Donald Trump has said that he would be open to his billionaire ally Elon Musk or Oracle boss Larry Ellison buying the US arm of Chinese social video app TikTok from parent company ByteDance after granting it a 75-day reprieve on being banned in the US.
Asked by reporters at the White House on Tuesday whether he would be happy for Musk to make the acquisition, he answered: “I would be, if he wanted to buy it. I’d like Larry to buy it, too.”
The new president has meanwhile hit out at the Bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde, who conducted a Tuesday morning prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral he attended, calling her “a Radical Left hard line Trump hater” and saying she had been “ungracious” by calling upon him to show mercy towards LGBT+ children and migrants.
“Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one,” Trump fumed, demanding an apology.
He has meanwhile moved to pardon Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road illegal drugs marketplace, announced a $500bn AI project and seen his order to end birthright citizenship challenged as unconstitutional by 22 states.
Key Points
- Donald Trump says he’s open to Elon Musk buying TikTok ‘if he wants to’
- Angry Trump demands apology from bishop over mercy appeal for ‘scared’ immigrants and trans youth
- Trump sued by 22 states and pregnant women over ‘flagrantly illegal’ birthright citizenship order
- Musk forced to respond over inauguration ‘Nazi salute’
- Trump pardons more than 1,500 Capitol rioters
Angry Trump demands apology from Bishop of Washington over appeal for mercy for ‘scared’ immigrants and trans youth
09:35
,
Joe Sommerlad
The new president has meanwhile hit out at the Bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde, who conducted a Tuesday morning prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral he attended, calling her “a Radical Left hard line Trump hater” and saying she had been “ungracious” by calling upon him to show mercy towards LGBT+ children and migrants.
“Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one,” Trump fumed, demanding an apology.
Here’s Katie Hawkinson’s report.
Donald Trump says he’s open to Elon Musk buying TikTok ‘if he wants to’
09:16
,
Joe Sommerlad
Good morning!
Donald Trump has said that he would be open to his billionaire ally Elon Musk or Oracle boss Larry Ellison buying the US arm of Chinese social video app TikTok from parent company ByteDance after granting it a 75-day reprieve on being banned in the US.
Asked by reporters at the White House on Tuesday whether he would be happy for Musk to make the acquisition, he answered: “I would be, if he wanted to buy it. I’d like Larry to buy it, too.”
Vishwam Sankaran reports.
Trump has signed a slew of executive orders — can they be challenged?
08:45
,
Ariana Baio
President Donald Trump signed a batch of executive orders on inauguration day to begin implementing his conservative agenda but some of his most ambitious – revoking birthright citizenship and denying the identity of transgender people – are likely to face legal challenges.
Executive orders are mandatory declarations from the president to federal agencies or the military about how they should use resources given to them by Congress or operate within the limits of the U.S. Constitution. It is typical for presidents to sign executive orders upon taking office to display an eagerness to begin working.
But Trump has made it clear, he plans to utilize his presidential authority to carry out his agenda to the fullest extent possible. Already, he has set the record for most executive orders signed on the first day in office.
However, some of his executive orders face legal challenges with lawmakers disputing Trump’s scope of authority. Now, many are left wondering if there is any way to stop or challenge an executive order.
Read on...
Watch: Boebert tells pardoned Jan 6 rioters to come back to US Capitol for tour
08:15
,
Oliver O'Connell
Trump’s inauguration was a ratings dud
07:46
,
Josh Marcus
Fox News was the top destination for those who wanted to see President Donald Trump sworn into office for the second time, according to Nielsen’s early data ratings, which were released Tuesday afternoon. On the flip side, though, the early ratings show that Trump’s ceremony pulled in nearly 14 million fewer viewers than Joe Biden’s ceremony back in 2021.
Between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET, which encompassed Trump’s swearing-in ceremony and first address as president, Fox News drew 10.3 million total viewers, and 2 million in the coveted advertising demographic of adults aged 25-54. The total, if it stands, would be the second-highest-rated inauguration in the channel’s history.
CNN pulled in just 1.7 million viewers overall, and a demo audience of 534,000, which is the second-lowest inauguration in the network’s history if the numbers hold up. MSNBC, meanwhile, delivered its lowest-rated inauguration day, averaging just 848,000 total viewers and 104,000 in the key demographic group.
Among the broadcast networks, ABC led in total viewers with 4.7 million, while NBC pulled ahead in the demographic with 1.2 million. On Monday, 26.3 million viewers watched Trump take the oath of office across seven different networks, including Fox Business Network. Roughly 5.9 million tuned in from the key demographic group.
Justin Baragona has the story.
Trump looks awkward as bishop urges him to ‘have mercy’ on ‘scared’ immigrants and LGBT+ youth
07:45
,
Oliver O'Connell
As he celebrated the second day of his presidency, Donald Trump heard “one final plea” from the pulpit at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday.
Hours after the president signed a series of executive orders that upend immigration policy and seek to remove transgender Americans from public life, Episocal Bishop Mariann Budde urged the president to “have mercy” for the “scared” LGBT+ children and immigrant families across the country
Alex Woodward reports on the awkward moment.
ANALYSIS: Trump’s whirlwind first day
07:15
,
Oliver O'Connell
John Bowden writes:
Donald Trump is back in Washington. So is the Trump Show: a 24-hour, nonstop spectacle of governance and politicking that runs both his critics and the media (sometimes one and the same) ragged.
After taking the oath of office at noon on Monday, the new president sprinted through his first day. Issuing more than 200 executive orders and other actions, Trump began his administration’s assault on birthright citizenship, environmental protections, and parts of Joe Biden’s legacy with directives targeting a staggering scope of issues.
This was all carefully calculated: a “Day One” agenda that captured Americans’ attention in a way that Biden and his former running mate/replacement Kamala Harris never could.
Continue reading...
Number of states suing Trump over ‘flagrantly illegal’ birthright citizenship order grows to 22
06:45
,
Oliver O'Connell
A pregnant woman living in Massachusetts with temporary protected status is expected to give birth in March. But under the terms of Donald Trump’s executive order that unilaterally redefines the Constitution, upending federal law and decades of established Supreme Court precedent, her baby will not be a citizen.
She is the lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against the newly inaugurated president and members of his administration, accused of mounting a “flagrantly illegal” attempt to “strip citizenship from millions of Americans with a stroke of a pen.”
Alex Woodward reports.
After giving TikTok a second chance, can Trump actually save the app from its ban?
05:45
,
Oliver O'Connell
On Sunday, the 170 million Americans who use TikTok saw the same message when they opened the app.
“As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.”
But can Trump really save the app?
Katie Hawkinson investigates.
Exclusive: Insiders claim Trump has Starmer ‘over a barrel’ on trade deal
04:45
,
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump’s new administration believes it has Sir Keir Starmer’s government “over a barrel” on trade as Britain becomes increasingly reliant on a US deal, insiders have told The Independent.
Senior sources in the president’s team said the UK had no choice but to seek a trade agreement after the prime minister said his government’s success would be judged primarily on economic growth.
David Maddox, The Independent’s political editor, reports from Washington, D.C.
Ariana Grande ‘likes’ post mocking Carrie Underwood’s inaugural performance
03:45
,
Oliver O'Connell
Ariana Grande may have accidentally revealed her opinion on Carrie Underwood’s performance during Donald Trump’s inauguration.
On Monday (January 20) the “Before He Cheats” singer sang her rendition of “America the Beautiful” a cappella after experiencing some technical difficulties.
Brittany Miller reports on what happened next.
Amid fears of first Trump deportation raid, Chicago immigrant hub neighborhood goes quiet
03:15
,
Oliver O'Connell
Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, home to a large population of Latin American immigrants, has reportedly gone quiet, as the city waits to see whether it becomes the first target of Donald Trump’s plan to carry out mass deportations immediately upon taking office.
Immigration czar Tom Homan said Monday that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement had “pulled back” a reported Chicago operation, after news of the potential plan leaked over the weekend, but that Americans will see the agency in action “real soon.”
The looming threat of an ICE raid, whenever it comes, has already impacted the Little Village area, according to local business owners and officials.
Josh Marcus reports.
ICYMI: Trump looks awkward as bishop urges him to ‘have mercy’ on ‘scared’ immigrants and LGBT+ youth
02:45
,
Oliver O'Connell
As he celebrated the second day of his presidency, Donald Trump heard “one final plea” from the pulpit at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday.
Hours after the president signed a series of executive orders that upend immigration policy and seek to remove transgender Americans from public life, Episocal Bishop Mariann Budde urged the president to “have mercy” for the “scared” LGBT+ children and immigrant families across the country
Needless to say, this made things a little awkward for the first family as Alex Woodward reports.
Comedian Theo Von slams the Paul brothers over inauguration prank
02:15
,
Oliver O'Connell
Theo Von has set the record straight about his viral accident during President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
In an X/Twitter video posted by 29-year-old Logan Paul and captioned: “MAKE CHAIRS GREAT AGAIN,” Von is seen sitting directly in front of the YouTuber when his chair suddenly collapses.
Inga Parkel reports.
Homeland Security orders employees back to office ahead of expected mass deportations
01:45
,
Oliver O'Connell
Department of Homeland Security employees have been ordered back to the office as the agency follows through with new President Donald Trump’s executive order and ahead of his expected mass deportations of illegal migrants.
In a memo shortly after the inauguration, Acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman said the amount of hours being spent in the office throughout the agency was “unacceptable.”
Madeline Sherratt has the details.
Watch: ‘QAnon Shaman’ adopts bizarre English accent
01:15
,
Oliver O'Connell
Legal challenges expand against Trump birthright citizenship ban
01:00
,
Josh Marcus
A pregnant woman living in Massachusetts with temporary protected status is expected to give birth in March. But under the terms of Donald Trump’s executive order that unilaterally redefines the Constitution, upending federal law and decades of established Supreme Court precedent, her baby will not be a citizen.
She is the lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against the newly inaugurated president and members of his administration, accused of mounting a “flagrantly illegal” attempt to “strip citizenship from millions of Americans with a stroke of a pen.”
The lawsuit was filed by Boston-based Lawyers for Civil Rights on behalf of Brazilian Worker Center and La Colaborativa, which have “numerous members who are either currently pregnant or planning to grow their families in the future, and whose children will be among the targeted citizens,” according to the complaint.
A lawsuit in Maryland from CASA and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy is seeking to overturn Trump’s order on behalf of five pregnant women who “fear that their children will be denied United States citizenship” based on their immigration status “and that of their children’s fathers.”
Alex Woodward has the story.
Trump supporters slam bishop urging Christian tolerance for migrants, LGBTQ people
00:55
,
Josh Marcus
Allies of President Donald Trump furiously criticized the bishop who pleaded with the Republican to show “mercy” towards migrants and the LGBT+ community.
Trump and his family attended a National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Tuesday. Hours prior, he signed a slew of executive orders, many of which included hard-line immigration policies — such as ending birthright citizenship — while another denied the existence of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people throughout the government.
At the service, Episocal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde called on Trump to “have mercy” for the “scared” LGBT+ children and immigrant families across the country.
“There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families — some who fear for their lives,” Budde pointedly said directly to Trump.
Katie Hawkinson has the story.
Bannon: Trump ‘broke’ Musk and Zuckerberg — who don’t really believe in MAGA movement
00:45
,
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump’s former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon has fired a fusillade of heavy blows at the Silicon Valley tech triad arguing that the Trump 2.0 era will “break all these guys eventually.”
Speaking about the three richest men in the world, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who all attended Trump’s inauguration, Bannon said an era of “techno-feudalism” had arisen but that the tech “oligarchs” would undoubtedly falter in the new Trump era.
Madeline Sherratt reports.
What do the polls say about Trump’s support?
00:35
,
Josh Marcus
A new poll has revealed how Americans feel about President Donald Trump after his first two days in office — and the results are both good and bad news for the Republican.
Some 47 percent of respondents approved of Trump’s administration, a higher rating than he earned during much of his first term, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in the first 24 hours of his presidency.
But Trump’s specific policy actions in the last day have seen lower approval ratings.
Fifty-eight percent of Americans said Trump should not pardon all people convicted of crimes related to their involvement in the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, according to Reuters. But the president has done nearly exactly that, signing pardons Monday for some 1,500 people involved in the riots.
Katie Hawkinson reports.
Trump media stock takes a nose dive as he returns to Oval Office
00:25
,
Josh Marcus
The stock price of Trump Media & Technology Group plummeted during the first full day of President Donald Trump’s second term, dropping more than 11 percent in a single day.
A share of Trump Media, which sells under the ticker “DJT,” was worth just over $35 on Tuesday afternoon.
On Friday, it was worth more than $40, about the same as after the assassination attempt that saw Trump get shot in the ear in July last year. The share price has dropped more than 28 percent over the course of the last year.
Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, isn’t the only Trump-connected entity seeing its price drop. Trump launched a crypto coin just days before taking office, the price of which dropped on Tuesday after initially rallying.
Gustaf Kilander has the details.
Judges begin signing off on Trump January 6 pardons
00:21
,
Josh Marcus
Courts are beginning to approve Donald Trump’s sweeping pardons of his supporters who were convicted of storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Judge Nichols signs the motion dismissing Jake Lang's case. Typically only takes a little while for defendants to be processed and released out of the D.C. Jail after that. https://t.co/VkvD1iCpvi pic.twitter.com/aDDXsmbTR2
— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) January 21, 2025
Here’s more on how those who lived through January 6 feel about the pardons.
Trump’s inauguration got lowest ratings since at least 1969
00:17
,
Josh Marcus
Donald Trump’s inauguration was one of the lowest-rated in recent TV history, Vulture reports.
The ceremony drew a 14.1 household Nielsen rating, down from Biden’s 21.1 and Trump’s 20.1 rating for his first inauguration.
The festivities drew just 24.6 million TV viewers.
Trump gave Jan. 6 rioters a mass pardon. Here’s a reminder of the crimes they committed
00:15
,
Oliver O'Connell
After ascending to the top of the GOP ticket in March 2024, Donald Trump made a promise.
“My first acts as your next President will be to Close the Border, DRILL, BABY, DRILL, and Free January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned,” he wrote at the time on his Truth Social platform.
On his first day back in office on Monday, Trump stayed true to his word on the rioters and granted clemency to more than 1,500 supporters charged with crimes connected to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol building.
James Liddell looks back at the crimes they committed:
Watch: Trump asked if Proud Boys have place in US politics
00:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
Fox News contributor argues bishop’s speech urging mercy on migrants is ‘misuse of religion’
01:23
,
Josh Marcus
Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo has joined many on the right in criticizing a Washington bishop for urging Trump during a service on Tuesday to show mercy to migrants and LGTBQ+ people.
Arroyo: It's really a misuse of religion here pic.twitter.com/cvCeLFzGEO
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 22, 2025
“It’s really a misuse of religion here,” Arroyo said. “They came together—the Trump family, the Vance family—they came to pray for the nation, not to be lectured by this woman who looks like Kate McKinnon after a rain storm.”
For more on the backlash, here’s Katie Hawkinson.
Billy Ray Cyrus speaks out after ‘cringeworthy’ inaugural ball performance
Tuesday 21 January 2025 23:50
,
Oliver O'Connell
Billy Ray Cyrus has issued a statement regarding his “epic disaster” of a performance at Donald Trump’s Liberty Ball.
On Monday (January 20) evening, the 63-year-old country star took the stage to perform his hit tune “Achy Breaky Heart” and his Lil Nax X collaboration “Old Town Road.”
Inga Parkel reports on what happened next.
Fox News dominates as Trump inauguration pulls in 26 million viewers
Tuesday 21 January 2025 23:40
,
Oliver O'Connell
According to Nielsen’s early data ratings, which were released on Tuesday afternoon, Fox News was the top destination for those who wanted to see President Donald Trump sworn into office for the second time.
Between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET, which encompasses Trump’s swearing-in ceremony and first address as president, Fox News drew 10.3 million total viewers and 2 million in the coveted advertising demographic of adults aged 25-54. The total, if it stands, would be the second-highest-rated inauguration in the channel’s history.
Justin Baragona reports.
ANALYSIS: Trump’s whirlwind first day
Tuesday 21 January 2025 23:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
John Bowden writes:
Donald Trump is back in Washington. So is the Trump Show: a 24-hour, nonstop spectacle of governance and politicking that runs both his critics and the media (sometimes one and the same) ragged.
After taking the oath of office at noon on Monday, the new president sprinted through his first day. Issuing more than 200 executive orders and other actions, Trump began his administration’s assault on b