Transcript:
The Inside Story: The New Trump Administration
Episode 180 – January 23, 2025
Show Open:
Unidentrified narrator:
This week on The Inside Story
America’s 47th president Donald Trump takes the oath of office in Washington
See the executive actions Mr. Trump signed in his first few days back in the White House
Now on The Inside Story: The New
Rrump Administration.
The Inside Story:
CARLA BABB, VOA Correspondent:
Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of The Inside Story. I’m Carla Babb.
For the second time ... Donald Trump is President of the United States.
A 21-gun salute announced the new President to supporters who withstood the cold to gather on the national mall. Hundreds attended the ceremony to welcome the new President inside the Capitol Rotunda, where the inauguration was moved due to the extreme weather.
Before the inauguration President Joe Biden met Trump as he returned to the White House with the words, welcome home.
The two traveled together from the White House to the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol.
And after taking the oath of office, President Trump laid out his vision for the next four years.
President Donald Trump:
The golden age of America begins right now. (Applause.)
From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will, very simply, put America first.
My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier.
Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback. But as you see today, here I am. The American people have spoken.
In recent years, our nation has suffered greatly. But we are going to bring it back and make it great again, greater than ever before.
CARLA BABB:
After his inauguration President Trump wasted no time going to work. Just hours after the ceremony, the President signed a series of executive actions designed to advance his America First agenda.
VOA’s Anita Powell has more.
ANITA POWELL, VOA Correspondent:
On this historic first day of his second term in office,
President Donald Trump laid out his vision for a bolder – and larger – United States.
President Donald Trump:
The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations, and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons. And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.
ANITA POWELL:
Then he got to work signing a stack of executive orders. He said they include a declaration of a national emergency at the southern border that would allow the deployment of troops and a national energy emergency that will allow more domestic extraction. He also declared that there are only two genders, and said he would order that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America.
Historians say that Trump made history by using what is historically a unifying speech to portray a future that many Americans may disagree with.
Jeremi Suri, University of Texas at Austin:
It was less an inaugural speech and more a State of the Union. He just listed a series of bullet points of projects he wanted to undertake, from deporting immigrants to seizing back the Panama Canal.
ANITA POWELL:
Thousands of Trump supporters came to Washington from across the country because they say his policies speak to them.
Melanie Voll, Cleveland Resident:
Common sense, the bringing back of common sense out loud. So many people in my position feel we are the silent majority, and I think this is going to give us the opportunity to speak out loud, and to be unafraid to speak the truth and to speak common sense.
ANITA POWELL:
Shortly after his inaugural, Trump spoke to a smaller group of supporters at the Capitol and reiterated claims that the 2020 election was “totally rigged” – a claim without proof.
He also alluded to his plans to pardon some of those convicted over the violent events of January 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters attempted to disrupt the certification of the election won by Joe Biden.
President Donald Trump:
I think this was a better speech than the one I made upstairs, OK? I think this is better, JD. I think this is much better.
ANITA POWELL:
Some of Trump’s powerful supporters expressed their joy.
Elon Musk, Tesla/SpaceX CEO:
This, this is what victory feels like. Yeah!
ANITA POWELL:
CEO Elon Musk was among the billionaires in the Capitol Rotunda for the ceremony. Consumer advocacy groups are sounding alarms about some of the new president’s quieter moves, that seek to loosen regulations and, they say, benefit these elite few.
Lisa Gilbert, Public Citizen:
When we think about why the incoming Trump administration wants to freeze regulations and halt public protections wholesale, it is at the behest of the wealthiest among us, corporate special interests. They are who benefits when we don't have guardrails on the books.
ANITA POWELL:
Historians and analysts say it’s not clear how many of Trump’s day one actions — which his officials say number more than 100 — will fly when challenged legally. For that answer, they say, look to tomorrow.
Anita Powell, VOA News, the White House.
I am joined now by VOA China editor Elizabeth Lee and VOA congressional correspondent Katherine Gipson, to discuss what's happened so far in the first busy days of the second Trump presidency. Welcome ladies, so let's put up President Trump's cabinet picks on the screen.
let's put up President Trump's cabinet. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, was the first Cabinet member to be confirmed, on Inauguration Day. Katherine what led to such a quick confirmation?
KATHERINE GYPSON, VOA Congressional Correspondent:
Yeah, right. I mean, there were a couple of different factors that went into that. Part of it is that Rubio is well respected on both sides of the aisle. He was a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a decade, well known there, well respected for his ability to work on issues in Latin America. There wasn't a lot of opposition to his nomination.
Second Secretary of State is a very important cabinet position, and we know that President Trump is going to hit a lot of foreign policy challenges right out of the gate in a second term, Ukraine, the Gaza cease fire, tariffs, all of those issues. It really helps to have the Secretary of State in place so that he can be in there and really start filling some of those lower positions that are so important in implementing administration policy. So just one of those things that you have to get going right off the bat, not to mention the facing threat for the military, which is China.
CARLA BABB:
Rubio is considered very hawkish on China. Elizabeth, how is he hoping to shape the policy to counter China?
ELIZABETH LEE, VOA Correspondent:
To understand what he's going to do, we need to understand how he defines China. And during his confirmation hearings, he defined China as, I quote, the most potent and dangerous adversary the US has ever faced. And he said the US and China have been competing in different realms, and that includes technology, science, geopolitics, just to name a few. And so he says, really, the US needs to look at its domestic policy by rebuilding domestic industry and not rely on any one given country when it comes to our critical minerals. And so these are all important factors. And he says, if these things don't happen, then in less than 10 years, how Americans live and what's important to us could all be controlled by China. And he used some examples, including whether it's the movies that we watched or the medicines that we need could be controlled by China, and how what they decide.
CARLA BABB:
And before we leave those Cabinet picks, I cover the Pentagon, so I would be remiss if I did not know that Trump's pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, did not sail through with strong bipartisan support, the bipartisan support that you normally see for a Secretary of Defense pick.
Katherine, you and I watched that hearing together strong opposing opinions on both sides, tell me more.
KATHERINE GYPSON
That's right. So obviously, Hegseth is one of the more controversial picks from Trump this time around and that really concerns some Senate Democrats who are worried that he not just apart from that, doesn't have the experience to run a massive department like the Department of Defense, as you well know, that's billions of dollars, 1000s of personnel, a very complicated job for somebody who, Quite frankly, didn't have a lot of experience in terms of running things going into this. So there was a lot of back and forth.
CARLA BABB:
Absolutely yes. So let's talk about Trump's pardons for the January 6 protesters. It came as no surprise that he pardoned the protesters, but what was so surprising was that he pardoned all of the protesters, including some of those convicted for assaulting police officers and JD Vance, his vice president, had just said, hours before the inauguration, that, obviously, I think that was the word he used. He said, obviously, if you were violent against police officers, you would not be pardoned. So explain this.
You know what's happening on Capitol Hill? How are people responding?
KATHERINE GYPSON
Right? Well, obviously this is something that hits hard up on Capitol Hill for many lawmakers who were there on January 6, 2021 you heard immediate reaction from Democratic leadership, Hakeem, Jeffries, former speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who were in danger on that day, strongly condemning the actions of Trump. And you actually heard from some Senate Republicans as well who are concerned about the precedent that this set. So not a great way to start out with Capitol Hill.
CARLA BABB:
Well, here are some of Trump's other executive orders. He removed the US from the World Health Organization. He suspends US foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending a review of whether they align with the America first agenda.
Now take a look at this. This is the tallest mountain in North America. President Barack Obama, 10 years ago, changed the name from Mount McKinley after US President William McKinley to Denali, which was what Native Alaskans had called it for hundreds of years, but now it's Denali no longer. Trump has renamed it Mount McKinley again. And I must say, I have seen that mountain in person, and it is majestic and incredible. Whatever it is named will not change that.
One more name change of note, I should say, President Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and speaking of Mexico, Trump has said he wants to hit Mexico hard with tariffs. Also Canada. Explain this?
KATHERINE GYPSON
Well, I think one of the striking things was that if you listen to Trump's inaugural speech in the US Capitol Rotunda, lot of big applause lines from the Republican lawmakers who are in there listening to him, the tariffs line did not get as big of an applause line, because Republican lawmakers are concerned about the economic impact that these tariffs could have on the US.
So he wants to put levy 10% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, China, and that's concerning a lot of Republicans. They're going to actually see, you're going to see some pushback on Capitol Hill, on that, and that differs from a lot of the other issues, where you really have a united Republican leadership. It's going to be interesting to see how they push back against Trump when they know he delivered them into office. He gave them that unified Republican control of Congress. So it might be a little little testy up on Capitol Hill in the coming months.
CARLA BABB:
You mentioned those tariffs on China that was repeated during the race, the presidential race, up until the election, as much as 60% tariffs at one point.
What is he saying about these tariffs now?
ELIZABETH LEE:
Yes, on the campaign trail, he mentioned he could slap as much as 60% tariff on China, but he did not so far. And the latest is he is, as Catherine said, threatening 10% tariff on China. And the reasoning behind this is, he's saying because China is sending, sending fentanyl to Canada and Mexico, and that's also the reason why he's threatening tariffs on Mexico and Canada, as well as this fentanyl issue.
And so it's interesting to see some analysts are saying that this could be just a bargaining chip for some of the other issues that Trump is going to take up, such as Tiktok, and I'm sure we'll talk about that later, and also on the first day in office, on January 20, Trump issued a memo to several agencies, and he wants these agencies to review our trade policies,
So once he has more information, according to him, he can make better decisions on what to do with tariffs as it relates to other countries
CARLA BABB:
So let's talk about Tiktok. A Tiktok ban was supposed to go into effect days ago unless Tiktok, Chinese owner Bytedance, sold it to a US company. So that ban has now been delayed 75 days to give more time for US company to buy it. I'm needing a little more on this, because the app was deemed a security risk by President Trump himself in 2020 I don't even have Tiktok on my phone because officials at the Pentagon have been saying for years that this is a security risk. You do not want the Chinese to have your public information.
So what's changed? Why is he now trying to save this media platform.
ELIZABETH LEE:
So the concern in 2020, it's still the concern now, is a national security risk, and the reason is because the parent company of Tiktok, bytedance, is a Chinese company. It's based in China, and so the concern is that Tiktok is able to capture large amounts of user information. And Bytedance, because it's a Chinese company, can assist the Government the Chinese Communist Party, if asked, and whether it's in intelligence work or information collecting, and that's the reason why this ban was put in place.
Now, Trump was asked by a reporter why he's kind of changed his tactics on Tiktok. And he said, Well, he's had a chance to use Tiktok, and that's why he changed his mind. He got to use it, and he also attributed a large part of the youth vote during the whole process, you know, to get him elected on Tiktok. He and so he has a different view on Tiktok, but he did say he's working on a way to save Tiktok and to protect national security at the same time.
CARLA BABB:
Well, the military has been concerned, saying that Chinese policy, no matter whether or not it's a company or a military aspect, they're all together collectively, part of the military's advance. They've been saying for years that whatever Chinese companies do, the Chinese military can access that, and that has been the concern with young people's data. What are they saying on Capitol Hill about this?
KATHERINE GYPSON:
Right? I mean, what's striking is, is that you saw a shift from Democratic and Republican lawmakers as well, in addition to President Trump, in the last few hours, when we were thinking that Tiktok would be shut down here in the United States, they were calling for an extension to re evaluate things, to see if Tiktok could be moved to an partial American ownership, or some kind of other ownership.
I think there's, it's a really interesting shift among lawmakers, since I covered that classified briefing that they all went into a year or so ago, and they all came back, came out of that classified briefing, really shook up and said, “you know, oh, yeah, now that I've seen the information about what this app is capable of it should absolutely be banned in the United States”, and now there's this gradual understanding that we need to figure out another way. So really interesting to see those changes.
CARLA BABB:
Very interesting. Thank you so much to both of you for your excellent reporting.
CARLA BABB:
President Trump campaigned on a promise to urge the United States Congress to pass legislation banning so-called “sanctuary cities.” These jurisdictions limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. And some local officials vowed to fight the new administration. VOA immigration correspondent Aline Barros has more.
ALINE BARROS, VOA Immigration Correspondemt:
President-elect Donald Trump made campaign promises to get tough on immigration. He pledged to cut federal funding from so-called “sanctuary cities” — local governments that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Nominee:
As soon as I take office, we will immediately surge federal law enforcement to every city that is failing, which is a lot of them, to turn over criminal aliens. And we will hunt down, capture every single gang member, drug dealer, rapist, murderer and migrant criminal that is being illegally harbored.
ALINE BARROS
Sanctuary cities include New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles ... and Takoma Park, Maryland, on the border with Washington. Talisha Searcy is Mayor.
Talisha Searcy, Mayor of Takoma Park, Maryland:
Our police department still enforces crime. That's important to note. So, if there are issues of crime in our community, regardless of someone's immigration status, we enforce.
ALINE BARROS:
Searcy says Takoma Park has been a sanctuary city since 1985.
Talisha Searcy, Mayor of Takoma Park, Maryland:
Our staff are not allowed to enforce immigration laws in the city of Takoma Park. Our staff are prohibited from inquiring about citizenship or immigration status to participate in city programming or receive city benefits.
ALINE BARROS:
The mayor says it helps keep communities safe because immigrants are not afraid to report crimes to authorities.
Trump issued an executive order during his first administration to end the sanctuary movement.
But the order was ruled unconstitutional because the federal government does not control state and local law enforcement.
States including Florida have passed laws requiring cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida Republican:
We're not a sanctuary state. We banned sanctuary cities, but you've got to have effective accountability to hold those folks accountable if they choose to go in a different direction.
ALINE BARROS:
DeSantis says he aims to help Trump with his proposed crackdown.
Mayor Searcy says Takoma Park is prepared for potential conflicts with the incoming administration.
Talisha Searcy, Mayor of Takoma Park, Maryland:
We plan to hold our ideals and hold our policies and hold our code as the law of the land for the city of Takoma Park.
As President-elect Trump promises tough immigration policies, immigration advocates in sanctuary cities vow to fight the new administration.
Aline Barros, VOA News, Washington.
CARLA BABB:
Joining me now is VOA Immigration Correspondent Aline Barros.
Let's talk about those sanctions. Alini, what purpose do they serve? Can they realistically mount a fight against the federal government?
ALINE BARROS:
Well, one thing that is important to know is that sanctuary is not really part of any law, right? It's just the locality, the city or the town that gets together and say, Hey, we're just not going to help ice picking up people in our city, in our town, in our state. So it's not like ice officials, immigration officials cannot come in and arrest people if they have to.
It's just that that locality, that city, is not going to get their police officers and say, Here's ice police officers will help you.
So with Trump, what he wants is he wants to penalize he wants to go after these locations and says, Okay, well, if your guys are not going to help us, then there's not going to be federal funding.
I spoke with the Takoma Park City mayor, and she said that they will stand and they will fight for what they believe and how their community will come together and keep those sanctuary city laws that they have, but we do expect some fighting at the court level.
CARLA BABB:
So Alini At least eight of President Trump's executive order so far are related to the border. He mentioned the border over and over on the camping trail. What stands out to you in these executive orders?
ALINE BARROS:
So we've got this theme ongoing about border security. Border Security, he wants to build border walls, which is we should talk about the fact that we do have fences and barriers along the border, the US Mexico border. It's just that he wants to keep on building. So he's pushing for building, you know, more physical barriers, whether it's a big wall or another fence. He wants more of those. He also wants the military at the border. He wants the National Guard at the border. He wants those agencies, those apartments, to work together with Homeland Security. We don't know exactly what the military will do. We don't know if it's going to be the same thing that they've done in the past. If they're going to help with infrastructure, they're not expected, or we don't know yet, allowed to, you know, arrest.
CARLA BABB:
And he does also want to send us troops to the border?
ALINE BARROS:
He has said that the Secretary of Defense, I'm reading the order here, shall order as many units or members of the armed forces, including the Ready Reserve and the National Guard, as the Secretary of Defense determines to be appropriate to support the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security in controlling the southern border.
CARLA BABB:
What do you expect? When is this going to roll out? Tell us a little bit more detail on this.
ALINE BARROS:
So right now we have the executive orders, and we have time for implementation. So we also have to wait for the DHS Secretary to be officially nominated, nominated, but approved by Congress. So he wrote the orders, he announced the orders. But we need to wait for but they're not going to happen for the department exactly for the permanent
CARLA BABB:
I want to talk about birth right citizenship. That's very important to our audience. Tell us about the changes happening with that.
ALINE BARROS:
So the implementation is supposed to happen in 30 days. Right now, there's about four cases already filed. So there are four different organizations and groups of people who have already sued the Trump administration.
One is actually filed today by Casa de Maryland and a few women who are pregnant and about to give birth in March, which is when this order is supposed to take place. So as of now, if you're not in the country legally, your child does not have a second citizenship as of March. So if you give birth in March, as of March, your child, if you're not lawfully here, if you don't have a permanent status, you may have a visa, you may have a visitor's visa, you may have TPS, you may have a student visa. You have a child in March. That child is not a US citizen. However, we really have to see what's going to happen in the next few weeks, because this order might not even be able to be implemented in March.
CARLA BABB:
Wow, big changes. Alina Burris, thank you so much for keeping us informed about these ongoing changes. Thank you.
In a span of roughly six hours, movers emptied the White House of the personal belongings of outgoing-President Joe Biden and his family. At the same time, the private residence was remade into a home for the newly sworn-in President Trump. VOA’s Dora Mekour reports.
DORA MEKOUAR, VOA Correspondent:
The moment Joe Biden leaves the Oval Office for the last time, the White House staff jumps into action. Rearranging the iconic office to the incoming president's tastes.
Angella Reid, Former White House Chief Usher:
How they like the Oval Office to be outfitted. What rug? What, you know, what drapes, what desk, etcetera because that's the kind of the Oval Office is the first area to be sort of prepared.
DORA MEKOUAR:
Photos show that Biden changed the rug and some chairs after taking over from Donald Trump – who preceded him and will also succeed him.
But it looks like the couches and curtains remained the same.
The president's family lives on the second and third floors of the White House.
Before moving day, the incoming president and first lady choose what furniture and art they want from the White House collection. By the time the new president arrives home on Inauguration Day, the furniture is in place and personal family photos are on the walls.
Kate Andersen Brower, Author of 'The Residence':
When the new president and first lady move in, they have their favorite shampoo in the shower. They have their toothbrush, toothpaste on the counter, they have their clothes hung up in the closet.
DORA MEKOUAR:
It all happens in under six hours with about one hundred White House staffers pitching in.
Kate Andersen Brower, Author of 'The Residence':
You don't have professional movers doing this. You have the residence staff doing it, so you have everybody pitching in and these are not people that are trained as movers. They don't hire professionals because of security concerns.
DORA MEKOUAR:
Many of the White House residence staff worked for Donald Trump during his first term from January 2017 until January 2021.
Kate Andersen Brower, Author of 'The Residence':
So the staff really did like Donald Trump because he's used to having people around him serving him. And, you know, he would go around tipping staff in cash, you know, handing out 20s and 50s and they appreciate that. They are not political. They just care about how the president treats them.
DORA MEKOUAR:
President Barack Obama hired Angella Reid to be the White House's Chief Usher in 2011. She oversaw moving day in January 2017 when the Obamas moved out and the Trumps moved in.
Angella Reid, Former White House Chief Usher:
We have used the term 'organized chaos,' but it really is a very coordinated operation. It's been rehearsed, you know, so many times that on that day, everyone is just chomping at the bits for go time.
DORA MEKOUAR
But the main challenge is always the time constraint. And having just about six hours to get everything ready to welcome the new presidential family home to the White House for the first time.
Dora Mekouar, VOA News, Washington.
CARLA BABB:
That’s all for this edition of The Inside Story I’m Carla Babb in Washington.
Stay with VOAnews.com for the latest on the events impacting your world and join us next week for more Inside Story.
Thanks for watching.
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