Trump latest: Executive orders, DEI shake-up and the US-Mexico border donald trump news

President Donald Trump has begun his second term with a flurry of policy actions to reshape the United States government.

His executive orders this week address issues including trade, immigration, foreign aid, demographic diversity, civil rights and federal hiring practices.

On Wednesday, the third day of his return to the White House, Trump gave his first television interview from the Oval Office. Meanwhile, his immigration agenda is in full swing and deployed 1,500 personnel to Mexico’s southern border on Wednesday.

Here’s a roundup of the latest updates and everything you need to know for Trump’s second term:

All eyes on DEI:

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are facing increasing opposition across the US and have been placed under formal scrutiny within the federal government.

Adopted in the 1960s and gained momentum in 2020 in the wake of protests across the US following the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed by police in Minneapolis, these programs aim to ensure that women and minorities Groups do not face discrimination in the workplace and are given opportunities for employment and promotion.

But this is about to change. On Wednesday, Trump directed agency heads to place officials working on DEI programs within the federal government on paid administrative leave and ordered their offices closed.

The White House ordered all federal DEI employees to be furloughed by 5 p.m. (22:00 GMT) on Wednesday, when related offices and programs were closed.

Trump also urged federal employees to keep the programs running but inform each other and their departments about any efforts to keep them hidden. The move is based on an executive order he directed to end the federal government’s “radical and wasteful” DEI programs.

US companies are believed to spend around $8 billion annually on such equity initiatives.

What has Trump said about DEI?

Trump directly addressed the program during his inaugural address: “This week, I will also end the government’s policy of socially incorporating race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will create a society that is color-blind and merit-based.

What has been the reaction to Trump’s anti-DEI campaign?

Following Trump’s election victory, many major companies began to scale back their DEI initiatives. These included Walmart, McDonald’s, Amazon and Meta.

Nevertheless, some corporations, including Costco and Microsoft, are currently moving forward with their racial and gender equity programs.

Civil and human rights advocacy groups promised to aggressively challenge Trump’s executive order.

Advocates of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, are criticizing US President Donald Trump for shutting down government diversity programs by executive order this week and pressuring the private sector to follow suit https://t.co /GhHP97hk82 pic.twitter.com/EIzyQLbExN

– Reuters (@Reuters) 23 January 2025

Trump’s immigration action begins

Trump’s immigration crackdown is underway. Acting Defense Secretary Robert Seles on Wednesday ordered the deployment of 1,500 ground personnel to the border with Mexico.

Congress also passed a bill that would require undocumented immigrants arrested for theft or violent crimes to be jailed while awaiting trial.

The bill, named in honor of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was murdered by a Venezuelan man last year, will be sent to the White House to be signed into law.

What has Trump said about immigration?

Trump said in his inaugural address, “All illegal entry will be stopped immediately, and we will begin the process of returning millions of criminal aliens to the places they came from.”

What has been the reaction to Trump’s crackdown on immigration?

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that immigration talks between Mexico and the US have begun.

According to a Bloomberg News report, India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his US counterpart Marco Rubio and told reporters that India is ready for the legal return of undocumented Indian migrants. According to Pew Research Center data, Indians are the third largest undocumented immigrant group in the US.

First interview after returning to the White House

After returning to the White House, Trump gave his first interview to Fox News, in which he talked about many topics. Here are some of the highlights:

• Immigration: “(Former President Joe) Biden has emptied prisons around the world into our country by allowing this to happen,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. I don’t even know if he knew what was going on, but who would want that?”
• TikTok: Trump said TikTok could remain in place despite a Biden-signed law banning Chinese-owned social media platforms starting Sunday because the company poses a national security threat. Trump has downplayed the prospects of the Chinese government using Americans’ personal data on the app. “They make your telephones, they make your computers and they make a lot of other things. Isn’t this a big danger?” Trump asked.
• 6 January riot pardon: Responding to questions about pardoning his supporters who violently tried to overturn his 2020 election loss at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump stood by his decision, saying: “I said I would They were going to be released and probably very soon, and they voted for me. I won resoundingly.”

Other things you may have forgotten:

• Gaza: On Wednesday, Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said he would visit Gaza in the coming days with what he called an “inspection team” to monitor last week’s ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
• Russia: Trump threatened to impose “higher levels of taxes, tariffs and sanctions on anything Russia sells to the US” if Moscow fails to agree to a “deal” to end the war in Ukraine. “Make a deal now and stop this ridiculous war,” he wrote on his Truth social platform, addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin. “It’s going to get worse.”
• Secret Service veteran Shawn Curran: Trump nominated Curran to head the US Secret Service, the agency that protects current and former presidents and their families. Curran was among the agents who rushed to Trump’s aid after he was shot in the ear in a failed assassination attempt at a July campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Before you go, you can find our list of every executive action Trump took on his first day in office here.