DIPLOMACY
After taking office, Trump pardons 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants
Donald Trump pardoned about 1,500 of his supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol four years ago as he moved swiftly to impose his will on the U.S. government just hours after reclaiming the presidency on Monday.
After a day of ceremony, Trump signed a series of executive actions to curb immigration and roll back environmental regulations and racial and gender diversity initiatives. He did not take immediate action to raise tariffs, a key campaign promise, but said he could impose 25% duties on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1.
His decision to pardon supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is sure to enrage police, lawmakers and others whose lives were put at risk during an unprecedented episode in modern U.S. history.
Roughly 140 police officers were assaulted during the attack, with some sprayed with chemical irritants and others struck with pipes, poles and other weapons. Four people died during the chaos, including a Trump supporter who was shot dead by police.
Trump ordered 14 leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys militant groups, who were serving long prison sentences, released from prison early, but left their convictions intact.
Earlier in the day, Trump, 78, took the oath of office in the Capitol Rotunda, where a mob of his supporters had rampaged on Jan. 6 in an unsuccessful attempt to reverse his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.
At the ceremony, Trump portrayed himself as a saviour chosen by God to rescue a faltering nation.
“I was saved by God to make America great again,” he said.
Trump is the first president in more than a century to win a second term after losing the White House and the first felon to occupy the White House. The oldest president ever to be sworn in, he is backed by Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress.
Trump moved quickly to clamp down on illegal immigration, a signature issue since he first entered politics in 2015.
Shortly after he took the oath of office, U.S. border authorities shut down a program that allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter the U.S. legally by scheduling an appointment through a smartphone. Existing appointments were canceled.
Nearly 1,660 Afghans who had been cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the U.S., including family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel, were having their flights canceled under a Trump order suspending U.S. refugee programs, a U.S. official and a leading refugee resettlement advocate said on Monday.
BORDER EMERGENCY DECLARED, CLIMATE DEAL NIXED
At the White House, Trump signed an order that declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, which would unlock funding and allow him to dispatch troops there. He signed an order that would end a policy that confers citizenship to those born in the United States, which is certain to trigger a lengthy court fight. Another executive order designated Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
Trump once again withdrew the United States from the Paris climate deal, removing the world’s biggest historic emitter from global efforts to fight climate change for the second time in a decade.
“We’re getting rid of all the cancer … caused by the Biden administration,” Trump said as he signed a stack of executive orders in the Oval Office.
His inauguration amounts to a triumphant return for a political disruptor who survived two assassination attempts and won the election despite a criminal conviction and a prosecution stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Other orders revoked Biden administration policies governing artificial intelligence and electric vehicles. He also imposed a freeze on federal hiring and ordered government workers to return to the office, rather than working from home. He also signed paperwork to create a “Department of Government Efficiency,” an outside advisory board headed by billionaire Elon Musk that aims to cut large swaths of government spending.
In the State Department, more than a dozen nonpartisan senior diplomats were asked to resign as part of a broader plan to replace nonpartisan civil servants with loyalists.
He also said he would issue orders to scrap federal diversity programs and require the government to recognize only genders assigned at birth.
While Trump sought to portray himself as a peacemaker and unifier during his half-hour speech, his tone was often sharply partisan. He repeated false claims from his campaign that other countries were emptying their prisons into America and voiced familiar grievances over his criminal prosecutions.
With Biden seated nearby, Trump issued a stinging indictment of his predecessor’s policies from immigration to foreign affairs.
“We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders, or more importantly, its own people,” Trump said.
Numerous tech executives who have sought to curry favor with the incoming administration – including the three richest men in the world, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg – had prominent seats on stage, next to cabinet nominees and members of Trump’s family.
Trump said he would send astronauts to Mars, prompting Musk – who has long talked about colonizing the planet – to raise his fists.
Trump vowed to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and repeated his intention to take back control of the Panama Canal, one of several foreign policy pronouncements that have caused consternation among U.S. allies.
RETURN TO POWER
Trump took the oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend” the U.S. Constitution at 12:01 p.m. ET (1701 GMT), administered by Chief Justice John Roberts. His vice president, JD Vance, was sworn in just before him.
Outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November, was seated next to Biden in a section with former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016, sat with her husband Bill. Obama’s wife, Michelle, chose not to attend.
The ceremony was moved indoors due to the extreme cold gripping much of the country.
Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration and has continued to claim falsely that the 2020 election he lost to Biden was rigged.
Biden, in one of his last official acts, pardoned several people whom Trump has threatened with retaliation, including General Mark Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who Trump has suggested should be executed for holding back-channel talks with China. Milley’s portrait was removed from the Pentagon shortly after Trump’s inauguration.
He also pardoned five family members minutes before leaving office, citing fears that Trump would target them.
Reuters
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The United Kingdom has endorsed the Moroccan Autonomy Proposal. It is viewed as the most credible basis to settle the dispute over Western Sahara. The proposal is considered viable and pragmatic.
In a landmark diplomatic meeting, the UK stated its commitment. The UK “will continue to act bilaterally, including economically, regionally, and internationally.” This action will be in line with this position to support resolution of the conflict.
This position was expressed in a Joint Communiqué. David Lammy, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom, signed it in Rabat. The signing occurred on Sunday. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, also signed it.
This document highlights that the UK “follows closely the current positive dynamic on this issue.” His Majesty King Mohammed VI provides leadership in this matter. It adds that London “recognises the importance of the question of Western Sahara for the Kingdom of Morocco.” It notes that settling this regional dispute “would strengthen the stability of North Africa. It would also aid in the relaunch of the bilateral dynamic and regional integration.”
The UK affirms, in the Joint Communiqué signed at the Foreign Ministry headquarters, that UK can consider supporting projects in the Sahara. This is notably as part of the UK Export Finance’s £5bn commitment to support new business across the country.
It also underlines that the UK “recognises Morocco as a key gateway to Africa’s socio-economic development”. The UK reaffirms its commitment to deepening engagement with Morocco. It sees Morocco as a partner for growth across the continent.
In this document, “both countries support the central role of the UN-led process.” They also consider it vital. Additionally, they reaffirm “their full support for the efforts of the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Mr. Staffan de Mistura.” To this end, the UK underlines that it is “ready, willing and committed to lend its active support and engagement to the Personal Envoy and the parties.”
“As a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, the United Kingdom agrees with Morocco. There is an urgent need to find a resolution to this long-held dispute. This would be in the interest of the parties,” the document notes. It adds that “the time for a resolution and to move this issue forwards is long-overdue. This action would strengthen the stability of North Africa and the relaunch of the bilateral dynamic and regional integration.”
This new position of the United Kingdom is significant. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, it aligns with the strong stances expressed by many major powers. This includes notably the United States, France, and Spain.
This new position of the United Kingdom is significant. The UK is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. This stance reinforces the growing international momentum. The momentum is driven by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in support of the Autonomy Plan under Moroccan sovereignty. It also confirms the credibility of this initiative and the broad consensus backing it to reach a final resolution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara
Billionaire Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab CEO Elon Musk is leaving the Trump administration after leading a tumultuous efficiency drive, during which he upended several federal agencies but ultimately failed to deliver the generational savings he had sought.
His “off-boarding will begin tonight,” a White House official told Reuters late Wednesday, confirming Musk’s departure from government. Musk earlier on Wednesday took to his social media platform X to thank President Donald Trump as his time as a special government employee with the Department of Government Efficiency draws to an end.
His departure was quick and unceremonious. He did not have a formal conversation with Trump before announcing his exit, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, who added that his departure was decided “at a senior staff level.”
While the precise circumstances of his exit were not immediately clear, he leaves a day after criticizing Trump’s marquee tax bill, calling it too expensive and a measure that would undermine his work with the U.S. DOGE Service.
Some senior White House officials, including Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, were particularly irked by those comments, and the White House was forced to call Republican senators to reiterate Trump’s support for the package, a source familiar with the matter said.
While Musk remains close to the president, his exit comes after a gradual, but steady slide in standing.
After Trump’s inauguration, the billionaire quickly emerged as a powerful force in Trump’s orbit: hyper-visible, unapologetically brash and unfettered by traditional norms. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, he brandished a red metallic chainsaw to wild cheers. “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy,” he declared.
On the campaign trail, Musk had said DOGE would be able to cut at least $2 trillion in federal spending. DOGE currently estimates its efforts have saved $175 billion so far, a number Reuters was not able to independently verify.
Musk did not hide his animus for the federal workforce, and he predicted that revoking “the COVID-era privilege” of telework would trigger “a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.”
But some cabinet members who initially embraced Musk’s outsider energy grew wary of his tactics, sources said. Over time, they grew more confident pushing back against his job cuts, encouraged by Trump’s reminder in early March that staffing decisions rested with department secretaries, not with Musk.
Musk clashed with three of Trump’s most senior cabinet members – Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He called Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro a “moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks.” Navarro dismissed the insults, saying, “I’ve been called worse.”
At the same time, Musk began to hint that his time in government would come to a close, while expressing frustration at times that he could not more aggressively cut spending.
In an April 22 Tesla conference call, he signaled he would be significantly scaling back his government work to focus on his businesses.
“The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,” Musk told The Washington Post this week. “I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in D.C., to say the least.”
DOGE GOES ON
Musk’s 130-day mandate as a special government employee in the Trump administration was set to expire around May 30. The administration has said DOGE’s efforts to restructure and shrink the federal government will continue.
Several cabinet secretaries are already discussing with the White House how to proceed without further alienating Congressional Republicans. But even as department heads will keep some DOGE infrastructure in place, they will likely move to reassert control over budgets and staffing, sources have told Reuters.
“The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,” Musk said.
Trump and DOGE have managed to cut nearly 12%, or 260,000, of the 2.3 million-strong federal civilian workforce largely through threats of firings, buyouts and early retirement offers, a Reuters review of agency departures found.
At the same time, DOGE has hit a number of roadblocks, with federal courts at times propping back up agencies shortly after DOGE had moved to eliminate them. In some cases, staff and funding cuts have led to purchasing bottlenecks, increased costs and a brain drain of scientific and technological talent.
The most recent source of friction came on Tuesday when Musk criticized the price tag of Republicans’ tax and budget legislation making its way through Congress.
“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told CBS News.
One source said the billionaire’s decision to trash Trump’s bill on television deeply upset senior White House aides.
His political activities have drawn protests and some investors have called for him to leave his work as Trump’s adviser and more closely manage Tesla, which has seen falls in sales and its stock price.
Musk, the world’s richest person, has defended his role as an unelected official who was granted unprecedented authority by Trump to dismantle parts of the U.S. government.
Having spent nearly $300 million to back Trump’s presidential campaign and other Republicans last year, he said earlier this month he would substantially cut his political spending.
“I think I’ve done enough,” Musk said at an economic forum in Qatar.
-Reuters
DIPLOMACY
Syrian Authorities Confirm Closure of Premises Occupied by Polisario Separatists in Damascus
A Moroccan technical delegation is preparing to reopen the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Damascus. As part of this visit, a joint mission comprising Moroccan officials and Syrian senior officials paid a field visit. They aimed to ascertain the effective closure of the office of the “Polisario” separatists in the Syrian capital.
The Syrian authorities reaffirmed their commitment to respecting the Kingdom’s national sovereignty. They also ensured territorial integrity. Additionally, they rejected any form of support for separatist entities.
This move also confirms Syria’s willingness to strengthen bilateral cooperation with Morocco and promote regional stability.
HM King Mohammed VI’s decision to reopen the Moroccan Embassy in Damascus marks a new era in Moroccan-Syrian ties.
The closure of the ‘Polisario’ office in Syria shows a tangible expression of this mutual commitment. It demonstrates the commitment to the Kingdom’s territorial integrity.
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