Ukraine and Russia are constantly trying to innovate on the battlefield to maintain their advantages, and one commander says that's a difficult environment for traditional manufacturing contracts.
Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu via Getty Images
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.
"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 took the first step toward rolling back protections for transgender people on Monday, signing an executive orderthat the federal government would only recognize two sexes, male and female.
Why it matters: Trump made attacks on transgender individuals central to his 2024 campaign, and by issuing the executive order on his first day in office, signaled the importance of the issue in his second term.
The executive order could have wide-reaching implications for gender-affirming care and recognition of trans people in a variety of spaces.
It could also signal a first step toward banning transgender athletes from taking part in women's sports. The move would amount to "removing protections from some of our most vulnerable students," Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, told Axios ahead of the decision.
Driving the news: Trump's executive order states that only two sexes will be recognized by the federal government, "male and female."
As such, only those two sexes will be recognized for official documents such as passports and visas.
"'Sex' is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of 'gender identity,'" the order states.
The executive order aims to prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for gender-affirming care and to prevent transgender women from being held in women's prisons or detention centers.
State of play: An incoming White House official previewed the executive order on a call with reporters Monday ahead of Trump's inauguration, saying it was part of Trump's aim of "restoring sanity" in the U.S.
The executive order is about "defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government," the official said.
Zoom out: Even before he took office, trans rights advocates vowed to fight Trump's rollback of trans rights.
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the biggest LGBTQ political lobbying in the U.S., said in a statement the HRC refused to back down or be intimidated.
"We are not going anywhere, and we will fight back against these harmful provisions with everything we've got," Robinson added.
Ash Orr, a spokesperson for Advocates for Trans Equality, told AP the group would persevere and "continue in our work and we're going to continue to protect trans rights throughout the country."
State of play: Trump has repeatedly railed about trans athletes competing in women's and girls' sports while on the campaign trail.
At a Fox News town hall in October, Trump said, "We're not going to let it happen ... we absolutely stop it. You can't have it," when asked about how he would handle "the transgender issue" in women's sports.
Zoom out: LGBTQ+ advocates long warned that the new Trump administration would attempt to undo the Biden administration's efforts to expand protections for LGBTQ+ students under Title IX.
Those efforts faced legal hurdles even before Trump re-entered office.
In December, the Education Department withdrew a proposal to expand Title IX protections for trans student-athletes in the face of multiple lawsuit threats.
In early January, a federal judge rejected rules to broaden the definition of sex discrimination under Title IX in order to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
Why it matters: Rubio will be instrumental in making good on many of Trump's grandest campaign promises β from ending the war in Ukraine to countering China's growing influence to implementing a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted unanimously earlier Monday to recommend Rubio's confirmation, and Democrats cleared the way for an expedited process.
It's a resounding show of Senate bipartisanship for one of their own.
Zoom in: The 53-year-old Floridian has served in the Senate since 2011. He ran for president in 2016 before dropping out and endorsing Trump. He was on Trump's 2024 vice presidential shortlist.
Rubio, who would be the first Latino secretary of state, opposes normalizing relations with Cuba and is a noted China hawk.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tapped the state's attorney general, Ashley Moody, to replace Rubio in the Senate, as Axios first reported.
Zoom out: Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which will enter into its fourth year next month, will be one of the Trump administration's greatest foreign policy challenges.
Trump and his allies have criticized how the Biden administration has handled the conflict. The GOP has been fractured in the past year over whether the U.S. should continue sending aid to Ukraine.
Rubio testified last week that both Russia and Ukraine need to make concessions to end the conflict.
Rubio voted against $95 billion in Ukraine aid in April, and has called for Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war with Russia β even if that means Russia keeps some of the territory from the invasion.
Trump said he'd sign an executive order to stop "radical political theories and social experiments" on US military service members, referencing his previous comments on a culture war in the Pentagon.
US Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Kellen Kroening/Released
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.
Trump promised major change to the US military during his inauguration speech.
Matt Rourke/AP
"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.
Here's everything Trump said about the US military during his first day back in office β and what to expect next.
Trump promised to reinstate service members who refused the COVID-19 vaccine β with back pay
Republicans have argued the dismissals of service members who refused the COVID-19 vaccine hurt military readiness.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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.
Trump plans to use the military in his crackdown on illegal immigration
Trump heavily focused on illegal immigration and deportation during his presidential campaign.
Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
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."
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 β Trump did it himself in April 2018, as did Obama and Bush β 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
Donald Trump was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts at his inauguration.
Kenny Holston/Pool/Getty Images
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 β such as his flip-flopping comments against women serving in the military β 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.
Donald and Melania Trump leave prayer services before the inauguration ceremony on Monday.
Jeenah Moon/REUTERS
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 theAttorney 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.
InΒ oneΒ executive action from June 2021, Biden said the federal government is theΒ largest employer in the nationΒ 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 β including the nation's largest private employer, Walmart β have been reversing course on DEI initiatives in the weeks following Trump's election in November.
Why it matters: The moves amount to policy whiplash for the energy industry, segments of which had chafed under former President Biden's policies aimed at igniting the renewable sector.
Zoom in: The executive orders include a declaration of a "national energy emergency" aimed at increasing domestic energy production and lowering costs to the consumer.
This is partly in response to the rapid AI-related growth of data centers and their energy needs, which the administration views through a national security lens.
U.S. power demand is rising quickly after staying largely flat for the last 15 years.
One of Trump's initial orders formally rescinds a series of Biden moves that stitched climate and environmental justice throughout federal agency decision-making, going well beyond energy and resource agencies.
This includes a repeal of the Biden administration's Justice 40 Initiative and a 2021 order that set aggressive federal procurement targets for EVs, clean power, low-carbon buildings and more.
Trump also moved ahead with rolling back EPA tailpipe emissions rules that Republicans have characterized as an effective requirement for consumers to buy electric vehicles.
He also signed an order that attempts to rescind Biden's formal withdrawal of East Coast, West Coast and major offshore Alaskan Arctic areas from drilling.
But there's no guarantee producers have much appetite for exploring these regions, and formally selling drilling rights and enabling development would be a complicated bureaucratic and litigious process.
Other actions include seeking to pause funds from being spent under the Biden climate law, and shifting appliance energy efficiency standards back to Trump's first term, before Biden made them more stringent.
Threat level: Trump's attempted reversal of Biden-era policies could boost U.S. greenhouse gas emissions β or at least slow down projected reductions.
Reality check: Trump's "dominance" agenda will also confront market and process barriers β and plenty of litigation.
U.S. oil output is already at record levels. Tepid global demand growth makes producers in Texas and elsewhere unlikely to flood the market.
Gasoline and diesel costs are tethered to oil prices set on global markets, while electricity costs tend to be highly regional and dependent on weather and other forces.
Executive orders can make some instant policy. Often they're a symbolic opening of the long, legally fraught bureaucratic slog of formally unwinding agency rules and policies.
Between the lines: Presidents can use emergency authorities to redirect resources and push the private sector to boost or maintain critical supplies.
However, it's likely that the declaration itself will be challenged in court. And its provisions are likely to run into thorny legal issues given that state and regional authorities typically oversee power plant planning and permitting.
The good news for those companies extends beyond the energy orders.
Trump's holding off for now on sweeping new tariffs that execs fear could raise project costs β and spur retaliation from buyers of U.S. exports.
But it may be a temporary reprieve, with Trump instead ordering reviews of trade and currency imbalances.
What they're saying: "By fully harnessing our nation's abundant oil and natural gas resources, we can restore American energy dominance, drive economic prosperity and secure U.S. leadership on the global stage," Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said in a statement.
But Tiernan Sittenfeld of the League of Conservation Voters said in a separate statement: "It is crystal clear that his administration is all in to pad Big Oil Billionaire profits at the expense of our air, water, lands, climate, health, pocketbooks, and jobs."
The bottom line: The energy-related executive orders will yield some short-term actions on the ground.
But it's their longer, topsy-turvy road to implementation that will be crucial to accomplishing the administration's goals.
President Trump has signed an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship in the U.S. β a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and affirmed by the Supreme Court more than 125 years ago.
Why it matters: Trump is acting on a once-fringe belief that U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants have no right to U.S. citizenship and are part of a conspiracy (rooted in racism) to replace white Americans.
The big picture: The executive order is expected to face immediate legal challenges from state attorneys general since it conflicts with decades of Supreme Court precedentand the 14th Amendment β with the AGs of California and New York among those indicating they would do so.
Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment was passed to give nearly emancipated and formerly enslaved Black Americans U.S. citizenship.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside," it reads.
Zoom in: Trump signed the order on Monday, just hours after taking office.
Reality check: Thanks to the landmark Wong Kim Ark case, the U.S. has since 1898 recognized that anyone born on United States soil is a citizen.
The case established the Birthright Citizenship clause and led to the dramatic demographic transformation of the U.S.
What they're saying: California Attorney General Rob Bonta told Axios the state will immediately challenge the executive order in federal court.
"[Trump] can't do it," Bonta said. "He can't undermine it with executive authority. That is not how the law works. It's a constitutional right."
New York Attorney General Letitia James said in an emailed statement the executive order "is nothing but an attempt to sow division and fear, but we are prepared to fight back with the full force of the law to uphold the integrity of our Constitution."
Flashback: San Francisco-born Wong Kim Ark returned to the city of his birth in 1895 after visiting family in China but was refused re-entry.
John Wise, an openly anti-Chinese bigot and the collector of customs in San Francisco who controlled immigration into the port, wanted a test case that would deny U.S. citizenship to ethnic Chinese residents.
But Wong fought his case all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled on March 28, 1898, that the 14th Amendment guaranteed U.S. citizenship to Wong and any other person born on U.S. soil.
Zoom out: Birthright Citizenship has resulted in major racial and ethnic shifts in the nation's demographic as more immigrants from Latin America and Asia came to the U.S. following the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
The U.S. was around 85% white in 1965, according to various estimates.
The nation is expected to be a "majority-minority" by the 2040s.
Yes, but: That demographic changed has fueled a decades-old conspiracy theory, once only held by racists, called "white replacement theory."
"White replacement theory" posits the existence of a plot to change America's racial composition by methodically enacting policies that reduce white Americans' political power.
The conspiracy theories encompass strains of anti-Semitism as well as racism and anti-immigrant sentiment.
Trump has repeated the theory and said that immigrants today are "poisoning the blood of our country," language echoing the rhetoric of white supremacists and Adolf Hitler.
Of note:Military bases are not considered "U.S. soil" for citizenship purposes, but a child is a U.S. citizen if born abroad and both parents are U.S. citizens.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The big picture: Senate Democrats helped the Laken Riley Act prevail, with 10 voting to break a filibuster last week.
The party is still trying to find its footing on immigration and the border after it lost the White House and both chambers of Congress in last year's election.
Between the lines: The Senate passed two amendments to the bill over the past week, including one Monday night before the vote.
One brought by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) requires ICE to detain undocumented immigrants who attack law enforcement.
Another brought by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) adds those who commit crimes resulting in death or bodily injury.
Vivek Ramaswamy will leave the Trump administration's new Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, to run for Ohio governor multipleoutletsreported on Monday.
"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.
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.
"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.
Kyle Busch plans to shift his focus from NASCAR to supporting his son Brexton's promising racing career while carefully planning his own retirement transition.
The big picture: The U.S. is the WHO's top donor, contributing about $130 million per year to help cover its global health preparedness and response, along with efforts to address HIV, tuberculosis, and childhood vaccination, per Devex.
Trump started the process to withdraw from WHO during his first term, claiming the agency failed badly responding to COVID-19 and had not demonstrated its independence from China.
However, then-President Biden reversed it on his first day in office.
Driving the news: Monday's executive order states that the U.S. issued a notice about its withdrawal in 2020 "due to the organization's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic ... and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states."
Additionally, "the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries' assessed payments," it continues, notingΒ China pays less despite having a larger population.
Thank you. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you very, very much. Vice President Vance. Speaker Johnson. Senator Thune. Chief Justice Roberts. Justices of the United States Supreme Court. President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and my fellow citizens, the golden age of America begins right now.
From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first.
Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free. America will soon be greater, stronger and far more exceptional than ever before.
I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country, sunlight is pouring over the entire world, and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before. But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face. While they are plentiful, they will be annihilated by this great momentum that the world is now witnessing in the United States of America.
As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust. For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair. We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad. It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens, but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and ββmental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world.
We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders, or, more importantly, its own people. Our country can no longer give basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina. Been treated so badly. And other states who are still suffering from a hurricane that took place many months ago.
Or more recently, Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burn. From weeks ago, without even a token of defense, they're raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now. They don't have a home any longer. That's interesting.
But we can't let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. That's going to change. We have a public health system that does not deliver in times of disaster, yet more money is spent on it than any country anywhere in the world. And we have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves in many cases, to hate our country despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to them. All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly.
My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy, and indeed, their freedom. From this moment on, America's decline is over.
Our liberties and our nation's glorious destiny will no longer be denied. And we will immediately restore the integrity, competency and loyalty of America's government.
Over the past eight years I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history. And I have learned a lot along the way. The journey to reclaim our Republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom, and indeed, to take my life.
Just a few months ago, in that beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
That is why each day, under our administration of American patriots, we will be working to meet every crisis with dignity and power and strength. We will move with purpose and speed to bring back hope, prosperity, safety and peace for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed. For American citizens, Jan. 20, 2025, is Liberation Day.
It is my hope that our recent presidential election will be remembered as the greatest and most consequential election in the history of our country. As our victory showed, the entire nation is rapidly unifying behind our agenda, with dramatic increases in support from virtually every element of our society: young and old, men and women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, urban, suburban, rural, and very importantly, we had a powerful win in all seven swing states, and the popular vote we won by millions of people.
To the Black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote. We set records and I will not forget it. I've heard your voices in the campaign and I look forward to working with you in the years to come. Today is Martin Luther King Day and his honor, this will be a great honor. But in his honor we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true.
National unity is now returning to America, and confidence and pride is soaring like never before. In everything we do, my administration will be inspired by a strong pursuit of excellence and unrelenting success. We will not forget our country, we will not forget our constitution, and we will not forget our God. Can't do that.
Today I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense. It's all about common sense.
First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my Remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.
Under the orders I signed today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. And by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gang criminal networks, bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities.
As commander in chief I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do. We will do it at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Next I will direct all members of my cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices. The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices. That is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill.
America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have: the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it. We're going to use it.
We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export American energy all over the world.
We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it. With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers.
In other words, you'll be able to buy the car of your choice. We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago. And thank you to the autoworkers of our nation for your inspiring vote of confidence. We did tremendously with their vote.
I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service, to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury, coming from foreign sources.
The American dream will soon be back and thriving like never before. To restore competence and effectiveness to our federal government, my administration will establish the brand-new Department of Government Efficiency.
After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America.
Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents, something I know something about. We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again. Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law. And we are going to bring law and order back to our cities.
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. We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.
This week, I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the Covid vaccine mandate, with full back pay. And I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It's going to end immediately. Our armed forces will be free to focus on their sole mission: defeating America's enemies.
Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen. 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.
My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That's what I want to be, a peacemaker and a unifier. I'm pleased to say that as of yesterday, one day before I assumed office, the hostages in the Middle East are coming back home to their families. Thank you.
America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world. A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. And we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs.
President McKinley made our country very rich, through tariffs and through talent. He was a natural businessman and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal, which has foolishly been given to the country of Panama after the United States. The United States β I mean, think of this β spent more money than ever spent on a project before and lost 38,000 lives in the building of the Panama Canal. We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made. And Panama's promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated.
American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape, or form. And that includes the United States Navy. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we're taking it back.
Above all, my message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor and the vitality of history's greatest civilization. So as we liberate our nation, we will lead it to new heights of victory and success. We will not be deterred. Together we will end the chronic disease epidemic and keep our children safe, healthy and disease-free.
The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons. And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars.
Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation. And right now, our nation is more ambitious than any other. There's no nation like our nation. Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs and pioneers. The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts. The call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls. Our American ancestors turned a small group of colonies on the edge of a vast continent into a mighty republic of the most extraordinary citizens on Earth. No one comes close.
Americans pushed thousands of miles through a rugged land of untamed wilderness. They crossed deserts, scaled mountains, braved untold dangers, won the Wild West, ended slavery, rescued millions from tyranny, lifted billions from poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched mankind into the heavens and put the universe of human knowledge into the palm of the human hand. If we work together, there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve.
Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback. But as you see today, here I am. The American people have spoken.
I stand before you now as proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do. In America, the impossible is what we do best.
From New York to Los Angeles, from Philadelphia to Phoenix, from Chicago to Miami, from Houston to right here in Washington, D.C., our country was forged and built by the generations of patriots who gave everything they had for our rights and for our freedom. They were farmers and soldiers, cowboys and factory workers, steel workers and coal miners, police officers and pioneers who pushed onward, marched forward and let no obstacle defeat their spirit or their pride.
Together they laid down the railroads, raised up the skyscrapers, built great highways, won two world wars, defeated fascism and communism, and triumphed over every single challenge that they faced. After all we have been through together, we stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history. With your help, we will restore American promise and we will rebuild the nation that we love, and we love it so much.
We are one people, one family and one glorious nation under God. So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every child who dreams for their future, I am with you, I will fight for you and I will win for you. We are going to win like never before. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
In recent years our nation has suffered greatly. But we are going to bring it back and make it great again, greater than ever before. We will be a nation like no other, full of compassion, courage and exceptionalism. Our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent and totally unpredictable.
America will be respected again and admired again, including by people of religion, faith and good will. We will be prosperous, we will be proud, we will be strong and we will win like never before. We will not be conquered, we will not be intimidated, we will not be broken and we will not fail. From this day on, the United States of America will be a free, sovereign and independent nation.
We will stand bravely, we will live proudly, we will dream boldly, and nothing will stand in our way because we are Americans. The future's ours. And our golden age has just begun. Thank you, God bless America, thank you all.
Think of the U.S. government as a once-dominant, lean, high-flying company that grew too big, too bloated, too bureaucratic, too unimaginative.
It's Kodak or Circuit City β a dominant player caught napping amid an obvious technological transformation.
Why it matters: This snooze-and-lose reality is partly driving the governing and economic pace, tone and policies of President Trump's White House, officials tell us.
A theory that binds Trump with leading innovators, especially Elon Musk, is that you can bring tech and business talent and techniques together to take a wrecking ball to broken ideas and/or processes or entire agencies.
This isn't Trump's instinctual motivation, aides say. He wants a strong stock market, slower inflation, low joblessness, the holy trinity of economic indicators.
But Musk, Marc Andreessen and a growing chorus of entrepreneurs and tech CEOs are fusing their "founder mode" mentality with Trump's desire for fast growth.
You have Silicon Valley's best and brightest battling for bigger roles in reshaping government. Almost every CEO wants a slice of the action.
The optimistic scenario for the Trump presidency: It'll jar lawmakers and the public into realizing how a slow, bloated, bureaucratic government handcuffs and hurts America in the vital race for AI, new energy sources, space and overall growth.
Reality check: Some of this is motivated by politics, some by genuine enthusiasm to serve, and some by naked self-interest. Government will help pick the winners and losers in chips, AI, energy, crypto, satellites and space. So, it would be CEO malpractice not to try to shape the outcome. A seat at the table could be worth billions.
Whatever the motivation, the genuine thesis is directionally correct: America's government is so vast, so complex, so indebted that it makes fast, smart growth exponentially more complicated.
Elon Musk arrives at the Capitol Rotunda for today's inauguration. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Whether you're a skeptic or fan, consider not what a policy wonk would do, but rather how a tech CEO would shake things up if their company was deep in debt and slow in execution.
Simplify, simplify, simplify. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who recently dined with Trump, loves to tell how his company rediscovered its mojo with a Year of Efficiency (2023) where he declared: "Leaner is better." Meta cut workforce, managerial layers, and decision-making obstacles β then went all-in on AI. The results were magical, he says.
Cut costs. The U.S. debt is too staggering to comprehend. It's $36 trillion β and grows $1 trillion every 100 days. Another way to look at it: America spends more on defense than the next 10 biggest nations β and yet we spend more on debt than defense! So cutting government, now or later, is unavoidable.
Bet big. You can't cut your way out of this crisis. The only palatable solution: explosive growth. Not 2% or 3%. Twice that. Marc Andreessen has argued publicly this rate of growth is possible if you stack government attention and staff correctly. The big bets would be on AI, space, new domestic energy sources, crypto, and U.S. businesses doing this work at home. GDP growth of 1% would amount to about $290 billion.
Break stuff. Musk bluntly warned before the election that big cuts and change in government inevitably cause "temporary pain." Politicians typically hate inflicting any pain on voters β hence, your deficits! But any business leader who shuts down products or lays off people knows it's the price of growth.
Ignore the whiners. What holds back CEOs and political leaders is the same thing: fear, fear of bad headlines or big revolts. But Trump's pain threshold is higher than anyone we've seen in public office. So you could see him enduring it if convinced it will juice his numbers. Musk is a living reminder that a lot of bad press does not equate to failure. Often, it's the opposite.
The other side: Robert Rubin, who was a co-senior partner at Goldman Sachs before becoming Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, wrote Friday in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that outsiders arriving in Washington need to "recognize how much they don't know about government and how different it can be from business." Rubin writes from experience that "government can't and shouldn't be run like a business."
"The best way to make a successful transition to the public sector is to do so with humility," Rubin concludes. "The alternative, in many cases, is to have humility thrust upon you."
The New York Mets have been trying to keep Pete Alonso in Queens, but that may no longer be a reality. They could lose him to a struggling American League team.
