World

Wednesday

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Nine reasons why Trump means business this time

Since Franklin D. Roosevelt, every new US administration has been judged on its first hundred days, but it is in the first 24 hours, with a flurry of executive orders and memorandums, that a president sets the tone for the coming four years. The first 24 hours hint at nine themes that will define Donald Trump’s second administration. Trump is determined to settle scores Theme one: Trump II will see ‘America First’ placed at the heart of White House policy even more so than during Trump I. Among the memorandums issued from the Oval Office after noon on Monday was one outlining an ‘America First trade policy’, a revival of

Tuesday

Matt Ridley

Why has Biden pardoned Anthony Fauci?

Joe Biden left it until the last minute to issue a pre-emptive pardon of Anthony Fauci for any offence committed since 2014 in his work on ‘the White House Coronavirus Task Force or the White House Covid-19 Response Team, or as Chief Medical Advisor to the President.’ Yet surely Covid began in 2019, not 2014? The significance of 2014 is that this was when the Obama administration responded to anxiety among some scientists about a series of experiments that made influenza viruses potentially more dangerous to people – by banning federal funding for any such gain-of-function experiments. Yet from June 2014 money flowed from Fauci’s National Institute for Allergy and

Joanna Williams

Donald Trump, feminist icon?

Cast your mind back eight years. The day after Donald Trump’s first inauguration, hundreds of thousands of women marched on Washington in opposition to the incoming president. Adorned in pink ‘pussy’ hats, they were joined by protesters in London, Sydney, Zurich and at least 30 other American cities. As I argued at the time, beyond expressing general distaste for the incoming administration the precise aims of this movement were never particularly clear. But it was feminism and therefore good. In his inaugural address, Trump did more for women’s rights than all the cutesy hat-knitters put together Yet in his second inaugural address last night, Trump did more for women’s rights

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

No, Elon Musk didn’t make a fascist salute

We’re not even 24 hours into the second Donald Trump term and already there’s a ‘New Nazis’ panic. Only this time it’s not The Donald who’s being branded Hitler 2.0. It’s his billionaire pal and state-slashing tsar, Elon Musk. The Guardian says Musk did ‘back-to-back fascist salutes’. At yesterday’s wacky inauguration, a giddy Musk gave a speech during which he saluted the crowd. I’ll be honest – it was a weird salute. He slapped his right hand against his chest and then threw his right arm upwards, diagonally and with vigour. He did it twice. His facial expression was an odd blend of love and anger. Within seconds, X –

Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver

‘I’m a Democrat who will give him a chance’ – Lionel Shriver on Trump’s inauguration

23 min listen

Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. All the former leaders of the free world were there to watch Trump take the oath – again – but how was this inauguration different to the last? And what signs were there of how Trump intends to govern? Guest hosting for Americano, The Spectator’s Kate Andrews speaks to Freddy Gray, who is on the ground in D.C., and Lionel Shriver about Trump’s speech lamenting the Biden administration, Biden’s last minute pardoning of his family, and why some Democrats could be willing to give Trump a chance this time round.  Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Natasha Feroze.

Michael Evans

Trump professes peace, threatens fury

The new president of the United States believes in fairness, and says the running of the Panama Canal has been very unfair. Even though President Trump’s thunderous ‘Golden Age’ inauguration speech was short on foreign policy objectives, he still managed to slip in his ambitions for the canal. He wants it back in American control, partly because US cargo ships, he complains, are paying over the odds for using it. He is also worried about Chinese encroachment at each end. Inauguration addresses are not generally seen as an opportunity to lay out a blueprint for overcoming America’s enemies or to hint at potential territorial ambitions beyond America’s shores. President Joe

Monday

Jacob Heilbrunn

How radical will Donald Trump be?

If Donald Trump, as Scott Jennings observed on CNN, is at the ‘apex of his political power,’ then what comes next? In his inaugural address, Trump vowed that ‘American decline’ had ended and a ‘golden age of America’ was about to begin. He essentially embraced what amounted to a form of liberation theology. ‘Liberation Day,’ as Trump put it, would ensure the restoration of American sovereignty. Trump barely touched on foreign policy. There was no mention of Israel. No word about Ukraine. No allusion to Russia. No nod to Nato or any other American alliance. Instead, it was McKinley all the time – William McKinley, the president who imposed high tariffs

Ben Domenech

Will Trump’s new friends stick around?

The temperatures at game time in Kansas City and Buffalo this weekend were in the high teens and the low 20s, respectively, before both sank even lower as day turned to night. The temperature in Washington on Capitol Hill when Donald Trump began to give his second inauguration address was -2ºC a far cry from the -14ºC that forced Ronald Reagan’s second inaugural indoors. It turns out more people find it far more important to root for their team even in the face of frigid wind and swirling snow than to cheer on the swearing in of a new/old president — which indicates to me that the American people have

Daniel DePetris

Trump the ‘Peacemaker’ has his work cut out

Joe Biden is out, Donald Trump is in, and ‘the golden age of America has begun.’ Trump’s second inaugural address on this frigid January afternoon was, as one might expect, laced with grievances, bombast, self-congratulation and big promises. The speech was a preview of the dozens of executive orders primed for the president’s signature hours later, some of which, such as declaring a national emergency along the US–Mexico border, were at the core of his campaign. While Trump stuck with domestic issues, there were several broad foreign policy themes he chose to highlight. The first few – that the US will be respected again on the world stage and the

Simon Cook Simon Cook

Which president granted the most pardons? 

Joe Biden has bowed out of the White House with a slew of presidential pardons. Today they have been awarded to Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, a bunch of family members and an assortment of investigators from the 6 January riots – but Biden also controversially pardoned his son Hunter a month ago, despite promising not to. The presidential pardon has been a part of the constitution since the start – something that the Founding Fathers thought worth keeping from the British monarchy. Historically it’s been quite sparingly used. Most presidents pardoned no more than a few hundred through the first hundred years of the US – with the exception

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Could Trump 2.0 derail the Starmer project?

13 min listen

The parties – and protests – have already kicked off, as Trump’s inauguration gets underway in Washington D.C. today. Katy Balls speaks to Michael Gove and Republicans Overseas UK’s Sarah Elliott about what we can expect from the first week of Trump’s second presidency, and how Keir Starmer will attempt to navigate the ‘special relationship’. Sarah updates us on the mood in the US capital; which UK politicians have been spotted joining in on the fun? Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Terry Barnes

Why is Novak Djokovic getting so tetchy?

On his record, Novak Djokovic deserves to be rated as the greatest singles tennis player of the last 50 years. Twenty-four Grand Slam titles. An Olympic gold medal. Ninety-nine tournament wins overall. Goodness knows how many finals appearances. Some say he’s the greatest of all time: the Goat. Contrast that with Tony Jones. A veteran Australian sports journalist and broadcaster specialising in Australian Rules football, he’s little known outside Melbourne, let alone Australia. As the local sport presenter for Australian Open host broadcaster, the Nine network, Jones is at Melbourne Park fronting a morning magazine-style programme and doing live crosses to Nine’s national news bulletin. Could it be that the

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Britain is taking a punt on Ukraine’s future

There is a perverse congruence of interests between the British and Russian governments, as both sides seek to talk up London’s level of influence in Ukraine. This was particularly visible in the new agreement signed between the UK and Ukraine last week – and Moscow’s response to it. To the Kremlin, after all, Perfidious Albion remains its most devious antagonist. True to form, the Russian embassy in London tweeted out that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s surprise visit to Kyiv represented ‘a desperate attempt by British handlers to keep the agonising Kiev [sic] regime afloat’ with ‘new highly provocative UK plans, including the establishment of military bases within Ukrainian territory’. It is a warning

Sam Leith Sam Leith

The difference between Trump 45 and Trump 47

Him again? Donald Trump’s back in the White House. Those who thought his first term in office was an aberration – a dismaying blip in the long arc of history towards liberal democracy, properly corrected by Biden’s 2020 victory – have been proven wrong in the most painful possible way. He wasn’t some brainfart of the internet era, some moment of madness. He’s back, and all the evidence seems to suggest that what he represents is much more in tune with the global zeitgeist than what Kamala Harris or, for that matter, Keir Starmer, are selling. Trump once made a performance of fighting the deep state. Today he wants to

Jacob Heilbrunn

The quarrelling coalition behind Donald Trump

Like Ronald Reagan in 1985, Donald Trump is bowing to the elements and moving his inauguration indoors to the Capitol Rotunda, where only 500 guests can squeeze in to attend the ceremony. But that development isn’t putting a damper on the spirits of the tens of thousands of Trump followers who have traveled to Washington. Trump’s investiture isn’t so much an inauguration as a jubilant restoration, with the Biden presidency serving as an interregnum. Will any of it ruffle Trump? When I visited the Mayflower Hotel, located a few blocks from the White House, for breakfast at its ‘Edgar’ restaurant – named after former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover who

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Trump hypes America for his return

Biblical weather outside the rally for the sixtieth presidential inaugural in the Capitol One Arena in downtown Washington yesterday: hail plonked down onto streets of slush. The poor huddled Magas lined up for hours and hours, through labyrinthine perimeter fencing, just to see their leader. Inside, the atmosphere was electric and jubilant. ‘We won, we won,’ began Donald Trump, when he finally appeared. ‘Tomorrow at noon the curtain closes on four long years of American decline.’ Trump announced that he would order the publication of classified government documents on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. And he promised the crowd they would be

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Is it too late to Make Europe Great Again?

A poll published last week by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) found that much of the world is relishing the return of Donald Trump to the White House. Eighty-four per cent of Indians think Trump will be good for their country as do 61 per cent of Saudis. In Russia, South Africa, China and Brazil, more citizens have faith in The Donald than don’t. It is in Europe where pessimism reigns. Only 15 per cent of Britons believe Trump will benefit them, a figure that rises to 22 per cent in the EU. This is the same sorry percentage of Europeans who regard Trump’s America as an ally ‘that shares

Sunday

Jonathan Spyer

Hamas has exploited Israel’s weaknesses

When Hamas launched its war on Israel in October, 2023, it did so on the basis of a clear analysis of Israeli society, according to which it hoped to achieve its objectives.  Given the nature and extent of the massacre of 7 October 2023, it was surely clear to the Palestinian Islamist movement that Israel’s response would be to seek to destroy the ruling regime that Hamas had established in Gaza since 2007. Hamas’s leaders hoped to avoid this outcome, however, by the taking of Israeli hostages. This would be followed by a bargaining process in which Hamas would exchange the lives of the hostages for its continued rule in Gaza.  Hamas

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Will Donald Trump pardon TikTok?

Millions of Americans will have tried to follow their routine this morning: turn off the alarm, grab the phone, start to scroll. For TikTok users, there will have been a moment of false hope: the shortest clip of a video starts to play, before the notification pops up that everyone was expecting , but no one was certain would actually appear: ‘Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.’ With a federal ban looming, the company decided to cut off operations for its 170 million users in America, making clear in the statement who is responsible: ‘A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use

Jonathan Sacerdoti

Can the ceasefire last?

The ceasefire in Gaza, scheduled to begin this morning, has been anything but straightforward. As the agreement unfolds, many have rushed to declare who are the winners and who are the losers. Yet victory does not lie with those who made the most military gains or acted most morally – it leans, perversely, towards those ruthless enough to exploit suffering without moral restraint. In this grim theatre of war the truth is far bleaker, that among the civilized, there can only be losers. After days of fraught negotiations, delays, and brinkmanship, the first steps of this tenuous agreement are now unfolding. The plan, as presented, is stark in its simplicity and devastating