Mr. Trump signed a slew of executive orders on his first day as president of the United States.
Donald Trump withdrew from a historic climate agreement and the World Health Organization (WHO), advanced his vision of “peace through strength” and, while taking credit for it part of the success the day before, expressed doubts about the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on his first day as president of the United States.
In one of several executive orders he signed shortly after his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, Donald Trump withdrew the country fromParis climate agreementthus reiterating a decision he made during his first term and which was reversed by his successor, Joe Biden.
According to Mr. Trump’s executive order, the agreement is one of a number of international organizations and agreements that do not reflect the values of the United States and which “direct American taxpayer dollars to countries that do not require, or deserve, financial assistance in the interests of the American people” — a nod to the “America First” doctrine he first deployed in 2017 and revived for his second term.
Peace through strength
In a speech at the Commander-in-Chief’s inaugural ball, Trump said the United States would achieve “peace through strength,” a phrase often attributed to the 40th president, Ronald Reagan.
“We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but by the wars we end and, perhaps more importantly, by the wars we never enter. That is what we calls for peace through strength,” Mr. Trump said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged his comment in a social media post, saying: “President Trump is always decisive, and the policy of peace through strength that he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and to achieve a just and long-term peace, which is the top priority.”
Details of how Mr. Trump would negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, however, are still unclear.
Asked at an impromptu news conference in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “very soon” and that the Russian leader “destroyed” Russia by refusing to negotiate a ceasefire with Ukraine.
“I need to talk to President Putin, we’re going to have to find out. He must not be delighted. He’s not doing very well” Mr. Trump said, adding that Mr. Zelensky “wants to make a deal“.
Israel and Hamas
When asked by a White House reporter whether he thought Israel and Hamas would maintain the historic ceasefire agreement reached days before Mr. Trump entered the White House, the latter replied: “It’s not our war, it’s theirs. But I’m not sure of myself. “
A few days earlier, Mr. Trump had claimed responsibility for the three-phase ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the result of several months of negotiations with the United States, Qatar and Egypt. The agreement, based on the one that Mr. Biden’s negotiating team proposed in May, entered into force on Sunday, after delays on the Israeli side.
However, Mr. Trump reversed sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on extremist Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of mistreating and attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
According to the Times of Israel, the order has been used against 17 people and 16 entities over the past year, including settlers who the United States said had violently attacked Palestinians and illegally driven them from their homes. lands.
It is understood that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the issue with Mr Trump before his inauguration.
Pause in foreign aid
In another executive order signed Monday, Mr. Trump temporarily suspended all U.S. foreign aid programs for 90 days, pending a review, which the new Secretary of State Marco Rubio had suggested a week earlier.
It is not yet clear how many millions of dollars will be affected by this executive order, given that the distribution of U.S. foreign aid for many programs has already been decided by Congress and must therefore be spent.
Mr. Trump’s order means that Mr. Rubio or a lower-ranking designee will determine whether and where foreign aid should be spent. Rubio said last week that all funding proposals should answer three questions: “Does this make America safer? Does this make America stronger? Does this make America more prosperous? ?”
Mr. Trump has long complained about American spending on foreign aid, as well as the huge sums the United States has spent to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
The latest official accounting of foreign aid under the Biden administration showed that 68 billion dollars (65 billion euros) have been assigned to overseas initiatives, ranging from disaster relief to health and pro-democracy initiatives in 204 countries and regions, according to AP.
Countries such as Israel, Egypt, and Jordan are among the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid. They are unlikely to face significant cuts, at least in the short term, because their donations are included in programs established decades ago.
Spain “is at a very low level”
At a press conference in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump also said, when asked about NATO spending, that “the level of Spain is very low“. This country is one of three European NATO members that have not yet reached the 2% of GDP threshold set by NATO for defense spending.
He then asked if Spain was part of the “BRICS”. This is of course not the case, the main members of the alliance are in fact the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africaand it does not share any member states with NATO or the EU.
“If the BRICS nations want to do that, that’s fine, but we’re going to impose at least 100% tariffs on their business with the United States.“, nevertheless declared Mr. Trump.
He suggested that NATO raise its threshold to 5%, a figure considerably higher than most members’ current budgets.
Separately, Mr. Trump refused to follow through on a campaign threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico on his first day in office. Instead, he announced that he would impose new tariffs on Canada on February 1.