| Good morning and welcome to what is now Donald Trump’s Washington. Let’s kick off the first full day of his administration with a look at: Donald Trump ushered in a new era of disruption for global trade and took aggressive steps to boost energy production and curb immigration hours after being sworn in for his second presidency. Last night in the Oval Office, I watched Trump sign executive orders that delivered on the populist and nationalist platform that swept him to victory in November. In a reminder of the president’s willingness to use high-stakes, coercive tactics on Washington’s key trading partners, Trump also threatened to impose tariffs of up to 25 per cent on Canadian and Mexican imports as early as February 1. The move jolted global markets. He floated levies of up to 100 per cent on Chinese imports if Beijing doesn’t agree to sell TikTok to a US company, and warned of hitting EU products with tariffs unless the bloc buys more American oil and gas. In his inaugural speech, Trump suggested tariffs were his preferred tool in international economic diplomacy. He said that they would be vital to raising revenue for the US — never mind their potential to raise prices for American consumers. In his address, the president pledged an end to American “decline” and the onset of a new “golden age” based on a dramatic reversal of the Biden administration’s progressive agenda. Trump also made clear that an immigration crackdown remains a top priority. He declared a national emergency on the US-Mexico border, directed the Pentagon to draft a plan to deploy troops there, and took steps to curtail birthright citizenship for those born to undocumented immigrants on US soil. “That’s a big one,” he said. “We’re the only country in the world that does this with birthright . . . and it’s just absolutely ridiculous.” This move will almost certainly be challenged in court for violating the 14th amendment of the US constitution, which states that “all persons born or naturalised in the US, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States”. However, Trump seemed confident that “we have very good grounds” for the action. Was this forwarded to you?Did you enjoy this newsletter? Please let us know. And please share this newsletter with a friend. They can also sign up for free. For all the latest news on the Trump administration follow today’s live blog on FT.com With each new president comes a host of personalities vying for his ear, which sometimes means internal strife spills into the public arena. Trump’s complicated reality is that he has a very diverse coalition to please, one that includes conservatives, libertarians, moderates and even lapsed Democrats. This tension is best encapsulated by the spat between Trump bestie Elon Musk and Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, over so-called H-1B visas, which allow employers to hire foreign skilled workers. Musk has defended them for being crucial to the tech industry. Bannon, meanwhile, is sceptical and has called Musk “a truly evil guy” and pledged to “take this guy down”. On the tech titans now in Trump’s orbit, Bannon told the FT’s James Politi: “These guys do not believe in the nation state, they believe in techno-feudalism. That chasm is going to become a serious issue, between the populists and the ‘broligarchs’ going forward.” The fierce fight over H-1B visas is emblematic of faultlines between the business-friendly wing of the Republican party and the increasingly dominant populist branch, which is now much sharper than it was during Trump’s first term. These factional disputes could pop up in virtually all of the issues that the new administration has promised to tackle. And with such slim majorities in Congress, every proposal could be a full-on political battle. | 
