INTERNATIONAL NEWS - Today America is a very different place to what it was 24 hours ago.
Shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President of the USA in Washington yesterday, 20 January, he made sweeping changes – a complete U-turn from where his predecessor, Joe Biden, was heading.
Just as he said he would.
In the first hours of his presidency, Trump declared a national emergency on the country’s southern border and a massive crackdown on immigration; left the Paris Climate Agreement; and ended the US’s membership of the World Health Organisation.
With the flick of his pen Trump made undone all the work by the police and justice department to bring to book those responsible for the 6 January 2021 mayhem in Washington when Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill claiming the election wasn’t free and fair.
About 1 500 people have now been pardoned.
Trump’s White House Liaison for the Department of Justice, Paul Ingrassia, announced that two of the first people who have been released are brothers from Pensylvania, Matthew and Andrew Valentin.
They were apparently sentenced to two and a half years each for assaulting law enforcement officers during the riots. Trump referred to his supporters who were arrested as “hostages”.
Trump’s other lightning quick actions include delaying the highly controversial TikTok ban for 75 days.
He also ordered that America would recognise only two genders – male and female.
Trump further ordered that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the “Gulf of America” and that Alaska’s Mt. Denali henceforth be known as Mt. McKinley, after William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, who was assassinated in 1901. McKinley was a Republican.
Trump revoked 78 of Biden’s executive actions and signed into law many of his own, changing the face of America overnight.
Following the inauguration and policy changes, the US dollar strengthened against various currencies, including the rand. At 10:20 on Tuesday the rand was trading at 18.66 against the dollar.
Brothers Matthew and Andrew Valentin were last night released from jail after being pardoned by Trump for their role in the storming of Capitol Hill in 2021. Photo: @PaulIngrassia/TikTok
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