Trump Inauguration & Executive Orders: Trump Delays Tariffs, Plans to Recapture Panama Canal (Live Coverage)

President-elect Donald Trump will give the S&P 500 an Inauguration Day gift and choose to put new tariffs on hold. Instead, Trump is expected to direct federal agencies to evaluate U.S. trade policies and fix shortcomings, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. S&P 500 futures rose and the US dollar fell on the news.

The Trump tariff surprise is part of the whirlwind of activity Trump is unleashing as he hits the ground running. Trump has said he will sign close to 100 executive orders on day one, blowing away President Biden’s record of 17. And Trump won’t even bother retreating to the Resolute Desk to sign the volume of orders. He has a desk set up near the Capitol to get straight to work.

Other Trump executive orders are expected to grant TikTok a reprieve, ease regulation of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and lift energy restrictions. Many of the orders may have consequences for Wall Street, including specific companies such as Tesla (TSLA), Cheniere energy (LNG) and Meta platforms (META).

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12:41 PM ET

Trump concludes the opening speech

Trump said a strong United States will end all wars, although there was no specific mention of Russia and Ukraine. Bitcoin didn’t deserve to be mentioned.

The Department of Government Efficiency, which Trump previously compared to the Manhattan Project, got only one line. However, Doge CEO Elon Musk cheered Trump’s call to “plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars.”

Trump also doubled down on his recent comment that he wants to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

12:35 PM ET

Panama Canal: ‘We’re taking it back’

Trump said the Panama Canal is a gift that “should never have been made.” He said American ships are being overcharged, including the US Navy. Now, Trump says, China operates the canal.

“We didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama and we’re taking it back,” Trump said.

12:30 p.m. ET

Trump inauguration: External tax agency

Trump confirms the tariff plans, saying there will be “massive amounts flowing into our treasury.” Today’s delay appears to be just that.

12:26 p.m. ET

Teasing, baby, teasing

Trump confirms he will increase energy production and exports and end the “EV mandate,” penalties for automakers that produce fleets with below-target fuel efficiency.

12:23 PM ET

National emergency at the southern border

Trump says he will use the military to stop the “invasion” at the border.

“We will begin the process of returning millions and millions or criminal aliens” to their home countries.

He said he will invoke a law from 1798 to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks.

12:20 PM ET

Trump nods to MLK Jr.

“We will make his dream come true.”

12:15 PM ET

Inauguration speech: Best days ahead

Trump’s positive tone quickly veered into a damning assessment of where the country stands when he takes office.

Trump calls his election a mandate “to completely and totally reverse a terrible betrayal.”

12:03 PM ET

Trump Inauguration: Oath of Office Given

We have a new president.

11:30 a.m. ET

Trump tariffs on hold

Trump has apparently backed up his threat to impose an additional 10% tariff on China along with 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on his first day back in office, citing fentanyl shipments and illegal migration.

On Friday, Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about trade, TikTok and more, reporting a “very good” call. The immediate imposition of tariffs could have been a setback for Trump’s idea of ​​a TikTok resolution that gives the US government a large stake.

Trump appeared to confirm that bigger tariffs are coming in a speech last week. “We will start charging those who make money off of us with trade and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fare share.”

In the same post, effective Inauguration Day, Trump announced the creation of the “External Revenue Service,” which is clearly meant to sound less threatening than the Internal Revenue Service, although the tariffs would be paid by U.S. importers, not foreign exporters. Customs and import duties are currently collected by US Customs and Border Protection.

Immigration, border security

Trump advisers have indicated that Trump will sign a series of border-related orders on day one to “close the border and begin the largest deportation operation in American history.” Still, it is unclear how far-reaching the deportations will be.

After news reports revealed that immigration crackdowns were set to begin in Chicago this week, the incoming Trump administration is reportedly rethinking its original plan.

Trump and his advisers had said the first focus will be to remove unauthorized immigrants who have committed crimes and recently arrived. Axios has reported that out of 1.8 million cases in immigration courts in fiscal year 2024, only about 8,400 involved crimes other than illegal entry into the United States.

While many businesses worry about potential labor shortages, some businesses may thrive under tighter immigration rules. Shares of Geo Group (GEO) and CoreCivic (CXW) has increased since election day on expectations for detention centers.

On another day, executive actions might involve reviving Trump’s first-term policies that Biden scrapped, including building a wall; Section 42 general refusal of asylum on public health grounds; and an entry ban from Muslim-majority countries.

Trump also promised to sign an order ending birthright citizenship for foreigners born in the United States, although such a move will be challenged in court as violating the 14th Amendment.

Trump Inauguration: Executive Orders On Energy

One of Trump’s oft-stated promises during the campaign was to end what he calls the “electric car mandate,” which refers to the Transportation Department’s fuel-efficiency rules that impose averages on automakers whose fleets of new vehicles are not on target. The latest Biden administration standard would lift average fuel economy to 50 miles per gallon by 2031.

The rollback of fuel efficiency rules could have a mixed effect on Tesla, run by key Trump ally Elon Musk.

At a rally in Phoenix in December, Trump said he would “remove all Biden restrictions on energy production” on his first day in office. That includes reopening Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and ending Biden’s temporary approval of additional liquefied natural gas export projects.

Energy stocks have risen in recent weeks amid rising oil and natural gas prices. Cheniere Energy, a major LNG play, has surged to start the new year.

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Trump and Musk race to cut government and save S&P 500

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Trump Executive Order on TikTok

Over the weekend, Trump signaled that he will issue an order giving TikTok up to 90 days before it faces a possible ban. Congress passed a law last year requiring China’s Bytedance to divest TikTok by January 19, a day before Trump’s inauguration, or face a US ban on the social media site.

Trump elaborated in a Truth Social post that the US should get 50% ownership of TikTok if he bails out the company.

Keeping TikTok online would negate a big potential boost for Meta’s Facebook and Instagram and for Snapchat parent Snap (SNAP).

Bitcoin, Crypto

Trump has big plans for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, including potentially establishing a bitcoin strategic reserve. However, bitcoin and crypto are late additions to Trump’s list of first-day agenda items, according to news reports this week. The scale of the first-day order is not yet clear, but anticipation has been building after the launch of the official $Trump meme coin exploded to reach a market cap of $10 billion.

Federal regulations

In a speech in late October, Trump promised a first-day executive order that “directs all federal agencies to immediately eliminate every single burdensome regulation that drives up the cost of goods.”

Trump has also said his administration will eliminate 10 regulations for every one it passes, after setting a 2-1 ratio in his first term, and he has enlisted Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to go on a crusade against the regulating state as chairmen. of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Trump Inauguration: January 6

Trump has promised to pardon supporters who stormed the Capitol on January 6. On NBC’s Meet the press in December he said that even those who engaged in violence against police officers deserved a pardon. But JD Vance, his incoming vice president, recently said those who committed acts of violence should not be pardoned.

Education, gender identity

One of Trump’s most frequent pledges on the first day was to withhold federal funding from schools that teach critical race theory or have vaccine mandates, according to Axios, presumably alluding to Trump’s Covid vaccines. All states require that vaccinations against e.g. measles, mumps and rubella.

Trump promises first-day executive orders banning transgender people from participating in women’s sports or serving in the military.

Ukraine

The promise Trump made most often, according to Axios, was to resolve the war between Russia and Ukraine. However, Trump already acknowledges that it won’t happen on schedule, saying at a press conference in January that he hopes to get the job done within six months.

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