Trump signs order to ‘repel, repatriate, and remove’ migrants amid wave of immigration action – live | Trump administration

Key events

Afternoon summary

The impacts of Donald Trump’s return to the White House are being felt across the United States, and the world. The president just ordered the southern border closed to migrants, the justice department has threatened to investigate state and local officials who do not cooperate with immigration enforcement efforts, while refugees approved for resettlement to the United States have been stranded globally by the new administration’s policies. Trump’s first interview since taking office, with conservative commentator Sean Hannity, will air at 9pm this evening, but the president took to Truth Social a few hours ago to warn Russia that he will impose sanctions and tariffs if they do not end their war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Democrats have launched a renewed plea not to confirm Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, pointing to new details of his behavior during his second marriage.

Here’s what else has happened today so far:

The US military plans to expand its troop numbers along the US border, with a deployment of 1,500 active duty soldiers.

Elon Musk and Sam Altman, both billionaires friendly with Trump, feuded on X over a big AI infrastructure project the president unveiled yesterday.

Mike Johnson said he was “looking forward” when asked about Trump’s blanket pardons to January 6 rioters – but had plenty to say when it came to Joe Biden’s pardons to his own family.

Deporting undocumented immigrants accused of crimes and securing the border are relatively popular with Americans, a new poll found, but Trump’s most extreme actions are less so.

Read the note Biden left for Donald Trump in the White House – a tradition for outgoing presidents to their successors.

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Updated at 20.57 GMT

Trump signs order to ‘immediately repel, repatriate, and remove’ migrants

Donald Trump has just signed an executive order effectively closing the US-Mexico border to migrants, including people seeking asylum.

“President Trump is authorizing and directing the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Department of State to take all necessary action to immediately repel, repatriate, and remove illegal aliens across the southern border of the United States,” the White House said.

“Through the exercise of his authority, President Trump has further restricted access to the provisions of the immigration laws that would enable any illegal alien involved in an invasion across the southern border of the United States to remain in the United States, such as asylum.”

The administration specifically blamed Joe Biden for border crossings, saying:

States, such as the Great State of Texas, have asked the Federal Government for protection against invasion during the Biden Administration, but it failed to protect them from millions of illegal aliens entering the United States, invading their communities, and imposing billions of dollars of costs upon State and local governments.

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Democrats demand Senate hold off on confirming Hegseth after new details of behavior emerge

Democratic senators have called for the Senate to hold off on confirming Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, saying revelations about his behavior during his second marriage and excess drinking are cause for concern.

In a joint statement, Elizabeth Warren, Tim Kaine, Mark Kelly, Mazie Hirono, Richard Blumenthal, Tammy Duckworth, Jeanne Shaheen and Kirsten Gillibrand demand meetings with Hegseth before the full Senate votes on his confirmation:

In a sworn statement under the penalty of perjury, a new report shows U.S. Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth was ‘erratic and aggressive’ toward his second wife over many years, to the point that she feared for her safety. The report also details repeated instances of his drinking alcohol in excess, including the need to be dragged out of a strip club while in uniform. This affidavit is part of a disturbing pattern of behavior that has been documented through numerous public and private reports. The affidavit also raises additional questions about the thoroughness of his FBI background check during a rushed confirmation process.

Despite repeated requests, Mr. Hegseth has refused to meet with the vast majority of Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. We request that Mr. Hegseth meet privately with every interested lawmaker on the committee before the Senate votes on his nomination so that we can have frank discussions about the new information that has come to light. It would be irresponsible and contrary to our constitutional duty for the Senate to vote to confirm this nomination before such meetings have occurred.

On Monday, the Senate armed services committee approved Hegseth’s nomination, and he awaits confirmation by the full chamber.

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Updated at 20.13 GMT

Trump administration plans to reimpose rule allowing immediate expulsion of migrants

Stephen Miller, a top White House adviser to Donald Trump and an architect of his hardline immigration policies, said the administration is looking for a way to reimpose a federal rule allowing for the immediate expulsion of border crossers, even if they are seeking asylum.

According to the Associated Press, Miller told Republican senators at a lunch today that the Trump administration is looking for a legal rationale to reinstate rule, known as Title 42. The president approved the rule during his first term in office as a measure against the Covid-19 pandemic, before Joe Biden allowed it to lapse.

Here’s more about Title 42, and what it would do:

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Lauren Gambino

Progressive Democrats insisted the party is unified in holding Donald Trump accountable for his actions as they search for a new leader and a new message.

At a press conference on Capitol Hill, members of the House Progressive Caucus blasted Trump’s “hateful and xenophobic” immigration agenda and implored Republicans to approve disaster aid for fire-torn California.

“I visited some of the burn sites. … It looks like a war zone out there,” said congresswoman Luz Rivas, a Democrat who represents Los Angeles. “What we saw and what we heard from our constituents has made it clear that our communities need federal disaster aid quickly and now without any conditions attached.”

Texas congressman Greg Casar, chair of the caucus, said progressives were not divided in their approach to immigration, as many Democrats joined with Republicans to approve enforcement bills that advocates and legal experts argue would strip individuals accused of theft-related crimes of their due process rights.

“Our goal as a progressive caucus is to recognize that many of these Republican bills are intended to divide the American people and to try to put frontline Democratic members in a difficult place,” he said. “And the way the progressive caucus and the progressive movement in this country can help is by telling the truth.”

He said progressives could start by reminding Americans “every single day” of Trump’s decision to pardon January 6th rioters convicted of assaulting police officers as well as his repeal of a Biden-era action to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

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Here’s what Joe Biden wrote to Donald Trump

Fox News obtained the text of the letter Joe Biden left to Donald Trump upon his return to the presidency.

Leaving a letter for your successor is an American presidential tradition. Here’s what Biden wrote:

Dear President Trump,

As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years. The American people – and people around the world – look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation.

May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding.

Joe Biden

1-20-25

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There is some uncertainty over the number of extra troops being sent to the US southern border. US officials told AP the Pentagon would deploy as many as 1,500 active duty troops in the coming days.

Acting defense secretary Robert Salesses was expected to sign the deployment orders on Wednesday, but it wasn’t yet clear which troops or units will go, and the total could fluctuate. It remains to be seen if they will end up doing law enforcement, which active-duty troops have not done since their response to the Rodney King riots in 1992.

The troops are expected to be used to support border patrol agents, with logistics, transportation and construction of barriers. They have done similar duties in the past, when both Trump and former president Joe Biden sent active duty troops to the border.

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Updated at 19.35 GMT

US military plans to send extra troops to Mexico border, reports say

The military is planning to increase the number of active-duty troops deployed to the US-Mexico border as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants, Reuters reports.

Here’s more:

The U.S. military is preparing to send about 1,000 additional active-duty troops to the border with Mexico, a U.S. official said, just two days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on immigration.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not say when the troops would be deployed.

They would be joining the roughly 2,200 active-duty and thousands of National Guard troops already on the border.

During his first term, Trump ordered 5,200 troops to help secure the border with Mexico. Former President Joe Biden deployed active-duty troops to the border as well.

Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order instructed the Pentagon to send as many troops as necessary to obtain “complete operational control of the southern border of the United States.”

“Within 90 days, the heads of the Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security will need to recommend whether additional actions, including invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807, might be necessary,” it said.

The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the U.S. president to deploy the military to suppress domestic insurrection.

As an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits military forces being used for domestic law enforcement, the 1807 act has been used in the past to quell civil unrest. The last time was in 1992, when the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers in the beating of Black motorist Rodney King led to deadly riots.

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Updated at 19.33 GMT

The day so far

The impacts of Donald Trump’s return to the White House are being felt across the United States, and the world. The justice department has threatened to investigate state and local officials who do not cooperate with immigration enforcement efforts, while refugees approved for resettlement to the United States have been stranded globally by the new administration’s policies. Trump’s first interview since taking office, with conservative commentator Sean Hannity, will air at 9pm this evening, but the president took to Truth Social a few hours ago to warn Russia that he will impose sanctions and tariffs if they do not end their war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Democrats have launched a renewed plea not to confirm Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, pointing to new details of his behavior during his second marriage.

Here’s what else has happened today so far:

Elon Musk and Sam Altman, both billionaires friendly with Trump, feuded on X over a big AI infrastructure project the president unveiled yesterday.

Mike Johnson said he was “looking forward”, when asked about Trump’s blanket pardons to January 6 rioters – but had plenty to say when it came to Joe Biden’s pardons to his own family.

Deporting undocumented immigrants accused of crimes and securing the border are relatively popular with Americans, a new poll found, but Trump’s most extreme actions are less so.

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Democratic senator Tim Kaine of Virginia barraged Pete Hegseth with questions about his personal life and alleged misconduct at his confirmation hearing last week.

Kaine had this to say about the latest allegations about the defense secretary nominee, in an interview with CNN:

It’s completely consistent with other material that the committee had available to us and other witnesses who have come forward who have shared their own experiences – their direct knowledge of this situation – with committee members. Now, many of them have been too afraid to go public, but Danielle Hegseth, who I did not know, not met, or not talked to her until I saw this affidavit yesterday. Her account is very consistent with other accounts we’re hearing. And that’s why we are encouraging our colleagues don’t rush on this one. We think this latest confirmation of erratic and irresponsible behavior by Pete Hegseth would make him very, very dangerous as the Secretary of Defense, and we need to get to the bottom of these allegations before we try to rush a confirmation vote.

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Democratic senator reveals details of new abuse allegations against Pete Hegseth

Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate committee considering Pete Hegseth’s appointment to lead the defense department, has released details of alleged abuse by the former Fox News host towards his second wife.

In a statement, Reed, the ranking member on the Senate armed services committee, said he had received an affidavit from an unspecified individual detailing Hegseth’s behavior in his second marriage. Media outlets have earlier reported that the individual is Hegseth’s former sister-in-law.

“As I have said for months, the reports of Mr Hegseth’s history of alleged sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and public misconduct necessitate an exhaustive background investigation. I have been concerned that the background check process has been inadequate, and this affidavit confirms that fact,” Reed said in a statement.

Here are the details of Hegseth’s alleged behavior, from Reed:

Mr Hegseth abused alcohol regularly and his volatile behavior caused family members to fear for their safety.

Mr Hegseth’s second spouse had an ‘escape plan’ that involved texting a ‘safe word’ to friends and family to urgently request assistance without putting herself in more danger with Mr Hegseth. This escape plan was executed on at least one occasion.

On at least one occasion, Mr Hegseth’s second spouse hid in her closet out of fear of him.

While drunk in his military uniform – a violation of military laws – Mr Hegseth was so inebriated that his brother had to carry him out of a Minneapolis strip club. This occurred during a drill weekend with the Minnesota national guard.

Mr Hegseth regularly became so drunk that he passed out, threw up, and had to be carried out of family events and public settings, sometimes shouting sexually and racially offensive statements.

Mr Hegseth said that women should not vote or work, and that Christians needed to have more children so they could overtake the Muslim population.

Several other accounts of abusive behavior and public drunkenness.

Here’s more on the new allegations against the defense secretary nominee, who currently appears on track to be confirmed by the Senate:

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Updated at 17.39 GMT

Yesterday, Donald Trump announced a big infrastructure project to build data centers for AI technology.

Now, two billionaires are fighting about it on X. You won’t be surprised to learn that one of the two combatants is the billionaire megastar and apparent Trump White House official, Elon Musk. Responding to a tweet announcing the infrastructure project from OpenAI, Musk wrote:

They don’t actually have the money

And:

SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, a fellow billionaire who is nonetheless worth much less than Musk, the world’s richest man, wrote back:

wrong, as you surely know.

want to come visit the first site already under way?

this is great for the country. i realize what is great for the country isn’t always what’s optimal for your companies, but in your new role i hope you’ll mostly put (america) first.

Here’s more about the project at the heart of the squabble:

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Republican House speaker Mike Johnson earlier in the day downplayed Donald Trump’s blanket pardons for January 6 rioters, and said, “We’re not looking backward, we’re looking forward.”

But the speaker did not hesitate to glance in the rearview mirror when asked to comment on Joe Biden’s pardons, in his final minutes as president, to members of his own family.

“It was shocking what President Biden did on the way out, pardoning his family for more than a decade of whatever activity, any non-violent offenses. It was breathtaking to us. I don’t think that’s anything like that’s ever been anticipated,” Johnson said.

“It probably proves the point, the suspicion that, you know, they call it the Biden crime family, if they weren’t the crime family, why do they need pardons?” The House will investigate the decision, he said.

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Updated at 17.01 GMT

What do Ukrainians think of Donald Trump’s claims that he can swiftly bring peace to their country? The Guardian’s Luke Harding asked around Kyiv to find out:

People in Kyiv expressed a mixture of hope and scepticism on Tuesday that Donald Trump can end the war in Ukraine, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the US president as a “decisive” leader who would bring about a “just peace”.

Trump described himself as a “peacekeeper” who would avoid entangling the US in damaging foreign wars in his inauguration speech, but did not mention Ukraine, or explain how he might persuade Vladimir Putin to engage in negotiations almost three years after his full-scale invasion.

Speaking later to reporters in the White House, Trump claimed 1 million Russian soldiers had died in the war and suggested that it was in the interests of both sides to stop fighting. “He (Putin) is destroying Russia. He should make a deal. Zelenskyy wants to make a deal,” Trump said.

Ukrainians outside Lukianivska metro station in Kyiv the next morning – where a Russian missile killed three people on Saturday – said they were anxiously waiting to see what happened next. Behind them was the wrecked facade of an office building and a damaged branch of McDonald’s, the first in the Ukrainian capital.

“I think a deal is unrealistic. Trump is blah blah blah,” Valeriia, a 23-year-old shop worker, said. “He promised to end the conflict in 24 hours. That won’t happen. My friends are split 50-50 between those who think he can do something, and those who don’t.”

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Trump threatens tariffs on Russia and allies unless they end war in Ukraine

In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump has threatened to impose “high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions” on Russia and its allies if it does not stop its invasion of Ukraine.

The post comes after Trump failed to achieve his campaign promise of ending the war in the country within 24 hours of taking office. Here’s what the president wrote:

I’m not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin – and this despite the Radical Left’s Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX. We must never forget that Russia helped us win the Second World War, losing almost 60,000,000 lives in the process. All of that being said, I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a “deal,” and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries. Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to “MAKE A DEAL.” NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!

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Updated at 16.41 GMT

Donald Trump’s blanket pardons for January 6 rioters have put congressional Republicans in a somewhat uncomfortable spot.

The president freed from jail and dropped charges against both violent and nonviolent rioters, a decision that does not quite square with the GOP’s stated fidelity to “law and order” policies. House speaker Mike Johnson was asked for his thoughts on the pardons at the Capitol today. Here’s what he said, from NBC News:

Everybody can describe this however they want. The president has the pardon and commutation authority. It’s his decision. I think what was made clear all along was that peaceful protests and the people who engage in that should never be punished. There was a weaponization of the Justice Department. There was a weaponization of the events — the prosecutions that happened after January 6. It was a terrible time and a terrible chapter in America’s history. The president’s made his decision. I don’t second-guess those. And yes, it’s kind of my ethos, my world view, we believe in redemption; we believe in second chances … We’re not looking backward, we’re looking forward.

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Trump to sit for Oval Office interview with conservative commentator Sean Hannity

Donald Trump’s first sit-down interview since being inaugurated president will be with conservative Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, the network announced.

The (undoubtedly friendly) interview will air at 9pm today, and take place in the Oval Office.

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Trump executive order leaves refugees cleared to enter US stranded globally

Among the many executive orders Donald Trump signed on Monday was one that has prevented refugees who have been cleared to resettle in the United States from reaching the country, the Associated Press reports.

It’s a situation not unlike what played out at the start of his first term, when he signed a similar executive order to stop refugees from coming into the US. Here’s more on the latest move, from the AP:

Refugees who had been approved to travel to the United States before a Jan. 27 deadline suspending America’s refugee resettlement program have had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration.

Thousands of refugees are now stranded at various locations around the globe.

The suspension was in an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday. It left open the possibility that people who had undergone the lengthy process to be approved as refugees and permitted to come to the U.S., and had flights booked before that deadline, might still be able to get in under the wire.

But in an email reviewed Wednesday by The Associated Press, the U.S. agency overseeing refugee processing and arrival told staff and stakeholders that “refugee arrival to the United States have been suspended until further notice.”

Among those affected are the more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to resettle in the U.S. as part of the program that the Biden administration set up after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. That number includes those who worked alongside American soldiers during the war as well as family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel.

Trump’s order had given the agency until Jan. 27 before it began to halt all processing and traveling. Now, however, it appears the timing in the order was moved up. It was not immediately clear what prompted the change.

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Updated at 15.11 GMT

A new poll finds that increasing border security and deporting undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes are relatively popular proposals with Americans.

But Donald Trump’s hardline approaches to immigration more broadly – including ending birthright citizenship and deporting all undocumented immigrants, even those who have not interacted with the criminal justice system – are more divisive, the survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found.

What it found about border security:

Half of U.S. adults think increasing security at the border should be a high priority for the federal government, according to the poll, and about 3 in 10 say it should be a moderate priority. Just 2 in 10, roughly, consider it a low priority.

The vast majority of U.S. adults favor deporting immigrants convicted of violent crimes, and the Trump administration’s deportation efforts may begin there. But Trump’s initial executive orders have gone far beyond that — including efforts to keep asylum-seekers in Mexico and end automatic citizenship.

And Trump, a Republican, is continuing to signal an aggressive and likely divisive approach, with promises to deport millions of people who entered the country illegally while declaring a “national emergency at our southern border.” About 4 in 10 American adults support deporting all immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, and a similar share are opposed.

And about Trump’s more extreme actions:

Removing immigrants who are in the country illegally and have not committed a violent crime is highly divisive, with only about 4 in 10 U.S. adults in support and slightly more than 4 in 10 opposed.

And relatively few Americans, about 3 in 10, somewhat or strongly favor changing the Constitution so children born in the U.S. are not automatically granted citizenship if their parents are in the country illegally. About 2 in 10 are neutral, and about half are somewhat or strongly opposed.

…

The poll finds that a shift toward arresting people in the country illegally at places like churches and schools would be highly unpopular. Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults somewhat or strongly favor arresting children who are in the country illegally while they are at school, and a similar share support arresting people who are in the country illegally while they are at church. Solid majorities, about 6 in 10, oppose these kinds of arrests.

Even Republicans aren’t fully on board — less than half favor arrests of children in schools or people at church.

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Updated at 14.47 GMT