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Trump poised for aggressive push on day one

Trump fireworks

Source: X 

US president-elect Donald Trump is poised to sign a raft of executive orders immediately after his inauguration in Washington in an aggressive push on day one in office.

Trump will be sworn in for his second term on Monday (Monday night AEDT), and will kick things off with a MAGA victory rally on Sunday (local time).

His rally remarks, along with his inaugural address on Monday, could offer a preview of the tone he plans to adopt in the early days of his second term in office.

Trump has vowed to pardon many of the more than 1500 people charged in connection with the Capitol Hill riots after his 2020 election loss.

There is speculation that immigration raids could soon begin across the country after Trump’s campaign vow to deport illegal migrants.

In recent weeks, Trump has disconcerted foreign allies by musing aloud about taking over Greenland and the Panama Canal and turning Canada into a US state.

One of the first executive orders is expected to be a lifeline for China-owned social media app TikTok, which stopped working for its millions of American users at the weekend.

Trump said he would revive TikTok access in the US after he is sworn in – but he wants the popular social media app to be at least half owned by US investors.

TikTok stopped working for US users late on Saturday (US time) before a law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect on Sunday.

Trump said he would “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security”.

“I would like the United States to have a 50 per cent ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to [stay] up,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Trump said the executive order would specify there would be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before his order.

After this news from Trump, TikTok began restoring services to the US on Monday morning (AEDT).

Under the law passed last year and upheld on Friday by a unanimous US Supreme Court, the platform had until Sunday to cut ties with its China-based parent or shut down its US operation to resolve concerns it poses a threat to national security.

Donald Trump and MElania Trump

Donald and Melania Trump watch fireworks at Trump National Golf Club ahead of the inauguration. Photo: AAP

Trump’s MAGA victory rally at the Capital One Arena marks his first major speech in Washington since he urged his supporters to march on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to protest his defeat.

Ahead of the rally, thousands of anti-Trump protesters descended on Washington for a People’s March, which converged at the Lincoln Memorial.

The protest groups included Women’s March and Planned Parenthood and co-ordinated with rallies around the country.

President Joe Biden will meanwhile make his last official trip as president on Sunday to Charleston, South Carolina, to mark Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday, the White House said.

He will attend services and speak about King’s legacy at Royal Missionary Baptist Church.

Donald Trump protest

Thousands of protestors in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration. Photo: AAP

Earlier on Sunday, Trump participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

At night, he will address well-heeled supporters at a dinner in Washington.

The inauguration is scheduled for noon local time on Monday. Trump will take the presidential oath of office inside the rotunda of the Capitol building, after the cold weather prompted organisers to move the ceremony indoors.

Some 25,000 law enforcement personnel will be on hand to provide security.

-with AAP

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