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The largest union of US federal government employees filed suit on Monday against President Donald Trump over his plans to create a cost-cutting “Department of Government Efficiency” headed by billionaire Elon Musk.The suit was filed in a district court in Washington by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and non-profit Public Citizen just minutes after Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president.Trump has tasked Musk, the world’s richest man, with slashing billions of dollars in federal government spending.Trump and Musk have claimed that $2 trillion could potentially be saved, but most experts believe that is not realistic without deep cuts to crucial social services or benefits.In its suit, the AFGE, which represents some 800,000 federal workers, said it wanted to ensure that DOGE complies with the requirements for federal advisory committees.”The advice and guidance that Mr Trump has charged DOGE with producing is sweeping and consequential,” the complaint said.”DOGE — the members of which currently do not represent the interests of everyday Americans — will be recommending cuts to government agencies and programs that protect health, benefits, consumer finance, and product safety,” it added.The AFGE said federal regulations authorize an administration “to establish and use commissions or task forces to obtain advice and recommendations from the private sector on a variety of topics.”But the regulations impose “various guardrails to prevent them from turning into vehicles for advancing private interests in the federal decision-making process,” it said.”Those guardrails include the requirements that advisory committee have a fair balance in viewpoints represented, that they do not meet in secret, and that their records and work product be made available for public inspection.”The AFGE urged the court to prevent DOGE from acting as an advisory committee until it complies with federal regulations.In addition to the AFGE, several other watchdog and public interest groups filed suit against Trump over DOGE on Monday.Trump tapped billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to head DOGE alongside Musk but Ramaswamy has reportedly decided to step aside and run instead for governor of the midwestern state of Ohio.

Donald Trump said Monday that he will issue a raft of executive orders aimed at reshaping how the United States deals with citizenship and immigration.The 47th president will set to work almost immediately with a series of presidential decrees intended to drastically reduce the number of migrants entering the country.”First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” Trump said minutes after his inauguration.”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.”I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country,” he said.Trump, who campaigned on a platform of clamping down on migration and whose policies are popular with people who fret over changing demographics, also intends to put an end to the centuries-old practice of granting citizenship automatically to anyone born in the United States.”We’re going to end asylum,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told reporters, and create “an immediate removal process without possibility of asylum. We are then going to end birthright citizenship.”The notion of birthright citizenship is enshrined in the US Constitution, which grants anyone born on US soil the right to an American passport.Kelly said the actions Trump takes would “clarify” the 14th Amendment — the clause that addresses birthright citizenship.”Federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States,” she said.- Appointments cancelled -The first effects of Trump’s hardline stance on immigration became apparent minutes after Trump’s inauguration when an app unveiled under president Joe Biden to help process migrants went offline.”Effective January 20, 2025, the functionalities of CBP One that previously allowed undocumented aliens to submit advance information and schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry is no longer available, and existing appointments have been cancelled,” said a notice on the landing page.US media reported 30,000 people had appointments scheduled.Kelly said the administration would also reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy that prevailed under the last Trump administration.Under that rule, people who apply to enter the United States at the Mexican border were not allowed to enter the country until their application had been decided.- Court challenges -Kelly said Trump would seek to use the death penalty against non-citizens who commit capital crimes, such as murder.”This is about national security. This is about public safety, and this is about the victims of some of the most violent, abusive criminals we’ve seen enter our country in our lifetime, and it ends today,” she said.Many of Trump’s executive actions taken during his first term were rescinded under Biden, including one using so-called Title 42, which was implemented during the Covid pandemic preventing almost all entry to the country on public health grounds.The changes under Biden led to an influx of people crossing into the United States and images of thousands of people packing the border area.Trump frequently invoked dark imagery about how illegal migration was “poisoning the blood” of the nation, words that were seized upon by opponents as reminiscent of Nazi Germany.- Court challenges -While US presidents enjoy a range of powers, they are not unlimited. Analysts say any effort to alter birthright citizenship will be fraught.Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said the 14th Amendment was “crystal clear” in granting citizenship to anyone born in the United States with the exception of children of foreign diplomats. “We have had birthright citizenship for centuries, and a president cannot take it away with an executive order,” he told AFP. “We expect rapid court challenges.”Reichlin-Malik said all sides of the immigration debate recognized that the laws needed reform, but presidential orders were unlikely to achieve lasting change.Cris Ramon, immigration senior policy advisor at civil rights group UnidosUS, said the administration was “using a ‘throw spaghetti at the wall’ approach.””We don’t care whether this is legal or not,” he said of the apparent attitude. “We’re just simply going to do it and see if it survives the courts.”

US President Donald Trump will issue a series of executive orders targeting diversity programs and gender identity policies Monday, using his inauguration speech to signal a definitive break with what he decries as “woke” culture.On the campaign trail Trump railed against diversity, equity and inclusion policies in the federal government and corporate world, saying they discriminated against white people — men in particular.He also demonized any recognition of gender diversity, attacking transgender people — notably transgender women in sports — and gender-affirming care for children.In his inauguration speech at the US Capitol, Trump said “as of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”An incoming White House official told reporters ahead of the presidential inauguration Trump will order the US government to end federal diversity programs.”I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” Trump said in his inauguration speech, calling the new moves a “revolution of common sense.”The policies will almost certainly face legal challenges.In practical terms going forward, official documents would be forced to “reflect sex accurately,” the official said, without stating whether that meant gender assigned at birth.”No longer will the federal government be promoting gender ideology,” the official said.The government would also only recognize two genders — male and female — ending official policies that recognized a third gender, denoted by an “X” on US passports for example.- ‘Incontrovertible reality’ -The official did not specify any clear policies on gender transitions — but did suggest that genders assigned at birth could not be changed.”These are sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” they said.The government would also immediately move to curtail programs that sought to redress historical inequality but that Trump has insisted disadvantage white people, particularly men.”The Department of Treasury — this is a little while ago now — included diversity training that said all white people, regardless of how woke they are, contribute to racism. So this type of funding, we’re going to end at these (diversity) programs. We’re going to end that,” the official said.They added that the incoming administration would move to “terminate all discriminatory programs” while also seeking out civil service roles linked to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion that had been renamed by the Biden administration in an effort to protect them from Trump’s axe.”This includes environmental justice programs, equity related grants, equity action plans, equity initiatives, these types of things,” the Trump official said.- Transgender fear -Ahead of the election, Trump planned to “ask Congress to pass a bill establishing that the only genders recognized by the US government are male and female, and they are assigned at birth,” his political program stated.He had also promised to ban gender-affirming care for minors and to take legal action against any doctors and educators who carry out or enable the practice.Many in the queer community were alarmed by the election of Trump following a campaign in which the Republican put attacks on trans people and their rights front and center.The LGBT National Help Center has been receiving about 2,000 calls per day since the election results, instead of the usual 300, according to its director Aaron Almanza.Anti-trans rhetoric was a mainstay of Trump’s campaign rallies, drawing huge cheers from crowds fired up by the Republican’s false claims that children were being forced to undergo gender reassignment, among other lies.

Donald Trump arrived at the Capitol to be sworn in for a historic second term as president Monday, promising a blitz of immediate orders on immigration and the US culture wars as he caps his extraordinary comeback.Trump and outgoing President Joe Biden traveled by motorcade together to the Capitol, where the ceremony was being held indoors — and with a much smaller crowd — for the first time in decades due to frigid weather.Earlier, they and their spouses met for a traditional tea at the White House.”Welcome home,” Biden said to Trump as he and First Lady Jill Biden greeted their successors at the front door to the presidential residence.Republican Trump, 78, was a political outsider at his first inauguration in 2017, but as he takes the oath as the 47th US president he is surrounded by America’s wealthy and powerful.The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai all had prime seats in the Capitol alongside Trump’s cabinet members.Musk, who bankrolled Trump’s election campaign to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars and promotes far-right policies on the X social network, will lead a cost-cutting drive in the new administration.While Trump refused to attend Biden’s 2021 inauguration after falsely claiming electoral fraud by the Democrat, this time Biden has been keen to restore a sense of tradition.Biden was joining former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at the Capitol. Former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush were there but ex-first lady Michelle Obama stayed away.- ‘American decline’ -Unusually for an inauguration where foreign leaders are normally not invited, Argentina’s hard-right president Javier Milei was attending, along with Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.The frigid weather has forced Trump’s inauguration indoors for the first time since Ronald Reagan’s in 1985, missing out on the customary massive crowds along the National Mall.Behind the pomp and ceremony, the billionaire is kickstarting his nationalist, right-wing agenda with a barrage of around 100 executive orders undoing Biden’s legacy.Trump will declare a national emergency at the Mexico border, give the US military a key role on the frontier, and end birthright citizenship, as he seeks clamp down on undocumented migrants, an official from his incoming administration said.Trump has pledged to start immediate deportations of undocumented migrants.He will also sign an order for the US government to recognize only two biological sexes and seek to eliminate federal government diversity programs as he takes office.The announcement of the hardline policies came a day after Trump had promised a “brand new day” and to end “four years of American decline.””I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” Trump told an inauguration eve rally where he danced with the Village People band.- ‘Ecstatic’ -Despite promising a new “golden era,” populist Trump also campaigned on often apocalyptic depictions of the country in his victorious election campaign against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in November.At sunrise on Monday, the National Mall, where the inauguration was originally due to be held, was largely empty — save for the Fairchild family, who traveled from Michigan to pay tribute to Trump.”Ecstatic,” said grandmother Barb, when asked how they were feeling, adding she thought the move indoors was made “to protect our president.”In his final hours in office, Biden issued extraordinary pre-emptive pardons for former Covid-19 advisor Anthony Fauci and retired general Mark Milley to shield them from “politically motivated prosecutions” by Tump.Biden gave similar pardons to members, staff and witnesses of a US House committee probing the violent January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack by Trump’s supporters.Biden said he had also restored the tradition of leaving a letter for his successor — though he said the contents were between him and Trump.Trump will make history by replacing Biden as the oldest president to be sworn in. He is also just the second president in US history to return to power after being voted out, after Grover Cleveland in 1893.For the rest of the world, Trump’s return means expecting the unexpected.From promising sweeping tariffs, to making territorial threats to Greenland and Panama and calling US aid for Ukraine into question, Trump looks set to rattle the global order once again.Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump ahead of the inauguration and said Monday he was open to talks on the Ukraine conflict, adding he hoped any settlement would ensure “lasting peace”.

With glacial temperatures forcing US President-elect Donald Trump’s swearing in indoors, the National Mall, normally jam-packed for inaugurations with hundreds of thousands of revelers, was eerily dead on Monday.We’re “winging it,” Trump supporters Lorri Williams and Ellie Hymes told AFP from the mall.The pair, who traveled to Washington from Michigan and Missouri respectively, were standing in front of the looming Washington Monument obelisk, but were only there to take in the sights, before heading indoors to watch the inauguration on television.Law enforcement prepared security checkpoints to let people onto the grassy lawn, but no one waited to get in. Only the occasional jogger broke the emptiness.Despite their shift in plans, the pair remained undeterred in their dedication to celebrating Trump’s return to the White House.Hymes, 69, was buoyant: “We’re celebrating, all the MAGA fans, the American people, with our very favorite president, Donald Trump.”Some 220,000 tickets had been distributed to watch the ceremony live from the Mall, with even more people able to watch from further back on the grassy lawn on big screens.Now, the closest thing to a traditional crowd will be a live viewing party at the nearby Capital One Arena, where Trump has promised to make an appearance. The sporting facility has a capacity of only 20,000.Seats in the arena were filling up quickly, as spectators scanned an enormous screen in the middle of the room to catch a glimpse of Trump as he prepared for his swearing-in, applauding and chanting “USA, USA” whenever he appeared.”I am here because I love Donald J. Trump, and he loves America,” 32-year-old Alexx Rouse from Texas told AFP.”He is the perfect man for this job. I could not be more excited to be here in this moment, because this is history.”Back on the Mall, members of the Fairchild family visiting from Michigan were wearing red beanies and wrapped in Trump blankets as they stood before the Lincoln Monument.”Ecstatic,” grandmother Barb told AFP when asked how they were feeling.Despite the bitter cold, they said they were still expecting a festive atmosphere and would watch it on TV later.As they left, she turned back to look up at Lincoln’s marble visage, exclaiming gleefully: “Aren’t you so proud?”

US President Joe Biden issued pre-emptive pardons on Monday to former Covid advisor Anthony Fauci and retired general Mark Milley to shield them from potential “politically motivated prosecutions” under the Trump administration.In an extraordinary move in his last hours in the White House, Biden gave similar pardons to members, staff and witnesses of the US House committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters.”I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Biden said in a statement. “But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing.”These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.”Trump, who will be sworn in as the 47th US president on Monday, has repeatedly promised “retribution” against his political opponents and threatened some with criminal prosecution.Fauci, who led the country’s fight against the Covid pandemic during Trump’s first term, has become a hate figure for many on the right, including Trump ally Elon Musk, who has called for the scientist to be prosecuted.Trump was enraged after Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told journalist Bob Woodward that the Republican was “fascist to the core” and a “dangerous person.”Milley also revealed that he had secretly called his Chinese counterpart after the Capitol attack to reassure Beijing that the United States remained “stable” and had no intention to attack China.Trump subsequently wrote on his Truth Social network that “in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” for Milley.Milley thanked Biden for his executive action.”I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights,” he said in a statement.- ‘Committed no crime’ -Fauci also thanked Biden for the pardon, according to US media reports, but stressed “I have committed no crime.”Responding to the report, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. urged Fauci to turn the pardon down “if he did nothing wrong.”The members of the January 6 committee include former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney and a fierce Trump critic.Adam Schiff, a Democrat who was a member of the committee and is now a US senator from California, responded to reports of the pre-emptive pardons being considered in December by saying he would be against such a move.”I don’t think the idea of a blanket pardon of some kind is a good idea,” Schiff said at the time.In his statement, Biden said “baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.”The Democrat added that the pardons “should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”Trump has regularly complained of being the victim of “lawfare” under the Biden administration after being criminally prosecuted for offenses, including trying to subvert the 2020 election.Monday’s moves were the latest in a slew of pardons and clemencies Biden has granted in his final days in office, including commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people in one day — and the controversial pardon of his son Hunter.Trump has described jailed supporters who took part in the January 6 attack on the Capitol as “patriots” and “political prisoners” and said he plans to issue pardons for some of them.Former president Richard Nixon received a pre-emptive pardon from his successor, Gerald Ford, after resigning in disgrace in 1974 because of the Watergate scandal. 

US President Joe Biden on Monday issued pre-emptive pardons to former Covid-19 advisor Anthony Fauci and retired general Mark Milley to shield them from “politically motivated prosecutions” under the Trump administration.In an extraordinary move in his last hours in the White House, Biden gave similar pardons to members, staff and witnesses of a US House committee probing the violent January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack by Donald Trump’s supporters.”These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions,” Biden said in a statement.”These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing.” Trump, who will be sworn in on Monday, has repeatedly promised “retribution” against his political opponents and threatened some with criminal prosecution.Fauci became the face of the country’s fight against the Covid pandemic, but his straight-talking takes on the disease in Trump’s first term brought him into conflict with the Republican.It also turned the scientist into a hate figure for many on the right, including Elon Musk, Trump’s ally and the world’s richest man, who repeatedly called for Fauci to be prosecuted.Trump was enraged after Milley, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump’s first term, told journalist Bob Woodward that Trump was “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country.”Milley also revealed that he had secretly called his Chinese counterpart after the Capitol attack to reassure Beijing that the United States remained “stable” and had no intention to attack China.Trump subsequently wrote on his Truth Social network that “in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” for Milley.In a statement, Milley thanked Biden for his executive action.”I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights,” the former general said.- ‘Committed no crime’ -US media reported that Fauci thanked Biden for the pardon, but stressed “I have committed no crime.”Responding to the report, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. urged Fauci to turn the pardon down “if he did nothing wrong.”The members of the January 6 committee include fierce Trump critic and former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney.”Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families,” wrote Biden.The Democrat added that the pardons “should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”Adam Schiff, a Democrat who was a member of the committee, responded to reports of the pre-emptive pardons being considered in December by saying he would be against such a move.”I don’t think the idea of a blanket pardon of some kind is a good idea,” he said at the time.Trump has regularly complained of being the victim of “lawfare” under the Biden administration, after being criminally prosecuted for offenses including trying to subvert the 2020 election.Monday’s moves were the latest in a slew of pardons and clemencies Biden has granted in his final days in office, including commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people in one day — and the controversial pardon of his son Hunter. 

Donald Trump will be sworn in for a historic second term as US president Monday, promising a new “golden age” for America as the world braces for the return of his unpredictable leadership.Freezing weather has forced the 78-year-old’s inauguration ceremony in Washington indoors, but the first hours of the most extraordinary comeback in US politics will be a blaze of activity.The Republican vowed to unleash a blitz of executive orders undoing outgoing president Joe Biden’s legacy, and to launch immediate deportations of undocumented migrants.If Trump painted a dystopian picture of “American carnage” at his first inauguration in 2017, this time around he is offering a more upbeat promise of a “brand new day” for the United States.”I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” Trump told an inauguration eve rally where he danced with the Village People band.But the billionaire populist also returned to some of the dark themes that drove his election victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in November.The incoming 47th US president said he would “stop the invasion of our borders” and reverse “woke” policies including “transgender insanity” in US schools.At sunrise on Monday morning, the National Mall, where the inauguration was originally due to be held, was largely empty — save for the Fairchild family, who traveled from Michigan to pay tribute to Trump.”Ecstatic,” said grandmother Barb, when asked how they were feeling, adding she thought the move indoors was made “to protect our president.”- ‘Golden age’ -In his final hours in office, Biden issued extraordinary pre-emptive pardons for former Covid-19 advisor Anthony Fauci and retired general Mark Milley to shield them from “politically motivated prosecutions” by Tump.Biden gave similar pardons to members, staff and witnesses of a US House committee probing the violent January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack by Trump’s supporters.Trump will make history by replacing Biden as the oldest president to be sworn in. He is also just the second president in US history to return to power after being voted out, after Grover Cleveland in 1893.Ahead of the inauguration, Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host Trump and his wife Melania for “tea and coffee” at the White House, before they all travel together to the Capitol.The display of civility will be a stark contrast to 2021 when Trump — who riled a crowd that attacked the US Capitol in a bid to overturn his election loss — refused to attend Biden’s inauguration.Due to the intense cold, Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will take the oath inside the domed Rotunda of the Capitol — as Ronald Reagan did in 1985 — rather than in front of a huge crowd on the National Mall.”As soon as President Trump places his hand on the Bible and swears the Oath to the United States Constitution, the Golden Age of America will begin,” spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on X.But there are still many concerned by Trump’s promises — including vows of retribution against his opponents.He returns to the Oval Office more powerful than ever, capping a journey that saw him defy two assassination attempts and a criminal conviction to win the election.Once a political outsider, Trump now dominates Washington.Three of the world’s richest men — tech tycoons Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos — will be alongside him for the inauguration.Tesla, SpaceX and X boss Musk, who will head a cost-cutting effort in the new administration, promised at Sunday’s rally to make America strong “for centuries.”- ‘Very happy’ -Trump — who said during the election campaign he would only be a dictator on “day one” — has promised to sign around 100 executive orders within hours of taking office.They include declaring a national emergency on the southern US border with Mexico, and undoing Biden’s directives on diversity and oil drilling.Trump added that supporters would be “very happy” with a decision pardoning January 6 rioters.For the rest of the world, Trump’s return means expecting the unexpected.From promising sweeping tariffs, to making territorial threats to Greenland and Panama and calling US aid for Ukraine into question, Trump looks set to rattle the global order once again.His victory has also emboldened right-wing politicians around the world. Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is set to attend the inauguration even though foreign leaders are not normally invited.

In a former memorial to Albania’s Communist dictator, an art exhibition is celebrating Donald Trump’s return as US president with works portraying him as Prometheus, Caesar and the Wall Street bull.Artist Alvin Delvina says Trump — his “idol” — is the inspiration for the pieces in “The Triumph”, which include depictions of the US Republican in a range of historical and fictional scenes. “It’s a work of four years, born of strong indignation at the attacks on a free spirit like Trump,” the 69-year-old artist told AFP.One piece, called “None of You Will Betray Me”, bears a striking resemblance to Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” only with each of the 12 apostles bearing Trump’s face. Another shows smiling European leaders on a lifeboat wearing orange life jackets, while a tuxedo-clad Trump plays a violin. Most of the works were crafted together with the use of digital images that re-imagine iconic works of art and other notable scenes from history and pop culture. Italian tourist Laura Brivio, who attended the opening of the exhibition, praised the show as “a very interesting vision of the real world and art which is thought-provoking — whether or not you support (Trump)”.”Delvina is a committed artist who has chosen to present his (visions of the) truth with rich and dynamic artistic language, provocative subjects and biting irony,” said curator Manjola Xhavara.The exhibition is housed in a brutalist pyramid in the capital Tirana that was once dedicated to former dictator Enver Hoxha. In recent years, the building has been renovated and is now home to office space for the country’s embryonic tech sector and art galleries. Pro-US sentiment remains relatively strong in Albania, where American flags are a common sight in some areas. After Trump’s first electoral victory in 2016, a town in central Albania renamed one of its streets in his honour.

Chinese people on the streets of Beijing said Monday they were keeping expectations low ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump, as his second White House stint could push China-US ties into a new era of uncertainty.Trump has long blamed China for a host of American social ills and vowed a hardline approach towards Beijing after he returns to the White House.But he has also said he is open to talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a leader he has long openly admired, and the two spoke by phone Friday vowing to improve ties. Residents of the Chinese capital said they expected more of the same from the mercurial former property magnate as his second term begins.”To start with, he talks about putting America first. And he also fought a trade war with China. These are the two things that left the deepest impression on me,” Zhang Yu, 44, said.”Of course as Chinese people we hope to put China first,” the IT worker told AFP outside a McDonald’s in downtown Beijing.”He’s been fighting (trade wars) for years, but it’s never brought any benefit to either country or to the world,” Zhang said.”I personally feel it might be better to cooperate with everyone as soon as possible.”During his first term in office, Trump blamed China for the decline of American manufacturing and angered Beijing by calling the pathogen that causes Covid-19 the “Chinese virus”.He also imposed onerous tariffs on Chinese imports — measures largely preserved by his successor Joe Biden.- Disputes ‘inevitable’ -Ahead of his return to the White House, Trump has pledged to ratchet up levies even further, adding to unease in the world’s second-largest economy.Beijing has struggled to stimulate consumption in a slowing economy that has long relied on exports to deliver consistent growth.Dai, a university student who asked to be identified by his surname only, said China “should be mentally prepared to continue fighting a trade war with America and deal with these economic fluctuations”.”I don’t think the relationship between the US and China is going to improve… (but) I hope it won’t be too intense,” the 22-year-old told AFP.”Disputes are inevitable… it’s not very realistic to say that there can be peace between China and the US.”Dai said he had noticed the price of some goods increase during Trump’s first term, but the impact on his life had been minimal.”I think Trump is quite a shrewd person. Of course, he cultivates an image in public of being a man of the people,” he said.Despite his brash pre-election rhetoric towards Beijing, many in China still admire Trump for his strongman image, perceived business acumen and irreverent manner.Still, dozens approached by AFP declined to share their views on him at a time of heightened political sensitivity around China-US ties.Outside a ritzy Beijing shopping mall, a middle-aged woman waved away reporters asking for an interview.”The only reliable thing about Trump is that you can never rely on him,” she said.