Donald Trump news live: China's yuan weakens after President's tariff remarks

Donald Trump news live: China's currency yuan fell against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday following President Donald Trump's comments about a potential 10% tariffs on Chinese imports due to fentanyl being sent from China to Mexico and Canada.

During Trump's first term, the yuan weakened more than 12% against the dollar during a series of tariff announcements made by the US between March 2018 and May 2020.

Donald Trump news live: North Korea's state media reported U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration in a two-sentence dispatch, with a neutral tone.

The Rodong Sinmun announced that Trump was elected as the 47th president in a November election and an inauguration ceremony was held in Washington on Monday.

It did not make any comments on Trump or US affairs, however the newspaper carried a photo of young students receiving propaganda education about the Korean War and “soaring in rage at the atrocities committed by the enemy, the U.S.”

Donald Trump news live: Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer, Charge D'affaires of the Palestine Embassy in India, on Tuesday expressed his hopes about President Trump bringing “peace and stability in the region."

In an interview with ANI, he said that the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas had sent a message congratulating Trump and spoken about, "the importance of the collective cooperation between all the countries and the stability in the region, guided by the two state solution".

Donald Trump news live: Singapore’s prime minister Lawrence Wong said that competition between the US and China will grow as the Trump administration takes over, reported the Straits Times newspaper.

“We are in a new environment, a more dangerous, more turbulent environment,” Wong told university students on Tuesday and also flagged the risk of new trade barriers and issues around the South China Sea or Taiwan Strait.

Donald Trump news live: President Donald Trump's administration has ordered all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on paid leave, according to a memo from the Office of Personnel Management released on Tuesday.

They have all asked the agencies to develop plans to lay off employees.

The memo orders agencies to place DEI office staffers on paid leave by 5 p.m. Wednesday and take down all public DEI-focused webpages by the same deadline.

Donald Trump news live: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday told reporters that his team is still discussing imposing a 10 per cent tariff on China from February 1.

"We're talking about a tariff of 10 per cent on China based on the fact that they're sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada," Trump said during a joint news conference at the White House with Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Open AI CEO Sam Altman.

Donald Trump news live: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed with concerns related to "irregular migration" on Tuesday with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, reported Reuters citing the State Department.

President Trump on Monday signed an executive order putting an end to birth right citizenship in the country. The administration has taken a strong stance against immigration.

Rubio also met his counterparts from Australia and Japan on Tuesday, marking the beginning of formal foreign policy discussions under the Trump administration.

Donald Trump news live: The Nielsen Company said Tuesday that an estimated 24.6 million television viewers watched President Donald Trump's second inauguration, the smallest audience for the ceremony since Barack Obama's second inauguration in 2013.

They added that viewership was down from Joe Biden's 2021 inauguration, which reached 33.8 million, and Trump's first term, seen by 30.6 million in 2017.

Donald Trump news live: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that former President Joe Biden left him a "nice" and “inspirational-type” letter inside the Resolute Desk at the White House, as per tradition.

Trump said he opened the letter on Monday evening and was thinking of making it publicly available as it would be a “positive” for Biden. He said that the former President advised him to enjoy his term.

"It said, ‘To Number 47’. It was a very nice one… just basically a little bit of an inspirational-type letter. Enjoy it. Do a good job. Important, very important how important the job is," he said.

Donald Trump news live: The Donald Trump administration has instructed federal health agencies to pause all external communications, such as health advisories, weekly scientific reports, updates to websites and social media posts, the Washington Post reported.

Donald Trump news live: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday told reporters at the White House that he supported bringing in “competent people” on H1-b visas into the country, reported PTI.

“I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do,” he said.

Donald Trump news live: Outgoing prime minister Justin Trudeau expressed that Canada would be able to avoid the 25% tariffs President Donald Trump says he will impose on February 1, as America will need oil and minerals that Canada possesses.

However, during an interview with AP, the premier of Ontario, Doug Ford said that Trump had "declared an economic war on Canada,” and that they would use every tool in their tool box to defend their economy.”

Donald Trump news live: In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the government in Panama City has complained about US President Donald Trump's "worrying" threat to seize the Panama Canal.

They urged Guterres to refer the matter to the UN Security Council, and cited an article of the UN Charter precluding any member from "the threat or use of force" against the territorial integrity or political independence of another."

Trump, in his inaugural address on Monday, said that the US would take back the Panama Canal, alleging that China was effectively "operating" the waterway.

Donald Trump news live: In a post on X, the new Secretary of State under the Trump administration, Marco Rubio thanked the US President for the role and said that all policies would aim to make America safer, stronger and more prosperous.

“I am grateful to POTUS [ US President] for the confidence he has placed in me to serve as Secretary of State, ” he said.

He added, “The direction he has given for the conduct of our foreign policy is clear. Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, every policy we pursue must be justified by the answer to one of three questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Or does it make America more prosperous?”

Donald Trump news live: Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has been pardoned by Donald Trump on Tuesday.

He was serving a life sentence for running an online marketplace used by drug dealers, among others, to conduct over $200 million worth of illicit sales in bitcoin

The US president had made a campaign pledge to end the imprisonment of Ulbricht.

"The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me," Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Donald Trump news live: US President Donald Trump after coming to office, reversed a decision by his predecessor to remove Cuba from its terrorism blacklist, leading prisoners in Havana in a difficult situation.

500 political prisoners were being released from Havana under the prisoner deal with the Biden administration on ‘conditional liberty’, leaving their future undecided after Trump rolled back the order.

Cuba's government on Tuesday blasted Trump's decision, calling it "a demonstration of the aggressiveness of US imperialism."

Donald Trump news live: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday withdrew Secret Service protection for former National Security Advisor John Bolton saying, “you can't have that for life,” reported AFP.

Bolton, remarked that he was "disappointed but not surprised" by the action.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump called Bolton a "very dumb person" and a “stupid guy” while saying, “We're not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we?”

Donald Trump news live: Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar met US secretary of state Marco Rubio for their first bilateral meeting. They discussed their strong partnership and regional and global issues.

“Delighted to meet @secrubio for his first bilateral meeting after assumption of office as Secretary of State. Reviewed our extensive bilateral partnership, of which @secrubio has been a strong advocate. Also exchanged views on a wide range of regional and global issues. Look forward to closely working with him to advance our strategic cooperation,” Jaishankar wrote on X.

Donald Trump news live: Australia, India, Japan, and U.S. reaffirmed commitment to free and open Indo-Pacific after first Quad ministerial meeting of new Trump presidency.

Donald Trump news live: The Quad countries have strongly opposed any unilateral actions that aim to change the status quo through force or coercion.

Donald Trump news live: The Trump administration has lifted restrictions on immigration enforcement at sensitive locations like schools and churches, allowing officers to arrest migrants in these areas. This move reverses policies that had limited Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from conducting arrests at such sites for over a decade.

Donald Trump news live: President Donald Trump is set to appear in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday in the Oval Office. The interview will be recorded and aired at 9:00 PM ET (2:00 AM GMT Thursday), covering topics such as Trump’s executive orders, plans for the first 100 days, and more, Axios reported.

Donald Trump news live: The Trump administration has reinstated the controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy, which mandates asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims are processed.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed the policy, also known as Migrant Protection Protocols, would be reinstated “effective immediately.”

Originally implemented in 2019, the Remain in Mexico policy was ended by the Biden administration following a lengthy legal battle and a Supreme Court ruling.

President Joe Biden had referred to the program as “inhumane” and attempted to end it on his first day in office. However, his efforts were blocked by a federal judge.

Under the previous Trump administration, approximately 70,000 asylum seekers were sent back to Mexico to await their hearings, often for months, and were sometimes targeted by criminal gangs.

Human rights groups reported that by 2022, at least 1,500 asylum seekers had been kidnapped, raped, or abused after being returned to Mexico.

Donald Trump news live: President Donald Trump has directed his Justice Department to pause enforcement of the TikTok ban until early April, but a host of questions remain - including whether Trump has the authority to issue such an order and if TikTok’s China-based parent would be amenable to selling the popular social media platform.

In an executive order signed on Monday, Trump instructed the U.S. attorney general to not enforce the ban for 75 days while his administration determines “the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown” of TikTok.

Under a federal law that was upheld by the Supreme Court last week, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance was required to sell the platform to an approved buyer by Sunday or face a nationwide ban. On Saturday evening, a few hours before the ban took effect, TikTok became unusable for U.S. users. But it came back online on Sunday, with TikTok crediting Trump for helping the platform after he vowed on social media to stall the ban.

The federal law, passed with bipartisan support in Congress last year, provides a 90-day extension if progress has been made toward a sale. But Trump’s executive order now complicates matters for companies who could be liable for delivering TikTok’s service to U.S. users. (AP)

Donald Trump news live: US President Donald Trump's order said he would “eliminate the electric vehicle (EV) mandate” and promote true consumer choice, which is essential for economic growth and innovation, by removing regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access; by ensuring a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles.” While there is no Biden mandate to force the purchase of EVs, the Democratic president's policies were aimed at encouraging Americans to buy them and car companies to shift from gas-powered vehicles to electric cars.

Trump's order, entitled "Unleashing American Energy,'' revokes a non-binding goal set by Biden that EVs make up half of new cars sold by 2030. The order also seeks to terminate a federal exemption that allows California to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. The federal waiver is important not only to California but also to more than a dozen other states that follow its nation-leading standards on vehicle emissions. (AP)