0:00

You Hello

0:05

and welcome to What the F

0:08

Just Happened Today, your essential guide

0:10

to the Daily Shock and All

0:12

and National Politics. I'm Joe

0:15

Andetus. Let's get to it.

0:17

It's Monday, January 20th, 2025.

0:19

Welcome to Day 1462. Donald

0:23

Trump was sworn in as the

0:25

47th president of the United States

0:27

after defeating Kamala Harris in the

0:30

2024 election winning 49.9% of the

0:32

popular vote with a margin of

0:34

1.48 percentage points, one of the

0:36

narrowest popular vote margins in modern

0:38

US history. Trump's inauguration fell

0:40

on Martin Luther King Junior Day,

0:42

but he called it liberation day,

0:44

saying his victory would be remembered

0:46

as the most consequential election in

0:48

US history. During his second inaugural

0:51

address, Trump declared that America's decline

0:53

is over and promised that the

0:56

Golden Age of America begins right

0:58

now. Trump is the oldest president

1:00

ever inaugurated, surpassing Biden's record

1:02

by five months. His return

1:04

to power follows his 2020 election

1:07

loss, two impeachments, four indictments, one

1:09

conviction, and a civil ruling finding

1:11

him liable for sexual abuse. He

1:14

enters office with a unified

1:16

Republican government, giving him fewer

1:18

institutional constraints as he advances

1:20

his agenda. The inauguration was moved

1:22

inside the capital rotunda, the same

1:24

building where a mob of Trump's

1:27

supporters, four years earlier, violently tried

1:29

to overturn his election loss to

1:31

Biden. Earlier in the day, Biden hosted

1:33

Trump and Malania for coffee at the

1:35

White House as part of inauguration day

1:37

tradition. As the Trump's got out of

1:39

their car, Biden greeted them with welcome home.

1:42

Meanwhile Trump reportedly plans to pardon

1:45

nearly all January 6th defendants and

1:47

commute the sentences of those convicted

1:49

of serious crimes. According to

1:51

individuals briefed on the plans, Trump intends

1:54

to grant blanket clemency to more than

1:56

1,500 people who were charged in the

1:58

capital riot, including... those who were

2:01

convicted of seditious conspiracy and

2:03

assault of a police officer.

2:05

This would also include dismissing

2:07

roughly 300 pending cases, some

2:10

involving violent offenses. More than

2:12

1,580 individuals were charged and

2:14

approximately 1,270 convictions were secured,

2:16

many of which were for

2:19

misdemeanors. Trump

2:21

also said he plans to

2:23

declare a national energy emergency,

2:25

revoke clean energy policies, and

2:27

withdraw the United States from

2:29

the Paris Climate Agreement again.

2:31

During his inaugural address, he

2:33

announced plans to boost oil

2:35

and gas extraction, open federal

2:37

lands like Alaska for drilling,

2:39

and reverse Biden-era clean energy

2:41

initiatives, including fuel economy standards

2:43

and renewable energy leases. Trump

2:45

criticized Biden's use of the

2:47

strategic petroleum reserve, vowing to

2:49

refill it right to the

2:52

top and cut energy prices

2:54

by prioritizing fossil fuel development.

2:56

The Energy Emergency Declaration, which

2:58

aims to increase U.S. energy

3:00

dominance, includes measures to expand

3:02

liquefied natural gas exports and

3:04

unlock domestic critical minerals for

3:06

technology production. Trump's decision to

3:08

remove the U.S. from the

3:10

climate agreement, which aims to

3:12

limit global warming to 1.5

3:14

degrees Celsius, requires a formal

3:16

withdrawal letter to the United

3:18

Nations. It takes a year

3:20

to finalize. Trump will also

3:22

sign executive orders to end

3:24

birthright citizenship, declare a national

3:27

emergency at the southern border,

3:29

and reinstate his remain in

3:31

Mexico policy. The Trump administration

3:33

plans to reinterpret the 14th

3:35

Amendment to deny citizenship to

3:37

children who were born in

3:39

the United States to undocumented

3:41

immigrants, a move expected to

3:43

face legal challenges. After Trump's

3:45

inauguration, the administration canceled all

3:47

appointments scheduled through the CPB1

3:49

app, a legal pathway for

3:51

migrants to enter the US,

3:53

stranding families who had waited

3:55

for months. Additional Trump measures

3:57

include resuming border wall construction,

3:59

deploying US troops to the

4:02

border, designating cartels as terrorist

4:04

organizations and expanding deportation efforts

4:06

nationwide. Trump is also expected

4:08

to sign executive orders recognizing

4:10

only two biological sexes and

4:12

ending diversity equity and inclusion

4:14

programs in federal agencies. One

4:16

order directs federal agencies to

4:18

replace gender with sex on

4:20

official documents, such as passports,

4:22

while restricting transgender individuals' rights

4:24

to privacy in the intimate

4:26

spaces in facilities such as

4:28

prisons, migrant shelters, and rape

4:30

shelters. The second order eliminates

4:32

DEA initiatives across federal agencies,

4:35

including environmental justice programs and

4:37

equity-related grants. White House officials

4:39

framed these actions as part

4:41

of a restoring sanity agenda

4:43

with Trump calling it a

4:45

return to merit-based and color-blind

4:47

policies. And finally, just days

4:49

before his inauguration, Trump launched

4:51

a cryptocurrency meme coin. The

4:53

token is classified as a

4:55

type of cryptocurrency with no

4:57

intrinsic real-world value, hence meme

4:59

coin, and reached a market

5:01

cap of more than $5

5:03

billion within 24 hours of

5:05

its release. Trump affiliated entities,

5:07

however, own 80% of the

5:10

token's supply. The coins release

5:12

comes as Trump prepares to

5:14

lead a pro- crypto administration

5:16

that is expected to enact

5:18

policies benefiting the digital assets

5:20

industry, including deregulation and shielding

5:22

of crypto firms from enforcement

5:24

actions. Critics condemned the timing

5:26

and implications of the launch,

5:28

calling it a blatant effort

5:30

to profit from the presidency

5:32

and blur the lines between

5:34

public office and private business

5:36

interests. That's all for

5:39

now. You can find the links and

5:41

sources for all of these stories on

5:43

the main website. And as always, visit

5:45

what the fuck just happened today.com for

5:48

the latest news and headlines. Until next

5:50

time, I'm Joe Enditis.