Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president, becoming only the second US leader in history to return to the White House for a second term after being defeated in an election. Under the watchful eyes of outgoing President Joe Biden, who just hours earlier pardoned a raft of officials who have faced Trump’s wrath, the New York real estate impresario swore the oath of office. 

Details about the policies the Trump administration plans to implement emerged ahead of the inauguration. The White House plans to use his executive authority to declare a national energy emergency, crack down on undocumented migrants and narrow the scope of diversity equality and inclusion. The dollar fell against other currencies after reports suggested Trump won’t immediately impose new trade tariffs. 

As Republican Party operatives and Washington, DC insiders prepare for a long night of celebration, others in the Beltway showed some circumspection. Cryptocurrency advocates, who celebrated Trump’s ascension by pushing the value of bitcoin past $100,000, warned that Trump’s new memecoin risked undercutting the sector. So too among environmentalists who are trying to calculate which climate measures may be spared by Trump.

Trump’s force of personality united the GOP’s many disparate factions during the campaign, writes Nia-Malika Hendersen for Bloomberg Opinion. Now comes the hard work of actually governing. For more about the inauguration, read Bloomberg’s live-ticker by clicking here. — Jonathan Tirone

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Saudi Arabia isn’t wasting any time stepping into the breach left by Iran’s hasty retreat from parts of the Middle Eastern. The oil-rich kingdom and its 39-year-old leader, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, are emerging as one of the biggest winners in the fallout of the 15-month conflict in Gaza, which has tilted the regional balance of power against its longtime rival Iran. As a fragile ceasefire deal came into effect on Sunday, Tehran’s influence has been crippled, for now: its proxies in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories decimated, its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad deposed and its enemy Israel emboldened.

European Union skepticism is on the rise in Slovakia. Prime Minister Robert Fico suggested the central European country could eventually find itself outside the bloc. While the leader stopped short of calling for an exit, he cautioned that rapidly evolving global developments pose risks to the EU’s long-term outlook. Stung by failed efforts to prolong Russian natural gas supplies, Fico has been plagued by growing protests against him. The prospect of leaving the EU was promptly rejected by a broad swathe of Slovakia’s political establishment. 

Slovak citizens hold banners and signs criticizing the current political system led by Fico. Photographer: Anadolu/Anadolu

Novel nuclear technology will be built in Sweden under a joint venture between Blykalla and Germany’s Uniper. The small, modular reactor will test new methods to safely moderate atomic reactions. The plant at Uniper’s Oskarshamn atomic power station will be Sweden’s first new reactor in about 40 years. With electricity demand poised to surge in coming decades, the government sees the controversial technology as one of the main answers to boost supplies.

In the heart of German car country, Green Party politicians are targeting moderate voters who feel neglected. In wealthy and deeply conservative Munich, Green leader Robert Habeck chose to make his pitch to a mix of about 2,000 faithful at Motorworld — a mecca for car lovers filled with gas-guzzling Bugattis, Porsches and Ferraris. The choice of venue underscores a key element of the current vice chancellor and economy minister’s campaign strategy: trying to show he’s pragmatic and ready to reach out to new voters, while pushing back against the image of the Greens as meddlesome and dogmatic. 

Habeck projected on a screen during the Greens campaign event at Motorworld in Munich, on Jan. 18. Photographer: picture alliance/picture alliance

Spain’s Socialist government blindsided investors over the weekend. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. on Saturday pushed out the long-standing executive chairman and chief executive officer of Telefonica SA, Spain’s main telecommunications provider. On Sunday, he stiffened his effort to shut many foreign buyers out of Spain’s property market. With markets back open today, investors sent shares of key equities lower. 

Facebook fact checkers still have a job outside of the US, at least for now, according the company’s head of global business. Meta, which said it will replace third-party fact checkers in the US with a community notes system, will see how the change plays out before deciding about a transition in other regions, Nicola Mendelsohn said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos. 

Too much machismo puts finance at risk. The head of Deutsche Bank AG’s investment arm has taken to social media in defense of so-called “woke” finance. Against a backdrop of ongoing backlash against DEI, ESG and other acronyms associated with equality and sustainability, DWS Chief Executive Officer Stefan Hoops said the finance industry now risks allowing “the anti-woke rhetoric” to lead it “straight back to the macho ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ era.”

Stefan Hoops. Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg

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