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Donald Trump has said he will declare an emergency at the US-Mexico border as one of a host of executive orders the incoming president will sign on Monday and in the coming days.

Incoming White House officials have said the first wave of executive orders will cover a mix of campaign trail promises, reversals of outgoing President Joe Biden’s policies and restructuring of the federal government workforce.

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One of the most high-profile orders will be Mr Trump declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border as part of a wider crackdown on immigration and other cross-border crimes.

Sky News’ US partner NBC News has reported Mr Trump is expected to sign more than 50 executive orders on Monday, and possibly more than 100, citing a person in his transition operation.

Border and immigration

On the border, Mr Trump said he would declare a national emergency in his inaugural speech.

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During the inauguration ceremony, Mr Trump said: “All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places they came.

“I will end the practice of catch and release and I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.

“Under the orders I sign today we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organisations.”

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a rally the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
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President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a rally the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term.
Pic: Reuters/Carlos Barria

In his first term, Mr Trump did the same after Congress refused to give him the money to build a border wall.

Energy and climate

However, the border emergency is not the only one Mr Trump intends to declare.

During his speech, the president said he would also declare “a national energy emergency”, adding: “We will drill baby drill.”

He continued: “We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.”

NBC News reported this is aimed at expanding the administration’s ability to improve domestic energy production.

Alongside that, he reportedly will: allow more drilling both offshore and on federal lands, end a freeze on liquid natural gas exports and cut off climate-related funding that was approved under the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden.

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Government workforce

In another executive order, Mr Trump reportedly will implement Schedule F.

This eliminates job protections for potentially thousands of federal workforce positions, which could make it easier to fire them.

Gender and diversity

Matching talking points from the campaign trail, Mr Trump said it would be government policy, through an executive order, that there would only be two genders recognised by the US government – male and female.

Speaking on Martin Luther King Jr Day he also promised to slash diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, saying: “This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.

“We will forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based.

“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the US government that there are only two genders, male and female.”

Mr Trump also intends to reverse an order by President Biden that allows transgender people to serve openly in the military in their self-identified gender.

The order also provided greater access to medical care and even support for gender transition.

The Pentagon and military

Alongside that, NBC News said that Mr Trump would reverse two other decisions by the Democrat who beat him in the 2020 election.

One would change the location of the US Space Command headquarters, moving it from Colorado to Alabama.

The other would reverse a 2022 decision that provided paid leave and reimbursed transportation costs for troops and dependents who travelled out of state for abortion and other reproductive care.

TikTok and Hunter Biden

Mr Trump has said he would sign an extension for TikTok to find a buyer, to comply with the law that went into effect on Sunday.

Mr Trump would also reportedly suspend security clearance for 51 national security officials who signed a letter saying that Hunter Biden’s emails and laptop had the hallmarks of a Russian operation.

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Judge pauses Donald Trump’s plan to put thousands of USAID workers on leave

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Judge pauses Donald Trump's plan to put thousands of USAID workers on leave

A federal court has paused aspects of a plan by Donald Trump to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and put roughly 2,700 of its staff on leave.

District judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated by the US president during his first term, agreed with legal arguments from the largest government workers’ union and an association of foreign service workers.

They sued to stop Mr Trump’s administration attempting to close USAID, which distributes billions of dollars of humanitarian aid around the world.

Justice department official Brett Shumate told Judge Nichols that about 2,200 USAID employees would be put on paid leave under the administration’s plans.

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What is USAID?

“The president has decided there is corruption and fraud at USAID,” said Mr Shumate.

It echoes comments President Trump made on Friday in a post on Truth Social accusing USAID – without evidence – of corruption and spending money fraudulently.

But Karla Gilbride, a lawyer for the unions, argued the plans were unlawful: “The major reduction in force, as well as the closure of offices, the forced relocation of these individuals were all done in excess of the executive’s authority in violation of the separation of powers.”

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Judge Nichols’s order, which is in effect until 14 February, blocks Mr Trump’s administration from implementing plans to place the 2,200 USAID workers on paid leave from Saturday.

It also reinstates some 500 employees who had already been furloughed.

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And there will be a ban on relocating USAID humanitarian workers stationed outside the US, after overseas staff were ordered to return home within 30 days.

Judge Nichols will consider a request for a longer-term pause at a hearing scheduled for next week.

But he rejected other requests from the unions to reopen USAID buildings and restore funding for agency grants and contracts.

Soon after being inaugurated, Mr Trump ordered all US foreign aid be paused to ensure it is aligned with his “America First” policy.

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The dismantling of USAID has largely been overseen by Elon Musk, who is spearheading the president’s effort to cut costs and bureaucracy.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio insists the government will continue providing foreign aid, “but it is going to be foreign aid that makes sense and is aligned with our national interest”.

Friday’s ruling is the latest setback in the courts for the Trump administration.

Judges have temporarily paused other controversial policies, including one offering financial incentives for federal workers to resign and another ending American citizenship for anyone born in the US if their parents are in the country illegally.

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Day 20: Inside Trump’s White House

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Day 20: Inside Trump's White House

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Twenty days into Donald Trump’s second term, US correspondents James Matthews and Mark Stone are joined by Washington DC cameramen Ed Young and Michael Herd to take a step back and discuss what it’s like covering the White House under President Trump compared to President Biden.

They also share some of the moments they got close (perhaps too close) to the most powerful man in the world.

You can email James, Martha and Mark on trump100@sky.uk

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Wreckage found in Alaska for missing Bering Air plane carrying 10 people

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Wreckage found in Alaska for missing Bering Air plane carrying 10 people

A small plane which crashed in western Alaska with 10 people on board has been found and the US Coast Guard (USCG) says there were no survivors.

The Bering Air flight left Unalakleet at 2.38pm on Thursday but contact was lost less than an hour later, the firm’s operations director David Olson said.

On Saturday, in a post on X, the coastguard said: “USCG has ended its search for the missing plane after the aircraft was located approx 34 miles southeast of Nome. 3 individuals were found inside and reported to be deceased.

“The remaining 7 people are believed to be inside the aircraft but are currently inaccessible due to the condition of the plane. Our heartfelt condolences are with those affected by this tragic incident.”

The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan – carrying a pilot and nine adult passengers – was flying across Norton Sound when tracking site Flightradar24 reported it at 5,300ft before contact was lost.

It was travelling from Unalakleet, a community of about 690 people in western Alaska, to Nome, a gold rush town just south of the Arctic Circle.

The flight time is normally just under an hour.

Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the US Coast Guard, said rescuers were searching the aircraft’s last known location by helicopter when they spotted the wreckage. They lowered two rescue swimmers to investigate.

Nome in Alaska.
Pic: AP
Image:
The plane was heading to Nome, just south of the Arctic Circle. Pic: AP

In a post on Facebook, Nome’s fire department issued an update: “The Nome Search and Rescue Team is spooling up with assistance from the Alaska Air National Guard with recovery efforts.

“From reports we have received, the crash was not survivable. Our thoughts are with the families at this time.”

On Friday, Lieutenant Benjamin McIntyre-Coble, from the Alaskan coastguard, explained that the plane suffered a rapid loss of altitude and speed, according to radar data, but did not expand on the potential cause.

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Weather in Unalakleet at take-off time was -8.3C (17F) with fog and light snow, according to the US National Weather Service.

Bering Air serves 32 villages in western Alaska and air travel is often the only option of travelling long distances in rural parts of the US state, especially in winter.

It comes soon after two major air accidents in the US in recent weeks.

Sixty-seven people were killed when a jet and helicopter collided in Washington DC and seven died when a medical plane crashed in Philadelphia.

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