Donald Trump has made a virtual appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, addressing global elites whose annual summit has been consumed by the US president's days-old second term. Follow live.
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Key Events
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Republican senator to vote against Trump's choice for defence secretary
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BREAKING: Judge blocks birthright citizenship executive order
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What is the summit in Davos?
Trump's first speech to international business leaders covered a wide range of pet topics
To summarise some of the standout points from Donald Trump's livestreamed speech at the Davos World Economic Forum:
(Reuters: Yves Herman)
- He told business leaders they could either move manufacturing to the US and take advantage of his cuts to taxes and regulations, or face tariffs.
- He said he'll push Saudi Arabia and OPEC to reduce oil prices. He suggested this would help end the war in Ukraine by putting financial pressure on Russia.
- He talked up his moves to abolish diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, which he described as "absolute nonsense".
- He reiterated he wants NATO nations to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP.
- He said America's efforts to get a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine are "hopefully underway", and he wants China's help to end the war. He hopes to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "soon", he said.
- He criticised the European Union, saying it had treated the US "very badly" and it shouldn't be prosecuting American companies for breaking competition law.
- He took a swipe at the Bank of America after its CEO asked a question, accusing it of discriminating against conservatives.
- He had another go at Canada, saying it had been "very tough to deal with over the years".
- He praised Chinese President Xi Jinping and predicted "we're going to have a very good relationship".
Birthright order 'boggles the mind'
There's now a temporary restraining order in place, stopping the Trump administration from enforcing its policy to end birthright citizenship.
Donald Trump, in his executive order, directed government agencies not to recognise the citizenship of children born in the US if neither parent is a citizen or legal permanent resident.
US District Judge John Coughenour signed his restraining order before Justice Department lawyer Brett Shumate had even finished talking.
"I am having trouble understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that this order is constitutional," the Seattle-based judge said.
"It just boggles my mind."
Coughenour, an appointee of Republican former president Ronald Reagan, issued a temporary restraining order that blocked Trump's order from being enforced nationwide for 14 days, while he weighs whether to issue a preliminary injunction.
Trump's order would apply to children born after February 19. They would be subject to deportation and would be prevented from obtaining Social Security numbers, various government benefits and the ability to work lawfully as they get older.
More than 150,000 newborn children would be denied citizenship annually if Trump's order is allowed to stand, according to the Democratic-led states that launched the legal challenge.
Reporting with Reuters
Move to block Trump's birthright order follows challenge from states
The court decision to block Donald Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship follows a challenge launched by several Democratic-led states.
The order, signed by Trump on Monday, would reverse America's position that anyone born in the US is considered a citizen at birth, which has long been considered a constitutional right.
US District Judge John Coughenour ruled in the case, which was brought by the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon. The states argue the 14th Amendment of the Constitution and Supreme Court case law have cemented birthright citizenship.
The case is one of five lawsuits being brought by 22 states and a number of immigrants rights groups across the country.
The suits include personal testimonies from attorneys-general who are US citizens by birthright, and names pregnant women who are afraid their children won't become US citizens.
Reporting with AP
Republican senator to vote against Trump's choice for defence secretary
A Republican senator has said she can't support Donald Trump's nomination for defence secretary, Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth, a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who went on to become a Fox News host, is one of the president's most controversial picks.
He paid off a woman who accused him of rape, but says the 2017 encounter was consensual. He's acknowledged he was a "serial cheater" in the past but says other allegations of sexual impropriety are inaccurate and unfair.
Senator Lisa Murkowski has announced on X she "cannot in good conscience" support the appointment, saying Hegseth's past decisions "demonstrate a lack of judgment that is unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces".
Cabinet appointments must be confirmed by the Senate. If four or more Republicans join all Senate Democrats in opposing an appointment, it will not be confirmed.
Murkowski is so far the only Republican to confirm she will oppose Hegseth's appointment.
BREAKING: Judge blocks birthright citizenship executive order
A federal judge has just blocked President Donald Trump's high-profile executive order that sought to curtail the right to automatic birthright citizenship.
"This is blatantly unconstitutional order," US District Judge John Coughenour said.
Trump says he hopes China will work with US to end Russia-Ukraine war
Donald Trump talked about his fondness for Chinese President Xi Jinping, and expressed hope China can help end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Speaking to the need to reduce the US's trade deficit with China, Trump says:
"But I like President Xi very much. I've always liked him. We always had a very good relationship. It was strained with COVID coming out of Wuhan.
"…We look forward to doing very well with China and getting along with China. Hopefully China can help us stop the war with, in particular, Russia, Ukraine.
"They have a great deal of power over that situation, and we'll work with them, and I mentioned that with during our phone conversation with President Xi."
Trump was later asked if there will be a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine by the time the next Davos forum takes place this time next year.
"Well, you're going to have to ask Russia," Trump says. "Ukraine is ready to make a deal."
'The EU treats us very badly,' Trump says
The CEO of investment firm Blackstone, Stephen Schwarzman, is the first of the business leaders to put a question to Donald Trump.
He asks Trump to talk through his plans to reduce regulation, noting that a lot of the forum's attendees are frustrated with the European Union's regulatory regime.
"From the standpoint of America, the EU treats us very, very unfairly, very badly," Trump says, pointing to taxes, tariffs and America's trade deficit with the EU.
"So we have, you know, hundreds of billions of dollars of deficits with the EU, and nobody is happy with it, and we're going to do something about it," he says, without giving too many specifics.
He goes on to say the EU's antitrust cases against tech companies like Apple, Google and Facebook are "a form of taxation". Last year, the EU fined Apple almost 2 billion euros for breaking competition laws. It's previously fined Google billions of dollars for anti-competitive practices.
"Whether you like them or not, they're American companies, and they shouldn't be doing that," Trump says.
Trump pushes Saudis, OPEC to 'bring down the cost of oil'
Trump has praised Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. The crown prince has reportedly said he wants his kingdom to invest $US600 billion into the US over the president's coming term.
"I'll be asking the crown prince, who's a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion," Trump says.
"I think they'll do that because we've been very good to them.
"And I'm also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil. You've got to bring it down, which, frankly, I'm surprised they didn't do before the election. That didn't show a lot of love by them not doing it."
Make your products in America or face tariffs, Trump tells business
Trump is stepping through some familiar election-campaign talking points.
He's pointed to the budget deficit, energy regulation, interest rates, food prices and "the worst inflation crisis in modern history".
"That's why, from the moment I took office, I've taken rapid action to reverse each and every one of these radical left policies that created this calamity, in particular with immigration, crime and inflation."
He's also spruiked his plans to cut taxes and eliminate red tape, with a message for "every business in the world" to bring manufacturing to America.
"But if you don't make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then, very simply, you will have to pay a tariff."
Trump addresses World Economic Forum
Donald Trump is giving a speech, via videolink, to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He's begun by criticising the "inept" previous administration, and suggesting the "entire planet will be more peaceful and prosperous" as a result of his election win.
"What the world has witnessed in the past 72 hours is nothing less than a revolution of common sense," he says.
Trump withdrawing security for critics
On Tuesday, Donald Trump cancelled the Secret Service security protection of John Bolton, one of his national security advisers during his last stint in the White House.
Bolton later became a critic of Trump, and in 2022 was granted a security detail after becoming a target of an Iranian assassination plot.
The New York Times is now reporting that the Trump administration has also rescinded security protection for his former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and former aide Brian Hook.
They had also been given protection because of ongoing threats from Iran.
Micheál Martin returns as Irish premier, bracing for Trump fallout
Micheál Martin has been elected Irish prime minister for the second time by a coalition of the two large centre-right parties and independents.
He underlined a main task as warding off threats arising from Donald Trump's return as US president.
The government is bracing for the fallout from the new administration under Mr Trump, whose pledges to upend corporate tax rules and impose tariffs pose a potentially major threat to Ireland's foreign multinational-focused economy.
(Reuters: Clodagh Kilcoyne)
"For us today, the task is to protect Ireland's strength at a moment of real threat, while also addressing critical social needs," said Mr Martin.
Reporting with Reuters
What is the summit in Davos?
Donald Trump is set to address the World Economic Summit at Davos, Switzerland, in the coming hours.
So what is it?
Argentina's outspoken President Javier Milei addresses the World Economic Forum. (Reuters: Yves Herman)
To put it simply, it's basically an annual meeting of leaders in various fields from around the world, including politicians, executives, advocates and experts.
There, they discuss various global and regional issues and muse about the solutions.
It's commonly described as a meeting of the global elite.
ICYMI: Trump administration's warning to workers
The ABC's Lucia Stein and Rebecca Armitage have summed up the major developments of the last 24 hours in Washington, including:
- the Trump administration's threat to federal government workers who continue to carry out diversity, equity and inclusion programs
- a new bill targeting illegal immigrants
- Trump's latest warning to Vladimir Putin
You can read the latest here:
Trump does first sit-down interview
The newly-inaugurated president has chosen a supportive network to hold the first sit-down interview of his second term in office.
(Fox News)
Fox News personality Sean Hannity asked Trump about a number of different key policy issues, including immigration and TikTok.
Trump said he would like to see the social media app stick around, dismissing concerns about how the the platform may handle user data, given its connections to the Chinese government.
He also claimed, without evidence, that nations around the world had been emptying their prison populations into the United States.
Welcome to our coverage
Hello, I'm Thomas Morgan joining you this evening with the latest from Donald Trump's second term.
The US president is expected to speak to an international audience for the first time after returning to the White House, leading a speech question-and-answer by video conference in Davos, Switzerland shortly.
Meanwhile, a US court is scheduled to hear arguments for a temporary restraining order that would prevent Trump's administration from stripping the right to automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal migrants in the United States.
