Donald Trump ushered in an era of disruption to the global economy, threatening new tariffs on U.S. allies and moving to undo his domestic and foreign agenda just hours after Joe Biden returned to the White House.
In wide-ranging comments to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday night, Trump threatened to impose tariffs of up to 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico as early as February 1, hammering both currencies and pushing the U.S. stock index futures lower.
The newly inaugurated 47th US president also threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100% on Chinese imports and EU products if Beijing fails to agree on selling at least 50% of the TikTok app to US companies impose tariffs unless they buy more U.S. oil.
The comments and the shock to global markets are yet another reminder of Trump's willingness to upend the world order and engage in high-stakes coercive negotiations to impose America's will on major trading partners.
Trump made the remarks in the Oval Office just hours before delivering his inaugural address, pledging to end America's "decline" and usher in a new "golden future" based on a dramatic reversal of the Biden administration's progressive agenda. era".
The 78-year-old president quickly announced aggressive new measures to boost fossil fuel production, expel immigrants and lay out the populist and nationalist platform that helped him win last year's bid for the White House.
He has rescinded dozens of Biden's executive orders on everything from promoting racial equality and sanctioning extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank to strengthening Medicaid and promoting voting access.
The overhaul includes another withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate accord and marks a statement of intent from the world's preeminent right-wing politician, who was elected on a promise to reverse the Biden administration's agenda.
Trump also announced that he would pardon people convicted of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, when his supporters stormed Congress to violently prevent the certification of Biden's 2020 election victory.
The pardons for the rioters triggered a remarkable comeback from Trump himself, who won last year's election despite becoming the first president to be convicted of a felony and following two assassination attempts against him.
Trump's trade rants intensified throughout the day. In his inaugural address, Trump said taxes were his preferred tool in international economic diplomacy and were crucial to raising U.S. revenue, even though they risked raising prices for American consumers.
"Instead of taxing our citizens to make other countries rich, we will impose tariffs and taxes on foreign countries to make our citizens rich," he said.
Trump said plans to impose widespread tariffs on all imports - a measure he touted during the campaign - remained on the table.
Trump spoke in the Oval Office, surrounded by key aides including chief of staff Susie Wiles, policy chief Stephen Miller and White House senior adviser on trade and manufacturing policy Peter Navarro.
Trump also signed a national emergency bill on the U.S.-Mexico border and took steps to limit birthright citizenship for undocumented immigrants born on U.S. soil, signaling that crackdowns on immigration remain a domestic policy priority.
"That's a big deal . . . We're the only country in the world that has a birthright," he said, although dozens of other countries allow it.
Trump's move will almost certainly be challenged in court as violating the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The president also directed the Pentagon to draft a plan to deploy troops to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump has also designated drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Sending U.S. Special Forces into Mexico to eliminate them "is possible. Stranger things have happened," he added.
Trump declined to say whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement would begin conducting raids in major cities on Tuesday to detain undocumented immigrants. "I don't want to say when, but it will happen, it has to happen, or we won't have a country."
In his foreign policy pledge, Trump said the United States would take back control of the Panama Canal and "build the most powerful military in the world," even as he pledged to end wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and said he would become a "Peacemaker".