Trump presidency LIVE updates: US president announces $800b AI partnership, continues flurry of announcements; Elon Musk denies performing Nazi salute

Thanks for joining us for our live coverage of Donald Trump’s second day as the 47th president of the United States.

It was a busy day in Washington DC as Trump moved to enact his mass-deportation and anti-diversity agenda.

Here’s what we covered today:

• Trump began the day at a national prayer service, where Reverend Mariann Budde lectured him on LGBTQ and immigrant rights and begged him to have mercy on “scared” families. Afterwards, Trump described the service as “not too exciting”.
• Trump ordered all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staffers be put on paid leave, with a view to lay off the entire workforce in coming days. They have also been ordered to take down DEI web pages.
• Along with tech bosses, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Trump announced an $800 billion AI project, touting health research as one of the top priorities.
• Trump defended his decision to pardon the January 6 Capitol rioters, rejecting suggestions it sends a poor message to those found guilty of assaulting law enforcement officers. Among those walking free are Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.
• Democrat states, including New York and California, have launched a court challenge against the president’s bid to end automatic citizenship for children born in the US to undocumented immigrants.
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents can now arrest undocumented people in churches and schools after the Trump administration wound back Biden-era protections.

Donald Trump in the White House on his first day back as president.Credit: Bloomberg

Trump says his threat to hit China with 10 per cent tariffs on all imports was still on the table and indicated it could come as soon as next month, a day after he left the world’s second-largest economy out of the countries he was looking to target imminently.

“We’re talking about a tariff of 10 per cent on China, based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” Trump said during an event at the White House. “Probably February 1st is the date we’re looking at.”

Trump’s comments on Wednesday AEDT suggest that any reprieve for China from promised trade levies may be short-lived.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Credit: AP

Trump during his campaign pledged sweeping tariffs against other nations, including levies of 60 per cent on Chinese products. After his election he also threatened to impose an additional 10 per cent duty on China, citing the trafficking in fentanyl and chemicals used to make the deadly drug, as well as 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada if they failed to help the US secure its borders.

On Tuesday AEDT, Trump held off on ordering China-specific tariffs, even as he said that he intended to hit Canada and Mexico – both US neighbours and close allies – with the 25 per cent levies by February 1.

Trump instead told his administration to address unfair trade practices globally and investigate whether Beijing had complied with a deal he signed during his first stint in office, adopting what appeared to be a slower approach to China.

It is unclear under what legal authority Trump could order these tariffs imposed. In that executive order, he told officials to “assess the unlawful migration and fentanyl flows” from Canada, Mexico, and China and report back by April 1. Before his inauguration there were reports he was considering declaring a national economic emergency to allow new tariffs, but such a move hasn’t been announced.

Bloomberg

Senators vetting the nomination of Pete Hegseth for defence secretary have received an affidavit from his former sister-in-law alleging that the onetime Fox News host was abusive to his second wife, to the point where she feared for her safety. Hegseth denies the allegations.

The sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, was formerly married to the nominee’s brother, and in an affidavit, she said she believes that Pete Hegseth is “unfit” to run the Defence Department based on what she witnessed and heard. She said she first relayed her allegations to the FBI in December but was concerned that the information was not shared with Congress as senators consider Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Pentagon.

The affidavit describes Hegseth’s treatment of his second wife, Samantha, and alleges repeat drunkenness and a domestic situation where Samantha Hegseth had a safe word to indicate if she was in danger at home. Danielle Hegseth said Samantha texted that safe word to her sometime in 2015 or 2016, which prompted her to call a third party for help.

Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s choice to be defence secretary, at his confirmation hearing.Credit: AP

“I have chosen to come forward publicly, at significant personal sacrifice, because I am deeply concerned by what Hegseth’s confirmation would mean for our military and our country,” she said.

An attorney for Pete Hegseth vehemently denied the allegations. Tim Parlatore said the affidavit was filled with “belated claims” by an ex-relative with “an axe to grind against the entire Hegseth family.”

In a statement to US broadcaster NBC News, which first reported on the affidavit, Samantha Hegseth said there “was no physical abuse in my marriage. This is the only further statement I will make to you, I have let you know that I am not speaking and will not speak on my marriage to Pete. Please respect this decision.”

Samantha Hegseth and Pete Hegseth both signed a Minnesota court document in 2021 during their divorce saying neither claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.

Republican leaders said they doubted the new allegations would change the votes of support they are lining up for Hegseth. They marched ahead with the nomination on Wednesday (AEDT), taking a key procedural step needed to confirm him by week’s end.

Hegseth was grilled by senators during a hearing last week about his behaviour, including excessive drinking, extramarital affairs and allegations of sexual assault, which he has denied.

Hegseth has promised not to drink on the job and has denied a 2017 sex assault allegation but acknowledged paying the woman a settlement. He was going through a divorce at the time after having a child with a Fox News producer who became his current wife, according to court records and his social media posts.

AP

A police officer who was assaulted by rioters during the January 6 siege on the Capitol said he was disappointed to see his attackers granted pardons by Donald Trump.

Washington police officer Daniel Hodges was violently assaulted by multiple rioters who beat him with his own baton, crushed him with a police shield and tried to gouge out his eyes.

Washington police officer Daniel Hodges (left) testified at the select committee hearing on the January 6 riot. Credit: Getty

Hodges was working at Trump’s inauguration yesterday when it became clear that his attackers would be released.

“This is what the people voted for, and even though it wasn’t a surprise, it’s still hard to see, because these people were violent insurrectionists,” he said on CNN.

“They brutally attacked me and my colleagues. They wanted to stop the peaceful transfer of power. I don’t see why so many of them would deserve a pardon.”

Hodges was granted a pre-emptive pardon by Joe Biden to protect him against retribution for testifying about the riot. Hodges said he is considering declining the protection, as it felt to him like an admission of guilt.

“I haven’t committed any crimes, I haven’t done anything wrong.”

President Donald Trump’s administration is directing that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on paid leave, and that agencies develop plans to lay them off, according to a memo on Tuesday from the Office of Personnel Management.

The memo follows an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs that could touch on everything from anti-bias training to funding for minority farmers and home owners.

The memo directs agencies to place DEI office staffers on paid leave by 5pm on Wednesday (Thursday morning AEDT) and take down all public DEI-focused webpages by the same deadline. Several federal departments had removed the webpages even before the memorandum.

By Thursday, federal agencies are directed to compile a list of federal DEI offices and workers as of Election Day. By next Friday they are expected to develop a list to execute a “reduction-in-force action” against those federal workers.

AP

Confidence is high that Australia will be able to avoid tough trade sanctions under the second Trump administration, Penny Wong says, following talks with the new US secretary of state.

Australia’s foreign minister met Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday (AEDT), the first formal talks between the pair since Donald Trump’s second term as president began.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong shakes hands with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.Credit: AP

Wong said the meeting focused on Australia’s economic ties with the US, downplaying concerns tariffs could be imposed after Trump flagged the trade measures on Canada and Mexico.

“Every Australian government in office at a time where a new administration has come in has had to navigate those trade policy issues. This is no different,” she told reporters in Washington.

“I have focused very much on articulating why Australia’s economic relationship with the United States is of benefit to the United States as well as to Australia.

“What I can say to Australians is that we will work consistently, confidently, with a very clear focus on Australia’s interests to navigate any trade issues.”

Wong said the AUKUS deal, where Australia receives nuclear submarines as part of a deal with the United States and the United Kingdom, was also brought up in the bilateral meeting, noting the new administration was keen to progress the partnership.

“It’s been really clear that the Trump administration understands the strategic imperative around AUKUS, which is why the government is so committed to it,” she said.

The one-on-one with the secretary of state happened alongside a meeting of Quad foreign ministers, which included Rubio along with ministers from India and Japan.

AAP

Trump has been likened to a fascist and a dictator by those who used to work for him. He plans to abandon world climate targets, target transgender women in sport, impose vast tariffs and carry out mass deportations of illegal immigrants.

But what about the things Trump might do… well?

Today on the Morning Edition, North America correspondent Farrah Tomazin spoke about why we may not only survive Trump 2.0, but the parts of his presidency and policy agenda that could be an objective success.

Donald Trump said he was open to billionaire Elon Musk buying social media app TikTok if the Tesla chief executive wanted to do so.

Bloomberg News reported last week that Chinese officials were in preliminary talks about a potential option to sell TikTok’s operations in the United States to Musk, though the company has denied that.

Donald Trump greets Elon Musk before the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in November.Credit: AP

Trump on Monday signed an executive order seeking to delay by 75 days the enforcement of the law to ban the platform that was put in place after US officials warned that, under Chinese parent company ByteDance, there was a risk of Americans’ data being misused.

TikTok remained unavailable to download on Apple and Android devices in the United States on Tuesday afternoon (Wednesday morning AEDT).

“I would be, if he wanted to buy it,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday when asked if he was open to Musk buying the platform.

“I have met with owners of TikTok, the big owners,” Trump added. “So, what I am thinking about saying to somebody is, ‘Buy it and give half to the United States of America.’”

Reuters

Right-wing extremists are celebrating Elon Musk’s straight-arm gesture during a speech on Inauguration Day, although his intention wasn’t totally clear and some hate watchdogs are saying not to read too much into it.

“I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” Musk said during a speech at Capital One Arena, referring to Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. Then he slapped his hand on his chest and extended his arm straight out and up with his palm facing down.

“The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” Musk posted on X several hours after he left the stage.

Speaking at a presidential rally in Washington, Musk twice extended his arm out with his palm facing down, drawing comparisons to the Nazi salute.Credit: NYT

Critics and fans alike of the Tesla chief and world’s richest man were quick to react to the gesture.

“The White Flame will rise again,” a chapter of the white nationalist group White Lives Matter posted on Telegram.

“Maybe woke really is dead,” white nationalist Keith Woods posted on X.

“Did Elon Musk just Heil Hitler ...” right-wing commentator Evan Kilgore posted on X. “We are so back.”

Elon Musk arrives before the 60th presidential inauguration.Credit: AP

The Anti-Defamation League, an antisemitism and human rights watchdog, called it an “awkward gesture” and urged caution in jumping to conclusions. Other extremism monitors and experts pointed out it was unclear what Musk was trying to convey to the crowd of Trump’s supporters by thrusting his arm out.

“I’m sceptical it was on purpose,” said Jared Holt, a senior research analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which tracks online hate. “It would be an act of self-sabotage that wouldn’t really make much sense at all.”

Kurt Braddock, a professor of communication at American University who studies extremism, radicalisation and terrorism, said the gesture was a fascist salute and “people shouldn’t doubt what they saw”.

Known as the Roman salute in Italy, the straight-arm greeting officially adopted in 1925 by the dictator Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime is banned in Italy though it is rarely prosecuted.

Musk’s representative in Italy, Andrea Stroppa, published the photo on X with the words: “Roman Empire is back, starting with the Roman salute,” according to the news agency ANSA.

He later deleted the post, writing that Musk “is autistic” and was expressing his emotions but denying he was emulating fascism.

“He does not like extremists,” Stroppa wrote.

AP

Donald Trump has pardoned the founder of Silk Road, a dark web platform that facilitated the sale of illegal drugs.

Ross Ulbricht, also known as “Dread Pirate Roberts”, was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for creating the dark web marketplace, which prosecutors called a one-stop online shopping mall where the supply of drugs was virtually endless.

Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison.

In a post to Truth Social, Trump called Ulbricht’s sentence “ridiculous”.

“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honour of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross,” he said.

“The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern-day weaponisation of government against me. He was given two life sentences plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”

Silk Road offered a drug marketplace.Credit: AP

Libertarian activists, who generally oppose criminal drug policies, have long believed that government investigators overreached in building their case against Silk Road. Many held “Free Ross” signs.
“Ross Ulbricht has been a libertarian political prisoner for more than a decade,” said a statement from Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle. “I’m proud to say that saving his life has been one of our top priorities and that has finally paid off.”

With AP