U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with former President Joe Biden after taking the oath on the day of Trump’s Presidential Inauguration at the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. January 20, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Trump administration Monday (January 20, 2025) ended use of a border app called CBP One that has allowed nearly 1 million people to legally enter the United States with eligibility to work.

A notice on the website of Customs and Border Protection on Monday just after Mr. Trump was sworn in let users know that the app that had been used to allow migrants to schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry is no longer available. The notice said that existing appointments have been cancelled.

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The move adheres to a promise Mr. Trump made during his campaign and will please critics who say it was an overly generous magnet for more people to come to Mexico’s border with the United States.

The CBP One app has been wildly popular. It is an online lottery system to give appointments to 1,450 people a day at eight border crossings. They enter on immigration “parole,” a presidential authority that Joe Biden used more than any other president since it was introduced in 1952.

Surat:

A diamond firm in Surat has crafted a stunning and striking carving of Donald Trump, using a 4.5 carat laboratory-grown diamond, to present it to the US President who took oath for a historic second term on Monday.

The firm had earlier created a 7.5 carat eco-friendly laboratory-grown diamond that was presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Jill Biden, wife of former US President Joe Biden, in 2023.

The carving, created by Greenlab Diamonds over a period of three months, is estimated to be worth around Rs 8,50,000. 

“We took three months to prepare this diamond, which includes growing, cutting and polishing. Our experts tried to make sure the carving is a replica of Mr Trump’s face. This is an important symbol for ties between India and the US. We want to tell Mr Trump that the creativity and our efforts to produce lab-grown diamonds will continue,” Smith Patel, one of the owners of the firm, said. 

Mr Patel said the carving was prepared by five experienced jewellers of Surat. “It was made with utmost precision. It will be given to Mr Trump as a present,” he said.

Surat is known for its diamond cutting and polishing industry worldwide. Laboratory-grown diamonds are much in demand and the Indian government has decided to promote them in a big way to boost the diamond industry.

During his state visit in 2023, Prime Minister Modi had gifted a 7.5-carat lab-grown diamond placed in a papier mache box from Kashmir, known as ‘kar-e-kalamdani’, to then US First Lady Jill Biden.

Mr Trump was sworn in for a second term as President on Monday, pledging a blitz of immediate orders on immigration and the US culture wars as he caps his extraordinary comeback. 

With one hand raised in the air and the other on a Bible given to him by his mother, the 47th US president solemnly took the oath of office beneath the huge Rotunda of the US Capitol.

(With inputs from Mahendra Prasad)

Washington:

President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday announced the United States’ intention to withdraw from the Paris climate accord for a second time, a defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.

The Republican leader also said his administration would declare a “national energy emergency” to significantly expand drilling in the world’s top oil and gas producer and scrap upcoming stringent pollution standards for cars and trucks, which he has derided as an “electric vehicle mandate.”

“President Trump will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord,” the White House said in a statement shortly after the Republican was sworn into office, without providing a specific timeline.

It would take a year to leave the agreement after submitting a formal notice to the United Nations framework that underpins global climate negotiations.

Even before the formal exit, the move delivers a serious blow to international cooperation aimed at reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Critics warn it could embolden other major polluters like China and India to scale back their own commitments.

It comes as global average temperatures over the past two years surpassed the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold for the first time, underscoring the urgency of climate action. 

“The US withdrawing from the Paris Agreement is unfortunate, but multilateral climate action has proven resilient and is stronger than any single country’s politics and policies,” said Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and a key architect of the Paris Agreement.

More drilling, fewer EVs

Trump used his inauguration speech to preview a raft of sweeping energy-related federal orders aimed at undoing Biden’s climate legacy.

“The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will ‘Drill, baby, drill!'” Trump said.

“We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it,” he added. 

“With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal, and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry.”

Trump’s mention of the “Green New Deal” may be a reference to the Inflation Reduction Act — Biden’s signature climate law that channels billions into clean energy tax credits –rather than a 2019 resolution of the same name, which never passed Congress.

Praise and scorn

Trump’s domestic actions were welcomed by energy industry leaders, who view the administration’s policies as a return to the era of “American energy dominance.” 

“The US oil and natural gas industry stands ready to work with the new administration to deliver the commonsense energy solutions Americans voted for,” said Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute. 

But they sparked immediate outrage from environmental advocates, who argue that doubling down on fossil fuel production ignores the pressing challenges of climate change. 

“This declaration is more proof that Trump doesn’t seem to recognize the real world,” said Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club’s land protection program, in comments to AFP. “The US is producing more energy, more oil and gas than any country has ever produced.”

Trump’s actions come despite overwhelming scientific consensus that the burning of fossil fuels has driven global temperatures to unprecedented levels, contributing to increasingly severe climate-driven disasters. 

Last year brought a barrage of destructive hurricanes, including Hurricane Helene — the second-deadliest storm to strike the mainland in over half a century — while this month, wildfires supercharged by climate change have devastated Los Angeles.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

US President Donald Trump vowed to embrace trade wars Monday, promising tariffs and taxes on other countries in a nationalistic inaugural address after being sworn in as the 47th president.

“I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families,” he said at the US Capitol.

“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” Trump added.

Since his election victory in November, Trump has taken aim at allies and adversaries alike, raising the prospect of fresh tariffs to push other countries towards tougher action on US concerns.

Before his White House return, Trump vowed to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, and an additional 10 percent on Chinese goods, if they did not do more about illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the United States.

On the campaign trail, Trump also floated the idea of much steeper tariff rates on Chinese imports.

But Trump stopped short Monday of unveiling new tariffs, which are applied on imported goods when a US buyer purchases them from abroad.

In his speech, he reiterated his plan to set up an “External Revenue Service” to collect tariffs, duties and revenues, alongside the establishment of a “Department of Government Efficiency” aiming to cut federal spending.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)