Monday to impose tariffs if Beijing rejects his proposal to keep Chinese-owned app TikTok online on condition that half of it is sold off.

China is taking a cautious approach to Trump and after the TikTok threat, Beijing said it hoped the United States would provide a fair business environment for Chinese firms.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to Trump by phone on Friday, he said he hoped for a “good start” to relations with the new US administration.

Meanwhile, von der Leyen took a conciliatory tone. She said the EU’s “first priority will be to engage early, discuss common interests and be ready to negotiate” with Trump.

“We will be pragmatic but we will always stand by our principles, to protect our interests and uphold our values,” she said.

The European Commission president also stressed that Europe “must engage constructively with China – to find solutions in our mutual interest” despite escalating trade tensions between the two.

Brussels has provoked Beijing’s ire with a raft of probes targeting state subsidies in the green tech sector, as well as slapping tariffs on Chinese electric cars.

In an apparent reference to the European Union measures, Ding warned against “erecting green barriers that could disrupt normal economic and trade cooperation.”

More trade deals

On the campaign trail, Trump said he would impose extra customs duties on allies including the EU, as well as on China.

After his inauguration, Trump raised the possibility of imposing 25-percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

Von der Leyen reiterated her commitment to free trade during her speech, pointing to recent EU deals with Switzerland, the South American bloc Mercosur and Mexico.

She also said she and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to “upgrade” their partnership.

Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, which von de Leyen defended as the “best hope for all humanity” and vowed: “Europe will stay the course.”

Ukraine is also keeping a very close eye on what Trump’s second mandate will involve.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to call on world leaders and company executives to maintain – and ramp up – their support for his country’s war against Russia.

Zelensky said on Monday he was hopeful Trump would help achieve a “just peace.”

Embattled German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also to address the Davos forum, likely his last as leader ahead of elections next month.

Also speaking on Tuesday will be conservative leader Friedrich Merz, the favorite to succeed him as chancellor.

‘Better understand’ Trump

Middle East conflicts will likewise be high on the agenda as Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani speak in separate sessions during the first full day of the forum.

As a fragile ceasefire holds in the Israel-Hamas war, the WEF will host a discussion on how to improve aid delivery to the Palestinian territory of Gaza and how to kickstart the reconstruction and recovery after heavy bombardment.

Despite suggestions Trump’s return would overshadow the forum that began on the same day as his inauguration in Washington, WEF President Borge Brende said the US leader had brought fresh attention to the gathering.

“It has increased the interest in Davos because people feel they need to come together to better understand what’s on its way,” Brende told AFP in an interview.

 
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It’s been a long day in Washington, filled with tradition and some out-of-the-ordinary events as the United States swears in its 47th president. VOA’s Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti brings us the sights and sounds from Inauguration Day 2025.
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U.S. President Donald Trump issued a series of executive actions after taking office Monday, including moving to withdrawal from international health and climate bodies and directing a suspension of U.S. foreign aid.

A set of orders focused on immigration, such as declaring an emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border, ending asylum and halting birthright citizenship for some children born in the United States.

Trump also ordered vetting and screening “to the maximum degree possible” all those who want to enter the United States, and for the government to identify countries that may have screening procedures deficient enough to warrant blocking their nationals from entering the United States.

In his first term in office, Trump pursued an “America First” form of foreign policy, and an order he signed Monday directs new Secretary of State Marco Rubio to focus State Department efforts on that mission.

“From this day forward, the foreign policy of the United States shall champion core American interests and always put America and American citizens first,” the order said.

Trump ordered the United States to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate accord, a repeat of a move he also made in his first term. Trump said the U.S. has a successful record of “advancing both economic and environmental objectives” that should be a model to other countries.

Nearly 200 countries signed the agreement aimed at limiting global warming with each country providing its own plan for limiting greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

In another repeat from his first time in office, Trump ordered the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization due to complaints that the agency mismanaged the COVID-19 pandemic and gets too much funding from the U.S.

Calling U.S. foreign aid “not aligned with American interests,” Trump issued an order to pause foreign development assistance for 90 days and for the programs to undergo reviews.

Funding for many programs has already been appropriated by Congress, so it was not clear how much aid would be initially affected by the order.

Trump also reversed an order signed by former President Joe Biden last week that had removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terror.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel responded to Trump’s move Monday by calling it “an act of arrogance and disregard for the truth.”

On trade, Trump issued an order calling for a review of a number of trade agreements, including one with China and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

He also specifically called for an assessment of “unlawful migration and fentanyl flows” from Canada, Mexico and China. Ahead of taking office, Trump said those countries would need to act on those areas in order to avoid tariffs on goods sent to the United States.

In response to a law passed during Biden’s term that would have blocked TikTok in the United States in connection with national security concerns, Trump signed an order telling the Justice Department not to enforce that ban until his administration can “determine the appropriate course forward.”

The law directed a TikTok ban unless its China-based parent company sold it to an approved buyer. U.S. officials promoting the ban expressed concerns that the Chinese government could obtain Americans’ digital data.

Trump himself tried to carry out a similar ban during his first term, but in recent weeks has championed keeping TikTok available to U.S. users, including the potential for the U.S. government to acquire a stake in the company.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters
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WASHINGTON — Amid frigid temperatures in the nation’s capital, the peaceful transfer of power from one presidential administration to the next took place Monday.

The inauguration events, starting with a church service and culminating in an oath and inaugural speech at the Capitol building, were attended by former presidents and their families, foreign dignitaries, and tech billionaires.

Members of the “press pool” — a group of reporters, photographers and video journalists — were on hand to capture the day’s events for the media outlets that make up the White House Correspondents’ Association.

Through the press pool, accredited journalists take turns covering the president’s daily activities to ensure 24-7 coverage of the American leader. VOA White House correspondent Misha Komadovsky was assigned to Monday morning’s inaugural events.

“Today, I’ll be your eyes and ears during the first steps of Donald Trump’s inauguration,” Komadovsky emailed at around 8 a.m. local time as part of his assignments.

The pool report had noted that the inaugural events were to follow a traditional course: a morning church service and a meeting between the outgoing and incoming first families before traveling to the inauguration.

The service at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette Park across from the White House has been a part of inauguration events since 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt attended a service before being sworn in as the 32nd president.

Trump, as the 47th U.S. president, followed in his predecessors’ footsteps. He and first lady Melania Trump sat in the front row of the church, alongside his vice president, JD Vance, and second lady Usha Vance.

Melania Trump wore a navy suit by New York-based designer Adam Lippes, paired with a wide-brimmed hat by American designer, Eric Javits.

Dressing the first lady was an honor, Javits said, adding that his background in art has informed his ability to bring “harmony and balance to the face” with his designs.

In Melania Trump’s case, he told the AP, the designing was not difficult because the first lady is “blessed with great bone structure, beauty and a wonderful sense of style.”

Also attending Monday’s service — which took place the same day that the U.S. marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day — were members of the Trump family, including his children Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany and Barron Trump. Individuals whom the president has nominated for key roles in his administration also filled the pews, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel and Marco Rubio.

Foreign dignitaries were also present. Leaders seen by the press pool included President Javier Milei of Argentina, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, and Britain’s former Conservative Party prime minister Boris Johnson.

Some of the world’s richest individuals were also there, including Elon Musk of Tesla, social media platform X, and SpaceX; Apple CEO Tim Cook; and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew attended the service, as did media personality Tucker Carlson.

TikTok had briefly gone offline Saturday evening following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding a law ordering the Chinese social media platform to sell to an American owner. Trump indicated he planned a “joint venture” to allow TikTok to operate.

Service was restored on Sunday, with a message to users that said that “as a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.”

Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who earlier this month was held in contempt of court twice over a defamation case stemming from Trump’s failed 2020 election, was also spotted at the service.

Giuliani last Thursday settled the $148 million defamation judgment granted to two election workers in the U.S. state of Georgia.

During Monday’s 25-minute church service, the choir sang “America the Beautiful.” After the service concluded, Trump walked down the aisle, greeting guests along the way. He was seen patting Milei of Argentina on the shoulder.

Next, keeping with tradition, outgoing President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden met with the incoming president and first lady at the White House.

The First Families shared tea in the White House Blue Room before departing together for the U.S. Capitol.

Because of extreme cold weather, the inauguration was held inside the Capitol rotunda, with music from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Combined Choir and the U.S. Marine Band. Opera singer Christopher D. Macchio sang “Oh, America!” and singer Carrie Underwood performed “America the Beautiful” with the Armed Forces Chorus and U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club.

Former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were on hand for the inauguration, along with many members of the church service congregation and the Trump family, as faith leaders offered prayers.

Tech billionaires including Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai were spotted at the inauguration, alongside the president’s supporters and U.S. lawmakers.

Chief Justice John Roberts swore in the 47th president, on a Bible held by Melania Trump. The president was flanked by his children.

Following the oath of office, a luncheon took place, followed by a military troop review and parade.

As the ceremonial swearing in took place, new staffers at the White House were seen moving into their new offices and unpacking images of the president and first lady.
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White House — On the historic first day of his second term in office, President Donald Trump laid out his vision for a bolder — and larger — United States.

“The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations, and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons,” he said in his inaugural address Monday. “And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.” 

Then he got to work signing a stack of executive orders. He said they included a declaration of a national emergency at the southern border that would allow the deployment of troops, and a national energy emergency that would allow more domestic oil and gas extraction. He also declared that there are only two genders, male and female, and said he would order that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America. 

Historians say that Trump made history on his second Day 1 by using what is historically a unifying speech to portray a future that many Americans may disagree with. 

“Donald Trump did not do that. This was one of the most partisan presidential inaugural speeches — it was less an inaugural speech and more a State of the Union. He just listed a series of bullet points of projects he wanted to undertake, from deporting immigrants to seizing back the Panama Canal,” said Jeremi Suri, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Shortly after his inaugural speech, Trump spoke to a smaller group of supporters at the Capitol and reiterated claims that the 2020 election was “totally rigged” — a claim without proof. He also pardoned some of those convicted over the violent events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters attempted to disrupt the certification of the election Trump lost. 

“I think this was a better speech than the one I made upstairs, OK?” Trump said.

Some of Trump’s powerful supporters expressed their joy. 

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was among the billionaires who packed into the Capitol for the ceremony and hailed Trump’s victory. After Trump was sworn in, Musk took to the stage of the rally at Capital One Arena to praise him.

“This was no ordinary victory,” he said. “This was a fork in the road of human civilization.”

Consumer advocacy groups are sounding alarms about some of the new president’s quieter moves, ones they say seek to loosen regulations and benefit the extremely wealthy.

“When we think about why the incoming Trump administration wants to freeze regulations and halt public protections wholesale, it is at the behest of the wealthiest among us, corporate special interests,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. “They are who benefits when we don’t have guardrails on the books.”

Trump did not, on Monday, directly address foreign policy concerns such as Ukraine and competition with China — but Suri said his expansionist rhetoric sent a message.

“It’s hard for the United States to tell [Russian President] Vladimir Putin or [Chinese President] Xi Jinping that they should not seek expansion when our president is talking about expansion, but insofar as we don’t follow through on that rhetoric, we still are on very strong ground to say that invading your neighbor, as Putin has in Ukraine, or as China might potentially do in Taiwan, that is verboten, that crosses the line, so long as it’s just words from us,” he said. “If we were to go to war to try to seize the Panama Canal, that would certainly give a kind of carte blanche to Putin and Xi Jinping, because they make the same arguments for Ukraine and Taiwan.”
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Donald Trump called for a “revolution of common sense” in his inaugural speech Monday. The swearing in of the 47th president of the United States marked his remarkable return to power since losing his second term bid to Joe Biden in 2020. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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Donald Trump was sworn into office on Jan. 20. He is issuing a series of executive orders within hours of taking office, aiming to quickly establish the governing tone of his government and realize his campaign promises. Some of these may impact U.S.-China ties. 

Click here for the full story in Mandarin. 
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Donald Trump swears in as the 47th president of the United States in the Rotunda at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
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WASHINGTON — With just moments left before he leaves office, President Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. 

Peltier was denied parole as recently as July and wasn’t eligible for parole again until 2026. He was serving life in prison for the deaths of the agents during a standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He will transition to home confinement, Biden said in a statement. 

The fight for Peltier’s freedom is entangled with the Indigenous rights movements. Nearly half a century later, his name remains a rallying cry. 

An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota, Peltier was active in the American Indian Movement, which began in the 1960s as a local organization in Minneapolis that grappled with issues of police brutality and discrimination against Native Americans. It quickly became a national force. 

The movement grabbed headlines in 1973 when it took over the village of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation, leading to a 71-day standoff with federal agents. Tensions between the movement and the government remained high for years. 

On June 26, 1975, agents came to Pine Ridge to serve arrest warrants amid battles over Native treaty rights and self-determination. 

After being injured in a shootout, agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams were shot in the head at close range, FBI has said. Also killed in the shootout was American Indian Movement member Joseph Stuntz. 

Two other movement members, Robert Robideau and Dino Butler, were acquitted of killing Coler and Williams. 

After fleeing to Canada and being extradited to the United States, Peltier was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced in 1977 to life in prison, despite defense claims that evidence against him had been falsified.
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Washington — President Joe Biden has pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, using the extraordinary powers of his office in his final hours to guard against potential “revenge” by the incoming Trump administration.

The decision by Biden comes after Donald Trump warned of an enemies list filled with those who have crossed him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and his role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump has selected Cabinet nominees who backed his election lies and who have pledged to punish those involved in efforts to investigate him.

“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,” Biden said in a statement. “Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.”

It’s customary for a president to grant clemency at the end of his term, but those acts of mercy are usually offered to everyday Americans who have been convicted of crimes. But Biden has used the power in the broadest and most untested way possible: to pardon those who have not even been investigated yet. And with the acceptance comes a tacit admission of guilt or wrongdoing, even though those who have been pardoned have not been formally accused of any crimes.

“These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” Biden said, adding that “Even when individuals have done nothing wrong — and in fact have done the right thing — and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.”

Fauci was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 40 years and was Biden’s chief medical adviser until his retirement in 2022. He helped coordinate the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and raised the ire of Trump during that time. He has become a target of intense hatred and vitriol from people on the right, who blame him for mask mandates and other policies they believe infringed on their rights, even as tens of thousands of Americans were dying.

Mark Milley is the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and called Trump a fascist and detailed Trump’s conduct around the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Biden is also extending pardons to members and staff of the Jan. 6 committee, including former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both Republicans, as well as the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the committee.

Biden, an institutionalist, has promised a smooth transition to the next administration, inviting Trump to the White House and saying that the nation will be OK, even as he warned during his farewell address of a growing oligarchy. He has spent years warning that Trump’s ascension to the presidency again would be a threat to democracy. His decision to break with political norms with the preemptive pardons was brought on by those concerns.

Biden has set the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued; he announced on Friday he would commuting the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. He previously announced he was commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. In his first term, Trump presided over an unprecedented spate of executions, 13, in a protracted timeline during the coronavirus pandemic.

 
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Washington — TikTok restored services to users in the United States on Sunday after briefly blocking access due to a U.S. law banning the social media platform based on national security concerns. 

The situation played out amid the change in U.S. administrations as President-elect Donald Trump said he would seek to “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect.” 

He also proposed, in a post on his Truth Social platform, for the United States to take a 50% ownership stake in TikTok. 

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld legislation passed by Congress that called for banning TikTok unless its China-based parent company sold it by Sunday. 

The Biden administration had said it would not seek to enforce the ban in its final days in office, leaving the issue to Trump after he took office on Monday. 

TikTok credited Trump as it announced the restoration of its services, saying Sunday on X that he provided “the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.” 

Trump’s actions marked a reversal from his first term in office when he sought to ban TikTok in connection with concerns that the service was sharing the personal information of U.S. users with the Chinese government. 

At a briefing Monday in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China believes companies should “decide independently” about their operations and agreements. 

“TikTok has operated in the U.S. for many years and is deeply loved by American users,” she said. “We hope that the U.S. can earnestly listen to the voice of reason and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for firms operating there.” 

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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WASHINGTON — When President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in as president of the United States inside the Capitol’s rotunda, he will do so facing a bust of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the federal holiday commemorating King’s legacy.

It’s a disquieting contrast for some civil rights advocates who wish to fulfill the late reverend’s dream of non-violent social revolution.

Events honoring King and advocating for his vision of a just society will occur across the nation as many in the U.S. observe the peaceful transfer of power in the capital. The concurrent events have been met with mixed feelings by civil rights leaders, who broadly reviled Trump’s rhetoric and stances on race and civil rights during his third presidential campaign.

But many leaders, including King’s own family, see the juxtaposition as a poignant contrast and a chance to refocus the work of advancing civil rights in a new political era.

“I’m glad it occurred on that day because it gives the United States of America and the world the contrast in pictures. Is this the way you want to go — or is this the way you want to go?” said the Rev. Bernice King, the late King’s youngest daughter and CEO of the King Center.

“It’s not a day that he can be the star, which he loves to be,” King’s daughter said of Trump. “He has to contend with that legacy on that day, regardless of how he manages it and handles it in his presentation. I hope those around him are advising him well to honor the day appropriately in his speech.”

This is the third time in the nearly 40 years since the federal King holiday became law that it coincides with a presidential inauguration. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also were sworn in for their second terms on the holiday. Both praised King in their remarks; it is yet to be seen if and how Trump — who falsely claimed his first inauguration had larger crowds than King’s March on Washington — will acknowledge the day.

“Will he sound a message of unity and a presidency for all, or will he continue to focus on his base and some of the divisive policies he’s championed, like an anti-DEI stance, rounding up immigrants and cutting important parts of the social safety net through this DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) process?” asked Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League civil rights group.

Morial added that Trump’s inauguration landing on MLK Day represented “a contradiction of values.”

Many civil rights leaders will spend the day commemorating King’s legacy after a week of public and private organizing, giving speeches and strategizing how to respond to the incoming administration’s agenda.

“It’s the best of times and the worst of times,” said Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, an organization whose members mentored, collaborated and clashed with King throughout the Civil Rights Movement.

“Our mission doesn’t change. Our job is to make democracy work for all, to make sure that equal protection is ensured under the law,” Johnson said. He added that the group “doesn’t want to assume” the Trump administration can’t be a partner on advancing civil rights or racial justice.

On Wednesday, Johnson and other civil rights leaders met with Congressional Black Caucus members on Capitol Hill to discuss how to work with and to oppose the Trump administration. That same day, the National Action Network, a civil rights group founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, hosted a breakfast at which Vice President Kamala Harris urged attendees to stay motivated.

“Ours is a journey,” she said. “Whatever the outcome of any particular moment, we can never be defeated. Our spirit can never be defeated, because when that happens, we won’t win.”

Martin Luther King III, the late King’s eldest son, prayed with Harris on stage. King had campaigned for Harris in the fall and called her an advocate who “speaks to our better angels” and “embodies Dr. King’s legacy.”

Many racial justice advocates are set to organize demonstrations, vigils and community service events to mark the holiday and prepare for what they consider an adversarial administration.

Some groups are reflecting on parallels and differences with how King organized in the face of explicitly white supremacist state and local governments and geopolitical tumult.

“The hostility is similar, particularly in that there is a mobilized, active and aggressive extremist-right hell bent on unraveling rights and any sense of shared purpose, shared problems or shared solutions,” said Maya Wiley, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. What differs, Wiley said, is the understanding “there has to be opportunity for everyone.”

King himself worried the legal protections he dedicated his life to realizing would not be followed by greater anti-discrimination efforts or social programs. He proposed it would take white Americans embracing a deeper kinship with Black Americans and engaging in economic and social solidarity to see change.

A year before his 1968 assassination, King wrote in his final book that giving a Black person their “due” often required “special treatment.”

“I am aware of the fact that this has been a troublesome concept for many liberals, since it conflicts with their traditional ideal of equal opportunity and equal treatment of people according to their individual merits,” King wrote in the 1967 book, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community.” “But this is a day which demands new thinking and the reevaluation of old concepts.”

King’s advocacy for “new concepts” found an heir in the enactment of affirmative action policies in workplaces and schools. Many advocates of diversity, equity and inclusion policies see such programs as realizing his vision, though that argument has come under withering scrutiny from conservative activists.

Trump’s views on race have been criticized for decades. The federal government sued Trump for allegedly discriminating against Black apartment seekers in the 1970s. He was instrumental in promoting the “birther” conspiracy theory that Obama was not born in the U.S. And his campaign rhetoric about immigrants and urban communities since 2015 up to November’s election has been derided as prejudiced.

As president, Trump enacted some criminal justice reform laws that civil rights advocates praised but then proposed harsh crackdowns on 2020 racial reckoning protests.

In April, Trump did not dispute the notion that “anti-white racism” now represents a greater problem in the U.S. than systemic racism against Black Americans.

“I think there is a definite anti-white feeling in this country and that can’t be allowed either,” Trump said during an interview with Time magazine.

Janiyah Thomas, a spokesperson for the Trump transition, said Trump’s inauguration would be “monumental, turning a new leaf and ushering in the golden age of America” and said Americans should remember “wise words” from King: “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

At the end of his life, King reflected on the early backlash to civil rights, especially with integrated housing developments, interracial marriage and necessary economic and social programs. He expressed frustration with then-President Lyndon B. Johnson for prolonging the Vietnam War rather than making a greater investment in anti-poverty efforts.

“This is where the civil rights movement stands today. We will err and falter as we climb the unfamiliar slopes of steep mountains, but there is no alternative, well-trod, level path,” King wrote. “There will be agonizing setbacks along with creative advances. Our consolation is that no one can know the true taste of victory if he has never swallowed defeat.”
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Donald Trump returns to the U.S. presidency Monday with an inauguration ceremony in Washington that will make him the first president to serve non-consecutive terms since the 1890s.

Millions of Americans are expected to watch on television as the 78-year-old Trump takes the oath of office for a new four-year term in the White House while President Joe Biden, 82, leaves the presidency after a single term.  

The inauguration ceremony will be a scaled-down event due to frigid weather, with about 600 people witnessing the change of power inside the Capitol instead of the typical outdoor event where 250,000 people had secured tickets.

The traditional inaugural parade along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House has also been canceled because of the weather, with bands, marching units, drill teams and the like now parading past Trump, his wife, Melania Trump and other officials in his new administration at the nearby 20,000-seat Capital One Arena. Lavish black-tie balls are still planned for Monday evening. 

Trump pledged late Sunday to “act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” as he spoke to supporters in Washington.

“Tomorrow at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline, and we begin a brand new day of American strength and prosperity,” Trump said.

He has pledged to sign a flurry of executive orders upon entering office, including those undoing Biden administration policies. Prominent among his pledges during the election campaign was carrying out mass deportations of people who are in the country illegally.

Trump has also vowed to quickly impose heightened tariffs on key trading partners, including Canada, China and Mexico.  

The incoming president says he plans to pardon many of the 1,500 supporters of his who stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to block Congress from certifying that Biden won the 2020 election. Trump has called those arrested and convicted “patriots” and “hostages” wrongly prosecuted. 

Charges that Trump, a Republican, tried to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden were dropped when he defeated his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the 2024 election because of a long-standing Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.   

Trump will become the first felon to serve as U.S. president, after his conviction last year on 34 criminal charges linked to falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to porn film star Stormy Daniels, although a judge declined to penalize him in any way. 

Trump vowed for months to end Russia’s war on Ukraine before he takes office, but in recent days his aides have said the goal now is to try to reach a truce in the fighting in the first 100 days of his administration, which would be around the end of April. 

He also wants more oil drilling in the U.S. even though in 2023, U.S. energy production exceeded consumption by a record amount, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

Two transgender issues have also drawn Trump’s attention.  

Trump has repeatedly referred to transgender women as men, telling his supporters that he will ensure transgender women cannot compete in women’s sports. 

“I will keep men out of women’s sports, 100%, immediately, first day,” Trump told one political rally during the campaign. He also frequently has assailed gender-affirming care, which can include hormone therapy. “On day one, I will revoke Joe Biden’s cruel policies on so-called ‘gender affirming care.’”

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
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SAN FRANCISCO — If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time. What’s now in question is whether it will be around much longer and, if so, in what form?

Starting in 2017, when the Chinese social video app merged with its competitor Musical.ly, TikTok has grown from a niche teen app into a global trendsetter. While, of course, also emerging as a potential national security threat, according to U.S. officials.

On April 24, President Joe Biden signed legislation requiring TikTok parent ByteDance to sell to a U.S. owner within a year or to shut down. TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance, filed a lawsuit against the U.S., claiming the security concerns were overblown and the law should be struck down because it violates the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the federal law banning TikTok, and the popular short form video service went dark in the U.S. — just hours before the ban was set to begin.

Here’s how TikTok came to this juncture:

March 2012

ByteDance is founded in China by entrepreneur Zhang Yimin. Its first hit product is Toutiao, a personalized news aggregator for Chinese users.

July 2014

Startup Musical.ly, later known for an eponymous app used to post short lipsyncing music videos, is founded in China by entrepreneur Alex Zhu.

July 2015

Musical.ly hits #1 in the Apple App Store, following a design change that made the company’s logo visible when users shared their videos.

2016

ByteDance launches Douyin, a video sharing app for Chinese users. Its popularity inspires the company to spin off a version for foreign audiences called TikTok.

November 2017

ByteDance acquires Musical.ly for $1 billion. Nine months later, ByteDance merges it with TikTok.

Powered by an algorithm that encourages binge-watching, users begin to share a wide variety of video on the app, including dance moves, kitchen food preparation and various “challenges” to perform, record and post acts that range from serious to satirical.

February 2019

Rapper Lil Nas X releases the country-trap song “Old Town Road” on TikTok, where it goes viral and pushes the song to a record 17 weeks in the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The phenomenon kicks off a wave of TikTok videos from musical artists who suddenly see TikTok as a critical way to reach fans.

TikTok settles federal charges of violating U.S. child-privacy laws and agrees to pay a $5.7 million fine.

September 2019

The Washington Post reports that while images of Hong Kong democracy protests and police crackdowns are common on most social media sites, they are strangely absent on TikTok. The same story notes that TikTok posts with the #trump2020 tag received more than 70 million views.

The company insists that TikTok content moderation, conducted in the U.S., is not responsible and says the app is a place for entertainment, not politics.

The Guardian reports on internal documents that reportedly detail how TikTok instructs its moderators to delete or limit the reach of videos touching on topics sensitive to China such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and subsequent massacre, Tibetan independence or the sanctioned religious group Falun Gong.

October 2019

U.S. politicians begin to raise alarms about TikTok’s influence, calling for a federal investigations of its Musical.ly acquisition and a national security probe into TikTok and other Chinese-owned apps. That investigation begins in November, according to news reports.

December 2019

The Pentagon recommends that all U.S. military personnel delete TikTok from all phones, personal and government-issued. Some services ban the app on military-owned phones. In January, the Pentagon bans the app from all military phones.

TikTok becomes the second-most downloaded app in the world, according to data from analytics firm SensorTower.

May 2020

Privacy groups file a complaint alleging TikTok is still violating U.S. child-protection laws and flouting a 2019 settlement agreement. The company “takes the issue of safely seriously” and continues to improve safeguards, it says.

TikTok hires former Disney executive Kevin Mayer as its chief executive officer in an apparent attempt to improve its U.S. relations. Mayer resigns three months later.

July 2020

India bans TikTok and dozens of other Chinese apps in response to a border clash with China.

President Donald Trump says he is considering banning TikTok as retaliation for China’s alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

August 2020

Trump issues a sweeping but vague executive order banning American companies from any “transaction” with ByteDance and its subsidiaries, including TikTok. Several days later, he issues a second order demanding that ByteDance divest itself of TikTok’s U.S. operations within 90 days.

Microsoft confirms it is exploring acquisition of TikTok. The deal never materializes; neither does a similar overture from Oracle and Walmart. TikTok, meanwhile, sues the Trump administration for alleged violation of due process in its executive orders.

November 2020

Joe Biden is elected president. He doesn’t offer new policy on TikTok and won’t take office until January, but Trump’s plans to force a sale of TikTok start to unravel anyway. The Trump administration extends the deadlines it had imposed on ByteDance and TikTok and eventually lets them slide altogether.

February 2021

Newly sworn-in President Joe Biden postpones the legal cases involving Trump’s plan to ban TikTok, effectively bringing them to a halt.

September 2021

TikTok announces it has more than a billion monthly active users.

December 2021

A Wall Street Journal report finds TikTok algorithms can flood teens with a torrent of harmful material such as videos recommending extreme dieting, a form of eating disorder.

February 2022

TikTok announces new rules to deter the spread of harmful material such as viral hoaxes and promotion of eating disorders.

April 2022

“The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” a project created by two fans of the Netflix show as a TikTok project, wins the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.

TikTok becomes the most downloaded app in the world, beating out Instagram, according to SensorTower data.

June 2022

BuzzFeed reports that China-based ByteDance employees have repeatedly accessed the nonpublic information of TikTok users, based on leaked recordings from more than 80 internal TikTok meetings. TikTok responds with a vague comment touting its commitment to security that doesn’t directly address the BuzzFeed report.

TikTok also announces it has migrated its user data to U.S. servers managed by the U.S. tech firm Oracle. But that doesn’t prevent fresh alarm among U.S. officials about the risk of Chinese authorities accessing U.S. user data.

December 2022

FBI Director Christopher Wray raises national security concerns about TikTok, warning that Chinese officials could manipulate the app’s recommendation algorithm for influence operations.

ByteDance also said it fired four employees who accessed data on journalists from Buzzfeed News and The Financial Times while attempting to track down leaks of confidential materials about the company.

February 2023

The White House gives federal agencies 30 days to ensure TikTok is deleted from all government-issued mobile devices. Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission warn that ByteDance could share TikTok user data with China’s authoritarian government.

March 2023

Legislators grill TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at a six-hour congressional hearing where Chew, a native of Singapore, attempts to push back on assertions that TikTok and ByteDance are tools of the Chinese government.

January 2024

TikTok said it was restricting a tool some researchers use to analyze popular videos on the platform.

March 2024

A bill to ban TikTok or force its sale to a U.S. company gathers steam in Congress. TikTok brings dozens of its creators to Washington to tell lawmakers to back off, while emphasizing changes the company has made to protect user data. TikTok also annoys legislators by sending notifications to users urging them to “speak up now” or risk seeing TikTok banned; users then flood congressional offices with calls.

The House of Representatives passes the TikTok ban-or-sell bill.

April 2024

The Senate follows suit, sending the bill to President Biden, who signs it.

May 2024

TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance sue the U.S. federal government to challenge a law that would force the sale of ByteDance’s stake or face a ban, saying that the law is unconstitutional.

June 2024

Former President Donald Trump joins TikTok and begins posting campaign-related content.

July 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris joins TikTok and also begins posting campaign-related material.

Dec. 6, 2024

A federal appeals court panel unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The panel of judges rebuffed the company’s challenge of the statute, which it argued had ran afoul of the First Amendment.

Dec. 27, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a “political resolution” to the issue.

Jan. 17, 2025

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the federal law banning TikTok beginning unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company, holding that the risk to national security posed by its ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app. A ban is set to into effect on Jan. 19, 2025.

Jan. 18, 2025

TikTok users in the United States were prevented from watching videos on the popular social media platform just hours before a federal ban was set to take effect.

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.,” a message in the app said. “Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”

The company’s app was also removed from prominent app stores, including the ones operated by Apple and Google, while its website told users that the short-form video platform was no longer available.

Jan. 19, 2025

Shortly after the app went dark for U.S. users, Trump said he would issue an executive order upon taking office to grant TikTok an extension so that it could remain online.

A few hours later, TikTok restored service to users in the United States, saying that Trump had provided “the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans.”
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