Jan 21, 2025

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Good Tuesday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, now on day two of the new job. Nice quiet week so far! Thanks for all the kind messages.

President Donald Trump holds up an executive order.

President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. | Matt Rourke/AP

DRIVING THE DAY

DAY TWO: Donald Trump will host talks with GOP leaders at the White House today as the new president gets to work on his radical policy agenda. After a truly raucous first day in office which saw Trump sign scores of executive orders, issue 1,500 pardons to Capitol rioters and make seven freewheeling appearances at different venues across Washington, the spadework of trying to actually get stuff through a knife-edge Congress begins in earnest. Trump is due to host House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other key Republicans later this afternoon, and won’t need any reminding of the challenges that still lie in wait. Signing bits of paper in front of cheering crowds is easy; finding near-unanimity among hundreds of Republicans on the Hill, less so.

What to expect: These things can shift around pretty fast, but current expectations are that Johnson, Thune, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso will meet with Trump at the White House soon after lunch. There was some suggestion Trump would also hold more intimate talks with just Johnson and Thune, but let’s see how the day pans out.

Top of their agenda: The reconciliation process … the debt ceiling … spending cuts … tax cuts … and plenty more. For all the drama and bluster of Trump’s first day, the path through both houses for a “big, beautiful bill” enacting the president’s spending plans looks just as tricky as it did before. The grumbling among Hill Republicans about yesterday’s Rotunda seating arrangements is unlikely to help.

But first things first … let’s focus on last night’s extraordinary show in the Oval Office, a press conference frankly unlike anything your (newbie) author has seen before. A relaxed and playful Trump invited the cameras in as he sat behind the Resolute Desk shortly before 8 p.m. and signed executive order after executive order, casually answering journalists’ questions as he changed the course of the country — and often the planet — with each stroke of the pen.

Mightier than the sword: Between the Oval Office sign-a-thon and his earlier appearance on stage at the Capital One arena — pen, once again, in hand — Trump dispatched a bewildering number of executive orders through the course of the late afternoon. He may have been “flooding the zone” (h/t Steve Bannon, again) but this was ultimately government as entertainment show, with the Capital One crowd cheering as Trump signed away U.S. membership of the Paris climate accords before their eyes. Later, in the Oval Office, the president even offered journalists a running commentary — “ooh, this is a big one,” he smiled, pulling America out of the World Health Organization — as aides handed over order after order for him to sign.

And there’s more: We got the TikTok stay of execution … A back-to-the-office mandate for federal workers … A federal hiring freeze … The renaming of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali … Emergency measures on energy and immigration … and much, much more. The only area which underwhelmed was tariffs, with no more than an investigation pledged into possible new levies on goods from China, Mexico and Canada.

So what happens next? That’s a little less clear. “It’s not yet known which of Trump’s exhaustive list of executive actions will have immediate impact, which are purely symbolic, and whether Congress or the courts can limit their impact,” note our colleagues Alice Miranda Ollstein and Myah Ward in their essential write-through of the day. Josh Gerstein reports that Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship — currently protected by the 14th Amendment — has already been hit by a legal challenge from immigrants’ rights activists. But the message being sent to MAGA-land is crystal clear — and they’re loving every minute.

The moment of the evening … came when Trump was asked if outgoing President Joe Biden had left the traditional letter of advice for his successor in the Resolute Desk. Trump opened a drawer and pulled the historic letter out, apparently for the first time, the number “47” visible in Biden’s handwriting upon the envelope. The president suggested he might even open and read the letter right there, before the cameras. In the end, he smiled and put it back in the drawer ... Even Trump has his limits.

But the biggest story of the night … was Trump’s extraordinary tidal wave of clemency, with the new president issuing pardons or commutations for nearly every person convicted of crimes — including serious violence — in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. This was big — about as big as Trump could possibly go. Only hours earlier Biden, of course, had issued his own shocking flurry of preemptive pardons for friends, family and associates during his final morning — his final moments — in power. It probably shouldn’t take a Brit to tell you that none of this is remotely normal. At all.

On Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons: “The sweeping grant of clemency includes ‘full, complete and unconditional’ pardons for some of the most notorious participants in the attack,” writes Kyle Cheney, “including hundreds convicted of assaulting police, carrying firearms, destroying property or otherwise contributing to the violent rampage. Trump also ordered his Justice Department to shut down hundreds of pending Jan. 6 prosecutions, including many for violent crimes.

“Among those freed from jail with a stroke of Trump’s pen: Enrique Tarrio, the former national leader of the far-right Proud Boys, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for a seditious conspiracy related to the attack; Guy Reffitt, who carried a firearm during a standoff with police that helped facilitate the mob’s approach to the Capitol; and Ryan Samsel, the first rioter to breach police lines who was facing a long list of assault charges.” Oath Keepers militia founder Stewart Rhodes received a commutation of his 18-year sentence. The first pics of prisoners being released were being published late last night.

The big question this morning: How comfortable are Republicans on the Hill with all of this? Some of those packed into the Rotunda yesterday were the very same senators who fled or cowered in fear during the riot on Jan. 6 — and plenty were on the record as saying that those guilty of violence should not be pardoned.

They include: Vice-President JD Vance: “If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned.” … Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.): “I agree with JD.” … Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.): “I’m against it for people who assaulted cops, threw stuff at cops, broke down doors, broke windows.” … And there are plenty more. (Check out the useful list here via the “Protect Democracy” campaign.) Expect the Capitol Hill press pack to be chasing reaction today … The Bulwark’s Sam Stein predicts that “I haven’t seen the full text of the pardon” will be the GOP line du jour.

Some more lines du jour: “I AM GONNA BUY SOME MOTHA FU*KIN GUNS!!!” trumpeted Jacob Chansley, aka the “QAnon Shaman,” on X. “I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!!” But Capitol Police officers who tried to fight off the rioters called it a dark day for the rule of law. “It’s a desecration to our service and the sacrifices made to keep everyone safe,” said former officer Aquilino Gonell. “It’s a violation to our democracy.”

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Next up: Dark-web overlord Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road founder and libertarian cause célèbre currently serving life in prison, could be pardoned imminently, Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle said. Trump ally Elon Musk confirmed it’s in the cards.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance cut a cake with sabres at the Commander in Chief Ball.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance cut a cake with sabres at the Commander in Chief Ball, part of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. | Evan Vucci/AP

LAST NIGHT IN DC: With all those executive orders finally out the way, the Trumps and the Vances waltzed their way from ball to shining ball last night, with the new president making three more appearances for the zillionaire DC elites. We saw Trump dance gracefully with Melania to “Unchained Melody”; we saw him wield an enormous saber and cut an enormous cake; and we heard him explain how Vance had talked him out of putting too much “rough stuff” in his main inauguration speech.

Kicker: “They said ‘let’s not put that paragraph in,’” Trump revealed on stage. “I loved that paragraph. There was a paragraph on how Biden shouldn’t be pardoning his family. ... We had a couple of others that were far worse than that.”

But it wasn’t all champagne and medals: Singer Billy Ray Cryrus had a bit of a mare by all accounts, with a calamitous performance capped by his guitar losing power on stage (vid here) … And there was a truly toe-curling moment at the Liberty Ball as President Trump announced on stage just how wonderful his family is, and then proceeded to give a warm shout-out to each member in turn — apart from his own wife Melania, standing right beside him with a rictus grin. She listened in silence as even JD Vance’s wife, Usha, got a special mention ahead of her ... It kind of had to be seen to be believed. (Video here from 4:01:10, if you can bear it.)

NOW READ THIS: POLITICO’s global editor-in-chief John Harris gives his verdict on Trump 2.0 in an essential new “Altitude” column this morning. “In one light, it was all quite familiar,” he writes of Trump’s second inauguration speech. “But the second occasion of Trump taking the oath of office also put him in an entirely new light. For the first time, he is holding power under circumstances in which reasonable people cannot deny a basic fact: He is the greatest American figure of his era.”

Calm down, calm down: “Great in this context is not about a subjective debate over whether he is a singularly righteous leader or a singularly menacing one,” Harris goes on. “It is now simply an objective description about the dimensions of his record.” This one’s well worth your time.

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IMMIGRATION FILES

SHOCK AND AWE: Of all the executive actions Trump issued on Monday, it’s those covering immigration which are having the most immediate effect. The first, high-profile deportation raids had been scheduled for today in Chicago — though these have now been diverted after the plans were leaked to the WSJ, the NY Post’s Jennie Taer and Joe Marino report. But don’t be surprised if we see action on this front very quickly — and there’s little doubt the scale of what Trump has announced is having an immediate effect at the border as well.

Line in the sand: “All illegal aliens seeking entry into the United States should turn back now,” White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller quickly declared on X. “Anyone entering the United States without authorization faces prosecution and expulsion.”

Door slammed shut: Far-reaching changes are affecting legal migrants too, with the U.S. now effectively closed to asylum-seekers. At the U.S.-Mexico border, people who’d waited months for appointments through the CBP One app saw it suddenly deleted, as WaPo’s Arelis Hernández reports. And following Trump’s suspension of all refugee programs, more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to be resettled “are having their flights canceled,” Reuters’ Jonathan Landay scooped. That includes some unaccompanied kids, and the family members of U.S. troops.

The purge: Career civil servants at the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, in charge of immigration courts, were axed in a surprise move, CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez reports. That could yet run afoul of Office of Personnel Management rules — though Trump is unlikely to care. On the flip side, immigration hardliner James McHenry has been tapped as acting AG, Josh Gerstein reports, while we await the confirmation of Pam Bondi.

But but but: If you were expecting widespread resistance and outcry, there was little sign of that from Dem leaders last night. Indeed, it’s notable that the Laken Riley Act — which would mandate the detention of undocumented immigrants charged with crimes — is heading back to the House for a vote later this week after the Senate passed an amended version yesterday, 64-35, per Daniella Diaz and Ali Bianco. A dozen Senate Dems voted for the bill. Now it could be Trump’s first legislative victory — a bipartisan, if small, one, that reflects moderate Dems moving to the right on immigration.

Worth noting: Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) tells Daniella that the border crisis lost Dems the election, and that he may keep voting with the GOP on migration issues. “There has been this misunderstanding about where Latinos are when it comes to border and border security,” he said. It’s a fascinating shift.

Speaking of which: Mexico has indicated it would work with the return of Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy, keeping asylum-seekers waiting south of the border, AP’s Rebecca Santana, Elliot Spagat and Gisela Salomon. But President Claudia Sheinbaum says she still opposes the policy, and urged Trump (in vain) to keep the CBP One app in operation, NBC’s Nicole Acevedo and Jacob Soboroff report.

BEST OF THE REST

THE NOMS ARE BACK! Trump’s nominee for U.N. ambassador, Elise Stefanik, makes her debut on the confirmation stage this morning, with a turn before the Senate Foreign Affairs committee at 10 a.m. As The Hill’s Laura Kelly reported earlier this week, Stefanik has been successfully wooing senators for some time — and is clearly on what Playbook is apparently obliged to describe as a “glide path” to confirmation. (Can we all pick a new metaphor now please?) Veterans Affairs pick Doug Collins also faces his first confirmation hearing today, while the Senate Finance committee votes on Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary. He too is on the aforementioned “glide path” to the Cabinet.

And speaking of glide paths: As expected, Marco Rubio was confirmed last night as U.S. secretary of state, the first of Trump’s picks to get over the line. The senate voted 99-0 in his favor, a scorecard Trump was understandably gleeful about in his Oval Office presser last night. CIA director nominee John Ratcliffe looks likely to be next in line for approval — perhaps as early as today. Ratcliffe, Pete Hegseth (Defense), Russell Vought (OMB) and Kristi Noem (DHS) all made it through committee votes yesterday.

BUT WHO’S IN CHARGE FOR NOW? … While we’re waiting for all these nominees to get through, Robert Salesses will be acting Defense secretary, per NBC’s Courtney Kube and Annemarie Bonner. POLITICO has a rundown of other acting leaders, including David Lebryk for Treasury, Denise Carter for Education and Vince Micone for Labor. In a surprise, Brian Driscoll is now leading the FBI upon the retirement of Paul Abbate, as AP’s Eric Tucker scooped. And Trump has tapped Mark Christie as FERC chair, Bloomberg’s Naureen Malik reports.

… AND WHO’S NOT: Upward of 20 senior State Department staffers — both political appointees and career diplomats — were told to head for the exits before Trump arrived, per CBS’ Camilla Schick. The major shakeup affecting undersecretaries and assistant secretaries “is shocking” in its breadth and haste, one source tells her. Meanwhile at the Pentagon, a portrait of Trump foe retired Gen. Mark Milley was removed less than two weeks after it went up, per Paul McLeary.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: Elon Musk helped force his supposed pal Vivek Ramaswamy out of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency panel, Adam Wren and Holly Otterbein reveal in an essential POLITICO scoop. Ramaswamy, who’s now gunning for governor of Ohio instead, “had irked some Republicans in Trump’s circle,” they report. Ramaswamy’s X post last month criticizing American work culture apparently hastened his demise. “Everyone wants him out of Mar-a-Lago, out of D.C.,” one Republican strategist says. Yikes.

And speaking of DOGE: We now have more details of how it’s actually going to work, after Trump signed an executive order on it last night. Tl;dr: They’re just renaming the United States Digital Service, an existing agency created under Barack Obama.

HOW THE WORLD SAW IT

THE BIG SHOW: The whole world’s eyes were on Washington yesterday and the early reactions to Trump’s inauguration reflect the same heady mix of outrage, rapture and sheer capitulation that you can expect to define the next four years of “America First.”

Girding: French President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech that Trump’s return means Europe/NATO needs to “wake up,” beef up security spending and get less dependent on Washington for defense, per AP’s Sylvie Corbet. Trump is bound to like that. Another EU leader, however, warned that transatlantic trade wars will only impede higher NATO spending, Victor Goury-Laffont and Laura Kayali report.

Exhaling: The news that Trump will start only by studying tariffs, rather than imposing them right off the bat, came as a relief to Canadian officials, AP’s Rob Gillies reports.

Celebrating: Populist right leaders — ascendant around the world — were in town to relish in Trump’s second term, including Argentina’s Javier Milei and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Nahal Toosi and Eric Bazail-Eimil report. (Others may have arrived on more transactional hopes, like Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa and Paraguay’s Santiago Peña.) Wannabes like Reform UK leader Nigel Farage were also in town.

Defying: Despite Trump’s comments, the Panama Canal “is and will remain Panama’s,” Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said in a statement yesterday. He added that “its administration will remain under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality,” per WSJ’s Santiago Pérez and Kejal Vyas, who have an interesting dispatch from Panama City on why Panama and Trump see China’s presence there so differently.

Mocking: “... So help us God,” reads the front page of today’s Daily Star in the U.K. (of Liz Truss/lettuce fame), which pokes fun at the “Orange Manbaby.”

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

MIDDLE EAST LATEST — The Israel-Hamas cease-fire is still holding for now, with the next exchange of hostages and prisoners slotted for Saturday, per Bloomberg’s Ethan Bronner. But with so many factors still in flux in Gaza, much will depend on Trump: The loved ones of hostages still held by Hamas are urging Trump to forestall any unraveling and make sure they get out, WaPo’s Shira Rubin reports.

A fragile peace: In Gaza, the bombing has stopped, but Palestinians are going back to a land destroyed, NYT’s Patrick Kingsley, Aaron Boxerman, Adam Rasgon, Isabel Kershner and Eric Nagourney report. Israelis are balancing relief with anger that Hamas is still in power, and fears that far-right pressure could lead PM Benjamin Netenyahu to restart the war in a matter of weeks, per WSJ’s Carrie Keller-Lynn.

DAVOS DOWNLOAD — At the World Economic Forum in Switzerland today, the highest-profile speakers have already included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli President Isaac Herzog still on tap. Plus there’s a leaders’ dinner tonight hosted by Klaus Schwab. But “the only story anyone is talking about” is Trump, Suzanne Lynch and Zoya Sheftalovich report in the pop-up Global Playbook newsletter, and everyone is watching to see how the global elites respond to the new America.

Tuesday listen: The latest daily edition of the “Power Play” podcast from Davos brings you two hot takes on Trump’s inauguration: from POLITICO global-editor-in-chief John Harris, who arrived in the Swiss Alps to hear the speech from across the ocean, and chief Washington correspondent and POLITICO Magazine’s Ryan Lizza, who was in D.C. reporting on the historic day. Listen here