Donald Trump has Loaded Commercial rifle. He pointed the gun. He did not pull the trigger even for a single day in his last presidential term.
But he insists he will come next week.
Sitting in the Oval Office for the first time in four years, Trump said he plans to imminently implement the massive tariffs he has threatened against Canada and Mexico.
“We’re thinking about 25 percent for Mexico and Canada,” Trump told reporters Monday as he signed various executive orders, reiterating his complaints about the border and fentanyl.
“I think on February 1st…I think we’ll do it on February 1st.”
Timeline remains vague: Trump signed a document Executive order She called for a report by April 1 on borders, immigration and fentanyl, and singled out Canada, Mexico and China, but said it could apply to other countries.
America’s neighbors have now received a quick reminder that life under Trump is a rollercoaster of real threats and unfulfilled negotiations.
US President Donald Trump was asked as he signed executive orders on Monday when he would impose his proposed tariffs on Canada on Mexico. “I think we will do it,” Trump said on February 1.
Expansion of American territory
It was part of a head-spinning series Executive procedures that invalidated Biden’s policies on race, sex and climate change, including rewithdrawal From both the Paris Climate Agreement and Global Health Organization.
But, in contrast to his first term, Trump is not limiting threats to economic action. At least at the rhetorical level, he went further and began to threaten the sovereignty of states.
There were three unusual words in Trump’s inauguration speech, deep enough in a long sentence, that they might risk going unnoticed.
He called for expanding American territory, something the United States had not done in generations, and it is not entirely clear what he was referring to.
This phrase was among a long list of promises sandwiched between references to restoring the Panama Canal and planting the American flag on Mars.
This was a notable turn of phrase given his recent frequent musings on Panama, making Canada a nation and annexing Greenland.
After newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump said he was considering imposing proposed 25 percent tariffs on Canada on February 1, Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie said Canada has a three-way plan that includes blocking the tariffs, preparing potential retaliatory measures, And work to “improve our relations.” Long-term response.”
It could be a joke, a negotiating ploy, or not serious, with an explanation of how Not very popular It appears to annex Canada and Greenland.
Yet it has gained enough traction in the public consciousness that when members of the Proud Boys militia marched through Washington, D.C., on Monday for the first time in four years, as they passed the Canadian Embassy, they chanted: “51st nation!”
But in fact, Mexico was the immediate focus of Trump’s actions on day one.
Trump unleashed a slew of actions that announced a National emergency On the southern border; He deployed the army on the border; Classifying drug gangs as terrorist groups; Restricting asylum and refugee resettlement; And participated in 227 years Enemy Alien Act to speed up deportations.
He’s fired too challenge Against more than a century of legal understanding that a person born in the United States can be a citizen, regardless of the status of his or her parents.
Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, marking his return to power by signing a series of executive orders within hours of taking office on Monday. Andrew Chang explains what Trump’s inauguration speech tells us about his vision for America over the next four years.
Attack gangs in Mexico? “It could happen”
Asked if he could launch military strikes in Mexico against cartels, Trump said: “It could happen.”
Maybe he won’t annex Mexico. But he includes the name Gulf of Mexico. Hillary Clinton erupted in laughter from the audience when Trump, in his inaugural address, promised to formally direct US officials to name this bay “America’s Gulf.”
It is worth pausing amidst this talk about immigration to note that irregular migration has already occurred drop They have fallen by more than two-thirds in recent months.
In effect, Trump inherits a state of self Unemployment is 4.1 percent Rate 2.9 percent Economic inflationAnd the skyrocketing investment In manufacturing facilities.
This may partly explain the relative joy that characterized Trump’s second inauguration speech. It was combative at times, and nationalistic.
But they are painted in brighter colors than his 2017 “American Carnage” speech, a bleak inauguration speech steeped in top-down nationalism.
Trump’s sunny speech
“From this day forward, our country will prosper,” were the opening words of his speech, delivered indoors due to bad weather.
“America’s golden age begins now. From this day forward, our country will prosper,” he said. “We will be the envy of every nation.”
It was also a little longer than usual. His inaugural address on Monday was about 2,800 words long, longer than the historical average and twice the length of his speech eight years ago.
He recalled his near-death experience when a would-be assassin’s bullet pierced his ear last summer and added, “God saved me to make America great again.”
But, in fact, it was just one prepared speech.
Trump unleashed his full identity later in the day, in various impromptu remarks, first to supporters in a larger hall at the Capitol and then at a local NHL arena.
He told his supporters that he had planned to give a more combative speech, but his wife, Melania, and his running mate, J.D. Vance, convinced him to remove the most controversial lines.
He expressed his regret that he was dissuaded from distorting some of the pardon decisions issued by former President Joe Biden and from promising to pardon those convicted on January 6.
“We had some beauties,” Trump told supporters at the Capitol. “(But Melania) said, ‘It’s a beautiful speech. You can’t put the things she’s going to put in there.’ “
Later, Trump fulfilled his promise to issue a Collective amnesty For the people convicted of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a failed attempt to keep him in office.
Amnesty that violates norms – from two presidents
It was not immediately clear whether the pardon included people convicted of violence that day, but it seemed very likely; Trump said he pardoned 1,500 people, the vast majority of the people arrested at the event.
Other off-kilter turns including Trump taking advantage of a questionable matter Same angle In the last days; Hosting tech billionaires at his inauguration and giving them better positions than members of his government.
Then there’s TikTok. Trump once supported banning the social media app, however He reversed his position After meeting a major donor who has a stake in it. On Monday, he signed an order to postpone its closure, an action that critics described as an illegal challenge to a bill passed by Congress.
In fact, the TikTok chief, viewed by US officials as a China-led national security threat, was standing at his inauguration next to Tulsi Gabbard, his pick for director of national intelligence.
But history will show that Trump was not alone in shattering norms on this day. In fact, his predecessor was giving him a run for his money.
Biden’s last major act as president was to issue wide-ranging pardons to many members of his family. All of Biden’s siblings and their spouses have been given a blanket get out of jail free card for any act committed since 2014, which comes weeks after Biden pardoned his son Hunter.
Republicans have long claimed that the Biden family benefited from their ties to him in ways that may have been illegal, including by failing to register their work on behalf of foreign entities. They never proved these accusations.
With his family pardoned, Biden appeared to have taken that legal threat off the table. His move sparked swift criticism online, even from Biden’s allies, who described it as an act of lawlessness, setting a dangerous precedent that Trump could exploit.
Biden did not face this degree of criticism because of him Other 11th-hour pardons for public employees facing Trump’s potential wrath: Public Health Leader Anthony Fauci, Representative Liz Cheney, and Military Commander Mark Milley.
For his part, Trump revoked all of Biden’s pardons in his final public appearance on Monday.
But once back in the Oval Office, Trump announced that he was in a good mood. He described his return as a great feeling, one of the best feelings of his life.
He said Biden’s actions gave license to future presidents to pardon everyone they’ve ever known before they leave office.
Trump said he didn’t want to do it himself because it makes you look guilty, but added: “I think now I have a precedent for doing it.”
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