• It's a challenging job market for candidates in the ad industry.
• Recruiters and industry insiders say there are bright spots for job seekers with the right skills.
• Advertising employees with expertise in data, tech, and client relations remain in demand.

It's set to be one of the most volatile years yet for the advertising industry.

There's massive ad agency consolidation, return-to-office mandates, and the opportunities and threats posed by artificial intelligence.

It's a lot.

So, spare a thought for the ad industry workers trying to figure out their next career moves. Do they stay on Madison Avenue? Or take the first exit?

The challenging outlook for job hunters is true for those in the early stages of their careers all the way through to the senior ranks. But headhunters, human resources execs, consultants, and other industry insiders told Business Insider there are bright spots for employees who can double down on the skills that are in demand from ad bosses. Those with the best chance of success will be able to demonstrate data and tech capabilities, as well as a bulging Rolodex of top client contacts.

"If you have not been pioneering in AI and data-driven roles in the last 900 days, I don't know what we can offer you," said Michele James, founder of James & Co, United Talent Agency's executive search practice.

James added that there would be little interest for a senior leader "if you don't have interpretative data management skills, a machine learning strategy, if you can't be a player-coach to your client partners." James said this reflects the transformation of the ad industry.

Over time, advertising agencies have expanded their services from creating and distributing ads, to an offering more akin to consultancies, moving into areas such as digital transformation, data strategy, and commerce. As client demands for these services grow, agencies are seeking allrounders who can bring it all together.

"Both brand owners and agency groups are hiring leaders whose skillset equips them to build and choreograph data, tech, and content capabilities at scale," said Gary Stolkin, CEO of The Talent Business, an executive search firm.

A tough advertising job market — with some bright spots

Employment in advertising, PR, and related services jobs in the US declined by 1,500 jobs in December to 520,800, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics — as overall US employment grew by 256,000 jobs.

While ad industry employment was up by 2,900 jobs versus December 2023, industry insiders said there were now fewer senior roles. That was in part due to agencies trimming costs amid shrinking client budgets. The trend is exacerbated by mergers such as the forthcoming tie-up between Omnicom and IPG, which will create the world's largest holding company but will likely lead to job losses, industry insiders have said.

"Everyone I talk to is getting rid of people who were overpaid and hiring back at a different level," said Lori Murphree, founder of the ad industry M&A advisory firm Evalla Advisors.

Murphree said there are some exceptions, such as the raft of independent agencies that have recently taken on private equity investment and are now bulking up.

Out: Skills that AI excels at

Industry insiders are updating their résumés to reflect the changing times.

A LinkedIn analysis found that social media management, e-commerce optimization, paid media advertising, performance marketing, and influencer marketing were among the fastest-growing skills people in the advertising and marketing industries have added to their profiles on the platform between January 2025 and January 2024.

"With nearly 40% of marketers under pressure to measure ROI in the short term, it's no surprise that they are increasingly leaning into skills like influencer marketing to build trust with their audiences and drive continued growth," said Tom Pepper, senior director at LinkedIn. (ROI refers to "return on investment".)

Advertising and marketing LinkedIn users were less likely to add established skills like "marketing communications" to their profiles, as well as skills like web design and email marketing, where AI is increasingly replacing human work.

"Automation continues to squeeze PR, copywriting, media owner sales, and production roles," said Simon Francis, CEO of Flock Associates, a marketing consultancy and search firm.

Advertising recruiters said they are searching for candidates whose career paths have taken unusual or varied turns. This can sometimes indicate that they are adaptable to the industry's ever-changing nature.

"Instead of skillsets, I consistently focus on mindset," said Monica Torres, executive director of global recruiting at the ad agency TBWA\Worldwide. "Having a mindset of curiosity and optimism, those are the traits that are always in demand because they're going to make you a problem solver for clients."

International experience can also be a bonus, industry insiders said.

Industry veteran Emiliano González De Pietri began his career in Madrid, Spain. He said his career and mindset got a jolt in 2013 when he moved to Peru to become deputy chief creative officer of the ad agency Circus Grey, later simply known as Grey.

While he spoke the same language as his colleagues, he clearly didn't share the same cultural references, humor, and understanding of local consumer behavior. He made it his mission to adapt.

"Just like a student, doing at least one year abroad is going to do wonders for your worldliness and ability to be a more interesting person," said De Pietri, who has now returned to Madrid as a global creative partner at McCann Worldgroup, having also done stints in London and New York in between.

"You encounter entirely different business problems, situations, politics — you will become a more versatile advertising beast," he added.

One thing in the industry hasn't changed: the constant fight for new business. But it's not just the domain of a dedicated agency growth department. Almost everyone in senior roles is expected to have those relationships, said Sasha Martens, president of the advertising executive recruiting firm Sasha the Mensch.

"What you're seeing is a lot of creatives a lot closer to the client than they were in the past," Martens said. "There's a greater understanding that you have to understand the strategic needs of your clients."

• Elvi Caperonis overcame over 100 rejections to secure a role at a Big Tech company.
• She feels that her strong résumé played a major part in finally landing the role.
• She shares her advice for crafting a strong résumé, such as by highlighting metrics and technical skills.

Elvi Caperonis always wanted to work in Big Tech.

She graduated with a computer science degree in 2005, followed by a master's degree in software engineering, and she was drawn to the allure of having a job that was both challenging and financially rewarding — not to mention the enviable perks and prestige that came along with Big Tech companies.

"I aimed to work with intelligent people to build technologies that could positively impact the world," she told Business Insider. "I was very excited about the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge technologies like AI and machine learning."

In 2017, after six years of tech consulting work and over three years at Harvard University as a techno-functional reporting analyst, Caperonis landed a full-time job as a business intelligence engineer at a top-tier tech company — one of the Magnificent 7.

But landing the job was far from easy, and the process was highly competitive. "I faced many rejections that allowed me to grow and learn how to make it happen," said Caperonis, whose employment history has been verified by Business Insider.

Dealing with rejection after rejection

The disappointment began in 2012 when Caperonis applied for a job at a Fortune 500 company. With two degrees and several years of relevant experience, she believed she was an overqualified candidate and a perfect fit for the opportunity.

But when it came time to answer technical questions, "My mind went blank," said Caperonis, who spoke little English before moving to the US in 2011. "I knew the answers and could even picture the scenarios in which I'd used the technology, but I struggled to articulate my thoughts in English back then."

She was rejected.

As she persisted in her job search, Caperonis endured a series of rejections from prominent companies, including Stripe, Meta, Twitter, Oracle, Akamai Technologies, and many others in the tech industry. She estimates that over the course of five years of trying to land a Big Tech job, she received over 100 rejections.

"The rejections hurt a lot," she said. "Each one felt like a deep wound, momentarily leaving me heartbroken and hopeless."

What Caperonis found even more painful was often being ghosted by employers after submitting an application or even having an interview.

She never thought about giving up, though. "The weight of disappointment became a catalyst for growth," she said. She treated each application and interview as a way to gain insights about how to approach future opportunities.

She thought she failed again

Her job interview with one top tech company lasted about eight hours and included multiple rounds of behavioral questions. By the end of the day, she felt completely exhausted and feared she'd failed.

But the tides had turned. "When the recruiter called me with the good news, I could hardly believe it — I was so excited and happy," Caperonis said. "I realized my life was about to change."

She recommends that anyone interested in Big Tech be very prepared to showcase their accomplishments and proficiency through their résumé.

Here's the one she used, which she feels played a major part in landing the job:

A strong Big Tech résumé: Her 3 tips

1. Create a gateway to your brand

The professional profile summary at the top of the résumé is the first thing a recruiter will see, and it should be a carefully crafted gateway to your brand, said Caperonis. She noted it can "make or break your first impression."

"With just five seconds to capture a recruiter's attention, this section should be your unique value proposition — a chance to showcase your skills, experiences, and what sets you apart from other candidates," she said.

In her case, Caperonis highlighted her ScrumMaster certification, nearly a decade of experience, and principles of honesty, discretion, loyalty, and sincerity through which she could help a company achieve its goals.

2. Validate your capabilities

Caperonis believes that the work experience section of the résumé is the most important element for Big Tech, and she incorporated results and metrics to make hers more compelling.

Throughout this section, Caperonis added details to quantify her achievements — such as "designed over 300 reports" — to make the scope and impact of her work more tangible.

3. Create a platform to demonstrate your competence

The next most important section of your résumé is the technical skills section, in her opinion.

"I've seen that tech recruiters quickly skim through your résumé to see if you have the work experience required for the job, after they quickly review your 'tech stack' — the technologies and tools required for the job."

Caperonis's technical skills section for her Big Tech application included programming languages, project management tools, data analysis techniques, and interpersonal skills crucial for collaboration and communication within a team.

"My proficiency in business intelligence tools, such as Oracle Business Intelligence, and my prior work experience at Harvard University as a techno-functional reporting analyst were critical factors," in ultimately securing her role, she said.

What she'd do differently

Looking back, Caperonis believes she did a great job highlighting her experience and technical skills in her résumé. But if she were to revise it today, she'd showcase her accomplishments and proficiency better.

"I'd include more metrics that showcase the impact of my work in terms of money, time, and resources that I have helped companies save, instead of just plain statements about my responsibilities," she said.

She also regrets not being more meticulous about proofreading before submission, as her résumé ended up containing a few grammatical errors. "In this competitive market, candidates must ensure their résumés are polished and free of grammatical mistakes," she said.

To create a résumé that will help you stand out as a tech candidate, Caperonis said it's wise to use AI tools to analyze job descriptions, suggest relevant keywords, and format your résumé — but stressed the importance of having a person, such as a career coach, give your résumé a once-over before you submit it.

"I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to have the résumé reviewed and personalized by a real human," she said.

One of the most interesting asset managers in Europe has made it to America.

Lingotto Investment Management, with $6 billion in assets under management, has generated plenty of intrigue in its short existence. It was formed in 2023 by Exor, the holding company for the wealth of the Agnelli family, which owns Fiat, Ferrari, The Economist, and the Italian soccer team Juventus.

Lingotto launched as an investment house giving tenured portfolio managers a sleeve of capital and free range to invest — some bets include a private German robotics company and CBS's parent company, Paramount. The firm, which was founded by the billionaire Agnelli heir John Elkann and whose chair is former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, has raised billions in outside capital and is operated separately from Exor.

Now the manager is expanding to New York, where it already has 14 employees, including investing talent, on the ground. The 50-person firm, based in London, considers New York and London to be its "two pillars," Enrico Vellano, Lingotto's CEO, said in an interview with Business Insider.

"The idea is to continue to grow and invest in the US but also in the UK," he said.

The firm has lured in James Anderson, a star tech investor and former Baillie Gifford partner, and BlackRock executive Pam Chan to run different strategies. Matteo Scolari and Nikhil Srinivasan, two longtime Exor-connected investors, manage their own books.

The investors' focuses are across the board — limited-partner stakes in other funds, public tech companies, quirky private opportunities — and they can pursue their ideas on their own timelines, which can be yearslong, without constant tinkering from a central risk manager or overarching investment commitment. This proposition has been enticing to portfolio managers as well as prospective backers.

"Each team is empowered and very independent," said Scolari, whose ties to the Agnelli family go back a generation to when his father worked as the head of research and development at Fiat decades ago. In an interview with BI, he said the structure set the firm apart.

"I think that's really important — I really believe in this approach," he added.

A different model

The firm doesn't like the word "platform," but it's impossible to avoid comparisons between today's dominant multistrategy managers and Lingotto. These platforms have become some of the biggest names in alternative investing, in part because they can absorb so much capital from sovereign wealth funds and pensions and diversify it across dozens of investing teams.

The industry's biggest investors prefer multistrategy funds because of their consistency and lack of volatility, which they achieve through tight risk limits and short-term investment horizons.

Lingotto employs multiple investors who operate quasi-independently of each other, like Citadel and Millennium. But the similarities between Lingotto and the biggest hedge funds end there.

At Lingotto, the ultimate authority over its four strategies lies with the heads of said strategies. There's no firmwide chief investment officer but four different CIOs.

"I really liked the idea of the autonomy," Anderson said in an interview with BI. He runs the firm's $700 million innovation strategy alongside Morgan Samet, the strategy's cohead who used to work for the value-investment shop Pzena and the private-equity firm THL.

The innovation team plans to invest in companies across their life cycle, including when they are private, and hold them through volatile patches.

"You need to be prepared to suffer," said Anderson, who was an early investor in Tesla and Amazon and a big believer in Nvidia's potential.

"Where we earn our returns is by being supporters of these companies during their downturns," he added.

The long-term nature of the firm's capital, thanks to Exor's role in the formation of the company, allows Anderson and Samet — and the firm's three other strategy heads — to worry less about short-term gains and more about long-term ideas.

"We're not scared of volatility," Samet said.

"We see that as more of an opportunity, " she added.

Agnelli, through and through

While the firm wants to be viewed as more than just the investment arm of the Agnelli family — and already has outside capital from the French insurer Covéa — Lingotto is the brainchild of Elkann, the billionaire heir.

In a public letter after the firm launched, Elkann quoted the 18th-century philosopher Adam Smith to stress how his family would be investing alongside any outside capital.

"Above all, we think and act as principals rather than agents," he wrote. Lingotto, named after an iconic Fiat factory in Turin, Italy, with a rooftop test track that began operations in 1923, plans to grow through "performance rather than capital inflows," he added.

The first to run strategies for the firm were a pair of longtime family connections, Scolari and Srinivasan, who now run the intersection and horizon strategies, respectively. Scolari previously worked for Eton Park, the now shuttered hedge fund founded by the former Goldman Sachs partner Eric Mindich, and has run money for the Agnelli family since 2014.

Srinivasan, meanwhile, was the chief investment officer at Allianz Investment Management and an HPS partner before joining Exor in 2018.

The pair have very different strategies — Scolari runs a concentrated book of public equity longs and shorts, while Srinivasan manages a portfolio of other funds as well as direct investments into private companies — but similar experiences working at the firm.

Without the pressures of managing a business, the two chief investment officers can focus on their main job: investing.

"You have a pool of capital, you have trust from the LPs and GPs, and you have clarity for what you're supposed to be doing from an investment point of view," said Srinivasan, who invests in companies around the globe and spoke with BI from Singapore.

"The stresses created are our own stresses," he added.

People-focused buildout

With the firm's momentum and burgeoning reputation, it might seem like the next step would be a significant hiring spree to grow the ranks even further.

While Lingotto's leaders are always looking for top people, Vellano said the firm wanted the right people for the structure, not just more people.

Chan, a former BlackRock private-markets executive, is an example.

Chan, who is based in New York and runs the mosaic strategy, said her portfolio was focused on the parts of the private markets that don't fit neatly into the buckets of the biggest private-asset managers. Right now, for example, she's got her eyes on the content industry, including nontraditional players like YouTube creators.

"Novelty is a big part of what we do," she said. She was early into the music-rights business, something massive asset managers like KKR have now gotten into. She focuses on areas where there's a "capital demand-supply imbalance," a time-intensive strategy that requires her and her team to scour the market for deals.

She said Lingotto's structure gives her the bandwidth to do that by "allowing investors to invest."

It fits neatly into Vellano's vision.

"We will remain a boutique" that focuses on "quality investors and LPs," he said, adding: "It's important we have that alignment."

• Sanofi's CEO said the pharma firm uses AI to help decide to move a drug to the next developmental phase.
• He said it's a "sobering" process because AI agents have no careers at stake.
• "The agent isn't wedded to the project for 10 years," Paul Hudson said at Davos.

Paul Hudson, CEO of the pharmaceutical firm Sanofi, has an argument for letting AI make top-level decisions in medicine: It has no attachments.

Speaking at a panel in Davos on Tuesday, Hudson said Sanofi uses AI to recommend whether drugs should "pass through a tollgate," or essentially get approval to move to the next phase of development.

He said that when Sanofi's senior decision-makers convene to discuss a drug, they start with an AI's recommendation for their choice.

"And we do that because it's very sobering, because the agent doesn't have a career at stake," Hudson said. "The agent isn't wedded to the project for the last 10 years. The agent is dispassionately saying: 'Don't go forward or go forward faster, or go forward and remember these things.'"

"And we're not used to having somebody without a career at stake in the room at a senior level," he continued.

Hudson also said that Sanofi typically takes about 12 to 15 years to fully develop a drug and bring it to market and that it's been practically using AI for about three years.

By his estimate, that means AI has been around at Sanofi for about a third of the "discovery" process for some drugs. That process is when manufacturers figure out what compounds should qualify as candidates for new medicines.

The pharmaceutical company, which makes drugs like Lantus insulin jabs and Plavix blood thinners, spends about three billion euros, or $3.1 billion, on discovery within that timeframe, Hudson said.

He and four other senior-level speakers, including Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman and Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, spoke positively about AI at the panel, saying people shouldn't be so worried that they might lose their jobs.

"The jobs that are at risk are the jobs where the human isn't interested in AI. AI doesn't beat human plus AI," Hudson said.

Sanofi's press team did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

• Europe's economy has a competitiveness and innovation problem.
• The new Trump administration and Chinese pressure will only squeeze the economic bloc harder.
• These five things could help Europe drive innovation, according to EY's Europe boss, Julie Teigland.

Most EY employees spend their days analyzing individual businesses or conducting audits for clients. But at the upper ends of the EY machine, its leaders are part of the global conversation — consultants to governments and industry groups.

Julie Teigland, the firm's managing partner for Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa, told Business Insider that in Europe, the big business challenge is a lack of competitiveness and innovation.

This picture only looks set to become more complex as Europe is squeezed between the new Trump administration's expected tariff policy and Chinese retaliation.

In 2025, US GDP growth is expected to be significantly higher than that of Europe. The IMF forecasts 1% growth in the euro area in 2025, compared to 2.7% in the US.

"You don't want the US going twice as fast as Europe. That creates a downward spiral," Teigland told BI.

Teigland said she is trying to drive conversation around what Europe can do to change this.

"We have a million examples of go-getters, but if we don't give them the ecosystem they need, they won't be successful," Teigland told Business Insider.

She believes there are five things Europe can do in the short term to drive innovation and be more competitive.

1. Clearer implementation of regulation

"Over last years the number of regulations and the length of the regulations has more than doubled," Teigland said.

Every member country's market is different, but any time new legislation comes in, it can be implemented in 27 different ways, she said. To stop duplication and inefficiencies, the EU needs to create more alignment on implementation before signing laws, she said.

2. Create a capital markets union

A capital markets union (CMU) would create a single market for capital in the European Union, breaking down barriers that block cross-border investments and allowing nations to share risk.

"We need Europeans to invest in European companies," Teigland told BI. Creating a CMU would "unlock billions" to create more of an innovation ecosystem. She wants to see the EU unbundle fees and allow pension funds to invest in equities with its biggest markets, like Germany.

"Why would you not make that transparent and lower the cost? Why do European mutual funds have to be significantly more expensive than American ones."

3. Support European champions by changing the laws on anti-competition

"We haven't been able to create any European champions in any industry, especially not in tech. Why? Because we don't allow them to combine across borders," said Teigland.

Teigland said the way to foster "champions" — companies that help Europe compete with other economic powers — is to find more balance between regulation that drives protectionism and ones that drive innovation.

The laws on anti-competition need to be changed, particularly for larger companies in late-stage financing, she said.

"Think of all the things that have been knocked out, all the deals that have been brought to the table that Europe has said no way, we're protecting the individual consumers in the individual countries."

4. Stick together against Trump and China

"Both the Chinese and America's strategy has been to pick the Europeans off one by one," Teigland said. But they have to work together to prevent this, she added.

"I think they just have to say, Donald, you're dealing with all of us. We're not going to take a deal for Germany and a deal for Spain."

The EU can use Big Tech litigation as a bargaining chip and offer to scale back its review of companies like Meta, Apple, and Google. They can also use the promise of more defense spending and purchasing US energy.

5. Create a clear investment strategy — especially for defense and industrial spending

Lastly, Teigland thinks Europe needs a clearer investment strategy — "aligning on what we want at the beginning, instead of at the end."

She highlighted the defense and industrial spending plans, noting that even though Trump is expected to increase pressure on the defense industry, there had not been a mapping for industrial policy.

Citing a recent conversation with a NATO General, Teigland highlighted issues with communications technology in tanks. The person shooting the mortars has "to open the lid, use their Apple phone to dial, to call the guy to give him the coordinates because nothing links with each other across Europe," she said.

Teigland told BI that the EU needs a map of who is producing what and how it combines so that it can determine where to invest.

Europe's outlook

It's going to take money to create the ecosystem for success, and combining forces is no small thing for the bureaucracy-heavy EU bloc. But Teigland said she's positive about the direction of change.

Industry groups are aligned about the need to boost competitiveness and trim down regulatory burdens, and senior EU politicians Teigland speaks to are "really listening," she said.

Recent moves by Ursula Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, are one of the biggest signs things that Europe is getting serious about boosting economic growth.

After winning a new mandate in 2024 to lead the European Commission for another five years, Von der Leyen has said she wants to launch a "simplification revolution" and cut regulatory "red tape" by 25% in the first half of 2025.

Teigland said the aligned structure of Von der Leyen's team also signals a changing wind. "In one way, she's concentrated her power, but it's also huge that each minister has an overlapping area."

It's a microcosm of how Teigland thinks the entire bloc should be acting: "She recognizes the interconnectedness of the topics and the need to consolidate and do a few things well together. That gives me hope."

Last year, David Martin was showing a prospective tenant around Brickell City Centre, an open-air mall he helps manage in downtown Miami. The man was an executive from FP Movement, part of the bohemian clothing brand Free People, and Martin was hoping he would decide to lease a shop in the mall. Teens and young professionals have been drawn to Brickell's palm-tree-lined backdrops and distinctive glass and steel trellis, which are featured regularly on TikTok, along with the elaborate CrazyShake milkshakes from Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer.

Suddenly, as Martin was showing the FP guy around, a man in his early 20s strolled by.

"Oh, look, I know that guy!" the executive told Martin. "That was one of our influencers!"

The serendipitous encounter signaled the mall's popularity with Gen Z, which was exactly what Martin needed to seal the deal. "OK, my job is done,'" he thought. "I'll just send you the lease!"

FP Movement ended up opening a store in Brickell a few months later. But the moment was also evidence of something bigger: The American mall, against all odds, is cool again.

Twenty years after they were written off as a casualty of the online shopping boom, malls from the resorts of Arizona to the suburbs of New Jersey are bustling and vibrant. Vacancy rates are the lowest in two decades, and both visits and sales have been climbing steadily for the past three years. And while older shoppers are more likely to have written off the mall, Gen Zers and millennials are embracing them as the hip new hangout. In a 2023 survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers, 60% of Gen Zers said they visited malls just to socialize.

Luxury malls like Brickell are doing especially well with Gen Z. With their modern aesthetic, over-the-top dining options, and limited-edition events, they've become more than a chic place to socialize — they're an extension of the digital lives of young shoppers. "Going to a mall used to be an errand, and now it's a content opportunity," says Casey Lewis, the author of "After School," a newsletter on consumer trends. "The constant need to document one's life on social media has put a larger importance on the aesthetic appeal of places like malls."

But for today's young shoppers, the mall offers more than an Instagram opportunity — it's a place to practice some of the things that got lost during the social isolation of the pandemic. "Social media helps us refine our taste, but the mall lets us experiment with who we are IRL," says Claire Lee, a cofounder of Selleb, an online platform that tracks Zoomer spending habits. "Beyond providing a backdrop for content, it's where we can almost test-drive the personas we post about online."

If the malls of old embraced sameness — you could always count on a Victoria's Secret and a Cinnabon — today's retail meccas want to stand out from the crowd. To succeed today, the mall has to be a destination for young shoppers, something they'll go out of their way to experience. That's especially true when it comes to dining. At a handful of malls on the West Coast, the star tenant is Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese chain that's garnered a cult following for its soup dumplings.

"Besides being delicious, it's a very fun experience," says Arden Yum, a college student who planned a recent visit to Orange County around a trip to the Din Tai Fung outpost at the South Coast Plaza mall. "You write down your order on the paper menu, mix your own sauce, and ask for secret menu items, like the sea salt foam with the chocolate xiao long bao that are filled with molten chocolate."

Seeing the meal for the content gold it was, Yum and her friends snapped pictures of each dish before digging in. And since they were already at the mall, they did some shopping, too. While waiting for their table, Yum picked up a pair of sunglasses at Gentle Monster, a Korean optical brand.

Celebrity partnerships have also helped position malls as destinations. In 2022, when the YouTube star MrBeast announced he would be opening the first MrBeast Burger at the American Dream megamall in New Jersey, more than 10,000 fans lined up to try his smashburgers and meet their idol. Some had slept in the mall overnight.

Over two years later, the burger joint is still going strong. "Every day at 10 a.m. there's a line to start eating burgers at this place," says Paul Ghermezian, American Dream's chief operating officer. "This is a place people come into the building and ask for."

All that attention was something of a lifeline for American Dream, which had been derailed by the pandemic only a year after opening. Located 7 miles from Midtown Manhattan, the shopping and entertainment complex includes North America's only indoor ski slope, a skating rink, a water park, and amusement park rides — not to mention some 450 retail stores. Over the past three years, aggressive targeting of young shoppers has helped it find its footing financially. American Dream says that 2024 was its busiest year yet, with an 11% increase in foot traffic. Once the epitome of artificiality — a sanitized simulacrum of the town square — America's malls now serve as one of the last vestiges of real-world authenticity.

"The world of physical and digital are intertwined, and allowing the two to live together is key," Ghermezian says. "If you want to feel the wind on your face as you get splashed on the wave pool, you'll have to be there in person. And at the same time, it's going to make some damn good content."

From a marketing perspective, it makes sense that malls are targeting young shoppers with high-end offerings. Studies show that Gen Zers are splurging more at their age than previous generations did. The global consulting firm Bain predicts that Zoomers will be responsible for nearly a third of all luxury sales by 2030.

Scottsdale Fashion Square, a mall in suburban Arizona, saw foot traffic jump 144% after it opened five high-end restaurants, including a Nobu, and added more luxury brands for men. "We're trying to deliver something youthful and exciting to the marketplace," says Kim Choukalas, who manages the mall's leasing. "The instant gratification of buying at a brick-and-mortar location will never go away."

In Miami, the Brickell mall specializes in high-end retailers, like Marc Jacobs and Luca Faloni. But over the past year, it's also made a point of adding more accessible brands, like FP Movement. "The high-low mix is the key thing," says Martin, the leasing manager. "You might be drawn to something at Saks. But you can always afford something at Sephora or H&M."

Cosmetics and fragrance — another Zoomer favorite — are also a reliable draw. And while the entry-level cosmetics floor has long been a staple of department stores, today's shopping meccas are taking it up a notch. In the fall, Nordstrom, which serves as an anchor store for many malls, launched a young-adult beauty section in six locations. Kohl's, the top-ranked department store among Zoomers in a recent survey, has a partnership with Sephora that racked up $1.4 billion in sales in 2023 alone.

In another play to young shoppers, malls have also amped up their schedule of in-person events. Brickell hosts pop-ups with local chefs. Scottsdale Fashion Square hosts a Monday Mixer series that includes sunset yoga on a rooftop. And the Mall of America — the nation's largest mall — has added a live-action game show.

But these days, none of the marketing ploys — the live events, the fancy restaurants, the luxury perfumes — would mean anything if they didn't show up on social media. To grab the attention of young shoppers, Simon Property Group, the nation's largest mall operator, has launched a campaign with local influencers to create social media posts from its shopping centers set to the soundtrack of "The Breakfast Club," some of which have gone viral. "Sometimes you think about old worn-down strip malls that are not very exciting places to be," says Jenny Duan, a college student in California who has partnered with Simon on influencer campaigns. "But newer malls are pretty fun."

After the success of BeastBurger at American Dream, Ghermezian has expanded the mall's collaborations with content creators, giving the Twitch stars Kai Cenat and Adin Ross carte blanche to film streaming videos inside the mall. "It's a different world now," he says. In the old days, seeing a live broadcast on TV might make you curious enough to swing by the mall to see what was going on. But today, he says, the publicity that matters most has to be produced by the very shoppers he's trying to attract. The message to Gen Z isn't just "come on down," he says. It's "come on down — and show us what you're up to."

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang used CES 2025 as an opportunity to highlight autonomous vehicle tech.
• Nvidia's Orin chips will power Toyota's driver-assist features, in a new partnership.
• The chip designer offers a "shot in the arm" for a floundering industry.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says true self-driving cars require three advanced computers.

There's a computer to train the models to understand the world, the computer running simulations that allow these models to practice encountering important but unlikely scenarios, and a computer inside the car itself.

Nvidia has strategically embedded itself in all three key steps that could make every car a self-driving car.

While segment leaders like Waymo and Tesla launch robotaxi fleets and enable drivers to scroll on X while their cars drive them to work, Nvidia approaches the market as an enabler — not a consumer brand.

The chip-design company is building upon a suite of functionalities that already power your car's advanced driver-assist systems, such as automatic lane keeping and adaptive cruise control.

With its long list of heavy-hitting automotive clients, including Toyota, Uber, and Hyundai among others, Nvidia is positioning itself to be the self-driving tech supplier to the automotive industry. To Huang, all these players are headed in the same direction.

"Every single car company will have to be autonomous, or you're not going to be a car company," Huang said at a fireside chat for financial analysts at this year's Consumer Electronic Show.

Huang made autonomous vehicle technology a centerpiece of his CES keynote speech, announcing confidently that self-driving cars aren't coming — they're already here.

"With Waymo's success and Tesla's success, it is very, very clear autonomous vehicles have finally arrived," said Huang onstage.

Self-driving stops and starts

Despite the recent preponderance of driverless Waymo rides, self-driving technology has been in limbo across the auto industry as carmakers cut costs and focus investments on more near-term technology like electric vehicles.

Many traditional carmakers are rethinking expensive autonomous technology development after decades of piecemeal progress and no clear path to profitability — ceding ground to tech-first players.

Who will win the chip war that lives inside the dashboards of most cars remains an open question. But after CES, analysts are much closer to calling the race.

Today's cars are chock-full of chips. Most are far less complicated than the kind needed to offload driving tasks to the computer. Nvidia's competition includes other automotive chip giants like Qualcomm and Israel's Mobileye, which develops microchips and other technologies for the automotive industry.

As AI converges with increased adoption of self-driving technology, Nvidia now appears to be taking the lead, according to Martin French, managing director at automotive consultancy Berylls.

Toyota, the world's largest automaker, will use Nvidia's Orin chips and automotive operating system to power its next generation of driver-assist features, Huang announced.

Orin is Nvidia's solution for putting the computing power and intelligence of AI inside a car. The system debuted in 2019 and has developed into a more all-encompassing solution over time.

Mercedez Benz, China's BYD, and many luxury EV makers have also adopted Orin.

Most of these are not fully self-driving, but the long road between cruise control and realizing the dream of sleeping in the back seat while a car drives itself will have many stops along the way.

Winning Toyota's business is a big deal. McKinsey estimates that the assisted and autonomous driving market could be worth $400 billion by 2035. Nvidia forecasts a $5 billion run rate for its automotive business in fiscal year 2025, a five-fold increase in the company's automotive business from 2023.

Nvidia is also joining forces with trucking startup Aurora Innovation and automotive supplier Continental to deploy self-driving trucks — an announcement that sent Aurora's stock soaring 35% last week.

Beyond the data center

Tesla's self-driving technology, which Huang frequently lauds, is trained on Nvidia GPUs. However, the chips that make Tesla's full-self-driving run are designed in-house and manufactured by Samsung.

As far back as 2019, Tesla and Nvidia shared an understanding of the importance of accelerated computing. But they've been on-and-off partners. Today the partnership is very much on, with Huang and Musk regularly trading praise.

Cementing relationships with Toyota, Tesla, and Aurora puts Nvidia in a good position to be the primary supplier of self-driving technology to the automotive industry.

Few companies can provide chips for cars and also the chips to train the AI needed for self-driving capabilities.

Despite a two-hour CES keynote presentation spanning humanoid robots to AI laptops, Philips Capital analysts called Nvidia's automotive offering the "most significant" revelation at the tentpole event. Averaging less than 2% of total revenue in the first three quarters of 2024, Nvidia's automotive business still pales in comparison to its data center business.

On the company's February 2024 earnings call, CFO Colette Kress said $1 billion of the firm's data center revenue, which is reported separately from the automotive chip business, was attributable to automotive customers.

"They are absolutely positioning themselves as the leader for autonomous technologies, period," French said.

'A shot in the arm' for self-driving

In recent years, major car companies have abandoned their expensive self-driving car projects to focus on electric vehicles.

Ford and Volkswagen pulled funding from now-defunct self-driving startup ArgoAI in 2022, while GM said at the end of 2024 it would end its Cruise division's robotaxi development.

"We've had a lot of bad news around self-driving tech in the past few years — it's been quite downbeat," said French. "Nvidia has reversed that and just gave autonomous driving an absolute shot in the arm."

Investors were growing impatient with the drag on car companies' profits and lacked faith in legacy automakers' ability to develop software, French said. What it took to get investors back on board with self-driving tech was to hear it from a tech company.

"For Jensen — one of the leading people in tech — to get up onstage and tell everyone autonomous driving is here and robotics are just around the corner holds a lot of weight with investors," French said.

Huang is well-known for having an appetite for market-making — frequently saying he looks for "zero-billion-dollar markets" to simultaneously create and conquer. The AV market could still yet be won by one company, according to French.

In a complex regulatory environment, the automotive industry often strives to find a single standard to follow on new tech. That usually creates a period of stiff competition as companies vie to develop the winning technology.

Take electric vehicle charging, for example.

For years, the industry couldn't agree on a single charger type, leading to mismatched plugs and ports for EV drivers searching for juice. But in 2023, the industry finally coalesced around the North American Charging Standard chargers used by Tesla.

Since AI has closed the technological space between self-driving cars and robotics the entire auto industry is about to find out what it's like to be part of Nvidia's next zero-billion dollar market.

• Ruth Goldberg Jaskow is 101 and does fitness classes every day.
• She shared her tips for staying happy and healthy into your 100s with Business Insider.
• These include staying active and eating what you like.

101-year-old Ruth Goldberg Jaskow has an unusual fitness goal: she wants to live to 103 to "beat" her husband.

Goldberg Jaskow, who lives in New York City and worked as a teacher, has always been determined — when she was younger, her family gave her the nickname "Wouldn't Budge."

She was married to Lou Jaskow, a sailor who served in World War II, from 1943 until he died in 2023.

Although she believes that "age is just a number," Goldberg Jaskow now wants to stay fit to live longer than her husband.

Centenarians' longevity is partly determined by genetics and luck, but lifestyle factors also play a role. Goldberg Jaskow shared the things she does that she thinks are helping her stay active at 101.

Keep moving

Goldberg Jaskow has always been active. She studied under Martha Graham, an influential modern dancer and choreographer, and played tennis when she was younger.

Now, at 101, she still does a workout class every day. She has tried every class available at the upscale New York senior living community where she lives, Atria Rye Brook. Options there include yoga, Zumba, and tai chi.

Her advice to younger people is: "you just need to keep moving."

Exercising is great for longevity — one 2022 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that of the 99,713 participants aged between 55 to 74, those who did regular aerobic exercise and strength training were 41% less likely to die from any cause in the 7-10 years after.

Eat what you want

Goldberg Jaskow has no special diet and eats everything she wants because she loves food.

While this approach works for her, dietitians recommend the "80/20" method for people wanting to start eating healthily. This involves eating nutritious food 80% of the time and allow yourself to eat what you like the other 20%.

Nichola Ludlam-Raine previously told Business Insider that the 80/20 rule can make it easier to stick to a healthy diet because it doesn't involve any restrictions.

Jennifer Aniston uses it, as well as Tom Brady.

Enjoy your life

Goldberg Jaskow also recommended that people try to enjoy life if they want to prolong it. She sees her family every week and makes jewelry, which makes her happy.

According to a small 2023 study of 19 people aged between 100 and 107 published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, common traits among centenarians included looking for silver linings, nurturing relationships, and being grateful for the positives in their lives.

106-year-old Katie MacRae previously told BI that her biggest advice for longevity is "just smile, be happy, and enjoy life."

• A commander in Ukraine's 14th UAV regiment said combat drone tech can change in a month.
• One example is the evolving need for new hardware to counter jamming techniques, he said.
• Military contracts like a three-year agreement wouldn't be able to fulfill those demands in time, he said.

A Ukrainian commander overseeing a drone battalion said the speed at which his decentralized manufacturers can alter their battlefield tech gives them an edge over traditional defense production lines.

"We say to them: 'Here, after three months, this antenna no longer works, this GPS module no longer works.' We tell them: 'This and this needs to be changed,'" said a battalion commander for the 14th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle regiment to the Ukrainian military channel ARMY TV.

"They say: 'No problem.' And in one month, on the dot, they implement it," added the commander, referring to drone producers in Ukraine. He was identified by his call sign, Kasper, in an interview published on Sunday.

"We can plan all according to the rules and try to aim where we are going to be in 5, 10, 15, 20 years," Kasper said.

But he said the "realities of war" mean his unit must continuously give feedback to manufacturers, who in turn roll out changes quickly.

Kasper compared that to production lines for drones like the Iranian-designed Shahed, which Russia has been manufacturing at scale for the war.

"Let us say you are creating a production line and planning to make one Shahed. There is a three-year contract for it planned in advance, it already has pre-written technical specifications, pre-written set of components," Kasper said.

Installing new components or tweaking designs would, therefore, be difficult, he said.

"They already received the money. 'I gave you the Shahed according to the specifications, so what do you want from me? I don't really care!'" Kasper said.

He cited an example of Ukraine's evolving battlefield needs: GPS-jamming countermeasures for larger drones. These require special hardware like receivers or antennae that allow operators to switch between frequencies.

If those measures don't work, the drones need an inertial navigation system so they can fly blindly out of jamming range, or perhaps a camera that lets the pilot navigate the drone through visuals, he added.

"So if the drone sees that it is being jammed, it transitions to the visual navigation and is moving forward, or transitions to the inertial navigation and is moving forward, or it has a multiband antenna that jumps from channel to channel. And it is impossible to jam it," Kasper said.

That's not to say that Russia is limited to traditional military contracts. Both sides have active volunteer organizations that donate thousands of civilian drones for combat, though Ukrainian units believe they're maintaining a lead in innovation over Russian forces.

One way that Russia has brought new tech to the front lines is through fiber-optic drones, which allow them to bypass electronic jamming. Ukrainian developers, meanwhile, are scrambling to adopt the same technology for first-person loitering munitions.

All of this is happening as militaries worldwide watch the war closely for lessons to glean from what's become a yearslong open conflict between two major modern forces.

Seeing how much of the battlefield now hinges on drones, some countries have begun prioritizing uncrewed aerial vehicles or novel anti-drone defenses.

The US, for example, is awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to firms such as Teledyne and Anduril to make loitering munitions. In October, Anduril also announced that it secured a $249 million Defense Department contract to produce 500 Roadrunner drones and an electronic warfare system.

• President Trump spoke about his plans for the US military on his first day back in office.
• He promised to reinstate and give back pay to service members dismissed for refusing COVID-19 vaccines.
• He also wants to use the military in mass deportation operations and has referenced culture war issues.

President Donald Trump outlined several key US military policies on his first day back in office.

Many of his pledges, such as reinstating service members who were dismissed for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine and engaging in controversial culture war issues in the Pentagon, tie into the Commander-in-Chief's goal of a major US Armed Forces overhaul.

Trump was officially sworn into office on Monday and began signing a flurry of executive orders, including reversing former president Joe Biden's policies on oil and gas drilling in Alaska, keeping TikTok open while it finds a potential buyer, and declaring emergencies on national energy and immigration at the US-Mexico border.

He also signed an executive order declaring Mexican cartels to be foreign terrorist organizations and suggested he could send US Special Forces to Mexico to take them out. "Could happen," he said. "Stranger things have happened."

During his inauguration speech, Trump presented attendees, including former presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, with his vision of the US military.

"America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before," he said. "We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into," Trump said.

The statement echoes comments the President made on the campaign trail and after the election, as well as those made by his Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, who vowed to restore the military's "warrior ethos," readiness, and lethality during his confirmation hearing last week.

Here's everything Trump said about the US military during his first day back in office — and what to expect next.

Trump promised to reinstate service members who refused the COVID-19 vaccine — with back pay

The President said he'd reinstate the more than 8,000 troops dismissed from military service for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

The mandate was originally issued in August 2021 by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and lasted until January 2023, with limited exceptions for medical or religious reasons. It was repealed when Biden signed a defense spending bill in December 2022.

Congressional Republicans have previously argued the rule hurt the US military's readiness amid a recruitment crisis. Pentagon officials have denied this and said only a small number of dismissed personnel reapplied for military service after the mandate was lifted. Around 99% of the active-duty Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force had been vaccinated, as well as 98% of the Army.

In his inauguration speech, Trump also promised full back pay to the reinstated service members. Hegseth also suggested this last week.

Trump plans to use the military in his crackdown on illegal immigration

On Monday night, Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency at the US-Mexico border, as well as an executive order to send US Northern Command to "seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities."

Throughout his campaign, Trump heavily focused on illegal immigration and indicated plans to launch a mass deportation campaign. After the election, he suggested he could use the US military to do so.

Legal experts have said using the military to control immigration and deportation is complicated due to different rules governing military forces, state defense forces, and civilian law enforcement, Cassandra Burke Robertson, a professor of law at Case Western Reserve University, and Irina D. Manta, a professor of law at Hofstra University, wrote in The Conversation on Monday.

Deploying National Guard units to the southern border has precedent — Trump did it himself in April 2018, as did Obama and Bush — but the military is generally forbidden from enforcing domestic laws. Trump could use the military in a support role, though.

Trump said he'd end "radical political theories" and other culture war issues in the military

During his inauguration speech, Trump said he'd sign an executive order "to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty," referencing his larger ideological fight.

Trump and the Republican Party made so-called "woke" policies, including diversity, equity, and inclusion, top platform issues, arguing they hurt military readiness. Hegseth has made varied statements on this issue, many of which — such as his flip-flopping comments against women serving in the military — were the center point of his confirmation hearing.

It remains unclear which of these issues will become concrete policies and how the President will implement them, although they align with other plans to cut spending in the Pentagon, gut top ranks, and roll back federal DEI efforts.

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order revoking Biden's policy allowing transgender people to serve in the military, clearing the way for a ban on trans service members similar to the ban in his first term.

• President Trump took aim at federal DEI policies in his inaugural address on Monday.
• He pledged to reverse executive orders from Biden, in favor of a "merit-based" society.
• Trump indicated he plans to largely freeze federal hiring and roll back pro-LGBTQ+ initiatives.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the federal government.

Federal agencies and departments have 60 days from the signing of the order to end DEI-related practices.

The executive order will be carried out by the US Office of Personnel Management and the Attorney General, who will review all existing federal employment practices, union contracts, and training policies to ensure compliance with the DEI termination order.

"Federal employment practices, including Federal employee performance reviews, shall reward individual initiative, skills, performance, and hard work and shall not under any circumstances consider DEI or DEIA factors, goals, policies, mandates, or requirements," the order read.

Trump also used his inaugural address Monday to target DEI initiatives in the federal government.

"This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life," he said Monday. "We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based."

He also said it will be official US policy that "there are only two genders: male and female."

The remarks echoed his statements during a rally a day earlier when he pledged to end DEI mandates in government and the private sector.

Like many orders Trump is signing on his first day, the move aims to undo several orders issued by Joe Biden during his presidency.

In one executive action from June 2021, Biden said the federal government is the largest employer in the nation and, thus, "must be a model for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, where all employees are treated with dignity and respect."

In response, the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Talent Sourcing for America initiative was launched in September of 2022.

A 2022 report from the Office of Personnel Management said the government-wide DEIA initiative included a plan to prioritize equity for LGBTQI+ employees by "expanding the usage of gender markers and pronouns that respect transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary employees; and working to create a more inclusive workplace."

The report showed minimal changes in the federal workforce's demographics between fiscal years 2017 and 2021, which encompassed most of Trump's first term. This included "minor" changes in the shares of the federal workforce by race and gender.

A 2024 report from OPM found minor increases in federal staffing diversity under the Biden administration after the DEIA objectives were announced, but indicated the office's targets for diversity and equity initiatives were not met.

Though there had been only slight workforce demographic changes under the Biden administration, the Trump administration's first official statement released Monday reiterated his plans to "freeze bureaucrat hiring except in essential areas to end the onslaught of useless and overpaid DEI activists buried into the federal workforce," and "establish male and female as biological reality and protect women from radical gender ideology."

Meanwhile, several companies — including the nation's largest private employer, Walmart — have been reversing course on DEI initiatives in the weeks following Trump's election in November.

• President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing the TikTok ban for 75 days.
• "TikTok is worthless, worthless, if I don't approve it," Trump said.
• The president added that TikTok could be worth $1 trillion and floated a possible joint venture.

Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump said on Sunday that if he's able to halt the ban on TikTok, the US should own half of it.

"I may not do the deal, or I may do the deal. TikTok is worthless, worthless, if I don't approve it," Trump said while signing an executive order that would pause the ban on TikTok for 75 days.

Trump told reporters at the White House that TikTok could be worth $1 trillion and that the US should be entitled to half of the company.

"So I think, like a joint venture, I think we would have a joint venture with the people from TikTok. We'll see what happens," Trump added, though he did not specify who TikTok could partner with.

Several big-name buyers, such as "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary and Trump's former treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin, have expressed interest in buying TikTok.

According to the divest-or-ban law that the Senate passed in April, TikTok had to stop operating in the US on January 19 unless it divested itself from its Chinese-based owner, ByteDance.

The platform briefly went dark for US users on Saturday night but resumed its services on Sunday after Trump said he would pause the ban with an executive order.

"We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive," TikTok said in a statement to Business Insider.

Trump made similar comments about a potential TikTok ban during his first term. In August 2020, Trump said he would ban the platform unless it was sold to a US buyer. The US Treasury should "get a very large percentage" from TikTok's sale, Trump added at the time.

Microsoft expressed its interest in acquiring TikTok in 2020, but that sale did not go through after Trump left office.

However, it is unclear if Trump's executive order will keep TikTok going and prevent the ban altogether.

Under the divest-or-ban law, an extension can only be granted if the president certifies to Congress that "a path to executing a qualified divestiture has been identified" and produces "evidence of significant progress toward executing such qualified divestiture."

Representatives for Trump and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• President Donald Trump is known for having a penchant for the bold strokes of a Sharpie marker.
• His handwritten notes are the subject of iconic images, as well as internet jokes and ridicule.
• From executive orders to hurricane forecast maps, here are seven times Trump wielded his signature pen.

Former President Donald Trump has been known to use a Sharpie as his writing utensil of choice — wielding it on presidential documents and fan autographs alike.

The former president displayed a penchant for using the distinctive black marker on documents throughout his first presidency. The bold strokes can be seen on anything from executive orders to speech drafts to allegedly altered hurricane maps.

Trump loved to use a Sharpie so much that he even reached out to the stationary company to design a custom pen for him to sign documents, emblazoned with his mountain-peak-like signature.

In a four-part HBO series done in partnership with Axios in 2018, he made no secret of his love for a Sharpie pen — and how much he hated using government-ordered writing utensils traditionally used by presidents.

"I was signing documents with a very expensive pen and it didn't write well," Trump said, referring to the government pen. "It was a horrible pen, and it was extremely expensive."

He added: "And then I started using just a Sharpie, and I said to myself, 'Well wait a minute, this writes much better and this cost almost nothing.'"

Trump's distinctive bold Sharpie signature made an appearance long before he even entered the White House.

The Trump Organization — but not Trump himself or his children — in 2022 faced charges of criminal tax fraud, falsifying business records, and filing false tax returns in a scheme to defraud the state.

After the trial kicked off, documents from the Trump Organization were presented to jurors by the trial's first witness, Jeffrey McConney, the company's longtime controller.

McConney identified the signatures — in distinctive bold Sharpie — on some half-dozen documents, which included important letters and payroll documents, as that of the former president.

In a May 1, 2005 letter detailing an overhead projection, Trump personally authorized a $6,500-a-month lease for a Manhattan apartment to be lived in exclusively by his longtime chief financial officer.

"In other words, Donald J. Trump authorized Donald J. Trump to sign the lease" for the apartment, Joshua Steinglass, one of the two lead prosecutors, said during the trial.

The president wasn't only reaching for a Sharpie to sign off on important documents, but also for campaign speech notes.

Trump's notes were clearly visible to cameras — aided by his tendency to hold them up to the crowd for emphasis.

At a campaign rally in Virginia in 2016, Trump touted national polling numbers and talked about Jeff Sessions, who was an early supporter of Trump's presidential campaign in 2016.

Trump also mentioned Ashley Guindon, a Virginia police officer who was killed on her first day on the job, and he vowed to "restore law and order [and] respect [for] the men and women who protect," per his notes.

It wouldn't be a Trump press conference if his bold Sharpie notes weren't visible from afar.

In a press conference ahead of declaring a state of emergency amid the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020, Trump briefed the nation on the distribution of ventilators and respirators ahead of the rapidly spreading respiratory disease that was then shrouded in mystery.

In his notes, the president jotted down to mention how "good govs are getting it done, bad ones are not."

"We're really backing up the governors. The governors have to go out and do their things and you have a lot of governors, they've done a fantastic job," Trump said during the press conference on March 22, 2020. "You have some that haven't. Usually, it's the ones that complain that have the problems."

He added: "But we've had a great relationship as an example with Governor Cuomo, with Governor Newsom," noting them specifically due to the "hotbeds" of infection that were transpiring in their states respectively.

But Trump's felt-tip marker wasn't exclusively reserved for paper — he once signed his $147-million border wall that replaced the old wall.

One of the platforms that Trump infamously campaigned on for his first presidential campaign was building a wall at the border, which eventually came to fruition — though not to completion — during his first administration.

In September 2019, he paid a visit to a border wall construction in Otay Mesa, a neighborhood in San Diego County, California. With a hefty price tag of $147 million, the 14-mile section of steel beams, concrete, and rebar replaced the construction of a decades-old wall that was previously installed in the 1990s.

"You can fry an egg on that wall," Trump told the reporters and officials gathered during his visit, referring to the wall's design to absorb heat.

And without fail, the president brought out a Sharpie to sign one of the slats of his beloved border wall, which he said was at the request of the border patrol agents at the site.

"I autographed one of the bollards," he said. "There are a lot of bollards. That's a lot of bollards."

Perhaps one of the notorious moments the president put Sharpie-to-paper was when he allegedly altered a forecast map of Hurricane Dorian, in a superficial scandal later dubbed "SharpieGate."

In September 2019, ahead of the devastation brought in by Hurricane Dorian, the president said the storm was headed to Alabama.

"In addition to Florida - South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated," Trump tweeted at the time. "Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE!"

In a bid to quell public panic regarding the former president's errant forecast, the Birmingham branch of the National Weather Service set the record straight, blatantly correcting his prediction.

"Alabama will NOT see any impacts from Dorian," the agency said in a tweet the same day. "We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane Dorian will be felt across Alabama. The system will remain too far east."

But Trump doubled down once again on his claims and refused to accept the NWS' forecast, instead presenting a map of Hurricane Dorian's path with a black Sharpie stroke extending the storm's path over Alabama. The incident later became known as "SharpieGate," prompting its fair share of internet mockery and memes in its wake.

—The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) September 4, 2019

 

#SharpieGate wasn't the only time the former president's scrawl prompted iconic internet discourse.

During Trump's first impeachment inquiry, Gordon Sondland, former US Ambassador to the European Union, delivered damning testimony publicly confirming the quid pro quo request from Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The articles of impeachment were related, in part, to Trump's reported efforts to strong-arm Zelensky into launching politically motivated investigations against the Bidens ahead of the 2020 election and withholding vital military aid while doing so.

But like Trump's persistent spoken words in denying the accusations of quid pro quo, his written ones echoed the same denial, as written in bold Sharpie on Air Force One stationary in 2019.

"I want nothing. I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo," he wrote. "Tell Zelensky to do the right thing. This is the final word from the pres of the US."

And, of course, the note had its heyday on the internet as people turned it into Eminem jokes, Pearl Jam setlist jokes, and lyrics of a Morrissey song.

On his second Inauguration Day in 2025, Trump showed his love for Sharpies hadn't faded since he left office after his first term.

On the first day of his second administration, Trump showed the world his love for Sharpie pens persists.

He signed a flurry of executive orders to usher in his second non-consecutive term in the White House, including a freeze on federal hiring, a return-to-office mandate for federal workers, and an order to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord — each bearing his name in thick Sharpie strokes.

The president's supporters appear to share his penchant for the black permanent marker, with one fan in the inaugural audience calling for Trump to toss him a pen after signing an order with it. Trump did, throwing each Sharpie he used to sign the orders into the crowd. 

• Donald Trump signed a return-to-office order for federal workers during his first hours in office.
• Many federal civilian workers were eligible for telework but not working remotely all the time.
• Elon Musk indicated in November that he supports government workers being fully in the office.

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order mandating that federal workers return to their offices full-time, a core element of his focus on overhauling the government workforce.

For years, Republicans have sought to weaken protections that federal workers have long enjoyed, with many conservatives zeroing in on reclassifying scores of career civil servants.

"Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary," the order read.

Trump has been especially insistent on a return-to-office push, with his position threatening the remote and hybrid arrangements that many federal workers have enjoyed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some workers may consider quitting instead of working from the office full time.

Elon Musk, who will lead Trump's cost-cutting advisory group, the Department of Government Efficiency, said he'd welcome this.

"Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don't want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn't pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home," Musk said in a November op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. The op-ed was co-written with Vivek Ramaswamy, who is leaving DOGE and is expected to run for governor of Ohio.

While many federal employees can telework, an August 2024 report from the Office of Management and Budget said around 10% of the roughly 2.3 million civilian workers in two dozen major agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Social Security Administration, "were in remote positions where there was no expectation that they worked in-person on any regular or recurring basis."

That includes over 60,000 people in the Department of Defense, around 37,000 in the Department of Veterans Affairs, and nearly 27,000 in the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Office of Management and Budget found, based on average data representing pay periods ending May 4 and May 18, around 1.1 million civilian workers employed in the two dozen agencies were eligible for telework.

The Department of Defense has a large workforce compared to the other agencies, but only about 8% were remote employees.

"Among the subset of federal workers that are telework-eligible, excluding remote workers, 61.2% of regular, working hours were spent in-person," the OMB report said. That figure for the Department of Agriculture was 81%, and around 80% for the Department of State.

When asked about potential relocation out of DC and return to office before the inauguration, Trump's transition team pointed to Trump's comments at a December 16 press conference that if people don't return to the office, "they're going to be dismissed."

On Monday, Trump also issued an executive order that put a freeze on federal hiring.

"As part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law," the order read.

That executive order does not apply to military personnel, immigration enforcement positions, or positions involving national security or public safety.

• Kai Madison Trump, 17, is the eldest grandchild of President Donald Trump.
• She is the daughter of Donald Trump Jr. and his ex-wife Vanessa Trump.
• She spoke about her grandfather onstage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July.

Kai Madison Trump, 17, is Donald Trump's eldest grandchild. She attended the presidential inauguration and was mentioned by Trump during his address at Capital One Arena.

In her first public appearance at the Republican National Convention in July, Trump spoke about her relationship with her grandfather.

"To me, he's just a normal grandpa," she said. "He gives us candy and soda when our parents aren't looking. He always wants to know how we're doing in school."

"A lot of people have put my grandpa through hell and he's still standing," she continued. "Grandpa, you are such an inspiration and I love you. The media makes my grandpa seem like a different person, but I know him for who he is."

Here's what you need to know about Kai Trump, the president's eldest grandchild.

Kai Madison Trump is the 17-year-old daughter of Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump.

Trump was born on May 12, 2007, and is the eldest granddaughter of President Donald Trump.

Her parents are Donald Trump Jr. and his ex-wife, Vanessa Trump.

At 17, she's just one year younger than Barron Trump, the youngest son of her grandparents, Donald Trump and Melania Trump.

Her parents were married from 2005 to 2018.

Vanessa Trump and Donald Trump Jr. share five children together: Kai Madison Trump, 17; Donald John III, 15; Tristan Milos, 13; Spencer Frederick, 12; and Chloe Sophia, 10.

She was born and raised in New York and now lives with her mother in Jupiter, Florida.

USA Today reported that she attends The Benjamin School, a private school in North Palm Beach, Florida. The outlet reported that she moved to Florida when she was 13 and lives a short distance from President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

She said in a recent YouTube vlog that she hopes to spend more time in Washington, DC, after Trump takes office.

Kai spoke onstage at the Republican National Convention in 2024.

"I'm speaking today to share the side of my grandpa that people don't often see. To me, he's just a normal grandpa," Trump said in her first official address.

"Even when he is going through all these court cases, he always asks me how I'm doing," she continued. "He always encourages me to push myself to be the most successful person I can be."

Trump also addressed the assassination attempt on her grandfather, saying that after she heard about it she "just wanted to know if he was OK."

"It was heartbreaking that someone would do that to another person. A lot of people have put my grandpa through hell and he's still standing. Grandpa, you are such an inspiration and I love you," she said.

She's an avid golfer and often utilizes her grandfather's golf courses for training.

Trump is an avid golfer and has said she wants to play at the collegiate level at the University of Miami after graduating from high school in 2026.

In an Instagram post announcing her plans to play collegiate golf, she thanked Donald Trump, writing, "I would like to thank my Grandpa for giving me access to great courses and tremendous support."

Her grandfather owns 16 golf courses around the world.

In her speech at the Republican National Convention, she spoke about playing golf with her grandfather.

"When we play golf together, if I'm not on his team, he'll try to get inside of my head," she said. "And he is always surprised that I don't let him get to me, but I have to remind him I'm a Trump, too."

She has her own YouTube channel.

Trump posted a vlog on Inauguration Day that showed behind-the-scenes footage of her prepping to attend pre-inauguration events, such as a formal dinner at the Building Museum where she wore a navy-blue Sherri Hill gown with cutouts.

She also promised fans to film inside the White House during Monday's inauguration events.

Kai Trump has 723,000 YouTube subscribers, about 1 million Instagram followers, and 1.7 million followers on TikTok.

• My sister was born with a rare genetic condition.
• She's nonverbal, has intellectual disabilities, and requires care around the clock.
• Spending time with her and my kids made me realize so much about our relationship.

Six years after my parents' back-to-back deaths, I finally brought my husband and two children to my hometown to visit my sister. Born with a rare genetic syndrome, she is nonverbal, has intellectual disabilities, and requires around-the-clock care.

I never intended to stay away for so long. Sure, life got in the way: I became pregnant with my second child, and then the pandemic sidelined any travel for nearly two years, as I didn't want to risk exposing my sister.

But the truth is that I kept putting it off, even after life returned to normal. I didn't know how to go home to my only sibling.

I handled everything for my sister

My mom and dad weren't perfect, but they loved each other madly and did everything possible to build a home filled with love and boundless acceptance for their kids. I can't remember a day when they weren't holding hands or sneaking in kisses, but the love also worked against them: after my father died, my mom's cancer came back, and she joined him a year later. They simply could not live without each other.

With our parents gone, I diligently handled my sister's expenses and the logistics of her care from my home two states away.

I checked in regularly with her aides, attended care team meetings, sent fruitcakes (her favorite) at the holidays and kiddie pools for the backyard each summer, and had boxes of sweets delivered from a local bakery. But, even as my oldest son started asking when we would see his only aunt, I worried that I wouldn't be able to nurture a sense of love between her and my kids — so I kept stalling.

Her disabilities are visible

Because here's the thing: while some disabilities aren't as visible, my sister's genetic differences are front and center. Born with Charge syndrome, she has the hallmark features of this rare diagnosis. Her pupils are oblong, her face asymmetrical, and her brows are heavy; her nose is flattened and crooked, her arms strikingly long, and her eye is almost gray due to retinal damage.

She has a slow, awkward gait and has literally never run. She combines grunts, a few ASL signs, and body language to communicate. Although she would never hurt anyone, she has occasional outbursts when upset, shouting and smacking her arms against her sides in frustration. My oldest son doesn't remember being afraid of her as a preschooler, but it tormented my mother.

Without my parents to guide me, what if I wasn't enough?

I planned a family trip to visit her

Finally, I decided to rip the Band-Aid off. By this point, I'd visited her once with my youngest child, who found his aunt's sweet tooth hilarious and still marveled about the time she'd eaten four chocolate cookies. "You can't do that!" he'd giggle, retelling the story months after our short trip to test the waters.

I made reservations for all four of us to fly to my hometown for a long weekend in the fall of 2024. We got an AirBnB in my childhood neighborhood, close enough to my old haunts to feel familiar. We dropped our bags, headed to her favorite drive-thru burger shop, and then went straight to her house.

I held my breath as we walked inside, but her face lit up immediately.

"Airplane," she signed, smiling, just as she used to when I would visit during college. "Hug."

I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed as the kids watched awkwardly. Within seconds, she pushed me away and began to laugh as she walked to my husband. It had been years by this point, yet somehow — despite her very limited vision in only one eye and the fact that she didn't have her glasses on — she recognized him immediately. She was thrilled, giving little jumps into the air with a huge smile, and threw her arms around him.

And then she saw my oldest son. He was only 6 the last time he visited, yet somehow, she still knew his trademark curls.

"Baby," she signed. I remembered the time she fed him a bottle when he was 6 months old, marveling at how intuitively she knew what to do.

She leaned close to him, now nearly as tall as she was. An inch from his face, she studied it all — his green eyes, braces, that long hair. He laughed nervously.

"I'm not sure what to do, Mom."

"It's OK," I assured him. "Remember, she can barely see, so she needs to get close. But she remembers you, honey."

Then they hugged, my sister's peals of laughter filling the room. My 4-year-old, never one to sit out of the spotlight, began pulling her arm and demanding her attention. She looked down, giggled, and patted his head.

Kids don't hold biases

My tears spilled over before I even felt them coming on, and I stepped away silently into the bathroom.

I'd been so scared the trip would be a bust that I'd return to find not only a broken relationship with my only sibling but with discomfort or even fear from my kids.

In that instant, I remembered that, unlike adults, children do not hold the same baggage or biases unless we pass them on. Their innate curiosity fuels a desire to understand what is new and familiar, not shun it. Of course, they knew instantly that my sister was unlike anyone they had ever encountered, but this presented an opening for something new. They wanted to learn more, spend time with her to understand that difference on a deeper level, and uncover their similarities in the process.

In my years away, I had forgotten these core truths. In my grief and isolation, I had forgotten that family bonds don't have to be the ones we see on TV to be real, strong, and sustaining. And I'd forgotten how, despite extremely limited communication, my sister speaks volumes in her laughter, silly faces, and hugs.

When I look back on that first family trip home, we didn't "do" much. We spent the weekend sharing her favorite foods, watching her beloved 1980s "Sesame Street" DVDs, snuggling, and sitting quietly. Before long, my oldest was engrossed by his iPad while my youngest raided his aunt's room for toys and puzzles. It looked like nothing, but it was pure magic.

And my kids can't wait to go back.

• President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day issued pardons for January 6 defendants.
• He'd pledged to grant clemency to at least some of his supporters who stormed the Capitol in 2021.
• About two-thirds of those charged with federal crimes had pleaded guilty as of January.

President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned roughly 1,500 people related to January 6-related offenses, fulfilling a campaign promise to wipe clean the records of most people connected with the Capitol riot.

"We hope they come out tonight, frankly," Trump said after signing the pardons. "They're expecting it."

Trump said he included six commutations in the pardon package so that their cases could be studied further. Among those whose sentences were commuted were the leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, who had been charged with seditious conspiracy. Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers' founder, was in the middle of serving an 18-year prison sentence.

Outside the commutations, Trump's pardon is sweeping in scope. It applies to "all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021."

Earlier during the day, Trump told supporters that he was asked not to include mentions of January 6 "hostages" in his official inaugural address.

"I was going to talk about the J6 hostages, but you'll be happy because, you know, it is action, not words that count," Trump said during a speech to supporters in an overflow room at the US Capitol. "And you're going to be happy, because you're going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages."

During the presidential campaign, Trump described imprisoned January 6 defendants as "political prisoners," asserting they were "ushered in" to federal buildings by police.

Despite opposition from some prominent Republicans, including former Vice President Mike Pence, whom the rioters targeted, Trump had said that he would pardon many of the defendants.

He made an exception for those who are "evil and bad," as he told Time in April.

After Trump won the presidential election in November, January 6 defendants started filing motions to delay their hearings in the hopes Trump would pardon them once in office.

Several Proud Boys leaders asked Trump for pardons in November, two months before he was set to take office.

In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" last month, he said he would "mostly likely" pardon convicted defendants "very quickly" upon taking office. He said then, too, that there may be exceptions.

• Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second non-consecutive presidential term on January 20, 2025.
• Ivanka Trump attended her father's inaugurations but will not serve in his second administration.
• Barron Trump, the president's youngest child, now towers over both of his parents.

Donald Trump's second presidential inauguration was held on Monday, exactly eight years after the president's first inauguration on January 20, 2017.

After losing his bid for reelection in 2020, Trump ran again in 2024 and won, becoming the second US president, after Grover Cleveland, to serve two non-consecutive terms.

The Trump family has seen big changes since 2017.

Ivanka Trump will not serve a major role within her father's administration this time around, after previously serving as an advisor to the president.

Barron Trump, the president's youngest son, was just 10 years old when his father first took office. Now 18, Barron is a freshman at New York University and has taken a more active role in his father's campaign.

Here's what the Trump family looked like at the 2017 Inauguration compared to 2025, and how their roles have changed.

Donald Trump became the oldest president to assume the presidency during his first inauguration ceremony in 2017.

When he was inaugurated on January 20, 2017, at 70 years old, Trump was the oldest person to assume the presidency.

"We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people," Trump said in an inaugural address in 2017. "Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come."

Trump is once again the oldest president to assume office.

Biden became the oldest president at 78 years and 61 days when he was inaugurated on January 20, 2021.

However, Trump surpassed him on January 20, 2025, at 78 years and 220 days years old.

"The golden age of America begins right now," Trump said in an inaugural speech. The president also announced a series of impending executive orders that include immigration reform and the establishment of an External Revenue Service.

The core members of Trump's immediate family attended his first inauguration.

At his first swearing-in ceremony, Trump was flanked by his wife Melania Trump and his children Barron, Ivanka, Eric, Donald Jr., and Tiffany.

Trump's children and their partners also attended the 2025 inauguration, which was held inside the Capitol.

Tiffany Trump and her husband Michael Boulos, Lara Trump and Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr. all attended the 2025 inauguration.

Melania Trump and Barron Trump stood directly alongside the president during his swearing-in ceremony, with his other children, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris also present.

Barron was just 10 years old when he attended his father's first inauguration.

Though he was only 10, the youngest Trump son was nearly taller than both his parents at his father's first inauguration.

Barron moved into the White House five months after his father was sworn in and became the first boy to live in the historic home since John F. Kennedy Jr. lived there in 1961.

Now an adult, Barron towers over his parents.

Barron, 18, will not live in the White House this time around. He is a freshman at New York University and lives in off-campus housing, People reported.

Melania Trump was by her husband's side when Barack and Michelle Obama welcomed him to the White House in 2017.

Melania lived in the White House during her four years as First Lady and was welcomed into the home by the Obamas on her husband's first day in office.

She wore a powder-blue suit by Ralph Lauren.

She appeared alongside her husband as Joe and Jill Biden welcomed the couple back to the White House, though she won't live there full-time.

For the 2025 inauguration, the First Lady opted for a navy blue coat and skirt by American designer Adam Lippes. She paired the look with a wide-brimmed hat by Eric Javits, another American designer.

The extent of Melania's role in her husband's second administration remains unclear.

People reported that the First Lady will live it the White House at least part-time, dividing her time between Washington, New York (where Barron is in school), and Mar-a-Lago.

"I will be in the White House. And when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach," she said in an interview with Fox & Friends on January 13. "My first priority is to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife."

Melania Trump stood on the podium alongside her husband as he was sworn in for a second time on January 20, 2025.

Ivanka Trump became an advisor after her father was sworn in in 2017.

According to her official White House bio, Ivanka Trump served as a senior White House advisor during Donald Trump's first term.

She focused on issues such as the "education and economic empowerment of women and their families" and boosting jobs and economic growth through skills training and entrepreneurship, according to the bio.

Ivanka attended her father's second inauguration, but will not be part of the new administration.

When Trump launched his third presidential campaign in 2024, Ivanka announced that she was stepping away from politics and would not play an official part in his next administration.

"I love my father very much," she said in a statement shared on social media. "This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics. While I will always love and support my father, going forward, I will do so outside the political arena."

Jared Kushner attended the 2017 inauguration with his and Ivanka's children.

Kushner served alongside his wife as a senior advisor in his father-in-law's first administration.

He played a key role in brokering the Abraham Accords, a set of agreements that established diplomatic relations between Israel, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates.

Jared Kushner also attended Trump's second inauguration.

CNN and the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported that Jared Kushner is expected to serve as an informal advisor to President Trump focusing on matters related to the Middle East.

Donald Trump Jr. arrived at the 2017 inauguration with his sister Ivanka.

Donald Trump Jr. did not serve in an official capacity within the White House during his father's presidency.

During Trump's first presidential term, he and his brother, Eric Trump, continued overseeing the Trump Organization, which manages the Trump family's real-estate holdings and is currently appealing its civil-fraud case verdict.

Tiffany Trump and her brother, Eric Trump, arrived together for their father's first inauguration.

Though not overly political, Tiffany spoke at the Republican National Conventions in 2016 and 2020.

Eric has also appeared alongside his family at multiple campaign events throughout Trump's political career.

All five of Donald Trump's children — Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron — attended the 2025 inauguration.

It wasn't widely announced prior to Inauguration Day which members of the Trump family would attend. However, all five of the president's children arrived together for the ceremony.

Trump Jr.'s rumored ex-girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, who he started dating in 2018, was not spotted at the inauguration, though she did attend a few pre-inauguration events. Page Six reported their breakup in December, and Trump Jr. has since been linked to Florida socialite Bettina Anderson.

Tiffany did not speak at the 2024 Republican National Convention and has only made a few political appearances in recent years, including the inauguration. She and her husband, Michael Boulos, are expecting their first child.

Eric Trump is expected to continue leading the Trump Organization as executive vice president.

• Vivek Ramaswamy will no longer be a co-leader of DOGE.
• He's expected to instead run for governor of Ohio in 2026.
• That leaves Elon Musk as the group's sole leader.

Vivek Ramaswamy is leaving President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency.

Instead of leading the group with Elon Musk, he's expected to run for governor of Ohio, according to various media reports.

"It was my honor to help support the creation of DOGE," Ramaswamy wrote on X on Monday evening. "I'm confident that Elon & team will succeed in streamlining government."

"Vivek Ramaswamy played a critical role in helping us create DOGE. He intends to run for elected office soon, which requires him to remain outside of DOGE based on the structure that we announced today," Trump spokesperson Anna Kelly said, according to the New York Times and Associated Press. "We thank him immensely for his contributions over the last 2 months and expect him to play a vital role in making America great again!"

A source familiar with the matter previously told BI that Trump was encouraging Ramaswamy to seek Vice President JD Vance's vacated Senate seat. However, on Friday, Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Lt. Governor Jon Husted to the position.

On Monday, Ramaswamy wrote on X that he would "have more to say very soon about my future plans in Ohio."

Prior to the intrigue about Ramaswamy's potential appointment to the US Senate, the tech entrepreneur and one-time 2024 presidential candidate was expected to co-lead DOGE with Musk.

Musk will now be the sole leader of the government-efficiency initiative, which Trump said he would officially establish via executive order on Monday.

In recent days, Ramaswamy has been publicly toying with the idea of a gubernatorial bid in the Buckeye State. On Friday, he publicly thanked Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennesse, a big booster of DOGE in the Senate, on X after she said she would support him if he chooses to run for governor.

• President Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term on Monday.
• Former presidents, Trump family members, and tech billionaires attended the inauguration.
• Lee Greenwood and Carrie Underwood sang during the ceremony.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were inaugurated on Monday, marking the end of former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris' time in the White House.

The inauguration was held inside the Capitol Rotunda due to winter weather. Former presidents, Trump family members, tech billionaires, and members of Congress attended the packed ceremony.

Photos show the biggest moments from the event.

Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, the Bidens greeted the Trumps on the North Portico of the White House.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris and former second gentleman Doug Emhoff also greeted Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance.

Attendees took their seats in the Capitol Rotunda, where the inauguration was held due to freezing temperatures.

Tech billionaires, including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and Elon Musk, were seated on the inaugural platform.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama took their seats in the Rotunda.

Vice President JD Vance was the first to be sworn in.

President Donald Trump took the oath of office at noon as per tradition.

Melania Trump's hat intercepted a kiss from her husband.

"The golden age of America begins right now," Trump said in his inaugural address, which included numerous policy proposals.

After Trump's address, Carrie Underwood sang "America the Beautiful."

The Bidens departed the Capitol on Marine One, completing the peaceful transfer of power.

Elon Musk addressed a crowd of Trump supporters during an inauguration event at Capital One Arena.

Trump signed a series of executive orders on Monday evening in his signature Sharpie marker.

While answering questions and signing executive orders in the Oval Office, Trump held up a letter left for him by Biden.

At the Commander in Chief Ball on Monday evening, Trump and Vance cut a large cake with sabers.

Trump and his family danced on stage at the Liberty Ball.

The family also danced at the Starlight Ball, the final event of Monday's inauguration.