Trump orders US exit from Paris climate agreement and WHO

Germany's potential next chancellor has called on European countries to work closer together on defense and trade following the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

"Europeans must now sit down together quickly and discuss two major issues," said Friedrich Merz, the chairman of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), who is considered a favorite to become Germany's next chancellor after the upcoming February 23 elections.

"First: What are we doing for our own security? This is long overdue. This has been necessary for years. And secondly: How do we strengthen our position in trade with America?" he said.

Emphasizing the size and economic potential of the European Union to negotiate with the United States on an equal footing, Merz told Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio: "With 450 million inhabitants, [the EU] is a market that is larger than America and Canada combined. There are many opportunities for Europeans that we are not currently exploiting."

He also said that Germany in particular must take on greater responsibility for defense and military procurement both within the EU and NATO, suggesting that European countries negotiate better prices by jointly ordering large numbers of advanced expensive systems like fighter aircraft.

"We have to simplify and standardize our processes and order in greater quantities," he said. "Germany must take on a leading role and be prepared, together with others, to take on leadership responsibility within this European Union."

Merz acknowledged that Trump appears to prefer dealing with disruptive far-right European politicians such as Hungary's Viktor Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico but said: "That doesn't mean that Trump doesn't hold sensible talks with everyone else, if it's in the American interest."

One of Merz's rivals for the chancellorship, Robert Habeck of the Green Party, also called for a more self-confident economic approach from Germany and the EU in the face of possible US tariffs.

"We mustn't allow ourselves to be pushed around," said Habeck, who is the economy minister in Germany's current outgoing coalition government.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it "regrets" the decision by the Trump administration to withdraw from the UN agency.

"WHO plays a crucial role in protecting the health and security of the world's people, including Americans," spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters.

Elsewhere, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Berlin would attempt to talk Trump out of the move.

"The new US president's announcement to withdraw from the World Health Organization is a serious blow to the international fight against global health crises," Lauterbach said.

"Hundreds of thousands of people would be at risk, many children in particular. We will try to persuade Donald Trump to reconsider this decision."

The US is the WHO's biggest donor, contributing about 18% of total funding including 75% of the agency's program for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and over half of contributions to combat tuberculosis. The WHO's two-year budget for 2024-2025 was $6.8 billion.

Speaking at the White House hours after his inauguration, Trump said: "World Health ripped us off."

Meanwhile, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Beijing would continue supporting the WHO.

"The role of the WHO should only be strengthened, not weakened," Guo Jiakun said. "China will, as always, support the WHO in fulfilling its responsibilities ... and work towards building a shared community of health for humanity."

Trump supporters are hoping the newly inaugurated president will bring a divided country back together.

Watch DW's report here:

Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk performed a gesture during a speech at an inauguration event for US President Donald Trump on Monday that some observers compared to a Nazi salute.

Thanking the crowd for returning Trump to the White House and exclaiming "This is what victory feels like!" Musk placed his right hand on the left-hand-side of his chest before extending his arm, hand flat and outstretched and palm facing downwards.

"Thank you for making this happen," he said, turning to repeat the gesture to those behind him. "My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured."

After many viewers and social media users pointed out the resemblance to the salute infamously used by Benito Mussolini's Italian fascists and Adolf Hitler's German Nazi party in the 1930s, and still used by right-wing extremists all over the world today, Musk played down the symbolism of his gesture.

"Frankly, they need better dirty tricks," he wrote on his X platform. "The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired."

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a New York-based organization which campaigns against antisemitism and other forms of racism and discrimination, also appeared to play down Musk's gesture.

"It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge," the organization wrote on X, prompting criticism.

Claire Aubin, however, an American historian who specializes in Nazism within the United States, said Musk's gesture was indeed a Nazi salute.

"My professional opinion is that you're all right, you should believe your eyes," she posted on X.

Aubin's colleague Ruth Ben-Ghiat, who has written several books on the history of fascism, also said: "That was a Nazi salute — and a very belligerent one, too."

The Palestinian Authority says extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank will be emboldened to carry out further violence against Palestinians by US President Donald Trump's decision to rescind sanctions against them.

The sanctions were imposed by Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, in early 2024.

"Lifting sanctions on extremist settlers encourages them to commit more crimes against our people," the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The statement referred to recent attacks by Israeli settlers across the West Bank that left 21 injured.

Trump's move, made just hours after he was sworn in for a second term, was hailed by far-right elements in Israel.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on X: "I sincerely thank President Donald Trump for his just decision to lift the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration against settlers and activists in right-wing organizations." 

He described the sanctions as "a severe and blatant foreign intervention in Israel's internal affairs." 

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the former national security minister, who recently resigned over the current ceasefire in Gaza, called Trump's decision "historic."

Outgoing German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has invoked European unity during a meeting with her Lithuanian counterpart, saying, among other things, that Europe was steadfast in its support for Ukraine amid fears that the US under Donald Trump could cut its aid to Kyiv.

Speaking after talks with Gabrielius Landsbergis, she said that Lithuania and Germany's shared support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion was something that had bound the two countries closely in recent years.

"I am speaking for both of us when I say that Europe will continue to stand firmly by Ukraine in the future. I say this also with regard to the new US administration," Baerbock said.

"Europe bears responsibility for its own security and will continue to fully support Ukraine, especially through the various facets we bring to the table, Europe's diversity — 27 European nations. This is precisely our shared strength when we act in a unified and coordinated manner," Baerbock added.

"That is why our approach to peacekeeping is called 'Europe United' rather than 'My Country First,'" she said, in an allusion to Trump's mantra of "America First."

On Tuesday, Baerbock also criticized Trump's suggestion that he will seek to bring the Panama Canal and Greenland under US control.

"Every threat toward a NATO member or other states is, of course, completely unacceptable," she told German broadcaster RBB.

But she also warned that statements by Trump should be taken with a pinch of salt.

"I would like to stress here that we shouldn't take the bait every time," she said.

China says it is 'concerned' by Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Climate change is a common challenge faced by all of humanity, and no country can remain unaffected or solve the problem on its own," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said. 

He said Beijing was tackling climate change by supporting global green initiatives and the Paris Agreement.
 
Guo also stressed that the WHO's role in addressing global health crises should be strengthened, not weakened, and vowed China's continued support for the UN agency to build "a shared community of health for humanity."

Regarding trade, Beijing called for dialogue to ease tensions following Trump's threats to impose more tariffs on Chinese exports. 

The previous Trump administration's approach to China has sparked concerns over escalating trade disputes and strained diplomatic ties. 

"China is willing to strengthen dialogue and communication with the United States, properly manage differences and expand mutually beneficial cooperation," Guo said. "It is hoped that the United States will work with China to jointly promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations."

Donald Trump has sacked four senior government officials appointed by his predecessor, Joe Biden, and warned that more than 1,000 others were about to be dismissed, amid fears in many quarters that he will purge anybody who has not demonstrated complete loyalty to his agenda.

"My Presidential Personnel Office is actively in the process of identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again," Trump said in a post on Truth Social just after midnight.

He named four people — celebrity chef Jose Andres from the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Mark Milley, a former top general, from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars, and Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President's Export Council — as having been immediately dismissed.

Trump's post ended with the words "YOU'RE FIRED!", the catchphrase from his days as the boss of the hit TV show "The Apprentice."

Donald Trump has been fast to act on promises he made ahead of his inauguration, signing numerous executive orders as he took office as the 47th president of the United States on Monday.

They clearly indicate his priorities and include:

• Rescinding 78 regulations established by his predecessor, Joe Biden
• An order to all federal departments to tackle the cost-of-living crisis
• An order to stop government censorship
• The withdrawal of the US from the Paris Climate Agreement
• The withdrawal of the US from the World Health Organization
• The declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border
• Making it US policy to recognize only two genders, male and female

Trump also signed pardons for almost all 1,600 defendants who stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the transfer of power on January 6, 2021, after elections that Trump has falsely claimed were rigged.

But as DW correspondent Carla Bleiker notes in an article about Trump's first acts during his second term, not all of the orders will mean immediate change for the country, with many subject to mandatory study and review.

Read more here: Trump's first executive orders point to his goals

President Donald Trump's inauguration celebration continued on Monday evening with the Commander-in-Chief Ball.

It was the first of three evening stops as he was also due to attend the Liberty Ball and Starlight Ball.

Minutes after Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish the Department of Government Efficiency, its creation was challenged in court.

Despite its name, "DOGE," as it is known, is not a department but rather an advisory panel headed by billionaire Elon Musk.

During the election, it was first proposed that DOGE would find "drastic" cuts to the federal government. But the executive order said the group's aim was to "modernize federal technology and software."

Government employee unions, watchdog groups, and public interest organizations sued within minutes of the announcement. Among them were National Security Counselors, the American Public Health Association, the American Federation of Teachers, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and Public Citizen.

They argue DOGE was breaking a law that governed federal advisory committees and was also suing over the DOGE's uncertain status.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order temporarily suspending all US foreign development assistance programs for 90 days.

The order mandates that all department and agency heads responsible for these programs immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds.

During the 90-day suspension, the programs will be reviewed to determine their alignment with Trump's policy goals.

The order, one of many signed on his first day back in office, criticizes the "foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values."

The order even went as far as stating that these programs often, "destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries."

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The US will leave the United Nations health agency in 12 months and will stop all financial support for its work.

Trump criticized the WHO for failing to act independently from the "inappropriate political influence of WHO member states" and for requiring "unfairly onerous payments" from the US compared to countries like China.

"World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It's not going to happen anymore," Trump said as he signed the order during his first day back in the White House.

The US is the WHO's biggest financial backer, contributing around 18% of its funding.

Trump started the process of quitting the WHO in his first presidential term, but President Joe Biden was able to stop the process when he took office in January 2021.

President Donald Trump signed an order to delay implementing the law banning TikTok in the United States for 75 days.

When asked what the TikTok order meant, Trump said, it "just gave me the right to sell it or close it."

TikTok's China-based owner ByteDance missed a deadline on Saturday to sell its US subsidiary to non-Chinese buyers or be banned in the country.

The video-sharing platform took itself offline for US users for several hours over the weekend before returning when Trump vowed executive action. 

The US president signaled his frustration with the reasoning behind the possible TikTok ban, saying China made a lot of other things that are sold in the US, including phones. 

But he said it was in China's interest to approve a deal to sell the company.

Earlier, TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended Trump's inauguration, sitting behind the president as one of his guests. 

US President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is "destroying Russia" by continuing the war in Ukraine.

Trump answered impromptu questions from reporters while signing executive orders at the White House, saying he would speak to Putin soon.

"He can't be thrilled," Trump said about the way the war is going, adding "he is not doing well."

"I think he would be very well off to end that war," Trump said.

He also said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "wants to make a deal" to end the war.

Previously, Zelenskyy has said that Kyiv will end the war on its "own terms" with no room for compromise.

About one-fifth of Ukraine's territory is currently under Russian control.