WASHINGTON, DC – Donald Trump will issue a raft of executive orders aimed at reshaping how the United States deals with citizenship and immigration, he said yesterday minutes after his inauguration.
The 47th president will set to work almost immediately with a series of presidential decrees intended to drastically reduce the number of migrants entering the country.
“First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” Trump said.
“All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.
“I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country,” he said.
Trump, who campaigned on a platform of clamping down on migration also intends to put an end to the centuries-old practice of granting citizenship automatically to anyone born in the United States.
Many of Trump’s executive actions taken during his first term were rescinded under Joe Biden, including one using so-called Title 42, which was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic preventing almost all entry to the country on public health grounds.
The changes under Biden led to an influx of people crossing into the United States, and images of thousands of people packing the border area.
Trump and his allies characterised this as Biden’s “open border” policy, and spoke regularly of an “invasion.”
US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in the Rotunda of the US Capitol yesterday in Washington, DC. – AFP
US policy will recognise ‘only two genders’
Meanwhile, Trump said in his inauguration speech yesterday that his government’s official policy would only recognise two genders, ending the current practice of providing a third gender option in some settings.
“I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life... As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” he said.
US will ‘plant the Stars and Stripes’ on Mars
Trump also vowed that the world’s biggest economy would again see itself as “a growing nation” that expands its territory, adding that the country would plant its flag on Mars.
“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars,” he said in his inauguration speech at the US Capitol in Washington.
US ‘taking back’ Panama Canal
Trump also vowed in his inauguration address that the United States would be “taking back” the Panama Canal, alleging that China had gained control of the waterway.
“We didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we’re taking it back,” said Trump, who has previously not ruled out using military force against Panama.
Trump vows to ‘overhaul trade system’
Trump also vowed to overhaul the United States’ trade system, promising tariffs and taxes on other countries in his inaugural address after being sworn in as the 47th US president.
“I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families,” he said.
“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” Trump added.
Since his election victory in November, Trump has taken aim at allies and adversaries alike, raising the prospect of fresh tariffs to push other countries towards tougher action on US concerns.
Before his White House return, Trump vowed to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, and an additional 10 percent on Chinese goods, if those three countries did not do more about illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
On the campaign trail, Trump also floated the idea of much steeper tariff rates on Chinese imports.
But Trump stopped short yesterday of unveiling new tariffs.
In his speech, he reiterated his plan to set up an “External Revenue Service” to collect tariffs, duties and revenues, alongside the establishment of a “Department of Government Efficiency” aiming to cut federal spending.
US ‘will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord’
Trump’s administration announced yesterday the United States’ intention to withdraw from the Paris climate accord for a second time, marking a defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.
“President Trump will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord,” the White House said in a statement shortly after the Republican was sworn into office. (More on pages 10 & 11) – AFP
