US President Donald Trump's return to the White House has been quite eventful, as the very first month has witnessed his claim on Greenland, plans to turn Gaza into the 'Riviera of the Middle East', imposing tariffs on China, deporting illegal migrants to India and more.
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00:00Hello and welcome, I'm Geeta Mohan and you're watching World Today.
00:18I'm reporting from a city of Florence.
00:20This is the city of Luga and I'm at the Tower of Guarnici.
00:25Not the Trump Tower but the focus certainly is going to be President Trump's first month
00:29in office for the second time.
00:31Top of the list has been his aggressive tariff policy as an economic tool that has sparked
00:37debate at home and abroad.
00:39Here's a report.
00:44The American President Donald Trump's favorite economic tool is the tariff.
00:51Tariffs are a tax on imports, products brought into the United States from outside.
01:01The U.S. President has made reshaping the country's trade policy a centerpiece of his
01:05early administration.
01:08He has introduced tariffs on goods from key trading partners including Canada, Mexico,
01:14China, India and a host of other countries.
01:21In the past month, he has imposed 25% tariffs on goods entering the U.S. from Canada and
01:27Mexico.
01:29Imposed increased tariffs on goods from China by 10% and 25% tariff on steel and aluminum
01:35imports from other countries.
01:37On 13th February, the U.S. President Trump announced the imposition of reciprocal tariffs
01:43on imports from various countries including India.
01:49On trade, I have decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff, meaning
01:55whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them no more, no
02:02less.
02:03In other words, they charge us a tax or tariff and we charge them the exact same tax or tariff.
02:11It's that simple.
02:15President Trump defends these tariffs as essential for protecting American industries, stimulating
02:20economic growth and generating revenue.
02:22He even warned his people that there could be adverse repercussions in the beginning.
02:28We may have short term some little pain and people understand that, but long term the
02:34United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world.
02:39We have deficits with almost every country, not every country, but almost, and we're going
02:44to change it.
02:45It's been unfair.
02:46That's why we owe 36 trillion dollars.
02:49We have deficits with everybody.
02:51We help everybody.
02:52We've been helping everybody for years and to be honest, I don't think they appreciate
02:56it.
02:57So we're going to change that.
03:01And so did he.
03:02His administration believes tariffs can strengthen the U.S. economy and lead to reshoring of
03:07manufacturing.
03:09They highlight the potential for job creation and wage increases in sectors like steel and
03:15aluminum.
03:17We were being pummeled by both friend and foe alike.
03:21Our nation requires steel and aluminum to be made in America, not in foreign lands.
03:26We need to create in order to protect our country's future resurgence of U.S. manufacturing
03:32and production, the likes of which has not been seen for many decades.
03:37So essentially, we're putting on a 25 percent tariff, without exception, on all aluminum
03:44and all steel.
03:47And it's going to mean a lot of businesses are going to be opening in the United States
03:50and America is going to be stronger than it ever was before.
03:57U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies have faced strong criticism.
04:02Economic studies from his first term suggest that the economic burden of tariffs is ultimately
04:07borne by U.S. consumers through higher prices.
04:11There are also concerns about retaliatory tariffs from other countries potentially escalating
04:16trade wars.
04:19So this will send shockwaves to the world economy.
04:22And that's before you price in the fact that other countries will feel need to retaliate.
04:27The tariffs on foreign goods will be attacked on our consumers.
04:31When they retaliate, they'll be hurting themselves, but also hurting U.S. exporters.
04:37The coming months will be crucial in determining the long term effects of President Trump's
04:41tariff policies on the U.S. and global economies.
04:45Bera report, India Today.
04:52President Trump is keeping his promise, his electoral promise of a massive crackdown on
04:57illegal immigrants.
04:59He's been cracking down on illegal immigrants and sending them back to their respective
05:04countries, India being one of them.
05:06There have been a few batches that have already reached India.
05:09And this is just the beginning of his four year term.
05:15Handcuffed and shackled, illegal Indian immigrants were deported from the USA in three batches
05:21in the past one month.
05:23The first batch of 104 arrived in India on 5th February.
05:27Their deportation cost a furor in the Indian parliament.
05:31A week later, the Indian prime minister met the U.S. President Donald Trump.
05:35And in Washington, D.C., he agreed to take in all verified illegal Indian immigrants.
06:27Today, I'm also signing an executive order to instruct the Departments of Defense and
06:48Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000 person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay.
06:54Most people don't even know about it.
06:57We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening
07:04the American people.
07:05Some of them are so bad, we don't even trust the countries to hold them because we don't
07:09want them coming back.
07:10So we're going to send them out to Guantanamo.
07:13This will double our capacity immediately.
07:15Right.
07:16And tough.
07:17That's a tough that's a tough place to get out of.
07:20The very next day, a U.S. Air Force plane repatriated 80 Guatemalan nationals.
07:27Some families asked their local priest to take guardianship of their children as fears
07:32of deportation among migrants in the U.S. loomed large.
07:36U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, arrest increased across the
07:42country with about 900 to 1,200 people picked up per day.
07:47A daily average of arrests by ICE in the fiscal year 2024 was 311, as per its own reports.
08:00Activists started protesting on streets against Donald Trump's immigration policy and ICE
08:06arrest.
08:07Some pushed back against what they call intimidation tactics by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration,
08:13vowing to protect immigrant families.
08:17And if we allow people to identify us or put us in categories of criminal or any other
08:26thing just by the way we look, then we're going back to a time that was very dangerous
08:32in this country, specifically for people that looked like me.
08:36The Mexican National Guard started to conduct extensive patrols across the United States
08:40and Mexico border amid growing migration concerns.
08:47I don't think it's necessary for migrants because migrants are poor people who are being
08:52displaced and don't come to commit crimes in Tijuana or the United States.
08:57The ones we should be going after are elsewhere, not at the border or in the shelters.
09:06U.S. flights kept sending immigrants back to different countries.
09:10President Trump also cracked down on birthright citizenship for children born in the United
09:14States to parents who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents with an executive
09:20order signed on the very first day in office.
09:23Federal courts temporarily blocked the order, calling it blatantly unconstitutional.
09:28The U.S. President is all prepared to fight out a legal battle to implement it nonetheless.
09:34Mr. President, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked the birthright citizenship order.
09:39Do you have any reaction?
09:40No, obviously we'll appeal it.
09:42They put it before a certain judge in Seattle, I guess, right?
09:47And there's no surprises with that judge.
09:51Arrest and deportation of immigrants remain a top agenda, marking a continuity from his
09:56previous regime in the USA in the first month of his second term.
10:00Bureau Report, India Today.
10:04A constant feature in U.S. President Donald Trump's office has been Elon Musk, Tesla
10:11chief and the head of DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency.
10:16There are many policies that Elon Musk is bringing about to change how the government
10:21functions and how U.S. administration really looks.
10:24And there has been a major pushback by Democrats.
10:27But that has not wavered or changed how the president looks at what Elon Musk is doing.
10:32There's a telling picture, not just a picture on the Time magazine, but also memes that
10:38show that in all probability, it is Elon Musk who's in control.
10:42But President Trump has put all those controversies and issues to rest, making it very clear that
10:51Elon Musk takes orders from him.
10:54Nonetheless, a very important feature of Trump administration this time around.
11:03A key figure in Donald Trump's administration of the second term is none other than Elon Musk.
11:10He was there when the elected president was calling and talking to world leaders, much
11:15before he took over officially.
11:18He's there sometimes even with his young son at the Oval Office while the U.S. president
11:23goes about running the country.
11:26Recently, during an interview with the network, also the Tesla CEO was present.
11:32What we're really trying to do here is restore the will of the people through the president.
11:38And what we're finding is that there's an unelected bureaucracy.
11:42Speaking of unelected, there's a vast federal bureaucracy that is implacably opposed to
11:48the president and the cabinet.
11:52He spoke about the unelected bureaucracy while the opposition in the country is fighting
11:56against disappointment as a DOJ chief as he's not elected either and has no constitutional
12:02authority.
12:03But he has the president of America by his side.
12:08Now I see they want you to start.
12:11They want a divorce.
12:12They want you to start hating each other.
12:14And they try.
12:15Oh, President Elon Musk, for example.
12:18You do know that they're doing that to you.
12:20Oh, I see it all the time.
12:21They tried it.
12:22Then they stopped.
12:23Then they stopped.
12:24They have many different things of hatred.
12:27Actually, Elon called me.
12:29He said, you know, they're trying to drive us apart.
12:31I said, absolutely.
12:32No, they said, we have breaking news.
12:35Donald Trump has ceded control of the presidency to Elon Musk.
12:39President Musk will be attending a cabinet meeting at 8 o'clock.
12:44And I say, it's just so obvious.
12:46They're so bad at it.
12:47I used to think they were good at it.
12:49They're actually bad at it.
12:50Because if they were good at it, I'd never be president.
12:52Because I think nobody in history has ever gotten more bad publicity than me.
12:57I could do the greatest things.
12:59I get 98% bad publicity.
13:01I could do outside of you and a few of your very good friends.
13:05It's like the craziest thing.
13:07But you know what I have learned, Elon?
13:09The people are smart.
13:10They get it.
13:11Yeah, they do, actually.
13:12They get it.
13:13On the very first day in office, President Trump established DOJ through an executive order.
13:19This new department was created to streamline federal operations and reduce government spending with the Tesla CEO at the helm.
13:27He announced in a social media post that his department is working on shutting down U.S. aid in his federal cost-cutting spree.
13:36Next came the claims that millions of dollars were being spent through U.S. aid in different countries for political landscape building.
13:44And the list included India, among others.
13:47Reportedly, $21 million was spent for water turnout in India.
13:52It has caused a whole lot of debate across the world.
13:55But Elon Musk remains unfazed.
13:59We do need to delete entire agencies as opposed to leave part of them behind.
14:07Because if you leave part of them behind, it's easy.
14:10It's kind of like leaving a weed.
14:12If you don't remove the roots of the weed, then it's easy for the weed to grow back.
14:16But if you remove the roots of the weed, it doesn't stop weeds from ever growing back, but it makes it harder.
14:21So we have to really delete entire agencies, many of them.
14:27DOJ's primary mission has been to cut federal expenditures.
14:30Musk claimed that the task force has saved over $1 billion by canceling various contracts related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
14:40The initiative has led to layoffs in major health agencies, including the CDC and FDA,
14:46as part of a broader effort to optimize staffing levels across the federal workforce.
14:51And there are protests across America against Elon Musk and DOJ going on.
14:57If the will of the president is not implemented, and the president is representative of the people,
15:03that means the will of the people is not being implemented.
15:06And that means we don't live in a democracy, we live in a bureaucracy.
15:10And so I think what we're seeing here is the thrashing of the bureaucracy as we try to restore democracy and the will of the people.
15:20They are a pair out to clean the system from within.
15:23They are men with a mission, but their togetherness has also caused President Trump's approval rating to drop in the past one month.
15:31President Donald Trump this time around wants to be a man of peace.
15:35He's proposing peace talks and has engaged Russia, keeping Ukraine and the European countries out.
15:42He's proposed peace between Israel and Hamas, but also spoken about a Riviera and Gaza Strip
15:48without keeping the Gaza stakeholders in the conversation.
15:52With such proposals, can he really bring about peace? And at what cost?
15:57A news conference between Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and the U.S. President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy
16:04was cancelled at U.S. request, revealed a Kyiv official on the day President Trump's second term completed a month in office.
16:14U.S. President Donald Trump has stirred significant controversy by suggesting that Ukraine is responsible for the war with Russia.
16:23He refuses to have elections. It's low in the real Ukrainian polls.
16:28I mean, how can you be high with every city is being demolished?
16:31It's hard to be somebody said, Oh, no, his polls are good.
16:34Give me a break. Every city is being demolished.
16:37They look like a demolition site, every single one of them.
16:41And the only thing he was really good at was playing Joe Biden like a fiddle.
16:46He played him like a fiddle. That's an expression we use.
16:49Yes, sir. To say that he's pretty easy, pretty easy.
16:54A dictator without elections.
16:57Zelensky better move faster. He's not going to have a country left.
17:00Got to move. Got to move fast because that war is going in the wrong direction.
17:04In the meantime, we're successfully negotiating an end to the war with Russia.
17:10President Trump's assertions came right after the peace talk between U.S. and Russia.
17:16President Trump's assertions came right after the peace talk between U.S. and Russian diplomats ended in Saudi Arabia,
17:22excluding Ukrainian representatives.
17:25This exclusion has frustrated Ukraine and Europe.
17:29They feel sidelined.
17:47The American president hit back hard at the Ukrainian president.
17:52He refuses to have elections. It's low in the real Ukrainian polls.
17:57I mean, how can you be high when every city is being demolished?
18:00It's hard to be high. Somebody said, oh, no, his polls are good. Give me a break.
18:06Prompt came the reply from Kiev.
18:17We understand this and we have evidence that these numbers are being negotiated between the U.S. and Russia.
18:27Unfortunately, President Trump, with great respect for him as the leader of the people,
18:35which we very much respect, the American people who constantly support us, unfortunately, lives in this disinformation space.
18:44President Trump's comments have drawn sharp criticism from European leaders
18:49who went on a huddle in Paris the night before U.S. and Russia were to talk peace in Riyadh.
18:55The war in Ukraine will mark its third anniversary on 24th February.
19:00I love Ukraine, but Zelensky has done a terrible job.
19:04His country is shattered and millions and millions of people have unnecessarily died.
19:10And you can't bring a war to an end if you don't talk to both sides.
19:14You got to talk. They haven't been talking for three years.
19:18Not only Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to bring peace in the Middle East as well.
19:25Take a look at the death in the Middle East and the death that's taking place between Russia and Ukraine.
19:30It's been going on and we're going to end it.
19:33There's no profit for anyone in having World War III and you're not so far away from it.
19:38I'll tell you right now, you're not so far away.
19:41If we would have had this administration for another year, you would have been in World War III
19:45and now it's not going to happen.
19:47He has reiterated his plan to buy and own Gaza amid ongoing tensions in the region.
19:53And I don't want to be cute. I don't want to be a wise guy.
19:57But the Riviera of the Middle East, this could be something that could be so bad.
20:01This could be so magnificent.
20:04He promised that the U.S. would take responsibility for rebuilding Gaza
20:09and ensuring that Hamas does not regain power there.
20:13The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too.
20:18We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs
20:23and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings.
20:31President Trump's first month in office has set the tone for a broader strategy
20:36of asserting U.S. influence in global conflicts while proposing controversial solutions
20:42that often provoke backlash from international leaders and allies.
20:46But will they stop the violence and give peace a chance?
20:50That will be decided in the next few years.
20:56That's all in this edition of World Today.
20:58Thank you for watching India Today for all the latest news and updates after a short break.
21:02We'll keep reporting out of Italy and many other parts of the world
21:06on what's happening in various parts of the world, particularly how that impacts India.
21:12Goodbye and take care.