We delve into the latest news and updates from the Trump administration.
How is Trump likely to shape his policies in next four years?
President Donald Trump has launched his second term with a flurry of policy actions to reshape the United States government.
His executive orders this week address issues including trade, immigration, foreign aid, demographic diversity, civil rights and federal hiring practices.
On his third day back in the White House on Wednesday, Trump gave his first television interview from the Oval Office. Meanwhile, his immigration agenda is in full swing with 1,500 personnel deployed on Wednesday to the southern border of Mexico.
Here’s a roundup of the latest updates and everything you need to know to navigate Trump’s second term:
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes are facing growing opposition across the US and have been placed under formal scrutiny within the federal government.
Adopted in the 1960s and ramped up in the wake of protests across the US after the 2020 killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by police in Minneapolis, these programmes aim to ensure women and minority groups do not suffer discrimination in the workplace and are given opportunities for jobs and promotions.
But this is about to change. On Wednesday, Trump instructed agency heads to place officials working on DEI programmes within the federal government on paid administrative leave and ordered their offices to close.
The White House ordered all federal DEI workers to go on leave by 5pm (22:00 GMT) on Wednesday when the offices and programmes in question were shut down.
Trump also urged federal employees to inform on each other and their departments about any attempts to keep programmes operational but hidden. The move builds on an executive order in which he directed an end to what he called “radical and wasteful” federal government DEI programmes.
US companies are believed to spend about $8bn annually on such equity initiatives.
Trump directly addressed the programme during his inauguration speech: “This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based.”
After Trump’s election victory, several prominent companies started rolling back their DEI initiatives. Among them were Walmart, McDonald’s, Amazon and Meta.
Still, some corporations, including Costco and Microsoft, are forging ahead with their racial and gender equity programmes for the time being.
Civil and human rights advocacy groups promised to aggressively challenge Trump’s executive order.
Trump’s immigration crackdown is under way. Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses ordered the deployment of 1,500 ground personnel to the border with Mexico on Wednesday.
Congress also passed a bill requiring undocumented immigrants arrested for theft or violent crimes be jailed while awaiting trial.
The bill, named in honour of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was murdered last year by a Venezuelan man, will next go to the White House to be signed into law.
“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,” Trump said in his inauguration speech.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said immigration talks have started between Mexico and the US.
According to a report by Bloomberg News, India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, met with his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, and told journalists that India is open to the lawful return of undocumented Indian immigrants. Indians are the third largest undocumented immigrant group in the US, according to data from the Pew Research Center.
Trump gave his first interview since returning to the White House to Fox News, addressing a range of topics. Here are some of the highlights:
Before you leave, you can find our list of every executive action Trump took on his first day in office here.