Source : NEW INDIAN EXPRESS NEWS
“I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places in which they came,” Trump said in his inauguration speech to thunderous applause.
Trump is moving to realize his pledge of mass deportations of at least 11 million people in the country illegally.
Indian news agency PTI quoting experts said that the US decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement will weaken global efforts to mitigate climate change, and the worst consequences will be felt in developing countries that have contributed the least to global emissions, experts said on Tuesday.
Trump’s executive order relating to Paris Agreement places the US alongside Iran, Libya, and Yemen as the only countries not part of the 2015 global climate accord, which aims to limit global warming since the industrial revolution to 1.5 degrees Celsius, PTI added.
Harjeet Singh, climate activist and Founding Director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, described the move as a devastating blow to global climate efforts.
“The US is prioritising short-term economic gains for fossil fuel industries over the health and well-being of American communities, especially those already burdened by increasingly frequent and severe climate disasters such as wildfires and storms.
“Globally, it undermines the collective fight against climate change at a time when unity and urgency are more critical than ever.
The most tragic consequences, however, will be felt in developing countries which have contributed the least to global emissions,” Singh said.
Sunita Narain, Director General of the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment, had earlier told PTI that the US has historically underperformed in global climate efforts, particularly in financing support for vulnerable countries, decarbonization, and financial commitments to the developing world.
She said that Trump’s presidency “would make matters even worse”.
At the UN climate conference in Azerbaijan, the US stepping back under Trump was one of the major factors behind a weak climate finance deal.
Trump initially announced the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in 2017 during his first term, a move reversed by the Joe Biden administration in early 2021.
In the run-up to the 2024 US elections, Trump repeatedly referred to climate change as a “hoax” and reiterated his intention to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement.
At a time when all eyes are on Gaza as Trump’s inauguration comes close on the heels of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the US President rescinded sanctions imposed by the former Biden administration on far-right Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of being involved in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Reuters reported citing the new White House website.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was quick to react as, according to AFP, he thanked Donald Trump for his “unwavering support.”
“Mr. President, your unwavering and uncompromising support for the State of Israel is a testament to your deep connection to the Jewish people and our historical right to our land,” the minister wrote on X.
“These sanctions were a severe and blatant foreign intervention in Israel’s internal affairs and an unjustified violation of democratic principles and the mutual respect between friendly nations,” he added.
Further, Trump said the United States will recognize only two sexes, male and female, that are unchangeable, as he moved quickly to end a range of policies aimed at promoting racial equity and protecting rights for LGBTQ+ people.
Writing for the Associated Press, David Baudernoted that a presidential inauguration is traditionally a symbol of the traditions that bind Americans together. Mainstream media coverage of the event on Monday provided many reminders of what keeps people apart.
On the Martin Luther King Day holiday, he added, news organizations offered wall-to-wall coverage of President Donald Trump’s second inaugural, an event held largely indoors in Washington because of frigid temperatures.
In many respects, it was a return to normal after Trump skipped successor Joe Biden’s swearing in four years ago. The ceremony offered images of bipartisanship that “the country to some extent is hungry for,” he quoted NBC News’ Kristen Welker.
For the first time in US history, a president-elect will welcome foreign leaders for one of the most American political traditions — the peaceful transfer of power, the Associated Press had reported earlier.
Among those present during the inauguration were President Javier Milei of Argentina, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Vice President Han Zheng of China, Foreign Affairs Minister Takeshi Iwaya of Japan and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar of India.
SOURCE :- NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
