Connect with us

Published

on

“Hats off! No bags! No drinks, no food, no water, no nothing. Everything out of your pockets. Come on – let’s go, let’s go let’s go!”

Security’s tough at the front of the line. There is a real sense of urgency.

It is bitterly cold outside Washington’s Capital One Arena and people have been queuing since 3.30am. Everyone’s keen to get in.

The queue snakes all the way around the back of the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Library and down the block.

Inauguration Day happens to coincide with MLK Day (Martin Luther King Jr Day) this year. There was meant to be an outside match to commemorate that too, but it’s been cancelled because of the cold.

Follow live: Donald Trump’s inauguration

It’s now 7am and the queue starts moving. There’s a huge cheer at the front.

Despite the freezing temperatures and wind chill, people are excited. They came here for Trump, and it would have been colder on the National Mall in any case. They’re psyched.

“I spent so much money on my bills – they’re gonna go down, everything’s gonna go down and my pay rate is gonna go up,” says Dan French, who’s dressed as Uncle Sam.

Tabitha in the queue outside Washington's Capital One Arena
Image:
Tabitha, from New York, believes Mr Trump will sort out the economy

Tabitha agrees. “New York, where I’m from, is a hot mess,” she says. “Everything is expensive, housing, food. Trump is going to come in and clean this up.”

👉 Listen to Politics At Jack And Sam’s on your podcast app👈

It’s a sea of red MAGA caps, USA flags, Trump and MAGA memorabilia. The street vendors are having a field day.

An extra layer helps, especially if it has Trump on it.

Brady, from Texas, in the queue outside Washington's Capital One Arena
Image:
Grady, from Texas, in the queue outside Washington’s Capital One Arena

Grady from Texas has a ‘Daddy’s Home’ sweatshirt with a big picture of Trump on it. Immigration is why he voted Trump.

“Our borders are broken. It affects all of our communities. The fentanyl crisis is out of control,” he says.

I ask how this term will be different from the last. “We’re gonna get a lot more done,” Grady says.

“He knows a little bit about how to govern, he’ll be able to hit the ground running. He has new ideas and a whole cabinet of outsiders.”

Read more:
Tight security around inauguration
‘Welcome home’: Biden greets Trump
What will Trump 2.0 be like?

Trump is expected to promise a revolution of common sense in his inaugural speech. I ask Grady what he thinks that means.

“Cancel culture and woke culture, there’s a lot of things that don’t make sense in this county especially on social issues,” he replies.

“We don’t have to overcomplicate things, cancel culture is dead now so I think to get away from that is what he means.”

And did Biden have no common sense?

“Oh no,” says Dan (aka Uncle Sam). “Biden had no sense at all”.

Continue Reading

US

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

Published

on

By

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.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

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.”

More on Donald Trump

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.

👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈

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.

Read more from Sky News:
Trump’s space race with China
Wreckage found of missing plane
King and Queen host celebrities

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.

Continue Reading

US

Day 20: Inside Trump’s White House

Published

on

By

Day 20: Inside Trump's White House

👉 Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app 👈

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

Continue Reading

US

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

Published

on

By

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.

Read more from Sky News:
Zelenskyy tells Trump ‘let’s do a deal’
Trauma of using unregulated funeral directors
Travis Kelce: Taylor’s Eras Tour ‘excruciating’

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.

Continue Reading

Trending